One thing entrepreneurs often forget is that decisions made on day one can have huge implications down the road. You see, it's not enough to build a business worth a fortune; you have to make sure you have an exit strategy, a way to get the money back out. This is for those of you who like to plan ahead and for those of you who don't but should.
Do you know why every customer is NOT your customer? And why you shouldn't chase every customer? This intelligence is the key to your success.
Have you ever wondered why it always feels like no one cares as much about your business as you do?
Good cash-flow management means understanding every inflow and outflow of cash. In principle, you must delay every outlay of cash as long as possible, while incenting everyone who owes you money to pay it as rapidly as possible. Also, its about being vigilant about limiting any surprises such as unanticipated payment lags and unplanned-cash outlays. So how do you be proactive in managing cash? Here are some basic disciplines that every entrepreneur must understand and practice to optimize their cash:
When you're running about your day with a mile long "to do" list, it's unlikely you have the extra time to figure out how everyone is feeling about everything. To you - you're building a company, developing a product, raising money, trying to find resources and so on. You don't have the time to focus on the emotional state of being of everyone around you. This is where we make mistakes that stunt the progress of our business.
Certainly different investors look for different things when it comes to what they consider to be a good investment opportunity. Is is unlikely you will have all of these, but the more you have, the more likely you are to garner an investment. Here are a few things that most investors look for in any opportunities or pursuing:
How Do You Evaluate the Market? There are many factors that go into this determination: the nature of the industry, established players, competitive solutions, pricing models, market influences, nature of the disruption, and the list goes on. How do you understand when the market is ready for your product or service. Here's a list of people you should ask
Do you know the top 4 sales goals you must set to drive success?
Be candid with yourself. Put your ego aside and acknowledge the things that you don’t do well. Look at it this way. One of the skills of a leader is to understand your strengths and weaknesses and where to supplement your deficits with other’s skills. It is probably relatively easy to be honest about the parts of the business you don’t like. Less so in admitting the parts of the business you struggle with.
Brand does not automatically differentiate a company from its competitors. The brand has to stand for something, be recognized by the target audience, and communicate something unique and different from the competition. That takes a large marketing budget to pull off successfully. It is understood that it takes seven repetitions of any message to even be heard. Branding is much more than just creating a logo. It is the ongoing communication of your value proposition in a meaningful and effective way.
While each day can be different, the fundamental elements of any business are the same—sales, marketing, operations, finance, people, etc. Establishing processes to deal with the common issues of a business seems like a waste of time to most entrepreneurs. Process is the fuel that energizes progress, yet many entrepreneurs view process as a dirty word.
Your goal is to hit your revenue number - whether it is just you or a team. While you do that, there are a few key metrics that will identify trends related to your sales that provide insights into efforts. And there are certain key metrics that are indicators that your sales process is on or off track. Keep an eye on these metrics and ask yourself the following questions as you look to improve your sales process
You must realize that your every word and deed is being monitored by everyone, everywhere. Even the smallest things can make a big difference. Your employees, investors, customers, advisors and vendors are always looking to you. Everything you do is on display, and is an evaluation process—especially for investors. This is also true with employees. Employees are watching your capabilities, temperament and daily behavior. However, this provides you with an opportunity to influence some very powerful and positive company behaviors.
It's all good and well to know what needs to be done and the tools you have to accomplish them, but without a strategy explaining how you are going to use these resources to reach your goals, you may find yourself running around in circles and running out of resources before the goals are reached. The strategy that is set forth in the plan must be strong enough to compel investors to put money into the company or project.
Many marketers see public relations as only handling rudimentary communication activities, such as issuing press releases and responding to questions from the news media. But in reality, in a time when customers are inundated with thousands of promotional messages everyday, public relations offers powerful methods for cutting through the clutter.
In addition to gathering this feedback, you must understand the impact that your financial resources can have on timing. While new solutions always take time to come to market, this can be accelerated if you have significant financial resources. Blockbuster aggressively went across America and bought out all the video rental stores. If they had not had the capital to do so, it would have taken many more years for that industry to evolve.
When an idea or product is unique, it is new to the market. This may be what makes it sell, but it is also what makes the market slow to comprehend and adopt your innovation. So, one of the perspectives we must develop is the ability to clearly judge how ready the market is for your solution. In baseball terms, we have to know what inning we are in. Understanding what inning you are in is critical to:
Any well-run business will have clear and defined long term goals that set the direction of the company and short term objectives that drive those long term goals. These are important to the entrepreneur as they clarify the purpose of the business and help identify necessary actions. For entrepreneurs, your long-term goals must encompass not only the goals for the business but your personal long-term goals.
The reason that companies have exit interviews is to gain valuable information which can prove to be useful in all aspects of the work environment, including aspects such as the work culture, day to day concerns, processes, issues around management style, workplace ethics and employee morale. This is an invaluable way to gain insights that you may not have been able to garner when an employee is still on the team.
In addition to gathering this feedback, you must understand the impact that your financial resources can have on timing. While new solutions always take time to come to market, this can be accelerated if you have significant financial resources. Blockbuster aggressively went across America and bought out all the video rental stores. If they had not had the capital to do so, it would have taken many more years for that industry to evolve.
Your goal is to maximize your ability to move potential opportunities "through the pipeline" (from stage to stage). You need to drive the activities at each stage that move your prospects through the pipeline.
People buy emotionally and justify their decisions rationally. Emotions are part of who we are as human beings: we want to feel confident, comfortable, safe, appreciated by others, regarded as smart or good looking,or successful. All these are perfect ingredients for a strong positioning strategy based on emotional benefits.
When we become entrepreneurs, we are creating something we believe in. You hear many of us say, “There are so many customers that need our product or service.” In fact, sometimes we say, “I don’t know of anyone who wouldn’t want our product.” While this may be partly our excitement talking, or maybe just the influence of our pressure, passion pleasure or pain, it is also a dangerous path. Don’t get me wrong. Your market, product or service may be new or different. It would seem that the opportunity to attack broad markets, and to have no limits on what markets to chase, would be a good problem to have.
By doing a SWOT analysis, you should be able to identify where you have opportunities and risks. Once you have completed your SWOT analysis, you can then use that information to create an actionable plan. The actionable plan should be based upon the strengths and weaknesses you've identified from your current efforts, take advantage of opportunities in the market and also account for potential threats to your strategy.
Chances are, your idea is safe. Few people have an interest in stealing other people’s business concepts and putting them into action. Be proud of your invention but share it only with those who can help you in your dream of making your vision a reality.
