Key Small Business Tips for Success

Small business tips for starting your own business can put you on the path to financial success.

The SBA says that the term small business includes concerns that are organized to make a profit and have fewer than 500 employees. In this post, small business includes work at home, affiliate marketing, network marketing and online home based businesses, and I will explore small business tips to help you achieve your business goals. These tips will help you get customers and generate more sales quickly.

Here are key small business tips and questions to consider:

1. Why do you want to start a small business? Starting your own business requires commitment. So, don't proceed to do so unless you are prepared for long hours and frustration while you are establishing your business. For many, enduring this is well worth the potential of financial security.

2. Will you market a product or service? A service business is one where you offer your expertise to clients. For a product business, you will need to offer a tangible product. Typically, a product business is more expensive to launch than a service business.

3. Do you have a simplified business plan? The thought of writing a business plan is intimidating to most aspiring entrepreneurs. However, it is possible to write a one-page plan that tells the what, who, how and where of your business. You should keep it simple. You can add details as you go. Just get it started.

4. Who is your customer? Describe your target customer in as much detail as possible. Know their needs and wants. Know how you can provide a solution to their problem. This profile will help you create a targeted marketing message and save you time and money in reaching prospects.

5. What is your pricing? Pricing is an art and a science. You need to cover your costs and generate a reasonable profit. Doing research to see what your competitors are charging can help.

6. Are you watching your costs? Many entrepreneurs tend to underestimate how long it will take for their small business to turn a profit. Don't burden your business with too many costs too quickly. To keep costs to a minimum, hire interns and outsource or barter for services.

7. What's your plan for getting customers? One of my coaches says the secret to business success is spending 85% of your time doing things that will lead to sales and 15% of your time doing everything else. You'll need a marketing plan. How do you plan on attracting prospects and converting them to paying customers? Design your advertising to generate sales. Your advertising should always include an offer and an easy way for prospects to respond.

8. Are you using social media? More and more businesses are moving to social media because their prospects are on social media. Only about 25% of small businesses are using social media to build their business. So, creating a presence on social media will give you an edge. This typically means building a fan page on Facebook. There are many resources you can use to build a fan page.

Here are some small business tips to attract more customers online:

1. Be sure to add local content targeted for your specific area.

2. Make sure prospects can find you online and offline.

3. Be very clear about what your business offers.

4. Participate on social media consistently.

5. Watch what your competitors are doing. See what is working and what is not working.

These small business tips require you to be consistent. It takes persistence to establish a social media presence.

What Kind of Business Can You Run From Home? Characteristics of a Successful Home-Based Business

What kind of business can you run from home? The truth is that with the power of the internet today, just about any business can be run from the comfort of your home. The list can and will include everything from selling automotive parts nationwide using an online store to providing a dog walking service in your local community.

Instead of asking yourself, what kind of business can you run from home? You should really be asking yourself, what kind of characteristics do successful home businesses have in common? That is what you really want to know because that kind of information will afford you the best opportunity for success in what ever business you decide to pursue.

In this article we'll be taking a closer look at some of these characteristics so that you'll be better informed and be better able to make more informed decisions as to what type of business you would like to start from your home. So let's get started.

There are many examples of home based businesses that you'll be able to find on the web today, but how many of these businesses can you really be successful pursuing? The truth is, not very many. It's a well known fact, that well over 90% of all online businesses fail within their first year. But don't let that discourage you because there are some legitimate home based businesses out there that you can be very successful with. Here are some of the characteristics that these businesses have in common:

High Earning potential

Having a high earning potential and/or return on investment (ROI) is critical towards any business being successful. It's one of the reasons why we chose to create our own business in the first place, to make money. Every successful business has a detailed plan on how the profits are to be made and allocated to everyone participating in the business.

Affordable Price

How much it costs to get into the business can greatly determine the success or failure of the business. This cost should include everything you need to become operational. Successful businesses often have a price point that is both attractive and affordable to all their potential customers.

Strong Customer Support

Every successful business has some type of support system set up for their customers. Whether it's through a call center, ticket system, chat, or having a dedicated mentor or coach, having a good support system in place is a key element towards the success of any business.

Hassle-free Guarantee

Having a hassle-free guarantee is another feature that is found in most successful businesses. This guarantee removes the "risk factor" that a potential customer may have towards making a purchase. It also tells the customer that the business stands behind its product.

High Growth potential

The ability to grow and evolve is another characteristic that is present in all successful businesses. Without the ability to grow, a business will soon fall behind its competition and eventually stagnate within its own field. Successful businesses live and grow on the cutting edge of its own particular niche.

Finding the right business to get into is a very important decision for anyone that's looking to start their own home based business. Use the above information as a guideline to better evaluate and compare any business opportunity you may be interested in. And always be sure to do your homework and your research before making any long-term or costly decisions.

Thinking With a Business Head

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Mindset plays a pivotal role within all walks of life. Having the right mindset is important to achieving success within any working career, especially within business. Having a good business head can actually make a difference between failing and succeeding in business.

However how do begin to acquire a good business mind?

Below are 5 tips on how to start thinking with a business head.

1. Define your purpose/goals

The best way to start adopting a positive mindset is to identify your goals and what you want to achieve within a certain time frame. One effective way of doing this is by writing a list or putting images of what you want to achieve, into a special book. You will then need to focus daily on this list or images and imagine the emotions that you will feel when you achieve those goals. This process will help you to remain focused on your goals even when you experience setbacks along the way. Goal setting is a crucial element to creating success, therefore you will also need to plan in detail how you propose to achieve these goals. Writing a weekly planner can prove a very effective way of doing this.

One important aspect of adopting a business mind is to start believing in yourself. In order to achieve this you will need to first of all eradicate the "mind viruses", namely the doubts that stop you making the decisions needed to improve your personal and financial success. After all, other successful entrepreneurs have realised their dreams due to them having a different mindset to most other people. There are lots of self improvement resources available that can help you to create self belief and a positive mindset.

2. Connect With Your Customer

Regardless of what kind of business that you start, whether it is a bricks and mortar business or an online business, you will need to engage with your potential customers. That will entail doing whatever is necessary to ensure that they become your biggest fans to ensure that they keep buying from you time and time again.

Today's marketing offers many free ways of achieving this especially using social media websites. However, regardless of which marketing strategies that you use, whether it is article writing, blogging or video marketing, it is vital that you take a personal approach, almost like having a conversation with them, in order for people to connect and relate to you. This will ensure that you build up that all important trust with them.

Try to think the way your customer thinks and provide a solution to their problem. Offer your best advice to them for free, and they will be keen to learn more about other services or products that you offer.

3. Self Education And Training

As with any other career, self education and training plays an important role in creating a successful business especially with online businesses. With technology and information continually changing, it is important to constantly keep ahead with your business knowledge. Your business education can be achieved by reading, DVD's or even online training. The more in depth knowledge you have of your chosen business, the more respect you will gain from potential customers as they will regard you as an expert within that niche. You will also be more confident when selling your products or services to them too.

4. Enroll A Good Business Coach

One of the most powerful ways to achieve thinking with a business mind is to find a good business coach to mentor you in the right direction. Good mentors already have the powerful business head and mind that you seek and they will share strategies with you that will help you to also flourish.

They will also introduce you to their network of other like minded people who will also inspire you to succeed. It is a proven fact, that surrounding yourself with other successful individuals will inspire you to emulate their success. Having coaching and mentoring is the best way to achieve the results that you desire.

5.Be A Good Leader

Finally, once you have adopted a good business head and have created a successful business, it is important that you lead others to emulate your success in order to grow your business to the next level. Take time to listen to your staff, as often they will have very good ideas of ways to improve your business. A good leader will inspire others to believe that they can be more than they are and will lead them on to achieve more, whereas a manager will only see a person for what they already are.

Developing a good business head can be easily achieved. It merely requires adopting a positive mindset to believe you can achieve what you really are worth, self education and learning from other successful people. Putting all of these together will achieve better results for both your business and for you as a person.

My name is Roy Derrick and I have over 20 years experience in running my own business. Over the years I have set up and sold several successful businesses including a chain of retail stores and a construction company.

My wife Julie and I currently run a home based business that specialises in finding and sourcing the best ways to start a small, sustainable business working from home.

Business is our passion and that is why we set up Perfect Prosperity so that we could share our vast business knowledge with others to help them enjoy a better work/life balance.