Being Too Macro-Focused

Think about it for a minute. Being too macro-focused. As cliche as it sounds, too many entrepreneurs do it. They just want it all. There is absolutely nothing wrong with 'wanting it all,' but when it gets in the way of getting even something small, it is a problem.

If you look at an average entrepreneur starting a company, they have serious plans and plan to dip their hands into just about everything from the start. This ends up leading the person to tap only partially into their skills and not achieving each task to their full potential. Just like with anything in life, it is usually better to have four of the same size tires for your car at regular price, than 50% off, four different size tires.

Even if you look at developed companies or companies that have been around for awhile, you may find prime examples of factors that set them back. Usually companies that are around in times like today (a recession), and are doing okay, have some product or service that they excel at, otherwise it would be very tough to survive. That said, those very companies & their owners, have to keep offering that product or service at a premium level; otherwise they will see their customer count shrink. But due to the recession, business owners or management in companies feel like they have to be "innovative" and come up with new products. This is a great thing- as long as they don't try to create a product that caters to the need of customers five needs- only partially.

If none of the above made sense, excuse me; but I will explain it right here. The problem with many entrepreneurs or just people who manage businesses in general is that they create something that isn't truly worth it. Lets take "Sam's plumbing company" for example. Sam is the owner of the company and he plans to create a product "agent Y" -which is a cleaning product to "clear all drains from backup" -to bring in more revenue to their company than just what product "X" brings. But while he is innovating this product, he also thinks about having the cleaning product be used to "germ proof" drains. This requires him to spend countless dollars in research and the end result is that it cannot be done. Because "Sam" was too Macro-Focused, he wasted time, money, and loss revenue by the delay of "agent Y" being launched.

So the bottom line is, if an entrepreneur creates something, it better be GREAT AND SIMPLE. Trying to have something fulfill 10 jobs, might not be the right thing, even if it is possible to create such a product. Being the best known for 1 thing is far better than being known as an average Joe for five things.

Exit Strategy

Anywhere you go when discussing business, people talk about growing a business or creating a successful start-up, but most don't discuss the point of creating an exit strategy or plan, prior to entering the exit stage. I've seen friends who run very successful companies, but they never think about what they will ever do with the company whether it be selling it, giving up a small portion to a bigger fish in the pond, or taking it public. All they are interested in is the present and sometimes that leads them into rushing when the time comes that they can't handle the work anymore.

You may think that I'm joking, but I'm not. Times do come, when entrepreneurs can't run a company any longer which can be caused from a number of issues such as personal health, lack of knowledge, no future vision, or just heading into retirement.

Some entrepreneurs think that they can run their own start-up forever, but it might not be the actual case when time passes. Just because someone has started a company and evolved it into a multi-million or even billion dollar business, doesn't mean they have the skill set to keep running it forever. If an entrepreneur is their own start-up's CEO, they might be good at working with the company at its infant stage, but might not have the experience to continue to run a grown company and lead it to future success. So sometimes, even if an entrepreneur started their company and were the CEO and don't wish to exit completely; it can be good to seek out a new CEO ahead of time and then hire that person, step aside and see where an experienced CEO can take the company.

Other times, entrepreneurs might want to completely exit the company instead of giving up small control of it. This is completely okay, but knowing that's what the goal is, is important. So when the time does come to sell, the entrepreneur isn't questioning themselves of what to do, or even if the company has multiple co-founders, they aren't debating over what to do.

Obviously there are outside factors that determine what the end game will be when the time comes, but having some thought after the company is up and running is truly beneficial to all those involved. A big factor is selling price. If a entrepreneur has a set dollar amount in mind and is offered more, chances are they won't hesitate. But if they are offered less, they might have second thoughts about selling and just sit on the company a little while more- or give up a certain stake. At the same time of thinking about an exit strategy, it is important not to create a company just to sell it.

Failure Into Success

I've talked about failing before, stating that most entrepreneurs fail sometime in their "careers"-if you will, and it should be considered an achievement. I've also stated that I have never failed before, actually it is kind of a fine line between temporary failure and long term achievement. I get emails asking me if I have ever failed, if so, how. So I decided to write about how I actually "salvage" businesses that might have tanked and turn them around, in order to break even, if not profit from them afterwords.

Usually, no business tanks so horribly, that there is nothing left to use in a new venture. For instance, if I were to build a candy shop, from scratch, which later failed, I would still be left with the building and even the equipment inside as long as it wasn't financed or I keep paying the loan off. So after I close up shop, I would sit down and think about what would work at that location and how I can use the "bad investment" I have made in the building and make a profit from it. In most cases, I would probably go ahead and put another type of shop up at this location or try selling the building. Now, one may argue that the candy shop was still a failure, but I look at it as just a higher investment for my next business that I put at the same location.

Another good example would be if I had an internet business which failed, and then I somehow managed to use the code and setup from my previous venture in a new one and try to salvage anything and everything I could, so I could lower my new investment. By doing so I would be able to save on new programming costs and perhaps launch the new venture sooner than later.

Sometimes it just isn't practical to try to use assets of a failed business in a new one because people try to save money and adjust their new business to their old one, leading to starting another failure or at least something not as good as it could have been, given you didn't use anything from a failed venture. I would only use parts of an old business if it naturally fit the new business concept.

I would say some of the prime assets of a failed business can be its staff and the other connections you have made in the industry due to starting your failed business. It can be of great benefit to have a skilled and ready to go staff to implement into a new business venture, instead of having to find the right team and take your chances. And any networking ever done, is never a waste, part of a failure, or ever forgotten, so those contacts could very well be used to kick start a new business.

Consistency Goes Far

Consistency is a key element when trying to boost sales and retain an original customer base at the same time. A lot of business owners are into trying out new things in order to draw more attention to their businesses, but they forget that they already have a customer base that they need to keep intact. It is always okay to try out new things, but you should be delivering the same quality experience for people who already do business with you AT ALL TIMES. I can't begin to tell you how many stories I've heard where business owners do something out of the blue where not only does their original customer base not like the changes, but they don't gain new customers either, basically leading them to start from square one again, after spending money on changes.

What to keep in mind...

It is quite simple, if something works- in a marketing campaign, customer relations, whatever it is, keep at it. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that businesses who cater to a customers wants time after time, will stick around.

If you're selling cheeseburgers, sell them at the same quality you have been in the past, but add some goodness to them if you are trying something new. While you are "experimenting" you might want to offer the original ones to customers at the same time, so they don't get upset with the changes.

If you are running a business with multiple locations, make sure that the customers are offered the same products and services as they would receive at any one of your other locations. While the prices might differ slightly, the same experience can be achieved within the same brand.

Think about the paper boy...

If you get your paper delivered at 5 AM each morning, but at 8 AM the one morning, you might be a little upset. But if you are delivered the paper at 8 AM each morning and it comes early, why would you complain?

If you are planning to make changes with your business operations, try to make it so that people can't complain. Make it so that you can capitalize on the change and draw in more attention, but the attention you already have doesn't get lost in the process.

It can really apply anywhere...

You don't have to be running a business to deliver consistency. If you are working for someone else and you remain consistent throughout your work, chances are your boss will appreciate it and rely on you more so than your co-workers. Then when it comes time to promote someone from your team or give only one person a raise, who do you think will be at the top of your bosses list?

Experiment Wisely

Businesses always evolve with their line of products and/or services. Product/Service innovation is one of the biggest factors involved in business growth and customer usability. It is basically common sense, you offer products or services that people truly want and they will come to you first. The problem is though, some companies decide to pull out products or services that work well with customers, in order to "make room" or draw attention to new products or services. Instead of gaining customers, companies end up losing more customers in the long run because the new things might not satisfy certain customer needs. Obviously is a product isn't profitable or can't work out within the company itself, it should be pulled, but if it is making a profit, why not keep it around.

As many of you know, I own some franchise quick service restaurants. I see this happen quite often with these businesses because each company is constantly coming out with new menu items, so they have to "make room" for the new ones. Unfortunately, not all the new items work all the time, but the biggest problem I have with "new product experiments," is that they don't pull the plug as soon as they see the product doesn't work and need to bring the original products back. I am a franchisee of some of the biggest names in the restaurant industry and they all seem to have this same problem. You would think that a large company would be able to execute and identify things that don't work and then restructure their plans for the future, but they aren't as fast as it as I would like them to be, most of the time.

When you are running a small business on the other hand, it is easier to change the plans and see when things don't work. I would always say, with a small business, never discontinue products and services that work because you never know if new products will work or not. When people are satisfied with something and you take it away, they will probably check out what other things you have to offer, but if they don't like that, you are likely to lose that customer, even if you bring back the discontinued products.

You will also see this with online businesses. They bring out new services or products, take away older features and then consumers are upset. I usually try to give as many options as I can to customers, while still maintaining profitability, so it hopefully remains a "win-win" situation.

It is a must to innovate within your established company or your new business venture, but you have to remember to experiment wisely or it can turn into a costly experiment, sometimes even fatal to your business. You should also never suddenly change things overnight because that is when you catch consumers off guard and they can be more "upset" by the change. On the other hand if you innovate correctly, sometimes you will gain a bigger and more quality of a customer base, faster.

Do People Understand?

There are many new products or services that come out all the time, but the problem is, people don't understand the use for half of them. Especially with internet services that people provide, sometimes people just don't get what the reason for using the service is. Maybe you have a great product or service, but if you don't "teach" people how to use it in 30 seconds, they will be gone, forever.

"The Dumb Down Theory"

I think that businesses who come up with new products or services that people don't have any knowledge about, should "teach" their consumers about the product in less than 30 seconds. While you teach your consumers about the product in 30 seconds or less, you also have to appeal to them and make them truly understand what you provide.

Ask yourself this: How many times have you visited a new site, but you didn't get what the point of using their service was, or even how to use it?

When a first time visitor, visits your business or website, you have to make sure they "get" you, and get you fast. If you don't do this, no matter how hard you try to get them to come back, they won't, unless you change the name of your product.

How can you help people understand what you do?

Show! Don't tell - This is probably an easy way to help people understand what you sell or provide because they will have a walk through from start to finish. Seeing is better than telling AND it is believing. You can easily show people what you do by making an introduction video on your website or having employees demonstrate the product if you run a retail business. There is no such thing as not getting when you have a human to ask questions to!

You should ask yourself, if your business is easy to understand- for a 5 year old. If you achieve this, you might be able to increase your sales because people will start understanding why your business exists.

Hype Doesn't Last

I have ran businesses that have picked up "hype" and I have also seen many businesses running into a stage of hype and then taking a drastic fall into the red. It is always great to have some buzz around what you are doing, but you should realize that it will never last forever and you should plan for those times so you don't end up pulling the plug on your venture.

-Some hypes are natural and some are artificial, but what is the difference?

Natural hypes are when the public or users create a craze for a certain product and an artificial hype is when companies create their own "fame." I have personally owned businesses that have dealt with both situations and I can say that, natural hype lasts longer than artificial, but both eventually die out. A natural hype would be something like Facebook. Facebook didn't create it's own fame, but instead capitalized upon it occurring, taking advantage of all who wanted to invest. On the other hand, companies that create their own fame, usually end up tripping on their own shoe laces.

-How can you take full advantage of a hype and still keep some "buzz" around yourself after it dies down?

Taking advantage of hype means being prepared. I don't just mean that you should have a plan, but you should have a plan, execute the plan, and keep up with innovation. There was a MySpace craze once upon a time, but MySpace didn't really "innovate" so they weren't able to hold on to most of their users, who ended up heading to Facebook. Another good example of how a company didn't take advantage of their product hype was Krispy Kreme. Krispy Kreme doughnuts were some what of a "delicacy" when they went nation wide, but then people soon realized that Dunkin' Donuts had bigger doughnuts, so eventually the customers went back to Dunkin' or became Dunkin' customers if they weren't previously. I think that Krispy Kreme should have came out with a cheaper product or something that could be compared to big names like Dunkin' which would have saved many stores from being in financial trouble. Recently, the word on the street seems to be that Krispy Kreme might end up closing all of its doors for good.

To sum up taking advantage of a hype, I would say that you have to present new products or services while people are naturally (or artificially) obsessed with your business. When you truly appeal to them while they are coming your way, there is a higher chance that you will be able to sustain the "hype" and potentially keep some sparks around after it dies out.

-Does hype always mean that you will be in the green or can you lose money during hype?

It is important to note that you don't always have to be profitable during a hype and you can be going in the red big time if you don't see it coming or ending. Many businesses don't judge properly when they are in the middle of a hype. This causes them to over expand, over staff, or even overspend projected budgets during the hype. The worse thing is that companies don't see the hype fading away and still keep the same amount of spending and budgets around. While it is necessary to have staff for the hype, you shouldn't end up like some Web 2.0 companies which hire a bunch of people and then the service loses its luster and it is facing laying off 70% of its staff. If you are able to visualize the future and current standing of your business, there is a greater chance that you will be getting a clear projection when you sit down for future planning.

Always remember, anything that grows fast is likely to collapse twice as fast. You should never assume that you are set for life when you start tripling or quadrupling your expected earnings, but on the other hand you have to take maximum advantage of the "hype," when or if it occurs. And don't over expand on "hyped statistics."

Running A Transparent Business

Being transparent as an entrepreneur or running a transparent business gives you an upper hand in whatever you are dealing with. If you have been transparent with your business year after year and continue to be, you will more likely deliver higher customer service, at the same time run into less troubles. Being transparent will also help you deliver more quality within your business.

If you have not been running a completely transparent business or haven't started a business yet, you will notice that when you do start being transparent, there will be a stronger relationship between you and your employees and also you and your customers. The strong link will probably get more customers to come back to you, essentially giving you repeat sales and at the same time get your customers talking about your business among their friends or family.

Why would customers be happier if I told them something the way it is?

People look for what is really up these days. Nobody has time to listen to manipulated things or even that same sales pitch they have heard a thousand times. If you become honest with your customers, they will probably see through the sales tag and find that it is more beneficial to THEM to buy from you instead of the competition.

Admit your mistakes...

Making mistakes with a business or as an entrepreneur is only natural. It happens to everyone. But what everyone doesn't do is admit their mistakes and say they were wrong, instead they try to cover up their questionable judgment. For example, if you are working with a team to launch a new product, but a decision you make is incorrect, and you try to draw attention to another problem or incorrect decision someone made along the way of the product launch, instead of your own, people will notice that and they might become distasteful with you. On the other hand, if you took action and faced your incorrect decision, people will probably be more willing to work with you to fix it quicker, so less "chain-reactions" arise.

Same thing goes with a business. A matter that comes to thought instantly, is when Facebook launched their Beacon project a couple years back. It was a service that displayed what everyone's friends were buying online and notified people in their mini-feed. People's thoughts for "privacy" suddenly jumped out of the roof and Facebook acted on the feedback. Mark Zuckerberg, addressed the issue on a company blog post, and apologized for the lack of privacy with the project.

What about my staff?

While you cannot think for someone else, you can influence how they act if you create a surrounding that is persuasive. If you try to scope out people that are transparent and hire them, it is more likely that the people that are not transparent, will become more inclined to be transparent. After all, do you really want a employee that isn't transparent, working for you? You are the first step to having them become transparent.

What it all comes down to...

The bottom line shows, being transparent with your business or being a transparent entrepreneur will give you a better reputation in the end. If you remain transparent through the years, consumers will put their trust into you and that is the true key to crossing the finish line successfully.

Maybe the first step to becoming transparent, is to get a transparent business card. :)

Exploring New Turf

Many entrepreneurs pursue entering industries which they are very new to all the time. There are numerous advantages to diverse ventures into different industries, but there are some things to keep in check. Entrepreneurs usually have a type of business or an industry that they dominate. Whether they have been active in the field for years or have had tremendous success with a business in a short amount of time, they know the business in and out...most of the time.

I have explored various fields, having success and sometimes tough times with new ventures which I know little about, but there are things that I have learned over time which can really benefit entrepreneurs exploring new turf.

1) Study all you can, before hand- Sometimes I am proposed an opportunity, but then don't dig into it right away since I have no time. Then when I actually do decide to get involved with a new venture, I try to balance between learning more about a business and grow the business at the same time. This is extremely difficult because you are focusing on trying to grow something you don't know much about! If you think you are going to go with a new business venture as an entrepreneur, you should get right down to learning everything you can so you can focus on bringing up the business when you start the venture.

2) Get at least one person on your team that is a guru- I can honestly say, this can make an entrepreneurs life easier. Everytime I venture off with a new opportunity, I try to find the best of the best in the industry. If I can bring in the people who have had tons of experience in a specific industry, I find that I can avoid a lot of the setbacks before hand. While I pay these "gurus" far more than an average employee, it is all worth it most of the time because they make up for it with the bottom line.

3) Don't follow the misconception of "we're good to go"- I've never personally thought this way, but I know a handful of entrepreneurs that have felt like they were "good to go" before they started a new venture, thinking they learned what was necessary to kick start a business, but then they find out they only know 5% or 10% of the business.

4) Micromanage when you can- While you don't want to micromanage every aspect of your new venture, you should try to, when you can- and when there is time. As the head of the new start-up, you will want to get to know all the details of the business. Why? Because when employees leave - "the gurus" - you will want to know what they knew.

5) Question yourself- I'm not saying that you should second guess yourself, but what I am saying is that you should question your knowledge. For example, if you are buying an existing business, which already exists, try to see how the daily operations work and see if you can manage that. Ask yourself, if you can handle the little aspects, while focusing on the big picture.

6) Plan to DOMINATE- Having the feeling or the goal that you plan to dominate, you will keep up innovation in your new venture. When entrepreneurs want something, they have to reach out and grab it. If you want to dominate, you have to tell that to yourself EVERYDAY.

When you are exploring new business ventures, you should keep an open mind and try to understand all you can about the idea or concept that the business delivers. I can say that it is always an adventure to wander off into new industries and many times I've seen more growth in a shorter amount of time with a new venture than an existing one.

Instinct

Yes, no. Right, wrong. This or that. Everything that you have to make a decision for basically has two or more options. There are always different outcomes for each decision you make, but you never know the outcome until the decision actually plays itself out. I often see people hesitating or debating endlessly over taking route A or route B, when clearly they are just wasting time still standing at the point of origin. I think that many entrepreneurs slow their development by pondering upon options.

Why is it beneficial to go with instinct?

Less time wasted- Mapping out all decisions can take a matter of minutes, but it is the analysis of how each decision can possibly turn out that can take a long time. If you go with your instinct, you will waste less time on possibly the same result.

More time for trial and error- Failure happens. The more time you use debating which decision to make the first time around, the less time you will have to make the same decision the second time around. You can't possibly expect to know what to look out for before you have actually experienced something, so usually it is beneficial to have more time to make a decision the second time around, since you will have more data and factual information to look at.

Not as much "second guessing" yourself- This or that? Have you ever found yourself unable to come to a decision because you have scoped out alternatives? But then you find yourself going with the first decision you made anyways resulting in a positive outcome? The more time you take to map out alternatives, the more options you will come up with and the more you will second guess every decision. This can possibly be an endless route.

Less controversy- If you make a decision and think about what you will need to look out for while you are implementing it, you will have some idea of a buffer. If you have to map out the possible damages for 5 options, you will have more to dispute between. Going with what you think is right, will probably help you think more clearly through the process. You won't be as confused and there is probably a higher success rate with your instinct.

To conclude, I would say that in reality, about 75% of the time I go with my instinct. Sometimes there just isn't enough time to go over all of the possible scenarios and play each one down to how it can work out. By going with your instinct, I don't mean to say that you should just go with any weak decision, but you should go with what you feel is best...in your mind. As soon as we start thinking about options, our minds automatically start thinking of how things will play out. This is what causes instinct feeling to be usually right.

I would also add that when making major decisions, instinct may also not be the best way to tackle things. Instinct is usually for more micro-situations. Obviously if you were planning to make a major move, you should map out everything you can possibly think of and plan, plan, plan until you can't plan anymore.

Too Many Cooks Spoil The Food

I'm not sure if you have heard the saying, "Too many cooks spoil the food," but it is very true in terms of business- and cooking. While it can be very possible that five chefs have a different way of making the same dish, if they all try to work together, it may turn out to be the next Hell's Kitchen. Each person has a different style of delivering success and there are many ways to get to the same result. This is why in management there could be multiple "correct" approaches that a company can take, in order to increase exposure, the bottom line, sales, whatever it may be.

Why should you limit the number of "cooks" making decisions in your business?

While it is very good to take in advice from numerous people, there should only be a few or maybe even one person making all the major decisions- at least that is how I view it. If you have 10 advisers for your company, there should be one appointed person or two, that make the final decision. If you try to implement everyone's thoughts and styles of management, eventually you will see that either nothing works or nothing gets done. Even though you are having only a couple people have the final say on something, you should welcome ideas from all because every idea can potentially be a winner, but no idea is a loser.

In a partnership business...

A lot of people start up businesses with two or more partners, which is great, but when it comes to decision making, many people have different say from their business partners. For this very reason, it is good to have a managing partner- or one who has majority say. Usually the person who has invested more into a company has the greater say, but it can be different if the person who invested less is managing the business. By having one person making all the decisions, you will run into less feud between the partners and potentially make more "right" decisions for the company's well being.

Notice I said less feud because there is always difference of opinion in a partnership. Nobody thinks alike, 100% of the time. When people have different opinions, they are bound to back up their thoughts and push towards those to be implemented into a business. And nobody can make all of the "right" decisions even if they are having the final say because there is a chance- whether slim or large- for everyone to fail.

Better to let experience decide...

Being part of many businesses, I cannot know every detail of every business as it is happening. Therefore, I don't have as much experience with each particular venture as say the manager or team director would have. That said, even thought I may be the owner or majority stake holder in a company, I don't always appoint the final say to myself. While it may be that I can overrule anything said, I choose not to operate that way. I feel that it is best if the person in charge of a particular business take the decision THEY feel is right and most beneficial to the success of a business. Even having multiple locations of the same brand can have less weight compared to the person who runs a specific location being discussed. While I oversee every major decision made, since it is my investment, I oftentimes let individual management go with what they think.

Voting can be pointless...

Many times you will hear a board say that they will vote on a decision to be made and you can choose from X or Y, with having the majority votes win. In my eyes, I can see both ups and downs to this scenario. There is always a chance that 9 people can vote X and 1 can vote Y when clearly Y could be better for a company. This is why I choose to discuss ALL decisions being made and not just go by how many votes one can rack up. When discussion arises to the table, chances are details can be pointed out, where otherwise it would not be.

Overall, decision making and the whole management process seems to work out better when there are fewer decision makers- or "cooks"- in the kitchen making the decisions. If you run a fortune 500 company or just a mom and pop shop down the street, always welcome various voices to the table. It can be to your benefit to listen to different people because you don't know what they are thinking until they say it, but if you never listen, you will never have the options to chose from.

The "Cards" Can Change

If you watched the Super Bowl, you will notice there were turning points for both teams in certain points of the game. There was an equal chance for each team to win after their "cards" changing. But in the end the Super Bowl win was "stolen" from the Cardinals and the Steelers took it home. How can you learn from the Super Bowl and invest the thoughts into your business for the greater good?

There are always turning points- In the game there were times when people started to think the Cardinals were going to win and there were times when the Steelers were going to win. In the end the game was very close and one play determined the win. If you look at a lot of companies today, they have all had their up's and down's, nonetheless, many of them have made changes for the better and have come out on top eventually. In your business, no matter how doubtful it is that more profit or growth can be made, there is a chance that you can make it happen.

Nobody can stay on the top forever- The game never went one way and stayed that way. With the game never turning into a one way streak, it wasn't guaranteed that either team was going to win. Even though the Steelers had the hand up over the Cardinals throughout the first half, it didn't keep the Cardinals from going all out and eventually leading them to take the lead for a little while in the 4th quarter. That said, the same thing can happen in business. Any big player who dominates an industry can fall to 2nd, 3rd, or even last place. I don't believe that any company can stay on the top forever because eventually competition takes a big share of the market share. Don't think that your market share will always stay intact forever either.

Don't underestimate your competition- Neither team underestimated their opponent. By not doing so, they were able to keep a clear mind and expect to be beaten. Staying fearful kept both teams trying their hardest for the win. You should never underestimate your competition either. Even if they are not as strong as you or even only take up a very micro-level market share, they might come out with something 10x better than you and take over the majority of the consumers.

Think clear under pressure- While I'm sure both QB's were under pressure throughout the whole game, they tried to play their best and keep up with what was going on in the field. Maybe on the last play Kurt Warner hesitated, but still kept a fair balance through the rest of his pressured plays. If you are under pressure with the operations of your business, you should still try to keep a balanced and clear mind. By being under pressure, sometimes judgment can be clouded and wrong decisions can be made for the worst.

Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Steelers for the win!

Build A Loyal Customer Base

Check out The Loyalty Effect (click here)

Businesses are always focusing on how to bring in new customers or users to their services, but sometimes lack to think that instead of spending tremendous amounts of time on how to bring in a new audience, you can potentially make far more with a LOYAL customer base. Before I go on, let me just say that you should always be working to build a bigger base of customers, but that shouldn’t sway you away from keeping an eye on creating a strong and repeat customer base.

The scenarios…

Let’s take a look at a mechanic. Mechanics are either good or they are not. If they can diagnose the problem, fix it, and clearly tell their client what was wrong, more often than not they will get repeat business from the same customer. In another scenario, if a mechanic were to play games or even show lack of knowledge/ability to resolve a problem, chances are they won’t see repeat business; in addition to have the person tell five other people that a certain mechanic can’t get the job done.

Next, let’s look at a web service. Say you are providing a data tracking service for people. You charge $10/month for unlimited use and data tracking. If you have 1,000 clients and you increase your client base by 20% each month you will be building your sales month after month. If you are losing 30% of your clients month after month and bringing in that same 20%, it is not benefiting your company because in addition to losing out on revenue, you are spending money in terms of marketing. If people don’t stick around, YOU LOSE MONEY!

A basic rule of thumb goes to show that if you invest more time, money, and efforts into taking care of what you already have, then focus on growing, you will be coming out ahead in the long run. If you have a loyal customer base- your customers also market and live your product in the long run. Even if you compensate the 30% loss of clients with the same amount of new customers, your customers don’t live your product so you won’t spread within their communities.

Besides the general situations…

Forget about everything from a marketing prospective and revenue flow for a minute. If I am running a business where I am selling lemonade and I have the whole neighborhood coming to my stand everyday for five years, it shows that I have built a strong and loyal customer base. Now I get innovative and change my lemonade making strategy- because I think it will “taste better and be more energizing,” but instead most people end up not liking it at all. The consequences would show that generally most people will be willing to give my lemonade stand another chance since they have been coming to me for the past five years. Let’s say I end up losing a permanent 20% of my customers. But now let’s say that I was focusing on bringing in new customers, instead of having repeat customers. Now I lose 80% of my customer base and word spreads that “nobody should come to my lemonade stand.” Virally- bad things spread quicker if there is nobody to defend a problem from a different viewpoint. Since I had only 20% repeat customers and 80% new daily, the 80% will be bad mouthing my stand while only 20% potentially defend me. If I had more loyal customers than new customers, the bad experiences might have been contained better and people could possibly be a little easy going due to my failed innovation giving them a bad experience.

Overall, marketing efforts can become costly if you are not earning repeat customers to your business. If you build on top of your existing customer base and the majority of people keep coming back, THAT is when marketing efforts and ROI really shows up. Along with the fact that if people have a bad experience with a business -besides in terms of "bad service"- that they have been a loyal customer to, they will probably give it another chance...people that have no been a loyal customer to a business, who visit a business for the first time and have a bad experience, will probably never come back due to them assuming its how the business always operates.

Spread Your Brand

You have probably heard that YOU need to live your brand as an entrepreneur, but maybe you haven't heard that your CUSTOMERS need to live it also. In the video, I explain how having your customers live your brand can increase exposure, how you can do it, and other brands that have customers or users live their brand.



If you are really cleaver, people live your brand and don't even know it ;-)


How do you have your customers or users live your brand?

Get Known & Stay Ahead

One of the biggest problems running a web service, is being copied. It has happened in one way or another to many of the popular services. Other than in a web service, it can happen anywhere...in retail, running an online business, etc. Once you have an established service or product you are more vulnerable to be copied and even surpassed. Sometimes the cause of a similar product or service taking the lead over the original, is simply because the original business didn't have the ability to keep thinking outside of the box. How do you initiate your start-up business from being superseded, whether in your area, country, or even continent? I use a "thinking global" approach to make sure I appeal to the widest audience before a copy-cat business does.

-Be compatible and operable to a wide audience- While it may not be that you are running a "worldwide" business, it sure can't hurt to think like one. If you think about how you can adjust your business to appeal to the most diverse audience, you will more than likely find that it is harder for others to copy your business model once you have became larger.

-Ask for user feedback- Customers/Users ARE the ones who will tell you what they want. Chances are, if you can alter your business model to accommodate their needs, your business will become more popular in its niche and the word will spread automatically.

-Don't become blind with your growth- If you think that your business has everything any client can possibly want from it, you stop putting effort into it, leading to your business not growing or introducing new products. When this happens, there is a HUGE chance that another service will pop-up and slip ahead of the curve because you lacked to keep being innovative.

-Make it easy- Customers/Users ALWAYS look for the easiest option when it comes to buying something, using a service, etc. People chose Facebook over MySpace for a reason. People chose drive-thru locations over locations without a drive-thru. Making your business easy to use and purchase from will help people stick around.

-Find the people- If people know about it, it will be instilled in their minds. If a copy-cat business reaches them first, the copy-cat, will be noticed as the original.

-Put a twist on it- If you have a unique product or service, make sure people notice it. Putting a twist on something gets people talking. When people talk, people notice, the business grows. A unique style is VERY HARD to copy- next to impossible.

To conclude, having a global business approach will give you a better sense of reaching a broad audience and potentially dodge becoming overtaken with a copy of your business model. Staying ahead of the curve constantly is a must and it is always beneficial to take in customer feedback and consider the good stuff to be part of future business expansion. Everything basically boils down to "getting there first" and "maintaining the goodness." If you reach your audience first and keep innovation going, you become proactive and make it difficult for someone to steal your thunder.

Push Your Ego Away

There is no doubt in my mind that just about everyone develops an ego, the bigger they get. Most people think that they are the best and have a huge ego after they start cranking in the big bills. In fact, I have personally had experience with people who start showing their ego, once they start making a buck or two. Keep in mind that these same people, were extremely down to earth once upon a time, but after they grew, they started to act full of themselves. Their ego was the cause of anchoring further growth.

Have you ever noticed that your boss, a coworker, or just someone you know has an ego that stops them from growing even larger and making new connections? What do you think of this person? Many people who show their ego after certain accomplishments, don't understand that there are still people smarter and more successful than they are. A problem that people run into is thinking that they are the best, which causes others not to want to be associated with them or even worse, stop talking to them altogether.

When a business is growing, you also shouldn't show an ego. Many people involved with the growth of a business such as founders and highly ranked management get their judgment clouded by the fact that the business is doing super well, which causes them to make wrong decisions, which can end up hurting the business in the long run.

Egos can also destroy businesses that are up and running. For example, it can take down a family business or a partnership. Simple disagreements or views on certain things can escalate and be the start of taking down a profitable business. Keeping an ego in check must be done when negativity of an ego is taking over.

While it is good to be competitive in the business world, you shouldn't act like you are the boss or that you are the greatest. The day you start acting like that, is the day you stop welcoming new people into your network and the day your growth starts to slow down or even turn negative and start destroying everything that you have worked hard to bring up. Your reputation can be slaughtered extremely fast after you start being arrogant and full of yourself. New opportunities can stop proposing themselves to you and you might also find that you will start being criticized by people.

Has Your Growth Stopped?

It is very true that you cannot grow your business or even grow as an entrepreneur each and every day. However, I see that it is common that sometimes entrepreneurs stop growing for a long time. They don’t even try to look for new ventures to take on or try to come up with new ideas for businesses. While it is not necessary come up with new business ventures every day, it is necessary to sit down once every now and then and try to think about where you want to be after the next six months. Entrepreneurs, who fail to plan, never grow. Without having a vision of the future, you cannot expect to get ahead randomly. Some get fed up with planning because nothing ever becomes a reality and others get fed up because they cannot come up with any innovative ideas for the “next big thing.”

While it may be that you might not come up with the next craze that everyone is addicted to or something that everyone wants, it doesn’t hurt to try to come up with something that you think everyone may be interested in. Try to look at your daily life and see what you want to be able to do. Don’t look too deep into it. Some of the best ideas come from simplicity. Don’t expose your idea to the outside world, but ask around in your family to see what they think of your new ideas. If you actually try to come up with something innovative, you never know what you will come up with.

If you are not the type to start something new, then maybe you are the type that takes something and twists it into something incredible that nobody else can deliver upon. For example, if you are running a photography business, try to make it stand out from the rest of the photography companies by offering different options for your clients. Embellish your service to the extent that people crave having your company as their photography service and when the word photo comes to their mind, they think of your company.

In my mind, I think that turning existing products or services can often times be more lucrative than actually coming up with a product or service. When you take a concept to the next level, there is an unlimited amount of opportunities for growth. If you take a look, some of the simplest concepts have made a lot of money for entrepreneurs by building off of existing services. With MySpace, there are a lot of people who make tons of money creating layouts and provide services for pictures, animated text and more. These entrepreneurs built their service off of MySpace’s business.

Being innovative can be done, without being the first to grow a concept. If you don’t look too hard at something, surely you will find an idea that you can embellish in your current business, which could possibly take it to the next level. Take some time and see where you can grow and make some plans for the future. If you don’t do it, you can’t expect to grow!

Taking A Web Business To Retail

There is no doubt that many businesses have transited to the web space and established high sales through the internet over the years, but what is really different, is taking your web business to the “real world.” This might not work for every web business, but it can work for many. Especially businesses that are selling some kind of product that can be also sold in a retail showroom. You would also be surprised what kind of businesses that most would not think can be taken off the web, could very well be taken off the web- to a certain extent.

Do you think that an online service like YouTube can be taken off of the internet?

Probably not in a so called “retail” experience, but YouTube could profit in different ways by selling their most famous videos on a DVD or something along those lines. Imagine if they put together a DVD, broken down into different categories that showed the most viewed YouTube clips. YouTube might also be able to sell “cooking clips” or “craziest home videos” on DVDs. There are many things you can do with content-based services that can be monetized beyond the web. I’m sure that if YouTube ever decided to do something like this, they would give royalties to the people who created the videos being sold.

Why would people benefit from taking a web based business to the real world?

Simply because people would be able to touch and feel products or actually get the experience of purchasing a product, that you cannot achieve on the internet. It is like purchasing a television from a retail store versus online. In a retail store, you get to actually see the TV, watch the actually clarity, and actually touch and feel the product itself. People can be convinced to purchase products they are sometimes skeptical about, if they actually see how something works.

Is it risky taking your business into the real world?

You bet it is. It is probably more risky to do business in retail, than it is online. Of course when you start a web business, you have expenses that you incur if you sell 1 or 1,000 products. The same goes with retail businesses, but at a more intense level, in my opinion. When you lease out a space to use as a shop for your business, you start an expense with rent payments or payments to the bank if you have bought the property. There are also insurance costs, payroll costs, and other hidden costs that are involved with a retail business.

Overall, it truly depends on what kind of product or service you are trying to market, to make your business successful or a failure in the real world. Some products are better kept online and some are better kept offline, but some you can really benefit from selling offline, if you are not already. If you are selling fast food, it can only be done in the real world and if you have some type of internet service, it can only be done in the online world. Doing your homework and research on what would or what would not work, is a must.

Missed Opportunity Could Be Gold Mine

If you are like most business people, you are probably involved with more than just one venture, at least in some way, shape, or form. As we also know, as an entrepreneur it takes A LOT of effort to bring up any business to a level where it turns a decent profit. Most entrepreneurs spend hours upon hours daily to see a little turn in profits. Some entrepreneurs give up on ventures because they simply don't see a future for the concept or business itself. Other entrepreneurs miss to see that there is an opportunity to take a vision to the top.

What I mean by "miss," is that when entrepreneurs are involved with a venture, they tend to pay more attention to one project over the others. It is a natural thing, while some may disagree with me an say that 100% of their time and efforts are equally divided among all of their ventures, I would call them out on that statement. Even I have gotten sidetracked with missing an opportunity or two to really bring up a couple of ventures to the top, at least the first time around.

So what am I trying to say here? Simple. As an entrepreneur, you may be involved in one, two or more ventures and the fact remains that you could very well be missing out on an opportunity to take one of your ventures to the top because you are distracted by another one. There could be a gold mine waiting for your attention and it could be what you become very well known for someday. You have to keep your eyes peeled for any and all opportunities for any of your ventures to be taken to the next level or even to the top. While this may mean spending a little less time on another venture for the time being, I have found, from personal experience, missing out on taking a "pushed-away" venture, can cost me more money in the long run, if I remain to ignore it.

While you may be making $10,000 or $100,000 or even $1,000,000 from a venture, never forget to see if there is room for improvement. Who doesn't want to make more money from something they are already involved in? I mean, it is extremely difficult for a new venture to start turning a profit, so why not increase profits on existing ventures?

The main point is to watch out for the next move you can make and never ignore an venture-B because venture-A is making more for you. It could turn out one day that venture-B makes more than venture-A, venture-C, and venture-D combined!

Getting Off The Drawing Board

Entrepreneurs all over the world map out their ideas on drawing boards before they actually implement any of them. Over time as entrepreneurs are coming up with ideas, they tend to discard many of them because they probably don't have a profitable business model or they simply wouldn't work. While it is good to take your time and study possible business opportunities, you can't study forever, which leads to a point where you have to make a decision and go with a certain venture.

What are a few things you should know about a venture before getting off the drawing board?

-Know the possible obstacles that could arise.

I can't stress how important it is to know about and plan for potential troubles that may arise when taking on a new venture. Although nobody can predict anything that can set an entrepreneur back, they can try to come up with potential scenarios that may trouble them. If scenarios are pre-planned and a solution is thought about, if a obstacle comes up, chances are it might be able to be tackled.

-Find out what resources you will need.

Knowing the resources that will be needed is also very important. If it is known that certain people or expertise will be needed and at what times through the process of rolling out the venture, it can be easier on the entrepreneur to pre-plan and have things coordinated instead of running around at the last minute trying to figure things out.

-How much time will be needed in order to get the ball rolling?

Having a feel for how much dedication and time will be needed for a venture can mean the difference between a fail and a success. Running out of time for a venture can definitely set it back months if not years, by which time another similar venture might have stole the thunder, leaving the original entrepreneur trying to roll out the venture with a failure.

-What kind of capital will you need?

Getting accurate- or close to accurate figures of dollar amounts that will be needed to fund a venture can be crucial to the project as a whole. No matter how much an entrepreneur has put into a venture, without proper capital, a project can sometimes be brought to a complete and permanent halt.

-Is there any reserve capital in case you need more 1/2 way through the venture?

Just in case proper numbers are not predicted, an entrepreneur should always plan for needing more capital. Having some thoughts and possible paths to gain more funding can really be beneficial if the time comes to rely on backup funds.

-How much do you plan to grow after 6 months? 12 months? 18 months? etc.

Knowing where a project is expected to reach after certain periods of time gives an entrepreneur what to expect and achieve along the growth of a venture. Sometimes entrepreneurs are more motivated to achieve success faster if there are goals set before-hand giving them some feel for where they want to take the whole project.

In the end, all the planning in the world can never make a new venture be successfully launched without any flaws along the way. Entrepreneurs always need to plan for unexpected events and should try to figure out what they will do in scenarios of needing more capital, more time, etc. The reason for many failed projects is poor planning, but the reason for many projects that are potentially profitable never seeing surface, is too much planning. Trying to tackle the main issues on the drawing board will take some burden off of an entrepreneur of launching a venture, but never launching a venture, or launching it too late, can lead to no success.