Essentials of Business Success

April 13, 2012 by 4 Comments

What does it take to make a business successful? How can someone who has never run a business before start, build, and run a successful business? This is a really good question, especially since most businesses still fail in the first five years.

I think that there are some essentials of business success that must be considered by every entrepreneur and new business start-up before they turn on the first light, make the first business contact, or open the door for the very first time.

1.    You must develop an entrepreneurial mindset. With this mindset, you will learn to embrace the concept of delayed gratification. You will have thought through the incredibly important question, “How long can I run this business before making a profit?” You will understand that starting a business requires a higher than normal financial risk tolerance.
2.    You must understand how money works. If you don’t really understand the difference between an asset and a liability your chances for success diminish drastically. Managing money correctly in the early stages of your business sets the standard for success in the long run.
3.    You must understand the basics of marketing your business. With all the options today both online and offline, you need to know what will bring you new customers, what will keep existing customers, and what will not! Too many new businesses collapse under the weight of a trial and error marketing plan.
4.    You must understand what it means to be a leader in your chosen field. Every industry is filled with people “just like everyone else.” What you must do to be successful is to set yourself apart as someone with a unique value as a thought leader in your industry.
5.    You must continue to grow as a person. Everyone enters the world of businesses with personal strengths and weaknesses. Working to improve your talents and skill set will allow you to continue to improve the quality of your business for your current clients as well as for new clients that will be added over time.

With an understanding of these essentials of business success, you will give yourself a more than fighting chance to be one of those companies who survive where others will fail.

What other essentials do you think are important for new business start-ups to know and understand?

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How to Make Your Start-up Succeed

March 19, 2012 by Leave a Comment

 

Homeward bound

Image by Steve-h via Flickr

In my last post [Where most start-ups fail]I wrote about the negative side of the whole
entrepreneurial “game.” So, I figure that I ought to go the other direction today and look at entrepreneurialism from the positive side and talk about how to make your start-up succeed.

 

  1. Define the word success. It is such a rich word and is filled with so many nuances that a single, sterile definition is simply not applicable in most cases. So, take time to think and wonder to yourself (and even out loud) what does success look like to me?
  2. Take time to do your research. By research, I mean looking at your start-up from every angle. Look at the pros AND the cons. Be diligent and honest about the possibilities, but don’t let the naysayers rob you of your dream either.
  3. DON’T QUIT YOUR DAY JOB!! Since I work almost exclusively with micro-businesses, I can say this without hesitation. Until your business is producing approximately twice your needed earnings don’t quit your day job. There are so many benefits to that paycheck that most start-ups don’t consider that they leave early, only to find that what they had at work was better than what they have in business and that struggle alone and wrest your life’s dream and purpose right out of your hands.

I know that what I have said here isn’t particularly profound, but I also know most entrepreneurs fail in their start-ups for these very reasons (particularly the micro-businesses that I work with everyday). Take stock, take time to think, but, in the end, build, grow, explore, and change your world. Success (by your definition) awaits. Go get it!!

 

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Where Most Start-ups Fail

March 17, 2012 by 3 Comments
Food and Drink(8)

Photo credit: JustABoy

I was sitting in a local coffee shop the other day and while doing some computer work when the large table in front of me began to fill. The conversation around the table was louder than any other and so my curiosity got the best of me and from my spot hidden in my booth, I listened in.

The conversation was about business (so I interest was piqued even more). There was one central figure in the conversation telling the rest of those around the table (and anyone within earshot) about how he was once a truck driver, deep in debt, but because of his opportunity was now out of debt, making a strong six figure income, and that anyone with the right motivation could do the same thing.

He then explained that the compensation plan was very complicated and would only confuse those at the table if he tried to explain it, but he assured them, it worked and worked well. He also said that all that you had to do to be successful was to use the product and find three other people to use it while everyone taught those using it to find three others to do the same thing.

He then assured these folks that if they would just “go to the website and place their first order, they would be on their way to the success he has come to know.”

As I listened, I thought about what I do (Helping entrepreneurs design success.) And, as I thought, I was struck by this conversation and how it teaches about three areas where most start-ups fail:

  1. They start-up based on the “if I can do it, anybody can do it” philosophy. This is simply not true. There are some things in life that no matter how much we want them and/or how much we practice, we are not going to succeed in doing. (Playing second base for the St. Louis Cardinals as a 56 year old rookie who can’t field, run, or hit a 90 mph fastball would be a good example.)
  2. They start-up based on the “everyone is going to be as excited as you” mentality. As a business start-up you must remember that your enthusiasm is important but that most customers are skeptical and that doesn’t change until you create value for them.
  3. They start-up before they fully understand the risks and how the money is really made. If the way to make money in a business is not clear and/or the person asking you to “get in” can’t/won’t explain it, you are asking for both trouble and eventually the failure of your business.

I don’t in anyway want to disparage the guy talking at the table that day. He was telling people, most likely what he was taught to tell them. His business might well be the answer for many, but to start-up with such vague promises and such little understanding doesn’t make great business sense. Make sure you know all you need to know and then go out and design success!

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Micro-business Start-ups

March 5, 2012 by 4 Comments

One of the biggest questions I get asked is “Can a person with very little money in their pocket really create and grow a successful business?”

The answer to the question is a very simple one – YES!!!

You see, according to the US Census bureau 60% of businesses start with less than $5,000 in start-up capital. There are some very specific things that micro-business start-ups must do in order to beat the odds and become a solid business that meets the needs of its clients while providing the income necessary for you, its owner.

  1. Make sure that you spend every dollar with a purpose and with a plan. With the financial limitations that micro-business start-ups are under you need to make sure that every dollar spent makes your business stronger and more capable of providing the best product/service to your customers.
  2. Become a master of the creative and innovative. It doesn’t cost anything to think and the most successful businesses are the ones whose creativity and innovation stand out from the crowd. Be that business!
  3. Always keep your passion and vision in mind. Micro-business start-ups have a tendency to look for multiple sources of income rather than remembering why they started their business in the first place and relying on their passion and vision. Don’t do that. Stay with your passion, the money will come as you develop your passion.

Micro-businesses are the wave of the future. More and more people are going to find their way into the business world through this door. If you are looking at this possibility make sure you take your time, get prepared, and let your vision/passion guide the direction of your business!

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Delivering on Your Life/Business Plan

February 13, 2012 by 2 Comments

When it comes down to crunch time, the most important factor in success is delivering on your life/business plan. This is where the pieces all fit together and the dream becomes reality!

But, when working hard to deliver your life/business plan, don’t forget that balance in the areas of life and business are what will make the dream work and keep the dream from turning into a nightmare. Story after story abound where entrepreneurs did all the discovery and design work, came up with a powerful life/business plan and then failed miserably in the delivery phase because they lost their balance and fell into the “business success at all costs” mode. In this mode the rest of life falters and often gets left behind in favor of making the business work.

The idea of “these 16 hour days will end just as soon as …” never rarely seems to ever see the light of day. And in the end, the business becomes your life rather than being the method by which you are able to live your life.

I cannot begin to tell you what balance looks like to you. However, it needs to be deeply ingrained in the delivery phase of your life/business plan or it will never survive! Clients, opportunities, meetings, and the like will invade your plan at every opening. Only when you remain true to the balanced approach you planned for will your dream life be a reality.

Remember, what you do should always reflect who you are at your core. If your life/business plan is unbalanced, what does that say about you?

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Turning Discovery into Design

February 9, 2012 by 3 Comments

There are so many people who have a great idea for a business living within them. These people just know that if they could discover their life/business passions and develop a plan to bring them to the market that they could create the life of their dreams.

From that group of potential entrepreneurs, a substantial number actually spend time discovering how this big idea fits together with their life and business passions, their definition of success, and their desire to live life on their own terms. After this time of discovery, they are more convinced than ever that their passion is indeed a viable business opportunity.

But, even after all of this discovery, the rate of new business failures among new business start-ups is still incredibly high. I think that the primary reason for this is that most entrepreneurs don’t really understand the principle of turning discovery into design.

Design is the part of your business development that creates a business model, a business plan, and a marketing plan that will allow your vision come to life in a powerful and systematic way. This phase of business development must be accomplished in order to both understand how your definition of success looks from a business point of view and how to track the progress of your business to make sure that you are moving in the direction of that definition.

Without the creation of a business design even the best idea and the greatest passion is doomed to failure or the regret of what I “shoulda” or “coulda” done in life! How have you done in the design stage of your business development? What you recommend people look for when designing success?

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New Year, New Site, New Business

January 2, 2012 by Leave a Comment


With the coming of the new year, Doulos Marketing Group is changing. We are re-launching the company as a full fledged business development company whose purpose is to help entrepreneurs design success!

In order to make a clean break from Doulos Marketing, we are launching a new website that you can visit starting today, January 3, 2011. With all the posts that are on this site, we will be leaving the site up for some time to preserve the posts that are more easily found here than transferred to the new site.

On the new site you will find that The Doulos Group stands ready to help entrepreneurs with the desire to design success for themselves and their businesses. We believe that, you, your dream, and your efforts can, with the proper leadership and guidance, can make your business dreams come true. Let us show you how to design success!

Stop by and visit us today and don’t forget to tell us what you think!

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Since my last post at Doulos Marketing

September 19, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Business along Vliet Street, the northern boun...

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I mentioned in my last post that time seemed to always be moving faster than I was and that staying consistent with my writing was therefore taking a back seat. So, I decided to take a short break from the blog and just look for personal answers to the what and why of Doulos Marketing.

Since my last post, I have answered both questions.

  1. Doulos Marketing Group is a business designed to help entrepreneurs and small businesses create the business of their dreams. The emphasis will be on the “creative” side of the equation, but the operational side will be considered as well, with the help of some very good friends of mine.
  2. Doulos Marketing Group exists because there are very few companies that exist who really care for the well being of the “boot-strap” businesses. People who have great ideas but because of under-capitalization and/or a lack of business and/or marketing skills don’t know how to move their ideas (dreams) to fruition.

With the what and why in place, now it is time to produce. Over the next few months, you will see a package of content come out that, if learned and followed, will help any “creative” take their great idea from concept to producing business. There will also be a seminar series and a training site developed for ongoing and specialized training.

I hope you like the changes to Doulos Marketing and I hope that they are helpful to you and to those new and excited businesses that have yet to be organized. Check back often and as always make sure to make your voice know!

Talk more later ….

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Collaboration with Businesses within Your Niche

August 10, 2011 by 2 Comments


EC Cambridge - Computer Room

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I had a very interesting conversation yesterday morning with a group of business owners that I meet with every week. The conversation stemmed from a question: “When and how much should you collaborate with businesses within your niche?”

To me, this kind of collaboration should be commonplace and considered normal. After all in cities of every size, there are more than one car dealer, more than one pizza parlor, more than one marketing company. Nowhere does is one business niche completely controlled by just one company. If companies in the same niche did understand each other and collaborate in areas of each others strengths, would there be more business/profits for everyone? (All with a lot less headaches?) So, should my company collaborate with others in my niche, or should I just keep to myself and protect my skills and my knowledge?

One of our group members related the story of how she has been working with others in her niche for some time now and how beneficial that collaboration has been to her and her friends in the industry. I listened to her and was thrilled that such friendships and help has come to play among those who are in essence “competitors.” But my question was, “Is there a place you draw the line? Are there some people you wouldn’t let ‘pick your brain?’ When does sharing your knowledge give someone else your competitive advantage?”

Even as I write this, these questions are spinning around in my head. What I need are your thoughts on this matter. Tell me what you think? Let’s get a real powerful conversation going about this thought. I think if we could collaborate for the right reasons it would strengthen and expand the influence and success of all the businesses involved. Tell me what you think/have seen about collaboration with businesses within your niche!

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A Business Your Customers Can Count On

July 25, 2011 by 4 Comments
RDNS Customer Service Representative

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I have read several articles the past few weeks on the subject of customer service. In these articles, the idea of the customer always being right came up more than once. The conversation between sales people was quite entertaining as the concepts of customer service were bantered around. One person said, “Of course the customer is always right,” while another declared “No the customer is not always right …”

I think that instead of worrying about who is right and who is wrong, we, as business owners, need to consider the question, “How can I treat my customers in such a way that I create a business that they can count on?” You see, if I treat my customers in this way, they will not expect me to never make a mistake. And when I do they will have the same consideration for me as they will see from me when the mistake is theirs. This kind of mutual respect is what makes companies worthy of referrals and customers worthy of special treatment.

It seems that in this day of easily hurt feelings and people being offended over little to nothing, that the companies that stand out from the masses are those whose worries are not right vs. wrong, but respect and dignity being shown by all parties. If we business owners cannot show that kind of respect to someone who is or might be our customer, then perhaps we should have the courage to not take them on in the first place. We should also be willing to let a current client/customer go if they refuse to show us the level of respect that we are working hard to show them.

In the end, we cannot please everyone all the time, but if we work to deal honestly and respectfully with our customers/clients we will build a business that they can count on!

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