Tag: small businesses
How To Get About Starting A Small Business!
People toy with the idea of starting a small business at various stages of their lifes. Some think of starting a small business after their educational career is over. Some think of starting a small business because of unpleasant or unhappy situations they have encountered in their work places. There are also others who think of starting a small business, because that is the only way they will be able to work again following a break from work for reasons such as health or redundancy.
Toying with the idea is one thing, but if you are taking positive steps to get started, then certain myths associated with starting and running a small business should be dispelled from your mind.
1. Starting a small business might appear to be an easy option to many who are desperate to get out of a situation but running a business is not as easy as it appears to be.
2. The general impression created in the minds of many people is that you can make a lot of money by running a small business. A few people do make a lot of money by running a small business. On the other hand there are many people who loose a lot of money unfortunately due to lack of proper research and planning.
3. Another myth is that you are the Boss, so you can work when you want, relax when you want and go on holidays when you want. You are the Boss that is all to it. The rest simply does not happen because of other factors that come into play which will need your presence and attention most of the time.
One major blunder made by many small business entrepreneurs is that they never made any self assessment before starting. It is absolutely important that you do a self assessment to find out whether you possess the following qualities and capabilities that are necessary to operate a successful small business.
1. You must be of sound health.
2. You should be able to work on your own most of the time.
3. You should be self motivated and dedicated.
4. You should possess an outgoing personality and have the ability to get along with other people.
5. You should have the ability to work under pressure.
6. You should preferably have some knowledge about your business.
7. Failure is no option to you.
In addition to the above the following factors have a very important and significant impact in the success of your small business.
A good support system such as your spouse or members of your family.
Contacts in the business world who could help you with advice and help you promote your small business.
Good financial assets to help you start and develop your small business and sustain you during the early months.
Conclusion:
Since they are popularly known as small businesses, many would be entrepreneurs are under the impression that it could be run in a slip shod manner. Most of the inputs necessary to operate a large business successfuly are also necessary in the small business venture too.
Success does not come overnight. There could be disappointments and failures during the early months.Those who cannot withstand these pressures should not contemplate starting a small business.The ability to withstand all these pressures and remain motivated is absolutely necessary to succeed.
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Advertising Yourself To Friends?
Did you know many of your friends do not know exactly what you do to make your money? It happens more often than you’d like to think to small businesses.
Since people like to do business with friends, it is important you help them to know what you do.
Recognize that you need to educate your friends and acquaintances about your small business. Then they can become some of your best sources of new clients and promote you to others as well.
Right now you have lots of social and business networks of people who know you personally: from your clubs, recreational activities, school activities, religious affiliations, hobby groups and so on.
Your friends and acquaintances know you for the person and character you demonstrate to them in person. Your friendship is of primary importance to them. What you do for a living is secondary.
So it’s up to you to tell them about how you can help when they (or others they know) need what you are selling. Your personal colleagues are valued assets to promote both you and your business.
Your goal is to become the “go to” person when your friends need your services. Instead of the “WIIFM” What’s In It For Me formula, you want to get them to ask you “WCYDFM”, What Can You Do For Me? In other words, “Can I turn to you for valuable advice to help me solve my problem?”
Sure, your friends may know what type of business you are in. “He has a garage, she owns a consulting service, he is a mortgage broker, she sells real estate” and so on. Sometimes, small businesses can have vague names, which cry out for further explanation.
So it can be quite productive if you simplify and clarify precisely what you do in terms your friends can understand. Tell stories. Give easy-to-understand examples.
You probably already have one or two “elevator” speeches of 10 or 30 seconds explaining what you do. Develop another version suitable for more general use.
When you tell others what you do, use your own personal style of story-telling. Take advantage of impromptu situations, and be sure to use your judgement about when to insert your message into the conversation.
Make it easy for people to talk about you with others in their own circles of friends and acquaintances. This how to use the multiplier effect: friends tell friends… who tell friends, etc.
In the never-ending quest for new customers and clients for your small business, why not take advantage of personal opportunities right there in front of you every day?
And be sure to learn about their businesses, too. It works both ways!
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Guidelines for Online Small Business Owners.
you are contemplating setting up a small online business you should realise it is simply to down to a numbers game.
The difference between businesses that succeeded and ones that do not is down to their conversion ratios, meaning the ratio of visitors who actually become paying customers.
If one in 50 of your visitors become a paying customer, then you will have a conversion ration of 2%. All businesses should aim to increase this ratio, simple things like using enticing tactics such as a sale can help.
The trouble is nowadays people seem desperate for visitors, they panic and pay for batches of visitors. Unfortunately these systems rarely increase your conversation ratio at all; in fact all they do is give you a false perception of your business.
A lot of online small business owners make 3 mistakes:
1. They put Google Adsense/affiliates everywhere, in my opinion these are good systems but they do detract from your core business.
2. They make their websites too complicated, when marketing to a worldwide audience; keep your website simple and easy to follow.
3. They get greedy, their prices are too high.
These points may seem obvious but it is often the most obvious things that people miss.
Here are some general guidelines for small business owners.
1. Spend time researching your website development.
2. Have an understanding of ëKeywordsí and how they benefit your site.
3. List with the main search engines and directories.
4. Have patience, especially in the first year.
5. Be imaginative
6. Donít be greedy, donít scare potential customers away.
Remember do not get carried away by the amount of visitors to your site, simply work on improving your conversation ratio, by doing this year on year you will be well on your way to running a successful business.
More info’s and free registrations (restricted to pros), please join our live seminar