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Posts Tagged ‘Five’

www.yourbusinesschannel.com We’ve done the research. Now ybc.tv reports back with what you need to know.

An Interview with Michael E. Porter, Professor, Harvard University. Porter’s five competitive forces is the basis for much of modern business strategy. Understand the framework and how to put it into practice.

Real Results Marketing and Ian Heller present the five components of a valid business strategy. Go to www.realresultsmarketing.com for more information.

Most business strategies focus on skills like good time management or becoming an effective communicator. According to Tony Robbins, achieving your dreams depends more on your attitudes and emotional resilience than on the skills your acquire.

Mastering the following five emotional hurdles will prove to be one of the best business strategies you can learn. These are issues that most people avoid and therefore remain stuck, but by learning to manage your responses as explained here, you will be on your way to achieving success, wealth and happiness.

Strategy #1. Learn how to handle frustration. Frustration is one of the greatest silent killers of dreams. Frustration is what stops people and turns a positive attitude into a negative one. And a negative attitude wipes out self-discipline. It wipes out the energy to even try, and then it’s all over before you’ve begun. Without enthusiasm and energy, how can you accomplish anything?

Solution?  Seek massive frustration so you will have the opportunity to learn to manage it. Buried on the other side of frustration is success. You can master it by learning to turn frustration into fascination. You can use a series of actions to change how you see frustrating situations. In your mind you can reframe it, or breathe and change your physical state. When you stay frustrated with something or someone it’s YOUR day that gets ruined. Seeing a situation differently sets you free from negative emotion. So when you feel frustration coming-on stop, recognize it, and do something to change it.

Strategy #2. Learn how to handle rejections. Rejection is the second biggest killer of dreams. Overcoming objections and rejections is the only way to get closer to your goal. The more rejections you get, the closer you get to your dream. If you learn to thrive on it, you will get stronger because of it. You will welcome it. If you can handle frustration and rejection there is very little that can stop you at what you choose to do.

Sylvester Stallone and Tina Turner both endured massive rejection and frustration but they refused to give up. It made them stronger. For years they faced rejections, but they never gave up on their dreams. Because of the law of averages, if you keep at it, you will eventually accumulate enough “no’s” to get a “yes.” Learning how to handle rejection will show you opportunity, but only if you never give into the feeling of being unworthy.

Strategy #3. Learn how to handle financial pressure. Money plays a major role in western culture. It amplifies your ability to do more things because you can pay others to do things for you. We think life will be easier when we make more money, but money doesn’t simplify your life. If you learn to handle small amounts you can learn to handle larger amounts. This is a Biblical truth. Having more money only amplifies who you already are.

Money will do weird things if you don’t know how to handle it. It won’t make you free. Knowing how to handle money requires that you learn how to grow your own worth and make your value to people the source of your wealth. Like the story of “The Richest Man in Babylon,” by George S. Clason, which describes the principles that enable you to run your money, instead of your money running you. These principles are:

Take 10% and give it away.

Take 10% and use it to reduce your debt.

Take 10% and use it to invest for the future.

Take 70% and use it to live on.

Even when you don’t have it, giving money away makes your subconscious think, “There is more than enough.” And that will be manifested. Establish the pattern now, and let your worth be what you are capable of giving. If you think you don’t have enough money to do this, then you don’t have enough money not to!!

Strategy #4. Learn how to manage complacency — the comfort zone. It makes us feel satisfied, but not for long. We will only be satisfied by what we become, not by what we have. We tend to judge ourselves by our peers, but it’s best to learn to judge yourself by your goals, not by your peers.

Your goals are based on your values not on your peers. Who you associate with will impact your values and that can produce a negative effect. Be careful that those you consider your friends don’t “poison” your thinking with wrong attitudes. Conversely, you can always be in a position to grow by surrounding yourself with accomplished people.

Strategy #5. Always give much more than you expect to receive.  Always provide something you can give that makes it feel like a privilege to be a part of what you do — where you love what you do so much that it’s not a task. Share the joy that you have in achieving your dreams and help others to change their lives. Then you get to become truly wealthy.

One of the biggest struggles I had in starting my business was actually coming up with the idea.  I wanted something that was scalable as well as needed in our society.  I combed through hundreds of ideas before settling on my current venture.  Through this discovery period, I uncovered what I believe are the five most important concepts in determining what makes the perfect business idea. 

So, what is a perfect idea?  Each individual entrepreneur has their concept of the perfect business.  While Google is a great business for the founders of that company – it may not be a great business for others that are non-tech savvy or who do not want to run such a large organization.  

Therefore, each perfect business is defined by the business owners.  Keeping this in mind, let’s start on my five concepts of finding the perfect business: 

Number One – Understanding your customer:  This might seem strange to start here as how do you know your customers before you have a business idea in place.  The answer is simple – your customers make the business, therefore without customers there is no business.  If you have a business idea don’t try to develop the idea around what YOU think potential customers will like or need, but find out what your customers actually desire.  Too often business owners get an idea in their head and jump right in with both feet.  However, they soon find out that their target market does not want what they are offering.  Spending both time and money on a project just to see it languish is not the perfect business idea. 

Moreover, let’s say you don’t already have an idea – getting out and understand consumers (those who will eventually become your customers) may lead you to the perfect idea.  Knowing what potential consumers need and building products to meets those needs will get customers beating a path to your door – that is a perfect business idea. 

Number Two – Passion:  Passion here does not mean being fanatical about your product or service.  But, it does mean having some interest in what you do. More times than not, you will be spending 15 to 18 hours a day working on your business in the beginning – usually for the first 12 to 18 months (more like 2 years in this economy).  You have to constantly be thinking about ways to improve and grow your business as well as be out talking about it to everyone, everywhere. If you end up starting a venture that you don’t have passion for, something that does not make you jump out of bed each morning, it will be very hard to put in the hours and energy to make it successful – thus not a perfect business idea. 

Number Three – Understand Your Competition:  Every business has competition – either direct or indirect.  Think about movie theaters.  They have direct competition from video rental stores or at home television.  They also have indirect competition from any other activity that consumers spend their disposable income on like bowling, paint ball, golf, etc.  Anything that people do in their spare time. 

Further, some competitors are ruthless.  Meaning that if you promote and offer a product that is similar to theirs but at a lower price, these competitors will just lower their price to match or beat you.  If they are already established businesses – they may be able to undercut your price enough to drive you out of business.  

If you don’t know your competition – what they are willing to do to keep you out of their market – you may be spending more of your time in a pricing war then growing your business – not the perfect business idea. 

Number Four – Cash Flow:  Lots of entrepreneurs enter the business world with great ideas but very poor understanding of the capital it will take to get their venture off the ground.  Most will prototype their product or service and understand what it takes to make the product or provide the service but they don’t understand the capital it takes to manage the rest of the organization – including marketing (very expensive but extremely necessary), employees (more than just salaries or wages), insurance or supplies and all the little miscellaneous expenses that add up very quickly like phone, internet, computer services, etc.  Knowing your total cash flow will help ensure that all of your costs (variable and fixed) can be covered by the business – the perfect business idea.  I have seen way too many businesses with great products fail because they could not cover simple expenses like rent or utilities. 

Number Five – You:  Know who you are.  Know your strengths and weaknesses.  Know that you are ready, willing and able to do what it takes to make your venture a success.  I have worked with many business owners in the past that think all they have to do is hang out their shingle and they have it made.  Thus, when it comes down to actually running the business day-to-day – they are unwilling to invest the time, energy or money necessary for success.  Thus, know how hard you are willing to work. 

Moreover, know your personal financial situation and what you need the business to generate to cover your lifestyle.  If you think your business will pay you a great salary from day one – it will not.  And, if you need it to, it is not the perfect business idea for you. Take away outside distractions like your personal financial situation – get those in order – thus, when your business concept does materialize – you will be able to solely focus on its conception and growth.  In the end providing you the financial security you are seeking – it will be the perfect business idea. 

Regardless of the level of your desire for your business – a lifestyle mom and pop operation or a multi-national conglomerate – if you develop a business idea with these five concepts in mind – your idea will be the perfect business idea for you.