Each step by itself is merely a tool, but collectively they provide an entrepreneurial blueprint for starting a successful new venture. No matter what your business, conquering these ten steps will increase your odds for success. However, these steps are not easy nor simple. Each level involves a tremendous amount of effort and a lot of street smarts to work effectively. Similar to playing a video game, you should master each level before moving on to the next one.
Here are the ten steps:
Develop your personal and company goals. New business success requires a combination of knowing what you are doing and capitalizing on a good opportunity. Develop and clearly state your goals in a written plan, which will then serve as your road map. They give you a sense of direction and help you get to your destination, a successful business of your own, with a minimum of time, effort, and expense.
Define a viable market segment for your product or service. The next step in starting a new venture begins with listening to the marketplace. Define an unmet consumer need first, before you develop a product to satisfy that need. Regardless of how astute you may be in business, if the market isn't there to support you, then you cannot expect to go very far. However, the majority of entrepreneurs first come up with a product they think is "hot" before determining the existence of sufficient demand for the product. You may have the most exciting product in the world, and people might think that it's the most interesting thing they've seen in a decade, but if you can sell only a handful (to your immediate family and in-laws), you are probably doomed to failure. In order to verify that there is a need for your product, you must test the market by conducting a variety of market research.
Develop your marketing plan. The purpose of the marketing plan is to describe how you will attempt to create and maintain customers for a profit. It needs to state whom you are going to sell to, how you are going to penetrate the market, why you will be successful with your sales campaigns, and finally, how much you will sell annually over the next five years. The marketing plan will ultimately become an integral part of your overall business plan, but it must be completed first.
Write your initial version of the business plan. Your business plan must reflect the unique environment you will be operating in as well as what you plan to be your competitive advantage. It is an outline of the direction in which you plan to take your company, an analysis of your business strengths and weaknesses, and a skeleton from which your formal business plan will later be developed. It will assist you in securing the key people you need, and it will also help you to begin developing your financial projections.
Determine your financing needs. Once you have developed a rough business plan, you can begin to determine your financing needs, which will be incorporated into your formal business plan. Your marketing analysis leads to sales forecasts, which determine your staffing level, which defines your operating budget, from which you can generate pro formas (financial projections) and determine your projected cash flow.
Form your key teams: founders, management, and directors. Before developing your formal business plan, you must make sure you have put together a solid management team. If there are any holes in your team at this point, they should be filled. The rough business plan you developed in Level IV should help you to attract top talent to your company. In addition, it will help you to build a strong board of directors or board of advisors.
Finalize your financing needs and create your formal business plan. Starting with the rough business plan, put together a full-fledged formal business plan. A business plan should convincingly demonstrate that your business can sell enough of its product or service to make a satisfactory profit and be attractive to potential backers. This is the document you will use to secure the financing you need to get your business off the ground. It will also serve as an operating manual for your business once it's been funded.
Develop a marketing strategy to obtain financing for your company. I'm not talking here about the marketing strategy to sell your product or service, but a strategy to sell yourself and your company to financiers in order to raise the capital that your business needs.
Market your plan successfully, attracting capital on your terms. Once you've developed a strategy for approaching financing sources, you must make use of the negotiating tools that will give you an inside edge on the competition and enable you to attract capital on your terms rather than just on your investors'.
Market your product/service and manage your business to achieve your goals. The last step in the process involves the ongoing management and marketing of your business. Getting a company started is only half the battle. Once you're in business, you will need strong management tools and marketing skills in order to make sure you stay in business.
Each step, executed in order, builds a solid foundation for the steps that follow. By progressing in this manner, rather than using the typical haphazard approach, you begin to gain the needed experience.
Monday 24 December 2007
10 Power Steps to Small Business Success
Tuesday 18 December 2007
How To Make 40 000$ With Your Forum
I sold my forum last week on Sitepoint. Although meant to be a 7-day auction, I received a BIN within 12 hours of the ad. This sale had special meaning because it was the last of my 'old' websites.
I remember starting off as a total newbie at Namepros back in late 2005, trying to make money with domain names. After a month, I knew it wasn't going to happen so I downloaded Coppermine and started my first website providing desktop wallpapers. I signed-up for Adsense and, unknowingly, optimized the site for a popular keyword.
The site was sold within two months for $6,500.
I learnt two important lessons:
1) it's not that difficult to make money from websites
2) SEO is important
So I spent the next months learning online marketing, basic web design (still using a GUI editor today), and the types of websites that make money (For Sale forums are a great place to start).
Approximately two years later, I've made $100,000 from my websites and I'm also an SEO/Internet Marketing consultant, with SME clients in Singapore to NYSE-listed MNCs. Not bad for someone with no formal training (civil engineer btw) eh?
The last straw was when I found out that I was going to be a father. And so I listed the forum for sale at SitePoint on Monday, usually not my favourite place because you had to pay US$25 for a standard listing.
The forum was listed close to midnight and by morning, I got a bucket load of private messages and a couple of solid bids - the highest offer was $36,000. It was less than what the magazine would’ve offered but still a considerable amount.
The bad news was my forum members got wind of the sale and I had to close the deal quickly, and let the new owners announce their plans so as to minimize the anxiety. By 12pm, the forum was sold and paid for.
So for all the newbies out there making $10 a month, my advice is to have faith in yourself and be patient because everything's possible.
http://www.larrylim.net/seo-online-marketing/
finally-sold-the-forum-3rd-and-final-part/95/
__________________
Thursday 13 December 2007
The Shoestring Millionaires Business Story
http://www.pfyc.com
After eight years of working for others-after he'd owned his own business-Michael Lewis got the inspiration to start PFYC.com. The car enthusiast had been chatting on a Pontiac Grand Prix community Web site when he met Brian Marks, 28, and the two commiserated about the difficulty of finding specialty car parts. Both had jobs in the tech industry at the time, yet they wanted to launch a Web site to meet car hobbyists' needs. Says Lewis, 42, "We had this idea we could do this with little risk because we could use the Internet as our catalog."
The partners started part time out of their homes-with Lewis in Sammamish, Washington, and Marks in Raleigh, North Carolina. "We didn't even meet until we'd been working together for three months," says Lewis. Their earliest expenses were $55 per month for Web hosting and application fees for the Internet transactions and merchant bank account. To save money, they didn't stock inventory at first, but relied on drop-shipping from vendors instead.
In 1999, Lewis quit his job to devote himself full time to the growing venture; Marks quit his job in 2000 and still resides in North Carolina. Lewis credits outsourcing with keeping overhead low-even today, with sales in the millions, they outsource warehousing, distribution and shipping. "As much as you want to start with $2 million in capital, keep the day job, and get your toes wet," says Lewis. "Learn when the consequences aren't so high."
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A Brilliant Twist On A Selfstorage Idea
http://www.garderobeonline.com/
Kim Akhtar was a typical new yorker with a typical problem--too little closet space for all her clothing. "I've lived in New York for 20 years," she says. "You're always complaining about space." She knew her predicament was not unique--plenty of professionals and fashionistas have more designer clothes than closet space. Tired of the massive effort it took each year to switch her closet from spring to winter and store her off-season clothes with the local dry cleaner, Akhtar wanted a readily accessible place where she could store her things and keep them in good condition.
Out of that desire, Garde Robe was born. Akhtar, invested nearly $200,000 of her own money into the idea, rented a Tribeca loft and began to market her clothing storage service. For $225 per month, Garde Robe will photograph, catalog and store clothing and accessories for clients ranging from professionals and socialites to celebrities. A few clients even live outside New York but require storage in New York City for business trips. Akhtar modeled her service after that of a concierge--available 24/7, clothes are delivered to a client's home or hotel room in Manhattan in 90 minutes or less.
In addition to clothing storage, Akhtar provides each of her 35 clients with a leather-bound catalog of his or her wardrobe as well as a secure online clothing portfolio. Akhtar completes the service with wardrobe and image consulting as well as seamstress and repair services. "We don't like to market it as a luxury," says Akhtar, whose sales are currently in the six figures. "For New Yorkers, it's a practical service. We're offering them extra space in their own homes."
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Making Cash With Napkin Crazy Ads
Making Cash With Napkin Ads
http://www.napads.com/
NapAd, which just launched this fall, uses what it calls high-definition napkins to bring marketers' messages directly into the hands of urban consumers when they're relaxed and uninterrupted by other media. The photorealistic, 5-by-5-inch cocktail napkins are distributed free to NapAd's network of bars, nightclubs and lounges; in exchange, the venues serve them with drinks to their patrons, who can then be exposed to the messages printed on them for hours at a time.
Targeting is customizable within NapAd's network, so that if an advertiser wants to reach males aged 18 to 34 in Garden City, Kansas, for example, NapAd might tap into a network of sports bars in the area. The company is currently focusing its program on Manhattan, but it's planning to add five more markets in 2008 and can serve areas requested by clients as well. A typical New York City campaign with 1 million NapAds starts at about USD 27,500.
NapAds is part of Maryland-based guerilla marketing firm JI Worldwide, which was founded by 28-year-old Jay Jaber, a finalist in the 2007 Wall Street Journal’s Creative Leaders Challenge. The company (which also sells its napkins under the name HDN—High Definition Napkin) is now seeking distribution partnerships with major airlines, cruise ships, bars and lounges, and is also interested in hearing about other collaborative opportunities, Jaber says. It's a big world out there—so many bars, so many patrons, so little time… ;-)
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Wednesday 12 December 2007
Why Elizabeth Elting`s Business Started With A Credit Card Got To $25 Million In Annual Sales
http://www.transperfect.com/
Right after receiving her MBA, Elizabeth Elting was ready to put it to use. With experience at a translation company, Elting saw a need for a one-stop translation service in the fragmented industry. After teaming up with fellow MBA student Phil Shawe, Elting started TransPerfect Translations with a $5,000 advance on her credit card. Shawe's college dorm room became TransPerfect Translations' office, and they bought a phone line, a fax machine and office supplies, and they rented a computer. Though the partners focused on marketing in the beginning, their material was minimal and inexpensive.
With no full-time employees for the first 18 months of business, Elting and Shawe handled all aspects of the company except for linguistics, for which they hired freelancers. Taking no real salary in the first year, the founders took only what was necessary to cover their rent, reaching sales of $250,000.
Now as one of the top five translation companies worldwide, TransPerfect Translations has evolved from Shawe's dorm room to 19 offices on three continents and now includes a network of 4,000 freelancers. The firm specializes in the finance, pharmaceutical and legal industries and is also the world's largest legal translation company.
With projected sales of $25 million a year, Elting, 37, and Shawe, 34, now have a small staff to help out with TransPerfect Translations' daily operations, but they continue to run lean in order to ensure profitability and reinvestment. "That's the culture of our company," explains Elting. "We're very much focused on making sure we have money before we spend it, so we never have to lay off people." In any language, that translates to success.
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Why Lindsay Cain's Is Making $700,000 A Year With Customers Design Their Own Jewelry
http://www.femmegems.com
Nothing can take away the glow a woman gets when she sees that perfect piece of jewelry-nothing except for an exorbitant price tag, that is. But when customers come to Lindsay Cain's Femmegems store, they're able to bring in pictures of exquisite designer pieces and replicate them at a fraction of the original cost.
Initially, Cain designed and sold jewelry herself, but this 29-year-old found her niche when she realized that other women not only liked to design their own jewelry, but also enjoyed emulating the jeweled adornments they'd see in fancy, high-end department stores. "They'll come from [the department store] across the street and design a piece like the one they just saw," explains Cain, who offers her patrons a wide selection of semiprecious gems. "People feel the value they're getting."
With her Femmegems idea in mind, Cain went hunting for retail space in New York City's NoLIta neighborhood. After finding the perfect location, Cain opened her store's doors in November 2002, and just six weeks later, the store was featured in an article in the "Style" section of The New York Times.
The resulting business kept Cain and her staff busy for weeks-and even garnered attention from buyers at upscale department store Henri Bendel who asked Cain to open a similar setup in one of their boutiques. Now with two locations, Cain expects about $700,000 in sales this year.
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Why Jason Engen made $2 Million From College Interns
http://www.corporateinterns.com/
When Jason Engen was an undergraduate student at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, he and his friends knew the challenges students faced in finding worthwhile internships. So for one of his business classes, Engen wrote a business plan detailing a concept for an internship placement service--one that would interview and screen students and match them with local companies that needed interns. "We hit a nerve in terms of the marketplace and focused 100 percent of our efforts on students," says Engen. "We started a week after we graduated, and it took off."
Still, it wasn't easy to peddle the service to local firms in the beginning. For one thing, it was a challenge to uncover how different companies structured their internship programs and how Engen and his partners could sell their service to these firms. "I don't think we were approaching companies the right way," says Engen. But as he began to spend more time learning about the companies' needs, he felt more confident in selling his service. "It's win-win," he explains. "The student gets the experience, and the company gets eager talent."
The real success came in carving out a niche--Corporate Interns Inc. specializes in placing interns only--so the company doesn't compete directly with large staffing firms. "Specialization is important," says Engen. "You have to stay focused on that niche." Especially when that specialization propels you to $2 million in yearly sales.
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$100 Million Selling Other Peoples Stuff On eBay-Effective Business Idea
http://www.i-soldit.com
It's no secret--eBay has become tremendously popular, and strategically positioned right alongside the world-famous online auction site is eBay drop-off store iSold It LLC. Elise Wetzel and her husband, Rick, founded the Pasadena, California, business in December 2003 and started offering franchises just a few months later. They have already sold more than 800 units and expect 2006 gross sales to exceed $100 million. The numbers speak volumes; their story explains how they did it.
Elise was trying to raise money for her children's school by selling items on eBay when she was struck by what she calls "the big aha!" She had been buying on eBay for years, but soon realized that the process of selling an item was much more complex than buying. So she went in search of a business that would sell merchandise for her. When she came to a dead end, she knew she had stumbled on something big.
Selling other people's secondhand items for a fee is a golden idea with endless potential, but how this husband-and-wife team is managing the company's growth is what landed them on this year's Hot 100 list. Aware that the business could take off if given the chance, they knew when to step aside and pull in outside resources.
"We needed somebody who knew how to run this business at the speed it could run at," explains Rick, 47, who already had extensive franchising experience as the founder of fast-growing pretzel franchise Wetzel's Pretzels. "You have to set your ego aside. It was challenging to sit there and say, 'This is too big for me; we need a stronger team.'"
Rick singled out Ken Sully, former executive vice president of Mail Boxes Etc., for his impressive track record of building solid company infrastructures. Rick brought Sully onboard as iSold It's CEO in 2004. Thanks to this decision, the operation is running at top speed. A complex coding system for the stores is in place, and the build-out of each location is impressively standardized, enabling a store to be installed and set up in a mere 48 hours.
The company continues to grow strong with 3,000 franchise applications flooding in every month and recent international expansion to Australia, Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom. The future promises limitless opportunities, and the Wetzels are ready for it. "We've created this brick-and-mortar interface to the internet," says Elise, 40. "E-commerce will continue to evolve, and I think our stores are in an excellent position to capitalize on that."
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