Business Startup Keys to Success
As more and more people join the ranks of entrepreneurship, more and more information
comes available about the right way to drive the success of your startup. The SBA
offers a list of factors common among successful startups, such as “has employees”
and “knowledge of the business.” The Inc. 5000 fastest-growing companies article
offers other interesting statistics about the various factors that drive the success
of these ventures. At the end of the day, any and all business success can be boiled
down to three keys – Planning, Marketing, and Financial Management.
Planning does not mean simply filling in the blanks of a ready-made business plan
template or worse, buying a completed business plan for your type of business. Good
planning should result in a virtual roadmap of your business idea and include every
detail of how, when, where, and to whom you will sell your product. In order to create
this depth of planning, you need a thorough understanding of your product and industry,
your area’s legal requirements, your target market, and the available avenues for
marketing to your most likely customers. You need to develop an accurate assessment
of your sales and expenses and how they will be affected by changes in other factors.
You need a general idea of where you want your business to be in the long-term, and
plans that are flexible enough to respond to the rapid changes in today’s marketplace.
Planning doesn’t end once your business is up and running, but is a continuous process
that keeps your business on track and alert to opportunities as they arise. All planning
should include clear objectives – goals that are specific, measurable, and achievable
– with set deadlines for completion. As objectives are met (or not), the results
should be evaluated and lessons learned from these efforts should be incorporated
into future objectives. Consider using a 90-day planning strategy, where objectives
are set and completed within a 90-day timeframe. The shorter time encourages more
realistic goal-setting while providing for the flexibility needed for small businesses
to grow and thrive in an ever-changing marketplace.
Marketing your business efficiently is absolutely critical for all new businesses,
but is often neglected by first-time entrepreneurs. It is not enough to place an
ad in the Yellow Pages and post a simple website. Search-engine optimization is a
critical marketing tool, but one that tends to intimidate non-tech-savvy business
owners. In reality, SEO is not difficult and much can be done for free with just
a few hours of computer work per week. In addition to online marketing, a combination
of the five classic marketing elements (advertising, sales promotions, public relations,
personal sales, and direct marketing) also must be incorporated into a successful
marketing plan.
Your marketing efforts must be carefully researched and evaluated to ensure you are
getting the best return for your marketing dollar. Marketing is how you drive customers
to your product and keep them coming back – it is not a business factor to be taken
lightly. Take the time to learn and understand all you can and use the right tools
to ensure your marketing plan is complete, workable, and gives the business its best
chance to succeed.
Financial management is a key to success for obvious reasons – the primary purpose
of going into business is to turn a profit! It is critical for the business owner
to set up an accurate accounting system and to understand how to evaluate the numbers.
You need to understand your business’s financial reports and profitability ratios
in order to track and manage all areas of your business. For many first-time entrepreneurs,
dealing with the numbers seems overwhelming. In reality, a good small business accounting
software does the hard work for you by producing the needed financial reports. Learning
to read these reports and understanding how to use them (comparing ratios to past
performance or to industry averages, for example) is not that difficult, and is a
huge factor in whether a business succeeds or fails. The trick is to stop telling
yourself that you are not a numbers person – if you are a business owner, you are
a numbers person!
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About the Author
LaunchX.com is dedicated to training entrepreneurs to turn their good ideas into
great companies. The LaunchX System provides step-by-step education in the mindset
and skill set entrepreneurs need to succeed. Our program includes intensive seminar
training, key business software, and specialized workbooks that teach you the fundamental
skills you need to achieve your financial and worklife goals through entrepreneurship.
Register today for our introductory course and see what LaunchX can do for you!
Contents copyright © 2009 by LaunchX LLC. Permission granted to reprint this article
in its entirety provided that the “About the Author” section and all hyperlinks are
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