Quite simply the answer
is BE POSITIVE!
Most information used
to encourage entrepreneurs to start their own business contains some kind
of negative slant. It’s all true. There is no job security, jobs
are being sourced to less costly labor markets (often in other countries),
companies are likely to be merged or go out of business, and any of a
host of other frightening scenarios. A favorite issue is about 95% of
those who attain retirement age have almost no wealth and no income to
use in their “golden years.” If you fail to start your business
right now, you will lose the opportunity to help yourself because it takes
some time for a business to become successful.
All this is true.
Then you are told you
must find a unique business filling some niche market in demand by large
numbers of potential customers. This business must be something no one
anywhere has done before so the business will have instant success and
produce great riches for the entrepreneur. Of course these things are
true. A great idea or product not available from anyone but you will assure
your quick success. But if everyone tries to do this, all will become
discouraged because there are not enough monopolistic niches to go around!
This niche mindset is
not valid in the real world. People don’t always enjoy doing business
at just one place and different entrepreneurs are able to present similar
products or services in ways that appeal to different sets of customers.
Customer service is different in each case and aggressive pricing may
provide further market advantages. If this niche thinking were the only
effective element in the marketplace, there would be only one insurance
agent. There would be only one place to buy an automobile. There would
be just one auto parts supplier and so on. This situation isn’t true
even in the smallest communities. So much for the niche idea. It doesn’t
mean that entrepreneurs can’t carve a little specialty market for
themselves by using their skills to do something different. We’ll
discuss this next week in “Use These Simple Tools To Make Your Home
Based Business Work.”
Realizing there really
are no exact niche markets, entrepreneurs become desperate to establish
the security that comes from a thriving business that is theirs alone.
This makes some try every “opportunity” that comes along. After
a couple of months, the money isn’t flowing as promised or desired,
and another business program is tried with the same result. After this
goes on for a year, and six different programs have failed, the entrepreneur
becomes totally discouraged and believes there is no way anyone can succeed
in their own business. This is the self-fulfillment of what all their
peers have always said: “There’s no way anyone can make money
on their own.”
The millions of frantic
and scared workers who want a better way of life provide the market for
“get-rich-quick” ideas, pyramid schemes where only the first
make money, and countless other scams that look good but have no way of
making money for the business owner. Many discouraged entrepreneurs say
no one will tell them how to make money. The standard reply is that no
one method will work the same way for everyone. This is true; there is
no automatic cookie-cutter plan that will guarantee success for everyone.
Every entrepreneur must determine what works best for them largely through
trial and error. After a while there is a system that will begin to work.
The point of this article
is to present ideas about the things required for a successful business
that will encourage you to find what works for you. This won’t be
a “plan” in the traditional sense that goals are stated and
periodic checks are made to see how closely one is following their plan.
Rather, we try to show some elements of successful businesses that may
be needed in your business. Every situation doesn’t require all of
these. A few of these ideas and tools are things I have used, others are
from business articles and books. Some carry a cost; in these cases I
assure you I have no personal financial interest (even if I should have
an affiliate relationship with a provider the link I give you is not mine).
Here is a system you can develop and follow on your own path to entrepreneurial
success.
Develop a total positive
attitude, not only about your business, but about life in general. Escape
from any thinking that has “can’t” in it. I believe in
luck and that it can often be changed or developed. Read The
Luck Factor and Create
Your Own Luck; use as many of these ideas as may be practical
for you, believe in them, and your life will become better in amazing
ways. My own salvation is realizing how lucky I have been in surviving
a period of serious illness, financial distress, and personal disappointment.
There are things I can’t influence in any way; instead of wasting
energy worrying about them, I just say to myself, “I’m the luckiest
man alive; never let me forget it.” If you will trust and believe
in your luck, I guarantee something like that will work for you.
Decide to develop your
own business because you want to control your own life and provide products
and services that will benefit others as well as provide income for you.
Believe your products will help others in some way.
Your first action should
be to determine exactly what you want to do; no matter how lucrative and
exciting a business may be, if you aren’t completely absorbed by
it you will be less than successful. It must involve activities you can
perform and that make you feel comfortable. If you are ill-at-ease selling
face-to-face, stay clear of any direct selling business where you knock
on doors or conduct meetings. You won’t do something you don’t
like. Stay positive and find something you like; there are many opportunities
out there. Yours will turn up if you look in the right places.
The first place to look
is a search engine like Google. Search terms like “home based business
opportunities” will turn up more sites than you can imagine. I’ll
list only three of the top ranked sites on page one:
NOTE: As you search
for home based businesses, you will see, as mentioned earlier, SFI and
IAHBE are frequently mentioned on many of these pages. The lesson? Don’t
overlook the diamonds in your own jewelry box (meaning you are already
involved in a very popular business).
When you visit sites
looking for business ideas, be aware that many are possibly scams of some
kind, get-rich-quick schemes, illegal pyramids, or ideas that just won’t
work. This should not be discouraging; all these problems exist everywhere
in the real world and you always need to recognize them. You need to set
aside enough time to thoroughly search the internet, home business magazines,
and any other source of information to find the best fit for you. All
the while you are doing this you should also be doing your “due diligence”
investigation of each opportunity. If possible check with others in the
business and the Better
Business Bureau. Then enter the company name in Google and see what
comes up; there will likely be a number of other business owners, but
what you are looking for are any derogatory reports. Read them carefully;
some people will trash an opportunity simply because they failed for some
reason. If there are a lot of complaints, be careful. One or two may not
mean anything.
Look for a business
idea that interests you. The more interested you are the more likely you
will be successful. If you have hobbies, you may find some aspect of your
hobby that is a business opportunity like supplies, training, selling
your own products or those of others. This is an example of a business
that could be conducted using Ebay. An excellent business to find is one
that features consumable products or services so you will have a continuing
income from satisfied customers.
Be sure you look for businesses that require you to do things you are willing to do. If you dislike face-to-face activities, investigate programs you can do entirely using the Internet or snail mail. If you have high moral values, stay away from gambling and adult enterprises. There are enough businesses so you will be able to find one comfortable for you.
When you see something
of interest, your first action is to find how you are paid for your efforts.
Be sure you understand everything about any pay plan or how you will collect
money if you have to do this. The importance of pay cannot be understated.
Income is a main reason you are planning to become an entrepreneur, and
you should thoroughly understand every aspect of the income issue.
As soon as you determine
what it is you want to do, proceed to get started before you forget everything
you have learned and lose your focus.
Part of starting is
a simple plan outlining things you must do. You will see many articles,
books, and courses detailing intricate business plans. These are great
if you have the time and manpower to do this. Sometimes they are required
to obtain financing from various lending institutions. But most small
businesses don’t have time for this (there’s only one of you)
and all you really need is some estimate of the money required and its
sources, what business tools you need, and a basic way to promote your
business (marketing plan). You should include some time estimates for
when you expect to accomplish required tasks and when your income will
begin.
Your initial marketing
plan needs to be simple and its original purpose is to do the research
to see if your business is something people want and will buy with their
hard-earned money. Use the search engines to see what you can find about
the products or services you are planning to promote. For example, search
for Veriuni or IAHBE on Google and you will see a lot of websites promoting
these. That’s fine; it means they are probably popular products in
demand by others. You can learn a lot about marketing and information
sources here
( HYPERLINK ") and here.
Much market research is expensive so you need to look for as much free
information as you can find. One of the best places for extensive freely
available data is FirstGov.gov.
Other simple uses of
marketing information will be discussed in my next article entitled “Use
These Simple Tools To Make Your Home Based Business Work.”
Do the things you must
to succeed because you will be helping others as you help yourself. Spend
as much money as you can afford on effective business tools and stay focused
on them without jumping from one thing to another. There is never enough
time; as with money, allocate enough time to establish your business.
With a little creative effort, you can work around a job, children, school
and everything else that places demands on you. View any lack of early
success as a learning period where you are finding what works for you
so that you will have a solid base when your business begins to really
expand. Without a good foundation, many entrepreneurs become overwhelmed
when success begins to rush. Always remain focused on your objective:
YOUR SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS.
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