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AtricleZine - My 7 Most Important Business Lessons
Venture capitalism is a system wherein a person or a company often referred to as venture capitalists invest money in a company or business exchange for a stake in the business or a share in the earnings, present and future, of the company.Venture capitalists are frequently the ones that provide funding for companies that are in need of seed money to start up their business. Often, they support businesses that have a high potential for growth and those that they feel will return their investments multiple-folds. Companies that have innovative ideas and products are primary targets of venture capitalists. They are also partial to industries that are into innovations like Information Technology, Biotechnology and the medical fields.Other venture capitalists focus on providing capitals for already established companies who are seeking to expand their operations while some rescue companies that are in trouble and those that badly need restructuring. There are also venture capitalists that go into buyouts and company takeovers but of course, these are just a few.Often, venture capitalists do not just provide money but also
- Do you seek suggestions from your customers on ways you can boost business?
- Do you use a store or online questionnaire to aid you in determining your customers' needs?
- Do you stay in contact with customers on a regular basis?
- Do you ever try to re-establish a relationship with lost or inactive customers?
A key to success lies in knowing your customer. The other half of the equation is to know your industry.
5. Know Your Industry
You can gain the greatest competitive edge if you intimately understand your industry. You must know the ins and outs of your particular products and industry. You should know every competitor as well as their strengths and weaknesses. It’s in your competitor’s weaknesses where you will most frequently find your own success.
Your competitors size, services, location, marketing approach, type of customers, suppliers, and pricing strategies should be as well known to you as your own. Your local business climate, median household income, level of education, ethnic population, and the other demographics of your potential customers should be second nature to you. To prosper, you must
Automatically renewing contracts, otherwise known as ‘evergreen’ or ‘rollover’ contracts originated in the U.S. firstly as a convenience to cut down on the added administration for both parties of creating new contracts annually and, in the case of services such as insurance, to ensure continuous cover. The savings made on administration by the service provider could also be passed onto the customer by offering more competitive rates and invariably the contract would include a direct debit mandate. Both parties were happy – the customer had lower rates and less hassle. The provider had a captive customer who, so long as prices continued to be reasonable, would remain loyal. The icing on the cake was the guaranteed regular payment.Then along came the newly de-regulated utilities who similarly identified real advantages in the evergreen contract both for themselves and for their customers. And whilst prices remained fairly stable both parties remained happy.However, prices of utilities such as gas and electricity are prone to wide fluctuations depending on a multitude of factors and when this happens the attraction of the everg
1. Know Yourself
Having your own business is more than just creating a job for yourself. To be a successful small business owner, there are many personal sacrifices you will be required to make. You have to be willing to make them. By knowing yourself and what is truly important to you, you will be able to make these choices far easier than if you have never considered your priorities.
Your basic roles in a small business are in marketing, planning, finance, and administration. To get the best results, it is rare for one person to play all these roles equally well. You must know which parts you can handle yourself and which parts you're going to need help with. That's why it's so important to be objective and take a close look at your overall strengths and weaknesses. Ask yourself the following questions:
- Do you plan before you take action? - Are you willing to hustle for the sale? - How financially savvy are you? - Do you have a well thought out plan? And, do you work the plan? - Do you know how to make sales happen? Can you ask for the sale?
In those areas where you assess yourself as weak, you can ask for help.
2. Ask For Help When You Need It
When you’re young and unseasoned, you tend to think you can do anything. This is a recipe for disaster for the small businessperson. If you insist on doing everything yourself, you will work 16 hours a day and not do some things well.
Remember, getting results is what counts! With outside advice and assistance, your quest for a successful business can be accomplished faster and with far fewer bruises than doing it yourself. When I started my first online business, I even created by own website. In retrospect, this was a big mistake. It took me far longer to create my site than having a more experienced person do it. Start equating every second of your time with money. Your time isn’t free. While you are trying to do everything, what’s falling through the crack?
Don't be too proud to ask for help, we all need help sometimes. With the Internet, the small business owner has a wealth of experience available to them. Why not take advantage of the many resources, paid and otherwise, available to you? Join a small business forum, like the Small Business Forum (www.smallbusinessbrief.com/forum/) where you can exchange knowledge with other small business owners. Access the millions of online articles on every business subject you can think of at ezinearticles.com.
Qualified sources are also available from your local government offices and other professional services. It is important to recognize -- what you don't know can end up costing you money and greatly reduce the chance of achieving your business goals.
With all that knowledge, you need a plan of action.
3. Action Planning
I like to call it “action planning” rather than “planning”. Action is the only element which turns a plan into reality. Many people are great at planning but they suffer when it comes to follow-through. Successful small business owners are action oriented. But that action starts with a plan.
According to leading authorities, the main reason 80% of all new businesses fail within the first five years is not money, but the lack of planning. If you want to succeed, the trick is to know how to make right the decisions by implementing an effective business plan. Remember, if you fail to plan, you might as well plan to fail.
A business plan should include how you will finance the business, who will perform certain critical business functions, the license and permits required, accounting method, as well as what you know about your prospects and customers.
4. “Mind Meld” Your Customer
Just knowing your customer isn’t enough for long-term success in your small business. In Star Trek, the Vulcan race had the ability to perform a mind meld. At the time of the mind meld, they could see, think, and feel everything their partner was seeing, thinking, and feeling. This is how close you must come to understanding your customer. The closer you get, the more successful you will become.
Are you listing to your customers? Make it your business to give your customers what they want and they will buy from you. They are the reason you are in business, and your future depends on them. The products and services you provide should be a direct reflection of their needs. Think in your customers' terms; buy, show, sell, and say things that interest them, not you. Don't forget, it is the customer that determines whether or not you succeed. They vote every day by where they spend their money.
Reflect on the following questions:
- Do you know the reasons why customers shop at your store? (service, convenience, price) If not, ask!
- Do you seek suggestions from your customers on ways you can boost business?
- Do you use a store or online questionnaire to aid you in determining your customers' needs?
- Do you stay in contact with customers on a regular basis?
- Do you ever try to re-establish a relationship with lost or inactive customers?
A key to success lies in knowing your customer. The other half of the equation is to know your industry.
5. Know Your Industry
You can gain the greatest competitive edge if you intimately understand your industry. You must know the ins and outs of your particular products and industry. You should know every competitor as well as their strengths and weaknesses. It’s in your competitor’s weaknesses where you will most frequently find your own success.
Your competitors size, services, location, marketing approach, type of customers, suppliers, and pricing strategies should be as well known to you as your own. Your local business climate, median household income, level of education, ethnic population, and the other demographics of your potential customers should be second nature to you. To prosper, you must k
At the LCD Projector Center we concentrate very much on LCD projectors, so why am I writing about projector screens? Quite simple really. Buying your lcd projector in isolation from the screen without considering how they work together is likely to cost you more and give you less than perfect results.How can picking the right projector screen save you money?One of the biggest challenges when choosing an lcd projector is getting the right brightness for the room you are going to be using it in. For home use you can usually darken the room. This means you can buy a cheap lcd projector, often saving many hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.But often darkening the room significantly is neither possible nor desirable. Buying a higher specification projector will give you a brighter image, but it's probably cheaper to buy a high gain projector screen. The quality lcd projector may cost you a thousand dollars more than a dimmer model, whilst quality projector screens that enhance the image brightness and clarity are only a few hundred dollars more.Projector Brightness and Screen GainThe brightne
In those areas where you assess yourself as weak, you can ask for help.
2. Ask For Help When You Need It
When you’re young and unseasoned, you tend to think you can do anything. This is a recipe for disaster for the small businessperson. If you insist on doing everything yourself, you will work 16 hours a day and not do some things well.
Remember, getting results is what counts! With outside advice and assistance, your quest for a successful business can be accomplished faster and with far fewer bruises than doing it yourself. When I started my first online business, I even created by own website. In retrospect, this was a big mistake. It took me far longer to create my site than having a more experienced person do it. Start equating every second of your time with money. Your time isn’t free. While you are trying to do everything, what’s falling through the crack?
Don't be too proud to ask for help, we all need help sometimes. With the Internet, the small business owner has a wealth of experience available to them. Why not take advantage of the many resources, paid and otherwise, available to you? Join a small business forum, like the Small Business Forum (www.smallbusinessbrief.com/forum/) where you can exchange knowledge with other small business owners. Access the millions of online articles on every business subject you can think of at ezinearticles.com.
Qualified sources are also available from your local government offices and other professional services. It is important to recognize -- what you don't know can end up costing you money and greatly reduce the chance of achieving your business goals.
With all that knowledge, you need a plan of action.
3. Action Planning
I like to call it “action planning” rather than “planning”. Action is the only element which turns a plan into reality. Many people are great at planning but they suffer when it comes to follow-through. Successful small business owners are action oriented. But that action starts with a plan.
According to leading authorities, the main reason 80% of all new businesses fail within the first five years is not money, but the lack of planning. If you want to succeed, the trick is to know how to make right the decisions by implementing an effective business plan. Remember, if you fail to plan, you might as well plan to fail.
A business plan should include how you will finance the business, who will perform certain critical business functions, the license and permits required, accounting method, as well as what you know about your prospects and customers.
4. “Mind Meld” Your Customer
Just knowing your customer isn’t enough for long-term success in your small business. In Star Trek, the Vulcan race had the ability to perform a mind meld. At the time of the mind meld, they could see, think, and feel everything their partner was seeing, thinking, and feeling. This is how close you must come to understanding your customer. The closer you get, the more successful you will become.
Are you listing to your customers? Make it your business to give your customers what they want and they will buy from you. They are the reason you are in business, and your future depends on them. The products and services you provide should be a direct reflection of their needs. Think in your customers' terms; buy, show, sell, and say things that interest them, not you. Don't forget, it is the customer that determines whether or not you succeed. They vote every day by where they spend their money.
Reflect on the following questions:
- Do you know the reasons why customers shop at your store? (service, convenience, price) If not, ask!
- Do you seek suggestions from your customers on ways you can boost business?
- Do you use a store or online questionnaire to aid you in determining your customers' needs?
- Do you stay in contact with customers on a regular basis?
- Do you ever try to re-establish a relationship with lost or inactive customers?
A key to success lies in knowing your customer. The other half of the equation is to know your industry.
5. Know Your Industry
You can gain the greatest competitive edge if you intimately understand your industry. You must know the ins and outs of your particular products and industry. You should know every competitor as well as their strengths and weaknesses. It’s in your competitor’s weaknesses where you will most frequently find your own success.
Your competitors size, services, location, marketing approach, type of customers, suppliers, and pricing strategies should be as well known to you as your own. Your local business climate, median household income, level of education, ethnic population, and the other demographics of your potential customers should be second nature to you. To prosper, you must
Negotiating isn't easy, no matter what your style. Negotiating to get what you want takes brains and backbone, regardless of whether you're gunning for your negotiating counterparts, or focusing on designing equitable solutions. You have to think through what you want and the most effective way to get it. And you have to have the moxie to follow through with your plans. Sometimes just asking for something takes nerve. After all, some of us were taught as children not to ask for anything; instead, we were to wait until it was offered. That courtesy may have won you points with your second-grade teacher, but it'll kill you in the real world. We usually have to go after what we want. And to get what we want, we have to be shrewd negotiators, even when we try to maintain high ethical standards. As a matter of fact, negotiating on a mature, adult-to-adult basis is even more demanding than slipping around and trying to manipulate or trick the people you're negotiating with.First of all, being open and honest takes guts. It takes nerve basically to say to the people you're negotiating with, "I want to play fair. How about you?" or "This is
Qualified sources are also available from your local government offices and other professional services. It is important to recognize -- what you don't know can end up costing you money and greatly reduce the chance of achieving your business goals.
With all that knowledge, you need a plan of action.
3. Action Planning
I like to call it “action planning” rather than “planning”. Action is the only element which turns a plan into reality. Many people are great at planning but they suffer when it comes to follow-through. Successful small business owners are action oriented. But that action starts with a plan.
According to leading authorities, the main reason 80% of all new businesses fail within the first five years is not money, but the lack of planning. If you want to succeed, the trick is to know how to make right the decisions by implementing an effective business plan. Remember, if you fail to plan, you might as well plan to fail.
A business plan should include how you will finance the business, who will perform certain critical business functions, the license and permits required, accounting method, as well as what you know about your prospects and customers.
4. “Mind Meld” Your Customer
Just knowing your customer isn’t enough for long-term success in your small business. In Star Trek, the Vulcan race had the ability to perform a mind meld. At the time of the mind meld, they could see, think, and feel everything their partner was seeing, thinking, and feeling. This is how close you must come to understanding your customer. The closer you get, the more successful you will become.
Are you listing to your customers? Make it your business to give your customers what they want and they will buy from you. They are the reason you are in business, and your future depends on them. The products and services you provide should be a direct reflection of their needs. Think in your customers' terms; buy, show, sell, and say things that interest them, not you. Don't forget, it is the customer that determines whether or not you succeed. They vote every day by where they spend their money.
Reflect on the following questions:
- Do you know the reasons why customers shop at your store? (service, convenience, price) If not, ask!
- Do you seek suggestions from your customers on ways you can boost business?
- Do you use a store or online questionnaire to aid you in determining your customers' needs?
- Do you stay in contact with customers on a regular basis?
- Do you ever try to re-establish a relationship with lost or inactive customers?
A key to success lies in knowing your customer. The other half of the equation is to know your industry.
5. Know Your Industry
You can gain the greatest competitive edge if you intimately understand your industry. You must know the ins and outs of your particular products and industry. You should know every competitor as well as their strengths and weaknesses. It’s in your competitor’s weaknesses where you will most frequently find your own success.
Your competitors size, services, location, marketing approach, type of customers, suppliers, and pricing strategies should be as well known to you as your own. Your local business climate, median household income, level of education, ethnic population, and the other demographics of your potential customers should be second nature to you. To prosper, you must
In fact, bringing your people - any of them - into your confidence and asking for help, is a very powerful tool indeed. The form of words' "I need your help", works best. Here are Ten Reasons why this is:-You Appeal to Emotions By asking an 'emotional' question you become very open and honest, which makes your people want to help you - this is a positive and not a 'feeling sorry' thing. It's a very natural reaction from them.You Value Others Then they feel that you find at least something worthwhile in them - it makes them feels hugely valuable - inside. This helps bond your relationship and that of the team you are working with as a whole.You Share the Load - and the Experience By having someone help you it makes for much lighter work - 'a problem shared...' etc. And by helping them work through a tricky experience with you, they will develop and grow for the future.Other People are Much Better than You! It's true! You are not the best at everything - nor do you need to be. In fact the very best managers and leaders surround themselves with peo
A business plan should include how you will finance the business, who will perform certain critical business functions, the license and permits required, accounting method, as well as what you know about your prospects and customers.
4. “Mind Meld” Your Customer
Just knowing your customer isn’t enough for long-term success in your small business. In Star Trek, the Vulcan race had the ability to perform a mind meld. At the time of the mind meld, they could see, think, and feel everything their partner was seeing, thinking, and feeling. This is how close you must come to understanding your customer. The closer you get, the more successful you will become.
Are you listing to your customers? Make it your business to give your customers what they want and they will buy from you. They are the reason you are in business, and your future depends on them. The products and services you provide should be a direct reflection of their needs. Think in your customers' terms; buy, show, sell, and say things that interest them, not you. Don't forget, it is the customer that determines whether or not you succeed. They vote every day by where they spend their money.
Reflect on the following questions:
- Do you know the reasons why customers shop at your store? (service, convenience, price) If not, ask!
- Do you seek suggestions from your customers on ways you can boost business?
- Do you use a store or online questionnaire to aid you in determining your customers' needs?
- Do you stay in contact with customers on a regular basis?
- Do you ever try to re-establish a relationship with lost or inactive customers?
A key to success lies in knowing your customer. The other half of the equation is to know your industry.
5. Know Your Industry
You can gain the greatest competitive edge if you intimately understand your industry. You must know the ins and outs of your particular products and industry. You should know every competitor as well as their strengths and weaknesses. It’s in your competitor’s weaknesses where you will most frequently find your own success.
Your competitors size, services, location, marketing approach, type of customers, suppliers, and pricing strategies should be as well known to you as your own. Your local business climate, median household income, level of education, ethnic population, and the other demographics of your potential customers should be second nature to you. To prosper, you must
Any attempt to describe a human mind in physical terms is bound to be symbolic. Yet there are certain symbols used in both military and marketing operations that seem to be especially appropriate.In a military war, hills or mountains are usually considered strong positions, especially useful for defense. In a marketing war, management people often refer to strong positions as “high ground.” So it seems appropriate to use the mountain as a key concept in marketing warfare.But in warfare, a mountain can be either occupied or unoccupied. Tissue Mountain, for example, is occupied by the brand Kleenex. Ketchup Mountain is owned by Heinz. Computer Mountain by IBM.Some mountains are being strongly contested. Cola Mountain is partially occupied by Coca-Cola, but is under heavy attack by Pepsi-Cola.When a customer uses a brand name in place of a generic, you know the mountain in their mind is strongly held. When someone points to a box of Scott tissues and says, “Hand me a Kleenex,” you know who owns the Tissue Mountain in that person’s mind.Who owns the automobile mountain in the United States? Many years ago For
- Do you seek suggestions from your customers on ways you can boost business?
- Do you use a store or online questionnaire to aid you in determining your customers' needs?
- Do you stay in contact with customers on a regular basis?
- Do you ever try to re-establish a relationship with lost or inactive customers?
A key to success lies in knowing your customer. The other half of the equation is to know your industry.
5. Know Your Industry
You can gain the greatest competitive edge if you intimately understand your industry. You must know the ins and outs of your particular products and industry. You should know every competitor as well as their strengths and weaknesses. It’s in your competitor’s weaknesses where you will most frequently find your own success.
Your competitors size, services, location, marketing approach, type of customers, suppliers, and pricing strategies should be as well known to you as your own. Your local business climate, median household income, level of education, ethnic population, and the other demographics of your potential customers should be second nature to you. To prosper, you must know the game and the playing field intimately.
Many people focus upon these areas but still fail. Why? They focus more upon the product than the finances of the business.
6. Maintain Good Financial Records
If you don't know where your money is going, it will soon be gone. The "game of business" is played with products and customers, but the score is kept in dollars and cents. Good financial records are like the instrument panel on your car, they keep you posted of your speed, fuel level and engine condition. Without them you're flying blind trying to pace the other cars. If you know how much you're spending, buying and selling, you can take control and help your business make more money.
- Do you have basic accounting knowledge? Or, do you have someone you trust to keep the books?
- Do you maintain every receipt you obtain through the running of your business?
- Have you computerized your business to streamline everyday tasks and business procedures?
- Do you use sales forecasts, expense sheets, and financial statements on regular basis to assess the progress or your business?
- Do you evaluate your operating expenses and make necessary changes on a regular basis?
Many people erroneously believe good record keeping is for the government and those financial obligations. They are wrong! Good financial record keeping can help your business succeed. Use the financial information available to make improvements to the operation of the business and improve profits. Remember through it all, the old adage “cash is king” is true.
7. Manage Your Cash
It doesn't matter how unique your store is, your business can't survive without good cash flow. Cash is the lifeblood of your business. The money coming into or out of your store is the vital component that keeps your business financially healthy. For profitability, more cash must come into the business every day than goes out of the business. You can have the greatest sales in the world, but if it’s all in receivables, how will you pay your bills?
A monthly Cash Flow Statement is a critical business tool. It shows the amount of money at the start of a period and how much cash was received during the period. It identifies the various sources of incoming cash and the reasons for outgoing cash. Budget wisely. Know the sources of your monthly income and expenses. Then, you won't have to worry about running out of money. And that is a good thing.
Like any game, the game of business has rules and tools. Those who excel at the game, play it better than their competitors. Keep focused upon these seven critical areas and you will succeed. Remember, Albert Einstein once defined “insanity” as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Isn’t it time you changed the things you are doing so you can succeed? I think the time is now!
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