(Add to Favorites | View All Articles | Resource Directory)
|
|
|
Stand back and take a real look at what you've createdYour Baby's Ugly..and You've Got Bad BreathI've got good news and bad news. The good news is that 98% of businesses are small businesses. That bodes well for the entrepreneurial spirit that has made our nation great. The bad news is that 80%, that's right, four out of five new businesses will fail in their first five years. After years of building my own companies and consulting growing businesses, I've come to the realization that too many business owners can't see their business through an objective eye, which often leads to their demise. It takes an incredible amount of intense drive, determination and a strong ego to breathe life into a business and create products from scratch, but it's also that same ego that won't let a business owner be objective about what their business needs to succeed. The business is up and running at light-speed and management doesn't have the time or willingness to stand back and take a real look at what they have created. They are too close to the problems to see them. Just like a proud parent, they have spent sweat and time creating this "baby," and they refuse to believe that it might be less than perfect. I call this the "business parent trap." It is in this trap that business owners often create and introduce products that would not test out in the marketplace. There's an attitude of "Hey, it's gotta be great because I thought of it." I've found that there are usually two basic things wrong with a business: the product (the Baby) and the management (the Breath). So how do you assess your business? Are your employees going to tell you that you're headed in the wrong direction? Not likely. Occasionally a consultant will be brought in to review the company's performance in a given area. Unfortunately, when management does bring in a consultant, they often are really looking for affirmation - not straight-forward constructive criticism. Sadly, some consultants are more than willing to "affirm for a fee." If you're going to succeed, then someone needs to tell you if your baby's ugly or you've got bad (corporate) breath. So here are some blunt yet truthful thoughts for your business, and perhaps you: ? GET OVER YOURSELF: Know yourself, trust yourself, believe in yourself...then Get Over Yourself. You're really not the smartest person in the world. You built the business and know it better than anyone else, but no one else really cares how much you know. ? SPECTATOR SPORT: Conversation with you should not be a spectator sport for others. Remember that there's a huge difference between listening and merely waiting for your turn to talk. You hired your employees and perhaps a consultant because you assumed they had brains, so let them use them. Ask questions and listen to answers. ? JUST ANOTHER PRODUCT: Realize that even though you think that your new product or service is the greatest thing since the flip-top beer can, the world just sees one more product and must be convinced. You created this product and you know every function of it, but customers do not buy functions, they buy only benefits. Whether your product is a high tech internet service or office furniture, you must show how it is uniquely beneficial to your customer. Functionality makes your products work, Benefits make them sell. ? PAPER WEIGHT: If you have the high tech inventive skills to create a product, chances are that you don't have the skills to market and sell it. Many small business owners think that marketing and sales are the simplest part of their business, so it is almost an afterthought. There is only one reason that inferior products outsell better ones; and that is successful marketing. Think of your marketing plan as the complete story book that sells your product. If your story book is a best seller, then your product will be a best seller. Without the right story that will build sales and distribution, your wonderful product is just another paper weight head for a land fill. ? STAND BACK: Your competitors are not all stupid. Guess what? They think their babies are cute too, and they may tell better stories that make them look even better than yours. So stand back and look at yourself and your baby and try to look through the eyes of a disinterested party, because believe it or not, the world is a disinterested party. Remember, there's an 80% chance that you will not be in business in 5 years. As busy as you are, and successful as you think you are, you must set your ego aside and realize that there are things beyond your control. Successful companies know that the secret to success doesn't lie in knowing everything; it lies in knowing what you don't know, and finding those who do. I wish you good luck and great success. Steve Baker is a business advisor who has founded successful start-up companies and specializes in market development. He founded a company that did $500 million the first year and he was sued for $1.4 Billion. Steve speaks on How to be a Successful Failure, and he is the author of the award winning book, PUSHING WATER UPHILL With A Rake; Memoirs of a Successful Failure. He lives in Colorado where he is an avid poor golfer. He can be reached through his website http://www.PushingWaterUphill.com
MORE RESOURCES: News provided by Yahoo! News and Google News SmallBiz Guide to Power - Hawaii Business Magazine Small Business Jobs Bill: No 'Itty Bitty' Thing Small Business Federal Contractors Make Gains Small Business Success Story: Accounting Health reform's impact on small biz - Marketplace (blog) What's up with small-biz non-hiring? - OCRegister Survey: Small biz still slow to hire - Boston Herald Small business tax workshop Sept. 16 Intuit, Verizon in small-biz alliance - Bizjournals.com (blog) |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
How to Find Success in the Import Export Business Take advantage of world politics today and start your own import export business. Are you organized, efficient, and ready to make your future in an opportunity all your own? Import Export Business Opportunities are expanding and there is room for you!In the early nineteen eighties, one of the most popular things in Soviet Russia was American made blue jeans. Is Your Business Making Money? Is your business making money? Would you know?Figuring out whether your business is actually making money is no easy task. Most small business owners have a pretty good idea of what their top line is (their revenues), but unless they're closely tracking and inputting all of their expenses, the bottom line can often come as a complete surprise. Advertising - For Small Businesses (Part 1) Is it right for you?If you decide to advertise your product or service then you must ask yourself - "Will potential customers read this publication and will they take action having read my ad?"National newspapers - Read by a huge cross section of the population. If you're inserting a display ad then it would need to be professionally designed and you'd need to be in it for the long run. Pressure Washing; How to Bid Concrete Cleaning Jobs Remember the cleaning business is all about time ratio to money. You want to be making at least a $1 a minute when doing concrete work at a minimum and aim for $100 to $200 per hour if you can get it. Awning Cleaning Business Case Study: Entrepreneurship 101 It is most fascinating to study how entrepreneurs spot opportunity in the market place. "My name is Lance Winslow and I am a serial entrepreneur, I admit I am addicted and need help. Debt Collection Techniques Here are some sound debt collection techniques that can be followed by businesses to mitigate the bad debt crisis:Sending a pre-collection letter. Hiring a collection agency. A Portable Trade Show Exhibit Makes for an Easier Show You can make your trade show experience much easier by using a portable exhibit. Since you control everything related to transporting it and setting it up, you won't have to hire firms to for those things for you. Keeping a Partnership ALIVE and THRIVING What are the best methods for keeping a good business relationship?Once you have a business relationship in place, you need to work on that relationship to keep it intact. As a matter of fact, people nurture their business relationships more than they do their families! The first and most obvious method is to follow up with questions and requests in a timely manner. Find Some Sample Payroll Check Stubs on the Net for Easy Reference Starting a business? For many people, the bravery to venture out on your own is the ultimate dream, you're your own boss, you make your own time, and your dreams of making it big in the independent business lives on. But don't forget there are many responsibilities. Collection Agency Selection Frankly, given the legal and regulatory requirements involved in attempting to collect a debt, it makes as much sense to do it yourself as it does to try to remove your own appendix. A collection agency is, on the whole, much cheaper than a doctors - and lawyers. Six Essential Skills to Business Success! The following are six essential skills to business success. You may not have developed all of these skills, but like most things in life, you can by learning, practicing and determination. Pressure Washing Aircraft Hangers at the Airport If you are looking for a way to own your own business using a pressure washer or expand your current pressure washing business you might consider cleaning Aircraft Hangers out at the airport. Why Wash Aircraft hangers? For one it can lead to much more work cleaning all sorts of things at airports which is an encapsulated market. Old Data in Database Marketing Software Database Problems in MarketingI have been working on a direct mail campaign for our team in many areas and we are finding that the yellow page listings and business list CDROMS contain so many closed companies that we are spending too much on the mailings, which are opened a little less because of the anthrax scare. Even customized lists are of little value. Presentations and Sales Automotive Detailers Many auto detailers fall short in their sales presentations. I have often shopped the competition to see what their knowledge base was to gage their worthiness as a formidable competitor in the market place. Starting A Concrete Cleaning Pressure Washer Business Concrete cleaning can be a lucrative business to start. Here are some tips which will help you do it right. The Key To Success - Choose The Right Partners Do you promote yourself as offering prompt, reliable and quality service?Of course - none of us promote ourselves as anything less, and equally we strive to provide this level of service all the time.So what happens when you take your networking to the next level, and start to offer referrals, or even establish partnerships or alliances for certain activities?Whatever you do at this point creates significant impact on your business and personal reputation - potentially positive and also potentially negative. Truck Wash Business Case Study Often smart entrepreneurs look for out of the way businesses, things out of the mainstream but businesses, which have a good customer base and steady incomes. This is an extremely interesting story. Tell Me a Story: A Simple But Powerful Tool to Build Your Business Everyone loves a good story. Whether it's the story of your vacation to an exotic place, the story of how you met your spouse, or the story of your small business, people get drawn in and feel involved. Trailblazer Interview with Diane J. Levin, Partnering Solutions Today is a Red Letter Day! It's special because today is the first edition of the Trailblazer Interviews.You'll meet some of the most fascinating, talented folks in the ADR world who I call Trailblazers. Increase Sales in Your Home Business With These 10 Simple Ideas Every home business has the same problem of how to increase sales without a hugely expensive marketing campaign. By utilising the following simple ideas you will be able to do just that.
|
| home | site map | articles |
| © 2006 |