1. An Entrepreneurial Mindset

To develop a mindset for success, you must realize that how you perceive your business and your life determines your reality. Business owners with an entrepreneurial mindset do not think like worker bees. They have several characteristics that cause them to stand out in the crowd. Entrepreneurs are not born. They are built through constant study and determination. Entrepreneurs are willing to fail to eventually win. They understand that not every idea is a good one. There will be times when you will be doing your best, but feel frustrated by a lack of progress in your business. Every entrepreneur goes through these difficult periods. I certainly have been there on more than one occasion. It is at times like this that you need to focus on the positive and keep your optimism working. The key is to avoid negative thinking.

2. Strict Fiscal Discipline

Successful businesspeople use budgets and realistic sales projections to run their businesses. They know by the 15^th of the month how well their business did financially the month prior.  They do not spend money on travel, events or trade shows that are not budgeted. They do not hire staff without have the money or contracts in place in advance.  They also understand how to use a line of credit. They use it carefully for short-term cash needs, and not long-term funding needs such as marketing expenses.

3. A Kitchen Cabinet of Advisors

You will need to develop relationships with people who are already entrepreneurs or other businesspeople in a position to give great insight into what you need to be a business success.  It is very helpful to also include a potential client in your back-channel conversations. Clients can provide valuable insight into budget cycles and current pain points, and most importantly introduce you to other potential customers. Keep the company of smart people. Sometimes a phone call to an advisor can save a lot of heartburn and money.

4. A Defined Brand

Your brand is the personality of your product, company or service, but what makes the brand great?  You must protect your brand with the necessary trademarks, patents and/or copyrights for everything from your logo, colors and design of your packaging to the invention of a new product or process. Your brand enhances the performance, innovation, transparency of your company and it has the power to project a sense of social responsibility outside the company.

Successful entrepreneurs treat their brand as an investment, not a cost. A strong brand must be relevant to customers, contemporary and appealing.  Brands are among the most important assets that a business can own, and strong brands can ensure business continuity in times 0f difficulty.

5. A Niche Market

Successful small businesses owners understand that only a limited number of people will buy their product or service. They only pursue marketing efforts toward the exact people they are targeting as customers. Having a narrowly defined group of customers is how they’ve built their business.

6. Excellent Customer Service

Successful entrepreneurs know excellent customer service will keep customers coming back. In today’s customer-oriented business environment, “people skills” are critical for small business success. How you handle your customers can directly affect your company’s performance.  Strong businesses provide manuals and staff training on the skills needed to communicate professionalism, gain respect and enhance customer relationships.  They also use customer relationship management (CRM) software to track the value of customers to the business and to manage customer contacts.  

7. Cash Position and Good Banking Relationship

On a day-to-day basis, successful entrepreneurs understand what their cash position is in terms of accounts receivable and accounts payable.  They do not just make deposits and withdrawals. They have a relationship with the manager and head teller at their bank.  They also use two banks to make sure that their personal and business assets are not located in the same bank.

Do you have any other principles to add to my 7 small business success principles?

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1. Profile Your Best Customers. Who are your most valuable and profitable customers? How much do they spend with you annually? Do they fit a niche? While it’s imperative that you understand your products and services, it’s even more significant to understand what value your business brings to your customers so you can continue fulfilling their needs. Business issues can change quickly, making vendors potentially interchangeable.  Be sure to thank your customers; no one owes you business.

2. Talk With Your Clients. If your three most important customers were sitting in a room with you, what questions would you ask them?  Even with your long-time customers, schedule a quarterly face-to-face meeting to ask for feedback or just to catch up. You must stay on top of their needs and understand any new factors that influence their decision-making processes. Have 10 questions to ask, and then make sure you engage them around some personal small talk: kids, vacations, holiday plans, etc. The more personal the relationship, the more that relationship will allow you to obtain critical information and a strong ally.

3. Align Marketing Efforts With Your Sales Goals. Sales and marketing have to work together in your small business. Even if you are the only salesperson in your business and you also handle the marketing efforts, you must plan your marketing program based on the amount sales leads you need to generate in order to close the required amount of sales per month. If you know you need  500 leads per month in order to close 50 sales, then determine how many phone calls, e-mails, blog posts, Facebook ads and Twitter messages must be made, sent or posted per month to drive the desired traffic. You must establish a sales process and then proactively work your marketing efforts so that they generate the desired results.

4. Never Take Your Eye Off the Competition. Identify several competitors. Discover what benefits they provide to their current customers. Use their websites to gain insights. Compare your branding, value proposition and pricing.  Based on your assessment, develop at least three strategies that you will use to position yourself effectively against them. Always think, “What is my signature move?”

5. Create Win-Win Relationships. “Give to get” is a motto that works well in business. A strong strategic alliance offers many benefits, including reducing risk, sharing costs and improving time to market. How can you develop a partnership that can contribute to your bottom line? Always go into a relationship understanding your partner’s “must have” list. It’s always best when you can find a partner who is not a direct competitor.

6. Refine Your 30-Second Commercial or Elevator Pitch. Your most important job as a small business owner is selling yourself and your business. When you can succinctly explain your business, it builds trust, but you shouldn’t use the same pitch forever. From time to time, switch it up a little.  Add a brief client list; mention a recent award or media hit.  Elevator pitches are designed to draw in your target and keep the dialogue going.  Be careful not to give TMI (too much information). Offer just enough to get them interested in chatting with you again.

7. Use a Vision Board. All businesses have ups and downs. How you get through the tough days in your business makes a big difference in your productivity.  One of the tricks I use and advise all my coaching clients to use is to develop a vision board of your big picture goals for your life.  If you are successful the way your business plan projects, what are the 10 things you want out of life?  Create a visual representation of your list.  Use cutouts from magazines or clip art pictures–whatever it takes develop a visual symbol of your personal goals.  Post this collage to remind yourself why you work so hard.  Ten reasons will keep you motivated on good days as well as bad ones!

By implementing these marketing techniques, you will be able to evaluate the effectiveness of your marketing strategy and keep yourself motivated to stay on top of your sales processes.

Do you have any marketing tactics that have worked to ignite sales in your small business?

The post 7 Ways to Keep the Sales Rolling in Your Small Business appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Here are the top five mistakes that hold back start-up entrepreneurs:

1) Not Appreciating Social Intelligence

This is the mistake that small business owners make the most.  Having proper social skills and being in tune with your surroundings will take you a long way in business.

Here are some examples of poor social intelligence:

• Do you have a tendency to talk too much at networking events, or worse, share too much personal information? No one except the banquet manager cares about how hard it was to find a parking space. Keep your networking chat smart.
• Are you dressed like someone that has an executive presence? Or, like you should be serving the meal at the event. Everyone should have signature colors and at least three killer outfits. Men, the tie color and the shoes are very important.
• Do you have a strong elevator pitch or do people need to ask you questions to help you define what you do? Great elevator pitches hit on three key things: explain the type of business, explain the target customer and close with a question.
• Do you appropriately follow-up new leads and contacts or are you a stalker?  Be smart with follow-up. You can send an email, personal note and make a phone call within three months of meeting a contact unless instructed otherwise. Calling every week will not bring opportunity to your business.

2) Have a Professional Business Website

It’s surprising to me how many business owners still do not have a website.  I can’t remember the last time I used a paper directory or phone book to find a vendor. Many people will perform an internet search before they ever call you, so if your customers can’t find you online, you are missing out on opportunities. Nowadays, pulling together a business website is much easier.  Have an idea of what you want, and if you plan on incorporating a blog I strongly suggest you start writing blog posts at least three months prior to the launch of your website, so that you do not get backed-up trying to develop content once your business starts rolling.

3) Make Sure Your Email Address is Branded With Your Company Name and That the Email Address Works

I love my gmail account too, but that’s not the one I use for customer contact. Your emails should come from a branded account that promotes your business.

4) Not Investing in Your Brand

Yes, all of you out there using business cards that you can get for free online are really hurting your business brand.  Invest in a professional logo and a two color business card. Do not hand out business cards that have it printed on the back that they were free.  That tells a prospective customer that you are not serious about your business.

5) Have a Real Phone Number for Your Business

Your small business should have a dedicated phone line with voicemail.  Do not use your cell phone as your main business line.  You’ll never to do business with a major corporation with that as your brand image.  Also, please do not use those answering machines that come with the phone. No matter what you do, the message will never sound professional.

Are there any other common mistakes that you think some small business owners make when starting out in business?

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These are the things that can destroy your entrepreneurial dream if they go unaddressed.  Do yourself a favor-spend the time to make sure you have these business elements well thought-out in your business planning before you go into business.

1)     Not developing a Life Plan-People start small businesses for many reasons. They hate their job. They need extra money. They always wanted to open an art gallery or bakery. The trouble is that too many people do not take the time to really think about what they want out of life first, and then build a business around that.  They also don’t think about what their life would be like as an entrepreneur. How long do you think you could physically sustain working 7 days per week?  Do you like teenagers? Well, they may be the only employees that your business can afford.  You need to develop a life plan because you just do not want to start a business that is NOT a good business for you.

2)     No network-There’s an old saying, “Your network is your net worth.” We’ll, it’s true. Before starting a business you must spend time cultivating the market – which means developing and nurturing your professional and personal connections. If you are not good at making friends or are one of those people who never keep in touch – entrepreneurship might not be for you. Your first customers will come from your personal network. Are you known more internally or externally at your job? People do business with people they like and with people they know. Who do you know and, more importantly who knows you.

3)     Lack of a niche target market-Too many small business owners sell to anyone they think has money. Take the time to develop a well-defined niche for your business.  Sometimes it’s best to be known for the business you turn down.  It is so much easier to develop a marketing plan when you know who you are trying to sell to. You have limited time and limited resources. Pick a niche so you can focus your efforts.  After all, specialists can always charge more money.

4)     Not saving enough money-In my book, Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months, I lay out three pots of money that you need to have before you start a business. Can you survive for two years without bringing in a salary? If you do not save enough money to run your household and fund the first year of operations of your business you may not be able to hang in there until the business can generate any real revenue. The third pot of money is the emergency savings account that Suze Orman has been talking about for years. 6-to-9 months of emergency savings is appropriate.  Your car will breakdown, your air-conditioner will die, your kid will need braces-trust me get yourself an emergency fund.

5)     Lack of personal and fiscal discipline-If you do not run your household with a budget, you are far less likely to run your business with one.  You must make business decisions based on up-to-date financial information. Then, there are your business habits.  Do you have set hours or a regular routine in your business?  Are you focused on tasks that generate money?  Do you make sales calls three times per week?  Do you raid the cash register whenever you need money?  Do you know how much money you are making in each sale?

If you get on top of these five things as you are planning your business you are far more likely to start a sustainable and profitable small business.  If not, you could have an expensive hobby.

The post 5 Reasons Why Start-up Businesses Fail appeared first on Small Business Trends.

When you are starting out in business it is best to keep your overhead expenses as low as possible.  One great way to do this is to work from home.  Your spare bedroom, basement or kitchen table will do just fine as an office until you are making enough money to pay for professional office space.

One of the key considerations in working from home is – can you handle it? One really is the loneliest number.  I have a few tips for evaluating whether you are fit to work from home.  Sometimes when you work from home, the people closest to you might not take your work seriously.  I remember when I first started my business, my boyfriend who is now my husband of more than a decade, would call in the middle of the day to ask me to grab his shirts from the dry cleaners. (By the way, he’s been getting his own dry cleaning, for years now.)

That is a perfect example of how those close to you can unintentionally get you off your game.  In business, your time is the most important thing you can give anyone, but lay down the law with your friends about when they can call you.

Here’s a list of questions to ask yourself before deciding in which part of the house to set-up shop.

• Are you good at setting a schedule for yourself?
• Are you self-disciplined enough to do your work and not procrastinate?
• Are you good at communicating when there is limited visual feedback?
• Can you fight the temptation to run errands?
• Are you really a social butterfly that needs to talk to someone as part of your work process?
• Can you set boundaries with your family & friends or will you just chat on the phone with them?
• Will you be able to separate work life and home life?  Many entrepreneurs are workaholics, and working from home really facilitates being that way.
• Will you still be able to afford childcare help?  Babysitter is not of those 10-12 jobs that entrepreneurs can do well, and run their business.

Now if you are still thinking that becoming a home based business is for you, here are a few tips to help you manage.

Build a cell phone check-in list. It’s good to have regular conversations with a small group of people who know what it’s like to be working from home. You may find out that your friends who still work at jobs can’t relate to you as much as they used to.  Build your network of other home-based business owners, and when you get the urge to turn on Oprah, spend two hours on Twitter or worse take a nap, dial-up sometime who can help you get back on task.

Everywhere you go, talk up your new business. By talking up your business, you will attract customers to you, and it will keep your confidence up. Sometimes when you don’t see other people often, you can get a little rusty presenting yourself.  Try talking about your business at your local nail or hair salon, local business association, supermarket, even your child’s daycare – and at your old job.  Promote your business to any and everyone, especially those closest to you.

Develop strategic alliances with complementary businesses. Find other small businesses you can partner with in order to help each other grow in business. Develop joint promotions, trade tips and resources. Work out a formal referral fee agreement, so there’s no misunderstanding about compensation for leads.  Not every entrepreneur will be eager to partner with you, but you will never know until you ask.

Get out of the home office at least twice a week. Go to networking functions, schedule client appointments, and try to find yourself a place to work outside of your home with your laptop.  Bookstores or libraries are good options. Coffee shops and bakery stores such as Starbucks or Panera Bread even offer free wifi. They are all great places to hangout and get work done.

Having a home-based business is like opening any other business except that your business happens to be headquartered in your home.  Just get a plan together so that you can be successful working from home.

Do you have any more suggestions for working from home successfully? Please leave a comment.

The post Are You Fit to Work From Home? appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Many people dream about owning a small business. You may be one of those people who have had a “notion” for years that someday you would be president of a company, successful beyond your wildest dreams. Turning that dream into reality is an evolutionary process. It involves not only having a solid business idea but also knowing the “business of running a business.”  You will need to get your arms around stuff like accounting, marketing, and operations, but before you dive into crunching numbers for your business plan, consider this:

It is my strong belief that would-be entrepreneurs need to develop a life plan before they ever write a business plan.  Why, you ask?

Because entrepreneurs who don’t get clear about what they want from life run the risk of starting a business that might not be a good business for them.

A life plan is your personal strategic plan for your life goals. Before you develop a business plan, you must first have a life goal.  Everyone should take the time to evaluate how they live. Then, develop a plan to achieve how they really want to live.  Other elements include things like “Where are you a rockstar?”  “What makes you laugh?” “What do you love to do?” “What do you dislike doing?” And “What do you need to learn?” With the answers to these questions you will be clear about what your passions are and how you really need your life to work in order to be successful as an entrepreneur.

Do not make the mistake of assuming what the entrepreneurial lifestyle will be like.   Not everyone is cut out to be a small business owner.  You will go from doing 2-3 jobs in corporate America to doing 10-12 jobs overnight for your own business and every job is important.  The best way to stay motivated in your business is to know you are working towards your personal life goal.

To really get a good picture of your life plan as an entrepreneur, answer the following questions:

• What kind of lifestyle do you want to have as an entrepreneur?
• How big do you want your business to get in terms of profits and staff?
• Will you have employees?
• How many hours a week will you work?
• Do you need to meet the school bus every day or take off every Friday?
• Are you willing to work seven days a week? If so, how long can you keep that up?
• Will you need a partner and could you handle working with one?
• How will you fund your household while you start your business?

You may have a great business idea, but you must decide if it’s a good business for you and your family.  Do not trade a soul-sapping job for a business that you hate.   With a life plan you will have a goal, then you can develop a plan that will lead to personal and professional success.

Do you have a life plan for yourself? Tell me, is it making your business planning easier?

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He wrote “We need to make 2010 what Obama should have made 2009: the year of innovation, the year of making our pie bigger, the year of “Start-Up America.”

He went on further to say, “Obama should make the centerpiece of his presidency (this year) mobilizing a million new start-up companies that won’t just give us temporary highway jobs, but lasting good jobs that keep America on the cutting edge.”

Well Mr. Friedman, I believe you are spot on. While your editorial largely focused on exposing youth to entrepreneurship, which is absolutely needed, I think there should be a two-pronged approach with a focus on working professionals and academic innovators who are ready to start businesses right now.

The fact that the 2009 stimulus package and TARP funds did not have any real provision that trickled down to small businesses was criminal. According to the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy, small businesses have been responsible for 60 to 80 percent of annual job creation since the 1990s, creating 79 percent of net new jobs in 2005. Thus, supporting the small business economy will fix the American economy.

I would like to join with Mr. Friedman in calling on President Obama and his Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to pull together the nation’s small business thought-leaders, top entrepreneurs, the Center for Women’s Business Research and micro-business leaders to talk about what is needed to help start-up businesses now. In advance of this meeting, I would like to offer a few suggestions to get the ball rolling quickly.

1. Provide wage subsidies for small businesses to create jobs.
2. Provide a temporary payroll tax exemption to small companies less than three years old.
3. Work with the Small Business Development Centers and the Minority Business Development Agency offices nationwide to fund Become Your Own Boss Bowls (Business Plan Competitions) with meaningful cash prizes, free office space for one year and at least fifty percent of the award’s value in technical support.
4. Increase federal funding to the alternative capital markets such as Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI’s) and Community Development Corporations (CDC’s) by 500% and mandate that all loans or grant support come with technical support in financial management and marketing.
5. Increase funding for SBIR and STTR federal grants and relax the regulations which restrict participation firms from accepting additional venture capital funds.
6. Provide tax credits for “Green incentives” for small businesses that invest in environmentally sound facilities and energy-efficient manufacturing and business practices.
7. Continue and expand the entire range of SBA loan programs.
8. Work with policy leaders to provide incentives to pension funds and other public fund managers to invest in private equity and venture funds that are especially targeting minority and women business owners for early-stage seed capital and mezzanine funding.

I offer these ideas as thought starters with the hope that maybe just a few become last minute lines added to the President’s agenda to get the American economy humming again.

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