5 Steps for ‘New’ Business Success

By: STEVE SIPE

Some of the most important work a pilot does is on the ground before take-off. The weather briefing, flight plan, and pre-flight of the aircraft are all completed to ensure a successful flight. The same holds true for starting a business venture. If you don’t do the necessary work before your launch, your chances of success are going to be diminished. Let’s say you have a concept for a B2C (business to consumer) business. What do you need to do to make sure you will be able to get from point A, a concept, to point B, a profitable business?

EXAMINE THE MARKET – Is there really a demand for your business? Be honest with yourself and do the leg work to be sure. If there is not significant demand, you are doomed before you even begin. What about competition? If there is already strong competition you have to be able to pinpoint what will make YOU stand out. Why should people come to you instead of choosing a competitor?

DO YOU HAVE THE CAPITAL – To answer this, you need a business plan. Let me re-phrase, you need a REALISTIC business plan. You will need to do significant homework, but the payoff will be realistic expectations for the start-up and performance of your business. Ask anyone who owns a B2C business and the majority will tell you they are not where they expected to be. The lesson? Be conservative when projecting revenue expectations and liberal on expense projections.

KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER – If you can’t describe your customer, it’s a pretty safe bet you don’t know them. At the very least, you should be able to identify your customer by age, gender, education level, zip code, income, family size and employment status. The further you can drill down into psychographics, the better. In addition, you should be intimately familiar with their interaction with your particular product or service.

INVITE PEOPLE TO DO BUSINESS WITH YOU – You might be surprised at how many people start a business and expect people to just flock to them. If those days ever did exist, they are long gone. You MUST have a plan on how you are going to get people through the door. In order to effectively target your particular market, you must know your customer and how to reach them. Develop a message that will resonate with them and select advertising mediums that will reach them.

BE FLEXIBLE – By listening to your customers you will be able to make adjustments to your business and fine tune it for success. Every business has to make adjustments on the fly. Sometimes it’s to meet the demands of a changing market and many times it’s because their original plan had a flaw or two. Don’t be afraid to move out of your comfort zone if it makes good business sense.

We’ve just scratched the surface of getting your business from concept to profitability. Be sure to utilize all of the resources you can tap to get the data and direction you need. SCORE is a great place to start, www.score.org. This site, and others, offers free advice including downloadable resources like business plan forms to help get you started. Just as a pilot utilizes all of the resources available to ensure a safe flight, do the same with your business and you will enjoy the thrill of the journey and the satisfaction of a successful outcome.

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