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N. Ozenci
Staff Writer/ Marketer
1) Research:
Research your product and target market completely when setting
up a business so that you can assess, develop and validate your
business ideas to get a deeper understanding of its commercial
potential.
Place yourself in the shoes of your customers to identify their
needs and wants. This helps to make sure you are offering what
people want to buy not just what you want to sell.
2) Educate yourself:
Business start-up success does not usually happen without massive,
inspired action. Learn the language of marketing and how to
boldly ask for what you want often. Be committed to learning
as much as you can about sales, marketing for a successful business.
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Too many entrepreneurs focus on getting their brand right before
they start to generate leads. That is exactly the wrong way
to go about business. Leads are always more important than your
brand therefore don't waste money perfecting your brand and
spend that same money to buy new customers.
3) Learn from your mistakes:
Make bold choices and learn from your mistakes as this is a
normal part of the process. You will not succeed without missing
the mark more often than not.
4) Always find new ways to keep cost low:
Make sure your plan is thorough and be prepared if things do
not go to plan. In your plan it is also wise to always overestimate
expenses and underestimate revenues in the first couple of years.
5) Get cash flowing:
Find ways to get money up front and your cash gap will never
be an issue. One way is to get customers to pay an up-front
monthly fee to guarantee their delivery or availability of items
they will buy continuously.
6) Find creative ways to increase profit:
There are many ways to increase profit: Developing effective
ways to convert more leads into customers, increasing the number
of times those customers buy from you; increasing the average
price point of your sales and increasing your profit margins.
7) Continuously test, measure and track your results:
Through testing and measurement you can develop, improve or
change your strategy or program.
8) Prioritise adding value instead of offering discount:
Whenever you discount, you are taking money directly out of
your pocket and directly from your bottom-line profit. Offer
your customers added value all the way up and down your product
or service line. One way could be to increase your margins with
the low-cost or no-cost extras and any kind of, “freemium”
offerings. This will encourage customer loyalty and word of
mouth will spread across your customer base.
9) Seek help:
Find someone who is successful in business, outside of your
business, that you can rely on for objective business advice
and to hold you responsible for getting results. You can even
employ a business coach to give you a helping hand.
10) Take positive action:
Believe in yourself and your abilities then take action! Always
find ways of solving problems through planning.
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