Monthly Archives: May 2010

DO YOU KNOW YOUR MARKET?

Market research is vital for ensuring your business success. You need to understand the battleground you are in so that you can achieve success. For start-ups, this can be perceived as an expensive exercise. this is not the case, there are many free and cost-effective tools and methods to get you the critical information you need to get started.

FOUNDATION OF TRUST

Trust is a key requirement for any business partnership. However, this should be backed up by an agreed business partnership agreement/shareholders agreement to ensure that all parties are covered in case things go wrong or, indeed, better than expected.

ARE YOU BORING?

John Jantsch, in his book “The Referral Engine” states that people don’t talk about boring companies. A challenge many start-ups can face, particularly tech start-ups, is that the new owners are not familiar with the language of the customer. Talking the language of the customer and making your product or service relevant to them is vital to your success.

ARE YOU SWAMPED?

Business owners can often get tied up with the internal workings of the company. This can be especially true when things are going badly. Effective management of internal functions is key to allowing the business owner time to focus on growing and developing their business.

SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS?

Marketing and sales are key activities to the success of any business. For a start-up, when is the right time to start both of these processes off? Or does that depend on the nature of the business.

STICK TO THE PLAN

Business planning is used for all major elements of your business. Are you applying the same thought process to your blog and website? The same level of planning should be considered – especially if the blog is designed to try and attract more customers.

MANAGE YOUR TEAM LIKE THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES

6 Easy Steps on how to manage your team like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles