ArticlesBase.com - Free Articles Directory
Free Online Articles Directory
23.07.2008 Sign In Register Hello Guest
Email:
Password:
Remember Me 
forgot your password?


How to Avoid The Pitfalls of a Small Business Start-up?

Author: Nazir Hussain Author Ranking Bronze | Posted: 28-05-2006 | Comments: 0 | Views: 129 | Rating:  (50) Article Popularity - Green (?) Got a Question? Ask.
Sign Up Now!

Starting a new venture or trying to realise an ambition of a life time is very exciting and spiritually uplifting experience. But, make no mistake this is one journey where you will uncover shocking surprises if you decide to travel on this journey. However, it is not all doom and gloom you can adopt some simple strategies to minimise your risk. Below is a list of potential pitfalls and how they can be side-stepped:-

1)Start with the market and not the product.

Find out what people want in the market place and then sell them exactly what they want. In other words, conduct a survey and see if there is any demand for your chosen product before developing the product. Some people advocate finding out what people are buying by visiting internet and examining products that are being searched for. There is merit in this strategy but it is only relevant if your market is world wide otherwise the internet data will distort your analytical results.

2)Controlling your marketing spend.

Marketing is the key to creating awareness and thereby market penetration. However, it is quite easy to spend all of your marketing budget and not generate any sales. Test the water with your advertising campaigns. Run a few advertisements and check to see if they generate any sales.

Write your advertisement yourself and talk about all aspect of your business or service and service delivery. Make an offer that customers will find irresistible, give them an incentive to test your product or service, back your offer with a no quibble money back guarantee. 3)Don't wear too many hates yourself.

It is very easy to think that you have to do everything yourself. There are two possible consequences of an attitude whereby you think that you can do everything yourself; you prevent your business from developing simply because you are doing too much and more importantly you will lose focus and sight of where you want to go.

4)Set a sensible pricing structure for your products and services.

Set your prices that are competitive as well as profitable. New entrants in the small business sector tend to undercut their competitors and by so doing don't make any profit. Consider this scenario; wedding quote for 100 people, lunch and evening buffet, silver service, champagne and wine with bride and groom's own labels on them. It is easy to quote a price of $50 per head because that sounds within the ball park. However, upon working out all the costs we came back with a per head price of $70 per head. Moral of this story being that working out prices before preparing quotation is a good idea and we advise people to conduct this exercise every time.

5)Use technology to create awareness.

Internet is the best vehicle to tell your potential and actual customers about you, your products and your service. However, you need to line up what you do with the way you present your information on your internet site. Make sure that you design your internet site yourself and by that I mean replicating what you do and how you do it pretty much exactly how you do it. Otherwise, you may harm your business because you may not get noticed.

6)Set goals; both end goal and the intermediate ones.

You need to decide where you want to be in two years' time. By setting that target goal, you will then set a road map for your business to go for. The road map will consist of intermediate goals along the way which you can use as testing tools to gauge your progress and fine tune your strategy as and when the need arises.

7)Take action.

According to the motivational GURU Anthony Robinson you've got to take action. Take massive action he says. Having a good and well researched idea is not enough, you have to implement that idea otherwise all the effort to date amounts to very little. Just do it.

Finally, about 90% of the business success can be attributed to good management team, well researched market, a good and feature rich quality product as well as good financial backing to say the least. The remaining 10% of the business success is to do with luck, risk taking and even being in the right place at the right time. Be thorough in your research, understand your market and your product, follow the above 7 steps and you will have avoided the dreaded pitfalls.

Rate this Article: Current: 0 / 5 stars - 0 vote(s).

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/business-opportunities-articles/how-to-avoid-the-pitfalls-of-a-small-business-startup-31312.html

Print this Article Print article   Email to a Friend Send to friend   Publish this Article on your Website Publish this Article   Send Author Feedback Author feedback  
About the Author:
Nazir advocates home business because of low start up costs and therefore low risk. For more information, visit home business at http://www.homebusinessrelax.com
Submitting articles has become one of the most popular means of generating quality backlinks and targeted traffic to your website. Join us today - It's Free!

Article Comments

Comment on this article Comment on this article
Your Name
Your Email:
Comment Body
Enter Validation Code: Captcha


Related Articles

Have You Got What It Takes To Work From Home?
By: Tom Taito | 23/03/2007 | Business Opportunities
Working from Home can be a fulfilling experience. However, despite the attraction to work your own hours in your own home, you do need certain sills, money, dedication and perseverance!

Make Money With Television Media Giant! - if you Can Say "will That be Visa or Mastercard?" - you Can Do This!!!
By: Brandon Newell | 26/04/2007 | Home Business
This article is about a television media giant who recently launched a network marketing company that has a unique and patent-pending income model which is an industry first. It explains the history and future of the company, why it's income model is so unique and how residual income can be generated for anyone who wants to start a home based business part-time or full-time and be truly successful!

Importance of Being Active in your Work at Home Business
By: Kozsun Huseyin | 22/08/2007 | Home Business
Achieving success in a business working from home is not the hard part, what determines your success is your motives behind achieving that level of success. Unless you do what the successful people who run a business working from home do, then you may be doomed to failure.

Top 10 Reasons to Work From Home!
By: Rachel Henke | 03/05/2007 | Home Business
The benefits of working from home and why you will love to do it.

10 Necessities for a Home Based Business
By: Dan Mitchell | 18/01/2006 | Home Business
When you make the decision to earn income from the internet you will need to go through a set up process to be ready for business.

Top 10 Reasons to Work From Home in 2007!
By: Rachel Henke | 03/05/2007 | Home Business
The benefits of working from home and why you will love to do it.

Setting Up A Workspace For Your Home Business
By: R.t. Markovsky | 11/03/2006 | Home Business
Finding the proper place to do business at home can sometimes be a real challenge.

3 Reasons for a Chance to Success in Internet Marketing!
By: Thorsten Schuchardt | 15/08/2006 | Advertising
Get your chance for a lifetime income!

Got a Question? Ask.

Ask the community a question about this article:

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this a virus
By: rose | 08-07-2008
C:/Windows/winuscn32.exe keeps popping up at starup. after looking it up on the web....seems i have a virus. how can i delete it. i have vista home edition

Logic Board
By: Char Beckman | 08-07-2008
What is a logic board on an HP laptop? Is this the same as a motherboard?

I have a HP laptop computer and I have the ...
By: jan | 08-07-2008
I have a HP laptop computer and I have the internet through a cable company. I have my own router and modem. I want to be able to take my computer anywhere so what kind of wireless card do I get and where?

Installing leopard
By: grannymrr | 08-07-2008
how do i install leopard on both my ibook and mini mac

Freeze
By: frog | 07-07-2008
page freezes when i try to download a torrent from isohunt.

Free monitor giveaway??????????
By: vick | 06-07-2008
I am in Roanoke va and looking for someone who may be getting rid of somr working crt computer monitors

Q&A Powered by:
Powered by Yedda 

Latest Business Opportunities Articles

Successful Marketing for Home Based Businesses
By: Cory Blanchette | 23/07/2008
A successful marketing strategy is not based on doing what you like but liking what you do.

Secrets to Using The Internet To Discover Your Next Business Disclosed
By: Kurt Henninger | 23/07/2008
The internet has changed the way in which we go about our everyday lives, and the way we do business is no different. It has opened up a whole new world of business opportunities for people with the vision and drive to take advantage of them, and the willingness to step into the internet age.

Educators Financial Freedom
By: vishal | 23/07/2008
Tecahers Wallet is for educators . Educators looking to earn extra incomes . We at Teachers Wallet find and create avenues that are- Simple in Nature Non-Capital Intensive Generate income for the user Reduce time pressures on the user we are not providing or talking about those get rich quick schemes on internet signing users for a fees . we provide opportunites in the sphere of education building incomes using your skills and doing what you lime the most "TEACHING"

Data Entry Work From Home Opportunities to Make Money
By: Alan Lim | 22/07/2008
Data entry work from home is definitely not a 'one size fits all.' There is an exciting range of possibilities from which you can pick and choose.

The Benefits To Working From Home
By: Timothy Watts | 22/07/2008
There is no other opportunity in the world that presents the kinds of benefits an online job has for you. When working at home you can do whatever you want, take orders from yourself, and spend more time with the family. What more could you ask from a job?

Planet Antares Vending for Honor Box Segment
By: Kerry Collin | 22/07/2008
The ever increasing competition in the vending Markey has made vending operators hard-squeezed for profits. The honor box segment of vending industry has become the exclusive domain of a unique group of specialists.

Online Money Making Opportunities. Are You Ready?
By: Scott Miscall | 22/07/2008
The dream to work from home is one that many hundreds of thousands of people share. Many want to escape unpleasant jobs or unpleasant bosses for more favorable online money making opportunities.

Do Home Business Opportunities Really Work?
By: Koz Huseyin | 22/07/2008
It seems like there are 2 sides to home business opportunities. One side states that home business opportunities are scams, while another side testifies that the home business opportunities do work, and have worked for them. The question is do they work or not? In this short article, you will find my best unbiased information, which should serve you.

More from Nazir Hussain

Speedy Auto Refinancing
By: Nazir Hussain | 12/11/2006 | Non-Fiction
Refinancing auto loans decreases your monthly auto loan payments as the interest rate are much low and this allows you to pay off the balance of your auto loan even quicker. However, there are certain guidelines that can be followed to speed up the process of auto refinance loan approval.

Refinancing: Does it go Better with Fixed Rate Mortgage or Adjustable Rate Mortgage is Better Option
By: Nazir Hussain | 11/11/2006 | Mortgage
Refinancing does make a good sense depending on your situation and financial goals. You may want to lower your monthly payments or interest rate but there are some questions to be answered prior to that. What is your term to be in your home? How much equity do you have in your home? You will have lower monthly installments but will that make up for the closing costs, fees and points?

Refinancing Home Mortgages to Extend Your Term
By: Nazir Hussain | 10/11/2006 | Mortgage
There are many reasons to refinance. One reason may to extend the term of your home mortgage to lower your monthly payments that go towards paying off this mortgage. People who are in a situation where they are not able to handle such expenses generally do this.

Refinancing at Higher Rates
By: Nazir Hussain | 09/11/2006 | Non-Fiction
Long term and short-term rates affect the decision of refinancing considerably and when rates are unpredictable refinancing mortgage to a long-term fixed rate is the best option. In certain particular situation refinancing at a higher rate is also a good option.

Bad Credit Auto Loan Refinance For You
By: Nazir Hussain | 07/11/2006 | Non-Fiction
Struck in the 21% APR range on all their loans and credit cards, people with bad credit do not think anything beyond that. The reason for high ARP after the credit checks is that there is a high risk involved in terms of your ability to make payments and keep policies in force as well as claims/loss ratios of folks with bad credit is always high.

Questions And Answers For Your Refinancing Plans
By: Nazir Hussain | 07/11/2006 | Non-Fiction
There are various queries about refinancing and also various confusions as strategies and rates are changing every day. This article answers the basic questions that originate with refinancing.

The Advantgaes of Refinancing A Home Mortgage
By: Nazir Hussain | 07/11/2006 | Mortgage
Useful information for your refinancing requirements are good credit score, loan to value less than 80%, interest rates, add closing costs to your loan, check out the market.

Refinance Advisors And There Are Plenty of Them
By: Nazir Hussain | 06/11/2006 | Non-Fiction
Finding the best refinance strategy out of those offered by various lenders is a tedious and time-consuming task. Refinance Advisors are individual professionals or firms that concentrate on helping the refinance applicant to secure the best refinancing loans.

Article Categories






Give Feedback

Sign up for our email newsletter

Receive updates, enter your email below