StartUp Growth Expert

7 Critical Mistakes made by Entrepreneurs that Lead to Business Failure

Vinil Ramdev — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 07:39:41 +0000

1. No focus
This is a very common mistake among first time entrepreneurs. They try 100s of things without trying to focus on one thing at a time. Many entrepreneurs start more than one business at the same time. This is a big mistake. Focus on one business at a time.

2. Failure of the entrepreneur to understand financial statements
Accounting is the language of business. If you can’t speak it, you’ve got to learn it. There is no easy way out. Buying at $ 10 and selling at $ 8 is just not good business.

3. Not having a target market
Some famous marketer said “if your target market is everybody then your target market is nobody.” It’s hard if not impossible to please everybody. It’s important to serve a group of people who have similar characteristics. This group with similar characteristics that you are going after is your target market.

4. Not having a business plan
A business plan helps you evaluate every aspect of your business in an organized manner. Research has time and again proven that businesses with business plans have done much better than businesses without business plans.

5. No written goals
Having written goals that are measurable and have deadlines are more crucial than they sound. Having written goals gives the business direction. Your business goals have to fulfill your personal goals. Remember, the business is there to serve you and not the other way around.

6. Not adequately financed
Many entrepreneurs underestimate the amount of capital that is required. They wake up one day and realize that they’ve run out of money.

7. Choosing the wrong business
Even if you do the above things right, if you choose a business that is not right for you – a business that doesn’t leverage on your skills, a business that you are not really proud to own, something you are just not passionate about, then you are going to struggle.

You’ve got to ask yourself the question “Am I going to have fun running this business for the next 10 years?” If the answer is “No” then find something else. The trick to choosing the right business is not just to find a business that makes you money, but to also find something you love and something you will have fun doing. Check out our article “How To Choose A Business That Is Right For You.”

About the author

Vinil Ramdev is an entrepreneur, speaker and author of several ebooks. He is founder of StartUpGrowthExpert.com – An Online Magazine For Entrepreneurs who want to start and grow extraordinary businesses.

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Do You Need To Market Yourself Along With Your Business?

Bob Urichuck — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:29:06 +0000

You may have a Business Marketing Plan, but do you have a Personal Marketing Plan?

How does your market perceive your business? How does your market perceive you? How would you like them to perceive your business, and you? What are you doing about it?

Keep in mind that your market is what makes your living. You have to react to their needs and desires.

So how are you positioned in your market? Are you getting the respect you deserve or are you just like the rest of them? In order to stand out of the crowd you have to create you own personal marketing program. I am not talking about the marketing program created by or for your organization, I am talking about a personal marketing program – one built by you for you.

One of the greatest opportunities we have in business, and in sales, is to develop our reputation and to build our network. Some of us are even paid to do just that.

With or without a sale, each and every day we are building, or destroying, our reputation and our network. The key is to build that reputation and network through a personal marketing program.

People buy from people, particularly people they like. A personal marketing program will separate you from everyone else. You can position yourself as the leader in the field with the most credibility and respect, if you are willing to go the extra mile. The extra mile is simply giving more of your expertise in a manner that is valued.

An entrepreneur wonders "How do I define my market?"

But first take the time to define your market; Who are they, what do they look like, where are they located, what are their problems, their needs and desires? Describe your ideal prospect – Profile them. What are their likes and dislikes? How do you market to them? How do you meet them? How do you start and maintain a relationship?

Your marketing department probably already asked the above questions, but you need to answer them for yourself based on your knowledge. You are the product or service now and you need your own marketing program. People buy whatever you have to sell because of who you are.

How will you position yourself in the market place – your territory or your accounts?

There are some simple and obvious ways to position yourself for success in your personal marketing program. For example, you can identify the associations that your market gets involved in and you too can get actively involved in a leadership or executive role within that association. I have even gone as far as being a founding president of an association chapter.

If it is credibility that you need, consider writing a newsletter, articles or tip sheets for local newspapers or magazines on a regular basis or share your expertise through public speaking. I do both of these on a regular basis.

I have articles that have been published worldwide with my photo and contact information. In addition, every time I speak I get more leads for speaking, sales training and education materials. The more articles that I write and the more I speak, the more I sell. Think of what would happen to your sales if you publicly shared your information in a passionate and sincere way.

The objective behind your personal marketing plan is to position yourself as an expert in your field. As someone who is known, recognized and networked.

With a good personal marketing plan you will be referred and chased through word of mouth as opposed to chasing. But you must also keep your network in mind and continuously recognize and reward them for their positive behaviour. You should even create a win-win referral system as part of your plan.

About the author

Bob Urichuck is a certified social entrepreneur, a catalyst for constant improvement and a cultivator of human potential.Visit www.BobU.com to download your complimentary White Paper “The New Economy of Buyers, Why Traditional and Consultative Selling Methods No Longer Work”Sales Velocity. Your Bottom Line. Our Passion.

Customize Your Sales Training Program According To The Needs Of Your Organization. Check Out Our Sales Training Program. Click Here To Learn More.

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What’s The Life Line To Your Bottom Line In Today’s Economy?

Bob Urichuck — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 15:02:58 +0000

Sales is the Life Line to Your Bottom Line in Today’s New Economy of Buyers?

You must appreciate that sales revenue is the life line to your bottom line. Without buyers, there are no sales. Without sales, there are no revenues. The world revolves around sales, but more importantly, it now needs to revolve around buyers. Buyers are everywhere. What are you doing to help them buy?

The economy brought on a shift from selling during the boom times to attracting, engaging and empowering the new economy of buyers to buy.

Traditional and consultative sales methods no longer work. The sales cycle is longer than need be and the margins are dropping.

Buyers have been educated by sales people regarding all imaginable sales techniques. Unfortunately, salespeople don’t even realize they have lost control.

Sales people also need to change the way they are selling. The traditional dog-and-pony show, or feature and benefit dump will no longer work.

Clients, in today’s new economy, are looking for salespeople who bring them value. They want sales people who take the time to truly understand a client’s business and needs.

Clients appreciate salespeople who ask pertinent questions and listen intently, at the same time as demonstrating genuine concern for the client instead of themselves. Clients respect salespeople who are in it for the long term relationship and not simply for the money.

To succeed in the new economy of buyers, you need to do the opposite of selling. You need to attract, engage and empower buyers to buy.

“Keep doing what you have always done and you will get what you have always gotten.”

Most strategic planning emphasizes a target to increase sales and to up the bottom line. Sales and Sales Management skill sets must keep pace with the new economy of buyers in this high-tech, global society.

This is probably one reason why Sales Training is so prevalent on the Internet, at public seminars including in-house customized programs.

Another reason is sales training offers Management and individual sales professionals a high return on investment. For example, where else could you invest $1 with a realistic expectation of a $10 or more return in revenue?

If you, as a Corporate Executive, entrepreneur or professional salesperson are considering sales training, ensure it is a “buyer focused” sales training system supporting today‘s new economy of buyers.

Once you understand how buyers buy and how they control the sales process, you will want to change how you conduct your sales. Buyers follow a system, and salespeople must do the same. You must integrate a selling system that attracts, engages, and empowers the buyer to buy, not one that sells to the buyer.

A buyer focused selling system will maximize time and provide measurable results. You will enable buyer attraction, engagement, and qualification. Once the prospect is qualified, you will have the control to empower the buyer to buy, increase the velocity of your selling cycle, increase your margins and revenues, and ultimately, up your bottom line.

It is crucial to your overall success to begin with a strong foundation that will adequately support the productive behaviours within the Selling System.

A brand new positive and proactive attitude will certainly attract more buyers.

Changing your ineffective behaviours or habits into defined daily disciplines and efficient habits will provide you with more focused targeting. The result will be a better return on time invested (R.O.T.I.).

A buyer focused selling system requires organizations to be committed to doing what is “right” and demonstrating the appropriate behaviours on an ongoing basis. This includes tracking and analyzing behaviours to increase call-to-close ratios, or if necessary, turning away business. It also means being ethical and acting with integrity even when it’s easy or tempting not to.

Buyer Focused Sales training and Sales Management Training training in today’s new economy will contribute more to your bottom line than any other activity.

All sales professionals, entrepreneurs or Corporate Executives must remember that sales revenue is the life line to up your bottom line. Without buyers, there are no sales. Without sales, there are no revenues. The world revolves around sales, but more importantly, it now needs to revolve around buyers. Buyers are everywhere. What are you doing to help them buy?

About the author

Bob Urichuck is a certified social entrepreneur, a catalyst for constant improvement and a cultivator of human potential. Visit www.BobU.com to download your complimentary White Paper “The New Economy of Buyers, Why Traditional and Consultative Selling Methods No Longer Work” Sales Velocity. Your Bottom Line. Our Passion.

Check Out Our Sales Training Programs. Click here to learn more!

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5 Things I Learned After Starting 5 Companies

Joel Ohman — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:28:40 +0000

When striking out on your own as an entrepreneur there are many different ways to learn things. The most common way that an entrepreneur learns things is quite frankly, “learning as they go along”.

“Learning along the way” is not necessarily a bad thing as one of the key characteristics that almost any successful entrepreneur must have is the ability to be proactive and stay on the right path even in the face of ambiguity and uncertainty. If you start your own business then that means that there is no boss that will tell you how to accomplish the task as you quite often you must learn along the way and many times learn the hard way.

Here are 5 things that I learned (sometimes the hard way) throughout the process of starting 5 different companies:

#1 Never Ignore Sales & Marketing

Always focused on the numbers.

As a Certified Financial Planner™ and someone who gets much more excited about building a new website then (gasp) actually talking to someone I will be the first to tell you that I had long held somewhat of a disdain for sales and marketing. As is common with many who hold different technical skill sets it seemed quite natural to look down upon the softer skill sets like sales and marketing.

When starting my first business I learned very quickly that no matter what type of business you are in – if you are a small business owner then you had better be good at sales and marketing. It all struck me one day when I saw an advertisement in a magazine that promised to help train CPA’s and attorneys on how to be better sales people.

“Wait a minute… even lawyers and accountants need to be able to sell potential clients on the value that they can offer!” It was as if the proverbial light bulb flicked on at that point. No matter what type of business you start you will need to either be very good at sales, partner or hire someone who is good at sales, or even better develop a sales system that will market and make sales for you (i.e. a website, lead generation system, etc. For example, I recently built websites that housed tons of credit card reviews and insurance quotes. Does that mean that I want to actually talk to people face to face about insurance plans or credit cards? No, and thanks to a marketing system in the form of a website those websites can help people learn as much as they want about those types of financial products without me being physically involved or even present)

#2 Build Systems that can Scale (with or without You)

If your business falls apart when you are not around then your business model is not all that impressive. My #1 goal is evaluating any type of business idea is if I can systematize the business process so that it can run on its own and it can scale easily. If you have a special skill set and can make a lot of money doing a certain type of work then that is great BUT your income will always be dependent upon how many hours you are able to work every day. It’s much better to build a great business system that works with or without you because then if you want to grow then you can always hire more people, right?

#3 Plan Big but Start Small

I have learned that it’s smart to plan big but start small. What do I mean by that? One of the biggest problems that trips up many would be entrepreneurs is that they have so many big plans and ideas that they are constantly talking about what they want to do and yet they never actually step out and DO anything! It’s great to have big plans to target a huge market and take on might competitors but don’t let your grand ambitions keep you from taking that first step.

#4 Make Your New Business Your Second Job

I am a big subscriber to the 37 Signals philosophy of bootstrapping a new company rather than attempting to raise great amounts of money. One great way to start out cheap and to minimize the risk of failure if your new business idea doesn’t pan out is to simply keep working at your day job and then treat your new business as a second job. This means that if you regularly work 9-5 for “the man” then keep doing so but just work evenings and weekends on your business to test out your business model.

#5 Don’t Reinvent the Wheel for Periphery

It can be tempting to try and create a solution from scratch for every non core business problem that you come across. However, it is really the best use of your time (and/or money) to code a CMS from scratch to manage your website rather than just using an great out of the box solution like WordPress, Joomla, or Drupal? The same should be true for all other areas of your business. Focus your time and effort on building up your core business model and don’t waste time building everything from scratch for the periphery of your business.

What About YOU?

What things have YOU learned after starting a company?

About the author

Joel Ohman is a Certified Financial Planner™ and serial entrepreneur. Some of his most recent web based projects include a website for reviewing car insurance companies and a website full of easy to use financial calculators. He is a newcomer to StartUp Growth Expert and would recommend that you check out the excellent post titled “Should you start a business full time or part time?’

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Manage Your Employees Better With Policies and Procedures

admin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:50:53 +0000

As your small business grows and more employees are hired, it becomes increasingly critical that your organizational policies and procedures are clearly defined and communicated. Without policies and procedures it is difficult for new employees to understand your organization’s culture, expectations and requirements.

New employees need to know their specific roles and responsibilities, as well as employment policies for vacation time, sick time, health care, etc. In order to ensure compliance with all regulatory requirements you must also ensure all employees are following regulations like HIPAA, FERPA, OSHA, FMLA, etc.

Get your entire team to work towards a common mission.

All employees (new and existing) should be reminded on an ongoing basis about your organization’s policies and procedures and updated as new risks and regulations require updates on policies and procedures. Too often small organizations are too flexible with requirements or expose themselves to expensive and embarrassing data breaches, lawsuits, losses and mistakes by not updating their people and their processes.

The first step for a small business is to determine their requirements and then create their policies and procedures accordingly. However, this is where many organizations quit. They create a comprehensive policy manual or binder, distribute it to their employees and never mention it again.

Do you really think your employees are reading the manual and identifying the specific roles and responsibilities that apply to them? Are they signing off on certain policies required by federal and state regulations?

As regulations, guidelines, best practices, risks and threats change, are you updating the policy manual or are your policies still the same as the day you first created them? If your organization is just blasting your policies out to your people in e-mails and memos…how do you know if anyone received the email or is reading the policies and understands them?

It is critical for organizations of all sizes to not only create comprehensive policies and procedures ongoing, but to ensure those policies have been implemented down to the individual level and read, understood and acknowledged by all employees (staff, management, third-parties, vendors, etc.). Your organization might have the best policies and procedures in the world, but if they are not implemented at the individual-level with awareness and accountability, there will be failures (lawsuits, breaches, losses, employment fraud, etc.).

Actually implementing policies, procedures, plans and processes means organizations have documentation and proof that individuals have read, understood and acknowledged their roles and responsibilities. Regulations require proof of implementation. Legal due diligence requires proof of implementation. Lessons Learned continue to prove that organizations that lack implementation will continue to experience expensive and embarrassing results.

About the Author:

Katie Weaver provides marketing and client support for Awareity, a company that helps organizations cut costs and improve awareness, accountability and CYA at the individual-level. Katie blogs at http://blog.awareity.com.

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How to Choose A Business That Is Right For You

Vinil Ramdev — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:56:10 +0000

I meet a lot of people who say, I have “x” amount of money, can you tell me what business to start for this budget. For starters, this is great because you have a budget. So let’s prepare a checklist of what else you need to look at before choosing a business that is right for you.

A prospective entrepreneur contemplating what business she should choose?

1. Likes and Dislikes

You need to consider your likes and dislikes before deciding what business you want to pursue. Choose a business that fulfills your passion. If you have no passion towards fitness and you are obese as hell then starting a gym or a health related business may not be the right move.

Experienced entrepreneurs will tell you that a business is an extension of yourself. So, you can’t run away from that fact. So, choose a business that is YOU!

2. High Profit Margins

This is a bit of a controversial point. Not everybody will agree with me on this especially those who run high volume low margin businesses. But my personal opinion is, I like to stick to businesses with high margins. The low margin businesses are a bit too tight for me. I suggest you do the same as well. Look around for businesses with high profit margins.

3. Lifestyle

Your business will define your lifestyle to a large extent. No matter how passionate you are about your business don’t look at it as a hobby. It is work where things need to get done, deadlines need to be met, operations need to be effective and you need to be profitable.

If you don’t like to work nights and weekends, don’t get into the restaurant business. Get into something where you get to work during the day and you can take nights and weekends off.

4. Budget

Another factor you need to consider is your budget. Some businesses are highly capital intensive and some are less capital intensive. If you get into the retail business be careful, retail is a highly capital intensive business.

So, write down a number on a sheet of paper based on your savings or the amount of capital you plan on raising from family and friends.

5. Skills and Experience

It’s so much easier starting a business that is centered around your skills and experience. If you are a fitness trainer, then it might be a great idea to start something around that skill or if you are a beautician then you could open a beauty saloon.

Hope this article helps you to choose a business that is right for you. These are just some of the factors to consider when choosing a business that is right for you.

You can get more ideas on business opportunities by clicking here.

About the author

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The Most Important Document In Your Business

Vinil Ramdev — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 19:00:24 +0000

If somebody were to ask you “what is the most important document in your business?” What would be your answer?

Most business owners just don’t have an answer to this question. In fact, in many businesses this document just doesn’t exist. Even if it does, it’s not taken as seriously as it should.

Some of you might think it is a business plan or a policies and procedures document or your legal documents. These documents are very important, no doubt about it. But they are not the most important document in your business.

The most important document is your sales brochure or your sales letter. A big majority of your customers are going to get introduced to your product or service only after reading your sales brochure. This could be an online sales brochure in the form of a web page or an offline sales brochure like flyers.

If your sales brochure does not communicate your message clearly enough then you are going to lose lot of prospective customers. People are just not going to purchase your products or services.

What goes into creating a great sales brochure?

Besides, the design of the brochure, you need strong sales copy. Sales copy is the words you put on the brochure. It is probably the most important part of your sales material. I get so many emails everyday and lot of times I just can’t figure out what the hell somebody is selling. How can I buy something when I don’t know what it is?

What goes into making great sales copy?

1. You must first and foremost catch the attention of the reader. This is done with a great headline. If your headline doesn’t catch attention. Then, forget about someone reading the rest of the document.

2. The body of the sales document needs to mention what your product or service is and how it is going to benefit the reader of the document. If your product or services does not benefit anybody, then it’s time for you to create a product or service that benefits somebody.

3. This is something most people forget. It is basic but people can forget this. You need to have a sentence on how people can contact you. And, what action you want them to take.

These are just some of the elements that go into the making of great sales copy.

I suggest that you learn the elements of great sales copy or if you don’t mind spending a few thousand dollars, to hire a great copy writer.

Some great books on copy writing

Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins

Confessions of an Advertising Man by David Ogilvy

Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples

How to Write a Good Advertisement by Vic Schwab

The Ultimate Sales Letter: Attract New Customers. Boost Your Sales by Dan Kennedy

Magic Words That Bring You Riches by Ted Nicholas

Million Dollar Sales Letters by Robert Collier

These are just some of the books on copywriting to get you started.

Let me know what you think about this article in the comments section below.

About the author

Hire us to write your sales copy and help you increase your sales. Click here to contact us, today!

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How To Write A Business Plan?

Vinil Ramdev — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:37:15 +0000

I meet so many people who are looking to raise capital for their business or they just want to write a business plan so that they can get their thoughts in place, so I decided to write a brief article about how to write a business plan.

If you are not convinced that you need a business plan then you need to read this article “6 Reasons Why You Need A Business Plan.”

If you are convinced you need one, let’s go out there and write a business plan real quick.

Step 1: Prepare a table of contents

Your table of contents is a template that will give your writing some direction.

You can research the internet for your table of contents or you can use the table of contents listed below. This will vary depending on your business. And, also feel free to customize it according to your needs.

Executive Summary
Products and Services
Company Description
Mission
Objectives
Business Model
Operations
Marketing
SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)
Management Team
Future Products
Industry Analysis
Competitors
Exit Strategy
Financials
Capital Required
Uses of funds
Projected Income Statement
Projected Cash Flow Statement
Projected Balance Sheet
Exit Strategy
Entity Structure
Contact information

Step 2: Add information to your table of contents

Once you have your table of contents, all you need to do is add information into your table of contents.

This is only a basic process of writing a business plan. For a more detailed process of writing a business plan, read my book “How To Write A Business Plan For Astonishing Results. In Just 3 Days!”

About the author

Vinil Ramdev is an entrepreneur, business coach and author of the ebook “How To Write A Business Plan For Astonishing Results. In Just 3 Days!”

”Learn How to Write a Professional Business Plan

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A step-by-step no non-sense guide to writing a business plan in 3 days or less!

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The Single Most Important Activity In Your Business

Vinil Ramdev — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 06:15:55 +0000

This is something most small business owners don’t really think about. When I first started in business, I thought businesses go out of business because they run out of money. Little did I realize that businesses actually run out of money because they don’t have enough sales. The reality of business is that if you don’t sell then you are out of business.

So, according to me selling and marketing are the most important activities in any business. Marketing is about generating leads for your business and sales is closing those leads. As a business owner and entrepreneur, you have to generate enough leads for your business and close those leads on a regular basis. If there is one activity that deserves your full time attention then sales and marketing is one of them.

I was listening to the great direct marketer Ted Nicholas and he made a very interesting point, he said “It’s very easy to develop a great product but what is hard is selling that product.” What Ted says is absolutely true. If anybody has been in sales or if anybody has been an entrepreneur for over 2 years, you know this is absolutely true. Selling is one of the hardest things to do in business even if you have a great product.

So, what is the moral of the story? It’s simple, focus on being very good in sales by constantly learning from great sales people.

About the author

Vinil Ramdev is an entrepreneur, business coach, speaker and author of several ebooks. He is founder of StartUpGrowthExpert.com – An Online Magazine For Entrepreneurs who want to start and grow extraordinary businesses.

Join our sales training program and become a great sales man. Improving your sales skill and that of your employees makes you more money.

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The ‘Links’ Between Sales And Golf

Anthony Donnelly — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 14:58:59 +0000

Everybody knows there’s been a strong bond between golf and salesmen, probably since the outset of the game, and most of the top sales professionals are extremely good golfers. A lot of business is conducted on the links, but this article isn’t about how to sell on the golf course, rather it’s about the many similarities between selling and playing the perfect round of golf.

Arnold Palmer once said, “It’s a funny thing, the more I practice the luckier I get.” The same can be said of sales: the more activity you put into your craft and work day, the better the results will be. Selling is not about luck or chance, top salesmen may give the impression that it’s easy, but that has come from years of practice, and often many costly mistakes. The bottom line is, you can’t shortcut the hard work needed to be successful (and that goes for anything in life!)

The object of the game of golf is very simple: you have clubs and a little, white ball, the course has 18 holes, and you have to hit the little ball as few times as possible until it goes into the hole. Likewise (the game of) sales is equally as simple: there are buyers and there are sellers, and there are products and services. The salesman has to sell his products or services to as many buyers as possible. Just like golf, even if you are playing in a group, every time you’re really just playing against yourself. With sales it’s the same thing: what you’re really selling is yourself (the product or service is usually secondary, unless you have a high-demand item and limited availability.)

Both golf and sales are a mental game. If you walk onto the golf course with the wrong attitude, it will show in your performance. If you make a bad stroke and stew over it, you’ll have a run of bad strokes. Keep a clear head, take it each shot at a time, don’t over-think it, and you’ll be surprised how much better you play. The same applies to sales. If you have problems at home and you drag those thoughts around with you, you won’t be as productive that day. If you have money issues, the potential buyer will pick up on the fact that you want the sale more than they need what you’re selling. If a sales appointment goes badly, have some techniques to clear your head and move on. Conversely, if you have a great appointment and make a sale, leverage that positive attitude and turn a great day into an awesome day.

The scope of this article cannot completely be covered in the word allowance I have available, but it merits further articles on the topic, which I’ll most likely expand on in due course. In closing, I’ll leave you with one other useful comparison: know when to call it a day. When your energy is high, the weather is perfect, and your game is on, that is the time to consider maybe playing two rounds (or at least another 9!) Just the same with a perfect sales day or week, even if you’ve hit your quota, this is the time to get ahead to cover for the bad times – go for a personal record. At the opposite spectrum, if a bad day just keeps getting worse, you’re doing yourself no favors by battling on regardless – that’s when a bad day can turn into a big slump. Best thing you can do on a day like that… Dust off the clubs and head to the country club!

About the author

Anthony Donnelly is a Master Licensee and Sales Director with Merchants Barter Exchange, www.merchantsbarter.com 862-324-2593

Image: br3akthru / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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