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Actual for You - 10 Incredibly important business basics EVERYONE needs to know BEFORE they start a business!
I remember moving my family to Argentina as Vice President of Sales for Latin America. I was in charge of managing five regional offices, Argentina of course being one of them.In the company’s ten year history of selling into Latin America it had never exceeded $14 million (M) in annual sales. The Argentina office itself had never produced more than $400 thousand (K) in sales. My task was to increase the sales locally in Argentina, but more importantly throughout Latin America.I remember sitting in my office one day, looking out the window and wondering, “How the heck am I going to grow this business with problems in Mexico, Brazil, Puerto Rico and other hot spots? “How can I grow t
9. Work WITHIN your budget - never above it. It is disastrous to think "Oh we'll get more money in, it'll be right, or oh such as such is expected to pay this month" etc - it won't be - be conservative in your spend otherwise you will go under before you can blink! Don't sign leases or contracts on anything based on a projected income - you're playing with fire and you'll be busy enough without the stress and pressure of this to add to your lot.
10. Outsource what you're not good at or don't like. I'll admit it I do not enjoy any form of admin - yet I'm a perfectionist and need everything to be systemised so it frees me up to be creative. So instead of learning how to do accounts in MYOB and instead of procra
Did you notice the title for this article? Of course you did and that is why you clicked to read this article. As legendary advertising guru David Ogilvy said in his book, Confessions of an Advertising Man, “The wickedest of all sins is to run an advertisement without a headline.”Yes, it is true that the most important tool in print advertising is the headline, be it for a space advertisement, a website, a sales letter, a billboard, or a press release. Headlines are the difference between success and failure in advertising.In print advertising, the headline is so important that it is considered to be 80% of the power of an ad. The reason for this is that five times as many peopl
1. Don't waste your dollars on things you don't need. This alone is one of the biggest reasons people go under. You simply won't need expensive office equipment, computers, phone systems etc when starting out. You'll be surprised at how well a computer of 2 years will perform in caparison to one that's brand new for triple the price! Be real with your $$$$. The basic here is that if it's not going to make money for you, build or protect your business then simply AND quickly look/walk away so you're not tempted to buy it - extravagance has no place when your starting a business on a budget. If you've got hundreds of thousands to splurge though, forget all of the above and go to point 2!
2. Develop a plan of where you wish for you AND your business to be this time next year. You will need to think about such things as a basic marketing plan to so you know what marketing you need to do to achieve that outcome. Starting and building a business is like building a house without the framework it's bound to crumble. Think of your business plan as your roadmap - without it you don't know where you're headed or how to get there. So take a couple of hours and give it some consideration, if you're serious about developing a successful business then I'm sure you can get serious enough to schedule some time in to do it.
3. Ask and get advise - this is huge! This one factor if not done or acted upon can send you under in a quick way! Ask professionals for help and guidance, they will steer you clear of known traps that you just won't know about starting out (I've learnt this one the hard way!). You don't need to be a hero and do everything, and think of everything, yourself. Hate to tell you this but, when you start out you DON'T know everything ok - so don't embarrass yourself by thinking you do, as the only one you'll fool will be yourself(indeed years down the track I'm still learning something everyday)
4. Make sure your business look is congruent. Have a business name that explains what you do so you're customers are buying or dealing from you rather than trying to figure out what you do. BEFORE you register the name, check that you can also get the website domain for it too. It's a real inconvenience and creates dramas for your customer AND you having to explain it to everyone! Colours, style etc need to be the same throughout your website, stationary, business cards etc
5. Hire right - if you are in the retail sector than hire a people person with personality plus over someone with the skills - you can teach practical skills such as taking money etc - but you can't teach people skills. If you need someone for accounts or admin where they aren't dealing with your customers then obviously the skills are more important.
6. Base your business on how you can add value to your customers. You'd be surprised how your business it will grow by suiting the needs of your 'ideal' client AND looking after them each and every time.
7. Know, understand and keep in contact with clients you WANT to deal with - it will not only make business more pleasurable for you and the clients will love dealing with you as you're always happy etc too - happy clients, more business, more referrals, less money spent on advertising and marketing!
8. Get organised - for goodness sake, NO ONE enjoys being stuffed around by someone always giving excuses for their mess, un-organisation, forgetting to follow through, not implementing, lack of communication, being late etc etc etc - get yourself some solid an effective systems to back you up in business so you can do it right EVERY time.
9. Work WITHIN your budget - never above it. It is disastrous to think "Oh we'll get more money in, it'll be right, or oh such as such is expected to pay this month" etc - it won't be - be conservative in your spend otherwise you will go under before you can blink! Don't sign leases or contracts on anything based on a projected income - you're playing with fire and you'll be busy enough without the stress and pressure of this to add to your lot.
10. Outsource what you're not good at or don't like. I'll admit it I do not enjoy any form of admin - yet I'm a perfectionist and need everything to be systemised so it frees me up to be creative. So instead of learning how to do accounts in MYOB and instead of procras
I walked into the office of my Chiropractor/Acupuncturist and signed in. There on the desk were three pens. One looked like a syringe, another was a crooked pen and the third looked like a bone."What are these," I asked, knowing full well they were pens."They're pens," the doctor replied. "I'm trying to decide which one to promote my practice with. What do you think?"It took me a minute to respond. I was dismayed that someone was trying to sell him such clich?' ideas. Who ever this someone was, had little understanding of the good doctor or his practice. I was also a little irritated that he hadn't called me in the first place."Let me guess," I said, holding up the syringe
2. Develop a plan of where you wish for you AND your business to be this time next year. You will need to think about such things as a basic marketing plan to so you know what marketing you need to do to achieve that outcome. Starting and building a business is like building a house without the framework it's bound to crumble. Think of your business plan as your roadmap - without it you don't know where you're headed or how to get there. So take a couple of hours and give it some consideration, if you're serious about developing a successful business then I'm sure you can get serious enough to schedule some time in to do it.
3. Ask and get advise - this is huge! This one factor if not done or acted upon can send you under in a quick way! Ask professionals for help and guidance, they will steer you clear of known traps that you just won't know about starting out (I've learnt this one the hard way!). You don't need to be a hero and do everything, and think of everything, yourself. Hate to tell you this but, when you start out you DON'T know everything ok - so don't embarrass yourself by thinking you do, as the only one you'll fool will be yourself(indeed years down the track I'm still learning something everyday)
4. Make sure your business look is congruent. Have a business name that explains what you do so you're customers are buying or dealing from you rather than trying to figure out what you do. BEFORE you register the name, check that you can also get the website domain for it too. It's a real inconvenience and creates dramas for your customer AND you having to explain it to everyone! Colours, style etc need to be the same throughout your website, stationary, business cards etc
5. Hire right - if you are in the retail sector than hire a people person with personality plus over someone with the skills - you can teach practical skills such as taking money etc - but you can't teach people skills. If you need someone for accounts or admin where they aren't dealing with your customers then obviously the skills are more important.
6. Base your business on how you can add value to your customers. You'd be surprised how your business it will grow by suiting the needs of your 'ideal' client AND looking after them each and every time.
7. Know, understand and keep in contact with clients you WANT to deal with - it will not only make business more pleasurable for you and the clients will love dealing with you as you're always happy etc too - happy clients, more business, more referrals, less money spent on advertising and marketing!
8. Get organised - for goodness sake, NO ONE enjoys being stuffed around by someone always giving excuses for their mess, un-organisation, forgetting to follow through, not implementing, lack of communication, being late etc etc etc - get yourself some solid an effective systems to back you up in business so you can do it right EVERY time.
9. Work WITHIN your budget - never above it. It is disastrous to think "Oh we'll get more money in, it'll be right, or oh such as such is expected to pay this month" etc - it won't be - be conservative in your spend otherwise you will go under before you can blink! Don't sign leases or contracts on anything based on a projected income - you're playing with fire and you'll be busy enough without the stress and pressure of this to add to your lot.
10. Outsource what you're not good at or don't like. I'll admit it I do not enjoy any form of admin - yet I'm a perfectionist and need everything to be systemised so it frees me up to be creative. So instead of learning how to do accounts in MYOB and instead of procra
When sports franchise executives convene in virtual boardrooms to discuss corporate sponsorship packages, the conventional dialogue revolves around quantity, not quality. Ironically, the teams who stand to benefit the most have a propensity to persevere the least in terms of maximizing added value for clients. Large-market franchises are routinely inundated with countless requests for sponsorships, but they fail to satisfy existing clients.While sports executives undermine the saliency of giving sponsors the biggest bang for their buck, corporate constituencies are noticeably restless toward the diminishing marginal returns vis-?-vis stadium signs, promotional events and media advertising.
4. Make sure your business look is congruent. Have a business name that explains what you do so you're customers are buying or dealing from you rather than trying to figure out what you do. BEFORE you register the name, check that you can also get the website domain for it too. It's a real inconvenience and creates dramas for your customer AND you having to explain it to everyone! Colours, style etc need to be the same throughout your website, stationary, business cards etc
5. Hire right - if you are in the retail sector than hire a people person with personality plus over someone with the skills - you can teach practical skills such as taking money etc - but you can't teach people skills. If you need someone for accounts or admin where they aren't dealing with your customers then obviously the skills are more important.
6. Base your business on how you can add value to your customers. You'd be surprised how your business it will grow by suiting the needs of your 'ideal' client AND looking after them each and every time.
7. Know, understand and keep in contact with clients you WANT to deal with - it will not only make business more pleasurable for you and the clients will love dealing with you as you're always happy etc too - happy clients, more business, more referrals, less money spent on advertising and marketing!
8. Get organised - for goodness sake, NO ONE enjoys being stuffed around by someone always giving excuses for their mess, un-organisation, forgetting to follow through, not implementing, lack of communication, being late etc etc etc - get yourself some solid an effective systems to back you up in business so you can do it right EVERY time.
9. Work WITHIN your budget - never above it. It is disastrous to think "Oh we'll get more money in, it'll be right, or oh such as such is expected to pay this month" etc - it won't be - be conservative in your spend otherwise you will go under before you can blink! Don't sign leases or contracts on anything based on a projected income - you're playing with fire and you'll be busy enough without the stress and pressure of this to add to your lot.
10. Outsource what you're not good at or don't like. I'll admit it I do not enjoy any form of admin - yet I'm a perfectionist and need everything to be systemised so it frees me up to be creative. So instead of learning how to do accounts in MYOB and instead of procra
Are you looking for a new job? You may want to be hired as quickly as possible. In this case, you should be prepared to answer properly, correctly, and intellectually all the questions that may be asked in the interview.Interviews could be the most stressful part in your job application. For most job seekers who have encountered many grueling job interviews, the best way to lessen the stress is for you to be prepared and confident.One way to be prepared for your job interview is to research and think of the possible questions that will be asked. You should review the common questions that are most likely brought up during your job interviews. It is also advisable that you research about
6. Base your business on how you can add value to your customers. You'd be surprised how your business it will grow by suiting the needs of your 'ideal' client AND looking after them each and every time.
7. Know, understand and keep in contact with clients you WANT to deal with - it will not only make business more pleasurable for you and the clients will love dealing with you as you're always happy etc too - happy clients, more business, more referrals, less money spent on advertising and marketing!
8. Get organised - for goodness sake, NO ONE enjoys being stuffed around by someone always giving excuses for their mess, un-organisation, forgetting to follow through, not implementing, lack of communication, being late etc etc etc - get yourself some solid an effective systems to back you up in business so you can do it right EVERY time.
9. Work WITHIN your budget - never above it. It is disastrous to think "Oh we'll get more money in, it'll be right, or oh such as such is expected to pay this month" etc - it won't be - be conservative in your spend otherwise you will go under before you can blink! Don't sign leases or contracts on anything based on a projected income - you're playing with fire and you'll be busy enough without the stress and pressure of this to add to your lot.
10. Outsource what you're not good at or don't like. I'll admit it I do not enjoy any form of admin - yet I'm a perfectionist and need everything to be systemised so it frees me up to be creative. So instead of learning how to do accounts in MYOB and instead of procra
When you’re watching a toddler learn to walk and she falls, you don’t wonder if she should quit trying to walk. Instead you know she is on a learning curve. Innovation requires experimentation. And experimentation requires a mindset focused more on learning than on getting it right.Key elements of that mindset?-- When something doesn’t come out the way you planned, it’s not a failure; it’s an opportunity to learn what doesn’t work. Just like that toddler learning to walk.-- Focus on relationships as a context for learning. If others are involved in the experiment in some way, make a connection with them. When we feel connected to someone, we are less likely to punish a “mis
9. Work WITHIN your budget - never above it. It is disastrous to think "Oh we'll get more money in, it'll be right, or oh such as such is expected to pay this month" etc - it won't be - be conservative in your spend otherwise you will go under before you can blink! Don't sign leases or contracts on anything based on a projected income - you're playing with fire and you'll be busy enough without the stress and pressure of this to add to your lot.
10. Outsource what you're not good at or don't like. I'll admit it I do not enjoy any form of admin - yet I'm a perfectionist and need everything to be systemised so it frees me up to be creative. So instead of learning how to do accounts in MYOB and instead of procrastinating for days on filing etc (after I gave both a go time and again) it was easier, quicker and more productive for me and my business to outsource it to someone who WAS passionate about doing it. Not only do they do it in a fraction of the time - but they do it well because they love doing it!
Of course I could easily keep going on - there's always something you learn in business - however I'm sure these 10 will give you a great place to start...
And one more thing ENJOY what you're doing - if you're not, you're definitely in the wrong game and now is a good time to change careers!
Abundant Success To You!
Rachael Bermingham
http://www.marketingtosuccess.com
http://globalsuccesscommunity.com
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