Tag: business plan

    Will The New Business Fail?

    As the phrase goes, “there is no guarantee in life” but there are certain steps you can take to make sure your new business doesn’t fail.

    Step 1. Research research research

    Do your research before you even start your new business as to whether there is a market out there for your business. There are many ways to research whether anyone wants your new business by looking at your ideal customer and the demographics of the audience.

    You can check if there are any competitors in your market which can be a good thing because it means there are people buying but dig deep to make sure they are a viable business or holding it all together with smoke and mirrors. There are many Internet marketers who “make a million” one year and crash the next because they don’t put in the foundations of a good business.

    Now, if there are competitors and they have a sustainable business, what makes your business unique from their business so you can stand out from your competitors. For example, when this auto repair shop fixes a repair, they also wash the car whereas you could be the auto repair shop that fixes repair, washes car, rotates tires and installs new window wiper blades. Who doesn’t love free window wiper blades!

    Whether you want to or not, it is good practice to do a business plan for your new business before you start because once you look at the expenses vs. income, market research, marketing plan and obstacles to your success, you will be able to see before you spend a penny whether your business will fail.

    Step 2. Start your new business part-time

    I’m not a believer in quitting your job without knowing whether your new business is going to be successful so you should do it part-time while you are working at your job. Any business whether it is internet-based, production or offline , you can do it part-time. Steve Jobs worked in his parent’s garage while creating the Mac. So, even a cleaning company you could start part-time and clean in evening offices that are closed. You could go to weekend trade shows or events to display your product to see whether people will buy or they are interested enough to invest. You can join your local Chamber of Commerce and talk about your business to see what feedback might be from other local business entrepreneurs. You could create a Meet-up with the title “Internet Marketing Success” or if you are an artisan, “
    Crafting Business made Easy” and share free information and make connections with others to form collaborations on a part-time basis. With your first sale, celebrate but don’t quit your job until you are getting enough money to replace your monthly expenses. You could be a part-time consultant for other companies and work from contract to contract.

    Step 3. Start your business

    So, you have been working part-time at your business and you’ve made the sales that have been consistent or got the contracts to fulfill that could give you the income per month to start your business. You have done your research and you have been marketing to your ideal customers who have given you repeat business. You have reviewed your business plan and made adjustments needed from doing the work part-time. You have done future projections of income and how you will increase it once you work at it full-time.

    For our structural engineering home office, we worked part-time weekends and evening doing design and putting in hours to finish work to deadline while commuting back and forth to a job. We had three to four regular clients who gave us regular work so when we got laid off from work, we could easily go full-time in our home office.

    You have all your government required licenses and you are set for making your business into a system with foundations to make the business grow. You are ready and there may not be any guarantees but you have done all you can to make your business a success!

    For more on starting a home business, go to The Business of At Home Business Community at http://boahbtips.com/member

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    Five Questions to Ask about Your Competition

     
    Understanding your competition is important. When you understand them, you can position your business to stand apart. You can create an effective SEO and keyword development strategy. You can maximize your competition. And finally, you can position your products and services to sell.

    When you created your business plan, you likely did a competitive analysis. If you didn’t, then now’s the time. Once you have a solid competitive analysis, the work’s not done. The world changes and so too does your competition. It’s important to stay abreast of their change. While it’s not a good idea to stress about your competition, it is important to review them semi-annually or quarterly.

    So…how well do you know your competition? Here are five questions to get you thinking about your competition. Answer these questions, take action, and achieve better profits and a website that sells.

    Question #1 – Do you know who your competition is? Do you have a competitive analysis? It’s difficult to differentiate your business if you don’t know who your competition is. Your USP, Unique Selling Proposition, is often created with your competition in mind. You need to know what you do better or differently so you can offer value and benefit to your audience.

    Question #2 – How often do you presently analyze and evaluate your competition? Again, it’s not wise to obsess about your competition. However, it is wise to create an analysis strategy. Semi-annually, annually or quarterly are common periods to review your competition and update your analysis.

    Question #3 – What are your competitions’ primary keywords? What are their Alexa stats? How do you compare? It’s important to know not only where your competition stands, but also where you stand in comparison. Create a chart or system to track this information.

    Question #4 – Do you follow your competition on social networking sites? Do you receive alerts when they publish new content? Do you subscribe to their blog or newsletter? Simple strategies can help you stay abreast of your competition. You can collect the information and review it when appropriate. Or you can review it as you learn about it. Often, your competition’s actions and content can be helpful to you. Their actions might inspire a new content idea, product or service.

    Question #5 – Does your competitive analysis and strategy include:

    * Keyword analysis
    * Linking analysis
    * Products/services analysis
    * Content analysis
    * Advertising analysis
    * SEO page ranking

    Rest assured your competition is watching you. You might return the favor. Take advantage of automated technology to track their activities. Create a plan to assess your competition and reassess your strategies and tactics. There’s a lot to learn from the people that challenge you. Your competition may be the motivating force you need to take your business and website to the next level.

    Categories: Competition Tags: Tags: ,