5 Things You Need to Know before you Start a Business

I have been talking to so many people lately that are in the process of or thinking about starting a business. They are walking or in some cases running down a path without the planning and knowledge they need to achieve success.

In working with clients that have plateaued and want to achieve significant growth, I find that most of the time we have to move backward to put structure in place that will allow them to move forward. Wouldn't it be much easier to know what you want to build at the beginning and put the right structure and processes in place?

There are so many questions to be answered.

1. What will the business look like when it's perfect. What net profit will the company need to produce to achieve your end goal?

2. What's the exit strategy for the business?

3. Will there be partners or other equity holders?

4. What legal entity is the right one for you considering all factors?

5. How much capital will you need and where will it come from?

And there are many more questions to be answered. Kathy and I have been talking to many individuals on these matters and have decided to offer some workshops covering what you need to know to get started. So if you have an interest in this information send me your email address at info@growthmindset.com with Start up in the subject line. We will put you on the distribution list for information. We plan to offer live workshops as well as some webinars for people out of the Atlanta area.

So all you budding entrepreneurs let us hear from you.

Learned about a Great New Tool from my Friend Miles Austin

I like to share new business tools as I see them. Go to my friend Miles Austin's blog and get some really useful tools and discussion on how to fill the sales funnel.

Twittering for Business, Increase Your Popularity and Profitability

I have been asked many times about Social Media and Twitter in particular. The article below was posted on Ploked.com and gives some great insight into how to make Twitter work for your business.

Does your business use Twitter yet? Or any social media site for that matter? If not, you are potentially missing out on future clients, future sales and most importantly increased profitability. Remember when Myspace, was “the next big thing”? Well that is sort of where twitter is at right now. Over the past year, it has gained an increaed following, not only of individuals, but potential customers of yours.

Twitter is relatively a new social networking service that has really changed the meaning of communication. Well, not only in personal communication but also in business communication, Twitter has managed to gain a massive following of users. With this increase of popularity, it only makes sense that Twitter is a great way to promote your business needs.

Twitter is a social networking service that gets the message to your customers or clients at lightning speed, which makes your business promotion in a great way. This is the perfect micro-blogging service that helps in communicating to the world about your business advancements, products and services without any investment. With limited words (only messages with 140 characters can be written twitter), you can communicate in real terms with all your followers.

With the increased popularity of twitter, most of the well established companies the world over now have twitter accounts. Has your company established itself on Twitter yet? Companies already utilizing the site find Twitter a great place to promote their business. Twitter, the micro-blogging service, is the best way to reach out to the employees, customers and partners.

This social networking service is also a great place where one can come up with business announcements like the launch of a new product and other special business proposals. You can post these announcements in twitter on a regular basis, which gets you the best exposure to your followers. For example if you are an e-commerce website, then twitter helps in promoting the new products, sales, and other special offers in which you may have. You can also include reviews from the customers in your Twitter account that gives more credibility to your business.

While promoting business through Twitter, it should be noted that you have to give your followers valuable information on your products and services. The more information is added in twitter, the more you get to promote your business through twitter. One way to offer more value to your followers is to offer some sort of sale or special discounts for twitter followers only. This means that this discount will only be available for followers of your account. These followers will feel appreciated and more than likely take advantage of the deal you present them.
Twitter is also a great way to monitor your customer feedback. For example, you can see what others have to say about your company, products and services, which only helps in promoting your business. Listen to what others say in twitter helps in building good relationship and in improving your business. If a problem should arise with your business, you have the opportunity to effectively solve the dilemma at hand. Others will take note of your proactive solution and see the value you place in customer satisfaction. However, if you blow off people with problems, chances are it could be detrimental to your business since bad customer service news will spread fast.

Last but not the least; maintain professionalism in the small messages, called tweets, which you sent. Always remember that people like to follow only the professional way. Do not post up topics irrelevant to your business or products….Chances are that people are following you in order to gain insight on your business and not what you are having for lunch.

Why Should I Create a Business Blog???

Because it’s Good Business! Blogging is the most explosive outbreak in the information world since the Internet itself and Business blogs are sweeping the business community. Blogs are an excellent method to share a company's expertise, build additional web traffic, and connect with potential customers.

There are a number of internet service providers that offer blog applications that can be linked to your web site. www.Blogger.com and www.WordPress.com are two that offer free blog applications. Start your blog by educating visitors on what your business offers and linking to those products where customers can purchase them. Links are an important component in search engine optimization. Include them where they make sense.

Start dialogs on topics that matter to your target market and be sure to keep up. Don’t ignore your readers.

One of the key factors to remember is that the content on your blog should be such that anyone could read it and not be shocked or offended. The internet is vast and links can be established showing your content on countless other web sites. With that note of caution spend some time thinking about your content and no silly pictures or comments that might be misinterpreted.

How to Market while Pinching Pennies

When looking for places to cut your expenses don't make the mistake of cutting out your marketing budget. It is well documented that companies that maintain their marketing through a recession will gain market share from their competitors.

Instead of cutting think about how you are spending those marketing dollars. So here are a few things you need to be doing in 2009 to not only keep your business afloat, but keep it growing.

1. Social Media

Facebook & Twitter are an easy and free use of social media. Set up a personal Facebook page and then link it to your business page. Post to "what are you doing now" as well as your "share a link" section.

While you're at it, join some groups on Facebook that might lend themselves to your content. If the group allows for anyone to post, then post your link there as well. You can create ads that link to your business web site or your Facebook business page.

On Twitter, just "tweet" that you finished your email marketing campaign. Include the subject line and the link where it's hosted on a web page. Remember you only have 140 characters on Twitter so keep it as short as possible.

Linked In and Plaxo are also good B2B sites that are only to promote business.

2. Research the customer

You need to know more than ever how consumers are redefining value and responding to the recession. Consumers take more time searching for durable goods and negotiate harder at the point of sale. They are more willing to postpone purchases, trade down, or buy less. Must-have features of yesterday are today’s can-live-withouts. Trusted brands are especially valued and they can still launch new products successfully but interest in new brands and new categories fades. Survey Your Customers. By using surveys you can find out instantly what you're customers think about your business. It's a good idea to keep in touch with your customers to make sure you're delivering the best products or services you possibly can. There are several on line survey tools that are free or if you don't have email addresses then you will need to do either a short survey at point of sale or send a paper survey to your customers.


3. If your target is the consumer market focus on family values

When economic hard times loom, we tend to retreat to our village. Look for cozy hearth-and-home family scenes in advertising to replace images of extreme sports, adventure and rugged individualism. Zany humor and appeals on the basis of fear are out. Greeting card sales, telephone use and discretionary spending on home furnishings and home entertainment will hold up well, as uncertainty prompts us to stay at home but also stay connected with family and friends.

Do You Consider "PLAN" a Four Letter Word?

Many business people avoid strategic planning even though they believe that strategy is probably a good thing. Do you consider “Plan” one of those 4 letter words.

So why do we need a strategic plan - to out think and outlast the competition.

The first step in the process has to be Vision.

Vision without action is a daydream, but action without vision is a nightmare.

In order to plan effectively you have to know where you're going. I believe that a five to ten year vision is necessary to plan effectively for the current year. What does the business look like in ten years? What revenue and profit will the company achieve? How many employees will you have? What role will your company play in your community and what will your day to day activities look like?

That doesn’t mean you need detailed plans for the next ten years. It means you have ten year goals and a very detailed plan for the next 12 months taking you closer to those ten year goals.

TAKE ACTION to think about your vision and your strategic plan to achieve that vision. If you have a written plan and it is gathering dust in the desk drawer or on the shelf, dust it off and revise it. Remember a strategy does not work when it is not executed.

You can start this process by taking a FREE Business Health Check online by clicking here Business Health Check.

Let's Start a Dialog

We want to know what challenges business owners are facing in todays business enviornment. We promise to answer questions and create the opportunity for owners to share real life business challenges and achievements. Let us hear from you!