Entrepreneurialism
Can Facebook Help Entrepreneurs Grow Their Business?
Is Facebook The Answer For Entrepreneurs?
One of the great things about Facebook is that it provides so many ways to connect to people on so many levels. Being a Entrepreneur, you have numerous choices for ways to grow your business. A lot of it depends upon your target audience and the way they prefer to receive information. If they’re inside the age range of folks that normally use Facebook and other social media then this is the tool you want to make sure you check out.
If you are willing to take the time you can grow your business around a Facebook marketing campaign and spend little or no capital whatsoever to do it. It doesn’t take much more then a fan page along with a commitment on your part to create updates and find new friends everyday.
Entrepreneurs Can Build A Solid Foundation With Facebook
While I will not get into excruciating details of the how to’s within this article, the basic steps to building your Facebook business are as follows. The first step is to set up a fan page. That is where you’ll send all your new found friends and where you’ll need to add and post some amount of valuable content each day.
The second step is to go out and get friends. This is a vital step and one that you cannot take lightly. There is a reason they describe people in Facebook as friends. For those who remember your marketing and sales 101 stuff, just like in off line business, “people buy from people they, know, like and trust”.
Online relationships aren’t any different. You can’t start out by trying to pitch an item to someone on Facebook, you will not make any friends like that and won’t sell any product. I repeat, you won’t sell any products that way.
What you have to do is find a group, or groups who have members who fit the profile of probable customers for you. Once you have found that group, or hopefully groups, join them and observe what they’re talking about. Here you need to take two steps, take part in their conversations on a light level adding value where possible without pushing your products. You can provide information and propose they take a look at your fan page for more content and information (remember your fan page must add value, not sell).
The other thing that you want to accomplish is to connect with the members within the group. Make sure that you are doing this as a friend without hyping a product or service. Connect with them on a personal level, you already know they’ve got interest within your product area, so don’t over focus on solutions. Take a look at their profile before you get in touch with them, see what their interests are and focus on that.
For example, if they like horses, introduce yourself by saying, Hi Mary, I noticed you’re a horse lover, I grew up around horses and have always liked them too, do you ride Western or English. If you don’t know anything about horses find something else to connect on. But this is where you ought to start. once you have begun to create a relationship you then can discuss the areas associated with your company and invite them to your fan page.
Entrepreneurs Are Consistent With Facebook
So getting people to your fan page is part of the battle. Now comes the true work, it’s essential to build your credibility by providing free and helpful content daily for your fans. This can keep them on your page and can build you up as a credible resource and expert on a subject. When people believe in and trust you they’ll buy from you. That is where constancy and patience come into play.
Nobody will buy from you immediately. This will likely take time, but when you develop a big enough base, you will begin to see steady growth to your business and you will have a reliable base of customers who will continue to grow.
So the two things you’ll want to do everyday are to make a minimum of fifteen new friends daily and add at least one new post to your fan page daily. Once you have developed your credibility through your relationships, you can provide your product or service as an answer for the problem. But never lead with it.
As an entrepreneur, if you are patient and consistent you will be able to grow your business, create great relationships and use little to no money doing it. This is a win, win all the way around.
Scott Schreiber is a retired businessman who has over 30 years of successful management of turn around projects, Mergers & Acquisitions, Venture Capital work and senior sales and marketing management. Scott’s current mission is to help small business owners and entrepreneurs learn how to compete, grow and succeed in our current economy. He is also the founder of The Entrepreneur Success Team.
Learn more about 21st Century Entrepreneurs here
Three Reasons Entrepreneurs Fail
No Market
While ins the real world there are numerous facts behind the reasons that entrepreneurs fall short. The three I have listed here have a lot to do with it and frankly the third one encompasses the initial two.
What I find fascinating is that I see inventors and business people who would like to be entrepreneurs start with an concept that hasn’t been tested or proven out at any level in the market before they charge off and spends thousands of dollars to develop the next great solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. Sadly, they do not know whether they have a large enough marketplace to maintain the cost of developing that product and bringing it to market, let alone just how much competition they have or what the particulars need to be to satisfy industry needs.
With numerous straightforward tools to work with and available today. it is senseless to not perform at the very least some basic homework to better know you marketplace before you invest capital into an idea that may only accomplish one thing, Making You Broke! If all you did was take a look at Google’s keyword tool, you would be able to see how many individuals are looking for a specific keyword (or set of words), and how much competition exists for that keyword. That’s information that a great many marketers in the 70′s and 80′s paid a lot of money to uncover and you can acquire it at no cost in approximately five minutes.
If you do this, some simple arithmetic will tell you pretty fast if you have a shot. If there are 300 people searching for the key terms associated with your product and you take a look at other web sites and see competitive products selling at $4.00 each and you already know it’s going to cost you $3.95 to manufacture your product, it could be time to go back to the drawing board.
No Planning
OK, so let’s say you find that there’s a marketplace for your product, you see that 10,000 people are clicking on a set of key phrases, the competition isn’t too bad, you feel you’ll be able to validate that your product is unique enough to make a difference and you are feeling you’ll be able to manufacture it at a profit. That’s a good foundation (I would still advocate a bunch more research, but that’s just me).
Now you need to be able to determine how to get your product made, where to get your product made, the amount it will cost, how you will market it, how many you think that you can sell with your advertising and marketing program, why you think you’ll sell that many with the competition breathing down your throat. And Last but not least, how much revenue you will make if you hit your goals.
Lack of doing this kind of exercise will move your company from the skill based business to a business driven by luck. With only 1 out of 5 business’s surviving the first year a lack of a very good plan almost seems like you are taking your company on a suicide run. For those investing your hard earned cash, and aren’t willing to take some time to plan, my suggestion would be to offer it to me. I’ll benefit from using it so you’ll get some satisfaction, rather then watching the daily surprises of business take you down.
One additional point on this, lack of planning deals with too little success and too much success as well, either way can damage your business. A restaurant with a fantastic review, gets a lot more customers, but when they get too many and aren’t ready for it, their product quality and service will suffer, making it a not so great restaurant.
No Money
Thinking of trying to build your company on a shoestring, not such a good idea. This is considered probably the most common reasons that companies fall short. When you do create a plan you have to add in a minimum 20% for stuff you didn’t think about. Believe me, you will find out soon enough what that stuff is. It is going to show up on your doorstep about a day after you officially establish your business and will keep coming. As you gain knowledge of and understand your business, you will require less capital to deal with surprises, but in the early days, expect them to show up a lot.
You also should have enough money to deal with errors and bad decision. By the way, in case you are wondering, you will make a few bad decisions, every business owner does, no matter how good they seem to be. The truth is the really smart ones are usually so smart because they learned from their mistakes. The ones that aren’t so swift are the ones that like to repeat the identical mistakes over and over.
But insufficient funds will take you down hard and fast, when your out of money or low on money, you waste more time on#trying to cover your bills then on building your company. Generally it will result in poor decision making. In some cases it leads to unethical practices, which will (and should) lead to the demise of an organization. It is extremely hard to recover and compete when you’re low on cash, and once it’s gone, well the dance is over.
So if you are serious about this entrepreneur thing, make sure you have adequate funds available based on a first rate plan developed around a solid knowledge that there is a marketplace for your product.
Scott Schreiber is a retired businessman who has over 30 years of successful management of turn around projects, Mergers & Acquisitions, Venture Capital work and senior sales and marketing management. Scott’s current mission is to help small business owners and entrepreneurs learn how to compete, grow and succeed in our current economy. He is also the founder of The Entrepreneur Success Team.
Learn more about 21st Century Entrepreneurs here.
Using Your Secret Sauce To Attract New Clients, Get More Business and Increase Your Retention Rates
Do you have secret sauce in your business? Not secret sauce like ketchup, A-1 or any type of condiment.
Some people refer to their secret sauce as their hook.
What’s the thing, in your business, that is specific to you, that pulls people to you, that attracts people to you? What’s that secret sauce you have that nobody else can provide, that nobody else is talking about, nobody else has? Maybe it is your personality. What makes you unique is the key because this is the secret sauce you can offer people.
What’s that one thing that gets prospects and clients to come to you for information, to do business with you? Whatever it is that you do that is unique to you. What it is doesn’t really matter. The fact of the matter is you have it…we all do.
What’s the thing you can offer people? What’s the thing you have that’s the thing only you have, or at least the perception is you’re the only one who can provide them this particular thing or angle.
Most of the time, this isn’t necessarily an easy question. It takes some thinking, it might even take writing some things down. It may require you to go over things multiple times to figure out what your secret sauce is – but it will be well worth it when you do.
For example, one of things that make us very different from an event perspective, and let’s face it, there are a lot of event coordinators who can negotiate with the hotel to get you a good deal and manage your event. However, to my knowledge, we’re the only ones, at least in the information marketing industry, that will help you put butts in seats and fill your event, in addition to the other entire event planning functions. So, that is sort of the secret sauce for us. If someone is looking for an event planner, and they also need help marketing their event, that is one of our secret sauces. That’s one of the things we have that nobody else can offer – or have until now.
We also talk about secret sauce related to your free offer, or your IFO, as we call them, your Irresistible Free Offer. So, on your squeeze page, or on your website, how do you get people to opt-in? What’s the secret sauce they want so badly they’re willing to give you their name and email address, or maybe even their full address if you are going to mail them a CD or DVD?
What’s the secret sauce?
Don’t just put sign up for my newsletter. That used to work, but it doesn’t anymore. Just what everyone wants and needs right, is just one more thing coming to their email in-boxes. Your offer has to be a lot stronger than that today to get, grab, and keep the attention of your prospects and clients.
So, think about what your secret sauce is, and how you can use it to attract people to you. Many times, this may be referred to as pull marketing. It attracts people to you, it brings them to you. It’s a lot easier and simpler strategy than constantly running after clients, beating them over the head with your message – and taking the chance it’s a message they don’t really want to hear anyway.
It’s much easier when the prospects and clients come to you, looking for what you have to offer.
And, remember, you do have to make good on giving them that secret sauce you promised them.
It’s all about being authentic, doing what you say, and fulfilling your promises, right?
Diane Conklin is one of the co-founders of Complete Marketing Systems whereas a marketing and business strategist she specializes in showing entrepreneurs and small business owners how to use direct response marketing to integrate their online and offline marketing strategies, media and methods, to get maximum results from their marketing dollars so they consistently outperform their competition by measuring their marketing and strategically using multi-media campaigns to stand alone in their marketplace as the go-to provider for their products and services. For more information go to http://www.completemarketingsystems.com
Entrepreneurship Conferences: A Way to Learn and Grow
If you are anything like me, being a creator of something valuable to the marketplace can be quite daunting. Face it: if you’ve been trained to make a living in the 9-5 world, stepping out on your own requires an almost entirely different mindset and skill set. I will certainly say it has been so for my journey. Add to this the likelihood that the people who you have hung around with to date- I’ll call them the J.O.B. crowd, will continue to think, talk, and act in the ways you want to get away from, and viola! You already have the deck stacked against you in your quest for financial freedom.
Entrepreneurship conferences, gatherings of people who share the same desires you do to experience that freedom, are good places to buffer yourself against this. Normally, these events tout themselves as a way to stir creative juices. Think new markets of opportunity which you may become the first to realize and take advantage of. But there are deeper, more fundamental values to these events than that. Consider:
1. You are not alone in wanting to make your life better.- Most people could never understand why you would want to spend your evening working on your dream rather than watch TV tonight. If you are alone, it can also feel as though that your dream is impossible. Imagine what it’s like in a room of hundreds of other people who not only share your desire, but have made noticeable steps in that direction! The reminder that “It’s possible!” is often far more powerful than “This is how it’s done.”
2. There’s a thought process which needs to be learned- and mastered! Developing your thought process the right way – on purpose – is crucial to your success. Who will teach that process to you? The people who are satisfied with where they are? Hardly! Entrepreneurship conferences will give you insight into the right way to think, and will give you the necessary confidence until you grow you own skill set.
3. There may be something you can teach them, too! Don’t think you have nothing to contribute. In addition to your own idea for a better mousetrap, there’s also the matter of your own story, your own journey to success. Your participation may be just what inspires someone else to their next level of greatness. Around people who are hungry to learn, you may inspire countless others to their next level.
The good news is that most universities have entrepreneurship conferences for you to check into and be a part of. Your local college’s business school ought to be able to point you in the right direction. Take action now! Your future will love you for it.
Busymom has been scouring the net for a viable and ethical way for a novice like her to develop passive income on the web. She now has the resources to enjoy time raising her four children. Learn more- http://busymomseasyincome.com/.
From Sharecropper’s Son To Entrepreneur, John Sperling Is A True Success Story
John Sperling Grew to become An Entrepreneur By Shear Determination
90 years ago John Sperling was born in a log Cabin in the Ozarks. As the son of a sharecropper his beginnings did not suit the role of an entrepreneur who would in the future help to shape and run a Fortune 500 company. His life started off an awful lot like Abraham Lincolns, he was the youngest of five children who had to use a coal burning stove to stay warm and share an outhouse.
By the age of 15 Sperling was a struggling student without much of a future when his father died suddenly. That was a turning point in his life, it pressed him to start making an income and John joined the Merchant Marines. There he and his shipmates spent their downtime reading books regarding politics and history.
It was at this point that John became hooked on learning and education and it pushed him towards a job as an instructor of Humanities at San Jose University. In near by San Francisco is where the now famous, University of Phoenix was born.
Like Nearly all Great Entrepreneurs, John Sperling Saw a Need And Filled It.
In the early 1970′s John and a group of instructors created a private entity to educate police officers and other teachers how to work with At-risk youth. This system was so well received that John and his, now partners, developed an additional curriculum specifically for working adults that was allied with local colleges from the Bay area.
From those programs sprang the early beginnings of an organization often known as the Institute for Professional Development. While not the first, this group was on a strong path to become the leader in “for profit” education. John Sperling was considered to be a pioneer in the design and conception of the new form of education delivery services.
While, quickly becoming a successful enterprise, John and his associates found themselves at odds with the State of California Educational system. Little did he know at the time, but this would result in a profound name change and move. Which was the start of a company that became recognized all over the world for it’s leadership in adult learning and education.
With a quick move to Arizona, this small but promising firm became known as The University of Phoenix.
Sperling Continues To Be An Leader And Entrepreneur
Once he had a successful business, John Sperling could have easily sat back and enjoyed the fruits of his labor. But what made him the leader of an industry still serves him today. He continues to look past the obvious and ascertain the wants of what some would consider to be a reasonably uninteresting and difficult market to enter.
His company evolved into one of the first to provide on-line teaching and has made its targets for instruction, working adults, parents and minorities offering them lessons and programs not always easily found in traditional colleges.
This has produced challenges for Sperling and his team, but at 90, he continues to contemplate creative methods to bring about new and distinctive programs and methods to deliver those programs to those that are not able to otherwise obtain the education they need to achieve their dreams.
As with most other successful entrepreneurs, John Sperling has continued to direct his company forward and allowed his vision to move him past the trying times and propel him in the good times.
John Seprling is proof once again, that a great entrepreneur doesn’t have to come from wealth or even a highly educated background. But drive determination, focus and a gift for looking for a deficit in the market are the cornerstones of what creates this distinctive combination for success.
Scott Schreiber is a retired businessman who has over 30 years of successful management of turn around projects, Mergers & Acquisitions, Venture Capital work and senior sales and marketing management. Scott’s current mission is to help small business owners and entrepreneurs learn how to compete, grow and succeed in our current economy. He is also the founder of The Entrepreneur Success Team.
Learn more about 21st Century Entrepreneurs here.
Successful Entrepreneurs Have Running Buddies
Who Do You Know Who Can Help Keep You Inspired?
A couple of years ago, I left a “secure” life as an employee to strike out on my own as an entrepreneur. I say “secure,” in quote-marks, because everyone knows these days there’s no such thing as secure employment. Entrepreneurship is risky; so is relying on any employer, especially during these tough economic times (and experts say things will get worse before they get better).
As an educated observer of our government and economy, I’ve concluded it’s riskier NOT to have an entrepreneurial venture in the family. If your spouse hasn’t made the move to start a business, even on the side, you should do it. There may well come a time when you can’t get a job of any kind… you’ll have to make your own. And it’ll be much tougher when the economy finally shrugs off the current dangerous slide toward socialism, and the government is forced to disgorge thousands of job holders who will be looking for a new way to make money.
If you are a leadership talent working to make your organization successful, there’s clearly nothing wrong with that. Unless you hear a distinct calling, don’t quit your job to become a full-time entrepreneur – it’s not for the faint of heart! Instead, start a business on the side and “keep it warm” as a fall-back plan. These days, there are amazing platforms and communities out there in cyberspace that can help you start a business for a fraction of the resource investment entrepreneurs used to need.
If, on the other hand, you do hear the siren call of entrepreneurship, take the advice of someone who’s a couple years down that road: be in business FOR yourself, but not BY yourself. Make sure you’re part of a community of like-minded business owners, and make sure you have at least one great “running buddy” with whom you can stay in frequent co-coaching contact. Inspire each other!
They say it’s lonely at the top, and Brother, they aren’t kidding. As a business owner, you don’t have the checks and balances you had as an employee; yes, that ogre you worked for actually did keep you from making dumb decisions from time to time. But when you’re the boss, you don’t have too many people with whom you can really talk about key business decisions. Vendors want to push their solutions… associations are often political… and employees tend to be meek thought partners, usually preferring to tell you what they think you want to hear.
A better idea is to get a coach. Either hire one (feel free to look me up), or find a running buddy (or both). I had a great conversation yesterday with my own running buddy, a talented coach who’s also out there on the skinny branches of the economic tree, and whose thinking and ideas have been of great value to me. I think he benefits from our talks, too. We certainly are always on the lookout for ways to help each other, to join forces, to offer ever-improving solutions to an ever-increasing client base.
When you make the decision to go it alone, don’t go it alone. Find trusted advisors with whom you can kick around ideas and exchange inspiration. When times get tough – when you’re at that spot on the jogging trail where you find yourself bent over, hands-on-knees, gasping for air and looking for the courage to take on the next length… it’s handy to have a running buddy who simply says, “Come on, let’s go, you can do it.”
by Michael D. Hume, M.S.
Michael Hume is a speaker, writer, and consultant specializing in helping people maximize their potential and enjoy inspiring lives. As part of his inspirational leadership mission, he coaches executives and leaders in growing their personal sense of well-being through wealth creation and management, along with personal vitality.
Michael and his wife, Kathryn, divide their time between homes in California and Colorado. They are very proud of their offspring, who grew up to include a homemaker, a rock star, a service talent, and a television expert. Two grandchildren also warm their hearts! Visit Michael’s web site at http://michaelhume.net
The Money Conversation – When They Ask “What Do You Charge?”
So many of my clients stress over what we call the “money conversation” where clients call to ask them about their services. And, naturally, one of the first things they want to know is “what do you charge?”
How many times have you answered that question and had the person say, “Oh, I can’t afford that”? And, this leads to another “lost” client!
So, often what happens is you start to think you need to lower your prices so people will book a session with you!
But this is backwards!
Do you want to be known as the bargain basement health practitioner? Do you want your name synonymous with ‘cheap’?
I doubt it!
I’ve talked about this conversation before, but I don’t think it can be addressed often enough. So let’s look at just a few steps to turn this conversation around.
Step 1: Even before you can tell someone what you have to offer, you have to be clear what value you provide them with! And one of the ways to do this is be clear what services you have to offer. Make sure you sit down and create several levels of services. For example, you might have an intro level, which includes just one initial visit and one follow up. The next might be several follow-ups, perhaps for 3 months. And the last level might be a more comprehensive, high-end service that lasts for either 6,9 or 12 months. And there may be other services here and there as sort of an ‘a la cart’ menu.
Step 2: Determine what the over-reaching value is in working with you and taking advantage of your services. As a health professional, you are not in the business of providing nutrition information, giving out meal plans or fitness plans. You are in the business of changing lives! Think in terms of what HAPPENS to that person as a result of working with you. What are the cool things they get; how does their life change? What will they be able to do that they haven’t done in a long time?
Now you’re ready for Step 3, which is to craft your conversation. When someone calls you, because you now have several levels of programs, when they ask what you charge, you can’t tell them, because you don’t know what they need! So you need information from them, first.
What is going on with them right now? What is their health and life like right now? Why have they called you?
What would they LIKE to see their life look like? What would their wish list look like? Have them describe that to you in detail. With practice, you’ll get better at this.
What could get in their way of them achieving what it is they want? What will life look like if they do NOT achieve their goals? Help them really dig a hole of that doom if they don’t resolve their problem.
Set yourself up as the solution to their problems by talking about the benefits and results of working with you. Check in with them while doing so.
You are now ready to answer their question, and they are now in a place where instead of ‘shopping’, based on price, now they can make a decision, based on benefits!
Give it a try, and let me know how it goes for you! And here’s to your success!
Marjorie Geiser is a registered dietitian, certified personal trainer, life coach, and MBA graduate. Marjorie has been the owner of a successful nutrition and fitness business since 1996, and now helps other professionals start or grow their own business through MEG Enterprises. Her book, “Just Jump: The No-Fear Start-up Guide for Health and Fitness Professionals” is available from www.californiabasedpublishing.com. Receive Marjorie’s free report ” The 7 Steps to Creating your Marketing Conversation that will turn “NO” into “When can We Get Started?” by visiting her website MEG Enterprises.
The Entrepreneurial Process
The process of starting a new venture can be daunting, especially if you do not know where to start or what the order of procedures are to follow. The following steps are a guideline of the order in which to do things before starting up.
Step 1: Prepare a business plan
The business plan forces the entrepreneur to think about and plan the marketing, production, operations, management and finances of the new business venture. The importance of meticulous planning cannot be stressed enough, many small business owners will say that they rely on a “gut feel”, but lack of planning or strategy is the number one reason why businesses fail.
Step 2: Decide on a legal form of business
Review the different tax benefits and other factors that will play the deciding factor on which legal form of business to choose. The options to choose from are Sole Proprietorship, Partnership, Close Corporation (CC), Private Company or Public Company. It is advisable to seek the help of an auditor in order to make an informed choice.
Step 3: Register you business
Apply for registration. If you are working from home, contact the municipality with regard to by-laws that may affect the business. Once you have a business registration number, you can apply for a business bank account and obtain an income tax number from SARS. If it is applicable for your business, you can also apply for a VAT number.
Step 4: Find premises
Formal businesses that rent office, trading or manufacturing space are required to pay closer attention to location factors than informal businesses, because of the permanency of their decisions. Find a premesis that is most suitable for your type of business, to ensure that your business receive optimal exposure. This is the time to determine fixtures, fittings and equipment costs.
Step 5: Apply for financing
This is only applicable if your business is going to need external financing in terms of a long term loan or bank overdraft facility.
Step 6: Consider the legal needs of the business
Apply for any licences, certificates, etc. that will be required for your business to legally trade. If your business needs protection such as copyrights, trademarks or patents, apply for these as well. Appoint an accountant or bookkeeper and an attorney.
Step 7: Locate suppliers
Locate key suppliers and negotiate for prices and discounts, credit terms and delivery options. Establish inventory requirements and create systems that will ensure the timely replacement of inventory. Decide on product/service prices and discounts.
Compiled by C. Stroebel, founder of topentrepreneur.co.za
Reproduction of this article is encouraged, but must include a link pointing to http://www.topentrepreneur.co.za
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Concha_Stroebel
Who Are Entrepreneurs?
A Successful Entrepreneur is More Then A Business Owner Websters Dictionary defines an Entrepreneur as: One who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise. Yet what the designation lacks will be a significant distinction between an entrepreneur and a successful entrepreneur. Unfortunately, as many as 96% of companies fail. So becoming a successful Entrepreneur is the true goal. But who, or what are the kind of people who fit this pattern and how are the successful ones different from the less fortunate among them. While the economic recession has required many individuals to be less then willing entrepreneurs, generally speaking these unique business people are the ones who are ready to take a fiscal risk to make the upside reward. They might be inventors, resellers of products or people that offer their time, services and expertise in exchange for money. But the common thread is the desire and drive to succeed. Successful entrepreneurs are ready to do what ever it takes, and wish to learn from those who have done what they want to achieve. It can be a different product or solution to a problem but the basics are always the same. Entrepreneurs Focus On The Prize One thing that a business person does to keep them grounded would be to continue to take the long view for his or her business. You must know in advance where you are going and where you intend to finish up and why you are doing what you are doing if you want to be successful. Sure there are a few who have been lucky and possess a successful business in spite of themselves, but with no clear vision of where to go, most business’s will fail. No matter what kind of business you are in, or planning to go in, you have to know what it’ll take and what you are likely to get from it, or don’t start in the first place. While this appears to be rather obvious, I’ve talked to many business owners who don’t have a clue, of what their goals are and how much money they want to make. Saying you want to make a lot of money doesn’t answer the question. Just how much is a lot and how much material do you have to purchase to make a lot of money, what profit margin do you have to achieve to make a lot of money? These are pretty basic questions, but sadly, if you talk about them with a business owner, they will not be able to articulate an answer. As such, when the economy adjusts or the industry shifts they get left behind and join the unhappy ranks of those 96% who are no longer in business. Entrepreneurs Understand Their Markets Again, this is something that should be obvious, but in many cases is not. A few years back I talked to a guy who happened to think that he could develop a huge business by selling spices. He could not tell me what huge actually meant, but the worst part, was he did not have a clue about the size or dynamics of his market. he didn’t know: 1) How or where people preferred to purchase their spices. 2) What they were willing to pay for them. 3) How often they made those purchases. 4) What the profile of the person was that made those purchases was. 5) Which kind of spices they preferred the most and why. 6) Or even what caused somebody to purchase a spice in the first place. He just believed that if he set up shop and started selling spices online that he would soon have a promising business. Unfortunately his spice business is no more. I had suggested that he do some research, even some basic things like visiting the stores and seeing which spices took up the most shelf space to see which ones sold the most, take a look at popular recipes to determine how spices where used, ask people if they had any concerns about freshness if they ordered spices online? But he knew that people bought spices and that was enough for him. He didn’t even know how much he wanted to make or the number of spice packets he would have to sell to produce a profit. His is an all to common tale. If you need to be a successful Entrepreneur, before you decide on a product or service, you have to possess the answers to expenses, market trends, buyer decision making processes and far more. Even with that, being in business means adapting to an always changing market, but when you don’t know where you are today, you will never be able to figure out where you’re going in the future. Scott Schreiber is a retired businessman who has over 30 years of successful management of turn around projects, Mergers & Acquisitions, Venture Capital work and senior sales and marketing management. Scott’s current mission is to help small business owners and entrepreneurs learn how to compete, grow and succeed in our current economy. He is also the founder of The Entrepreneur Success Team. Learn more about 21st Century Entrepreneurs here.
Three Primary Reasons To Become An Entrepreneur
You Need Good Reasons To Climb Out On The Skinny Branches!
For some time, I’ve written and spoken about the difference between two basic types of person out there these days: The Victim, and The Entrepreneur. The Victim needs to be taken care of… the Entrepreneur takes care of herself, and others. The Victim is competitive, and views life as a win-lose (sometimes even a lose-lose) proposition; the Entrepreneur is collaborative, and sees life as win-win. Victims blame others; Entrepreneurs are self-reliant, and get things done.
These are attitudes, and both characters reside in each of us. One or the other spirit will dominate your worldview, and it’ll depend on which you feed and which you deny. As attitudes, they don’t necessarily dictate what you do for a living… but while some Entrepreneur-types choose to stay loyally involved in the service of a company they don’t own, most have some sort of commercial enterprise going, if only as a side-business.
Frankly, in these tough economic times, I think every family should have at least one entrepreneurial venture up-and-running, just so the entire family’s livelihood isn’t completely dependent upon employers (or, worse, the government). And for an increasing portion of the working population, the full-time calling of being in business for oneself is more appealing each day.
Being a business owner is not for the faint of heart, though. You need some good reasons to climb out there on the skinny branches of the tree, where the margin for error is slim. Those reasons can vary from operator to operator… have you thought of yours? Here, in my view, are three primary to become an entrepreneur – to scratch that entrepreneurial itch.
Service to others. If you only want to get into business to replace what you get from some job, that’s not a strong enough “why.” If that’s your only motivation, when things get tough, you won’t be able to make the difficult decisions or do the hard things it takes to make a business successful. You have to have some reason not to let down other people… and your own family only counts partially. What will your business contribute to your community, and to the world?
The Big Idea. I’ve known too many would-be entrepreneurs who really didn’t think big enough to make a business work. Their plan was simply to create a variation on a familiar theme, and one that was different from its competitors only in that it was owned by somebody else (them). You have to do better than that. Do something new; or do something your competitors do, but in a completely new way. Think about your Big Idea from the perspective of your customers… why would they reach for your solution, when they’re already comfortable with alternatives?
Willingness to risk it all. If you are already down to your last few bucks, you need to do something else for a while to build up some working capital before you start a business. These days, you can get into business in cyberspace for a fraction of the resources your granddad needed for his radiator shop… but don’t be fooled by claims that you can have a home-based business without a shred of investment. And be prepared to lose it all. It’s a fact that about eight in ten small businesses fail in their first year. You may have to try more than once before you hit the business you can make successful… and you will never do that if you aren’t willing to take risks and be persistent.
Entrepreneurship is the only real way to build lasting wealth, and America is still a land of opportunity for business owners. There are at least three primary reasons to become an entrepreneur, but it starts with having an Entrepreneurial attitude, and genuinely thinking through your own reasons for striking out on your own. Many people think they can run their own business; fewer than that number can actually do it successfully.
by Michael D. Hume, M.S.
Michael Hume is a speaker, writer, and consultant specializing in helping people maximize their potential and enjoy inspiring lives. As part of his inspirational leadership mission, he coaches executives and leaders in growing their personal sense of well-being through wealth creation and management, along with personal vitality.
Michael and his wife, Kathryn, divide their time between homes in California and Colorado. They are very proud of their offspring, who grew up to include a homemaker, a rock star, a service talent, and a television expert. Two grandchildren also warm their hearts! Visit Michael’s web site at http://michaelhume.net