Home
>
Small Business
>
Building Your Business for Success in 2005

Building Your Business for Success in 2005

It's a strange anomaly.

Most people who set out to start their own business, no matter what type, build it for failure, not success.

Crazy isn't it? But true.

The saddest part in all this, is that they don't even know that they are destined for failure long before their dreams shatter and break apart.

Statistics tell us that within 5 years of start up 90% of all small business will go under.

My personal experience shows me that 98% of all home based business will do the same.

Why?

Because they lack the fundamental skills, education and development to plan ahead, foresee the pitfalls, and capitalise on gains.

Here is a key secret to business success. It's "Easy to Do", it's also "Easy not to Do."

That applies to everything. It's easy to do a business plan. It's also easy not to do one.

It's easy to create a marketing plan, but it's also easy not to create one.

It's easy to pick up the phone and call a new potential customer; it's also easy not to do it.

That one thing will determine your success, or measure your failure.

However, on a brighter side, there are three specific things that you must focus on doing if your want to develop a powerhouse and dynamic business in 2002.

Those three things are:

1. Get potential customers to your business.

2. Get those same people to come back.

3. Get them to refer their friends, family and associates.

Sounds simple doesn't it?

It's easy to do, it's also easy not to do. And if you're not consciously aware of this business reality, you're probably not doing these three things.

Let's look at them.

1. Get potential customers to your business.

It does not matter what your business, your product, or your services. Whether you are online or off-line makes no difference. You absolutely must focus 50% of your time and energy on gaining new customer enquires. (Initially 80% if you are just starting)

Use every method available to you. Utilise every single resource. Study and learn what it takes to get people to call you, or visit your Website, or mail you a form.

I know I'm pointing out the obvious, but if your head is stuck in product development, or management and accounting you won't be able to see the trees from the forest.

Customers are your lifeblood. They are your bread and butter. They represent every reason why you go into business in the first place - to make money.

So get them and get them quick.

2. Get those same people to come back.

It's a proven fact that most people will not buy from you on their first contact. There are no exceptions to this rule. A prospective customer must have exposure to your business an average of 5 - 8 times (depending on your products and services) before they will even contact you.

The world of professional selling tells us that most sales closes take place on the 7th contact.

What does this tell you?

If you work so hard at getting new people to your business front, but then not getting them to come back - you're building for failure.

Don't do it!

Stop right now and look at your sales systems. Do they make allowances for automatic or semi-automatic follow up? Do you offer Auto responders from your Website? Do you have an off-line sales letter follow up plan. Do you use contact management software so that you don't loose track of potential customers?

Why do you think the Pro's in your industry are the top income earners? Think about that. They keep in touch with people.

3. Get them to refer their friends, family and associates.

This is the cream of the crop.

When you set out in your business, you must focus 80% of your time on getting new contacts. As your business develops, you must then change that focus to 80% gaining referrals.

Referrals are the sweetest prospective customers of all. They are already pre-qualified. They already want what you have to offer.

And you don't have to spend a cent getting them!

If your business is online, you can do this with a simple, click and refer a friend script. If you're not on the web, you can do this by using a business card referral system.

But even more - are you ready for the kicker?

You must ASK people for their referrals!

When you've got a great product and a great service, it fantastic. But there is really no point in working really hard to get a brand new fresh customer at great expense when all you have to do is ASK your existing customers for a few referrals.

Don't be shy. You ask, and most of them will happily give.

It's that easy. Easy to do, easy not to do.

Can you see the pattern developing here, the difference between success and failure, those that do and those that don't?

All these things are easy to do. They are, really. But most people opt for the easier choice - not to do.

The choice is yours. Build your business for success in 2005 with qualified customer flow and you will reap the rewards.

Paul Barrs is the creator of "The Complete Guide to Home Business Success", as well as being a professional speaker, trainer and presenter. To order for the The Complete Guide ($1 Trial) Home Business Success: http://www.paulbarrs.com/iscript.php?13_a3992_74

home cleaning services Glenview ...

In The News:

Ahold Delhaize's cybersecurity incident knocked online ordering and digital coupons offline at Stop & Shop, Food Lion, Hannaford and Giant Food stores.

The Fox News AI Newsletter covers the latest artificial intelligence technology advancements, including the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

Amazon's About You feature includes personality details from your shopping history, and some shoppers are finding hilariously awkward results.

Identity theft recovery starts with securing bank accounts, freezing credit and enabling two-factor authentication within the first 24 hours.

Apple's $299 HomeView smart display uses facial recognition to personalize screens for up to six household members and show live security camera feeds.

Domonique DuBose spotted red flags when a man on Hinge with 85,000 followers and a blue checkmark claimed to be a San Francisco 49ers player.

Your phone's location data can expose visits to doctors, pharmacies and places of worship. The FTC took action against data brokers selling this data.

Hackers targeted Danfoss refrigerator controls across French supermarkets, forcing chains like Carrefour and Monoprix to discard massive food stocks.

iOS 27 finally lets iPhone Shared Albums store photos and videos at full resolution in iCloud, but new items count toward the owner's storage.

A fake Facebook Marketplace text scam uses your real name as the seller to trick you into replying, and Malwarebytes warns even one response helps.

The Pentagon data breach exposed 2.76 million Social Security numbers and military records, raising long-term identity theft concerns for veterans.

Kodiak AI plans to haul IKEA freight on Texas highways with no one in the cab, raising urgent cybersecurity and safety questions for drivers.

Apple Intelligence in iOS 27 adds Extend and Reframe tools to Photos, letting iPhones generate new background areas beyond your original borders.

Microsoft's X account was hijacked to promote a crypto pump-and-dump scheme, exposing its more than 13 million followers to a scam campaign.

Scammers can combine your name, phone number and address with data breach details to attempt SIM swaps, phishing and even identity theft schemes.

ChatGPT Work, Meta Muse and Gemini Spark can monitor flight prices, sort your email inbox and track important deadlines, but savvy users start small.

iPhone, Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel each hide a built-in tool that turns a video frame into a separate photo without any screenshot needed.

Operation KillSwitch dismantled KillSec's ransomware infrastructure, but investigators say a 16-year-old allegedly ran the entire cybercrime operation.

The Fox News Artificial Intelligence newsletter covers where voters will decide on AI data center ballot measures and Jeff Bezos' tech vision.

Apple's Impersonation Risk Detection in iOS 27 can flag suspicious activity inside apps, but the setting is off by default and must be enabled.

Federal Election Commission records can expose your name, address, employer and donation history once contributions exceed the $200 threshold.

Cybersecurity expert Morgan Wright says human skepticism remains the strongest defense against AI-driven phishing scams and voice cloning fraud schemes.

iPhone, Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy each handle security updates differently, and one screen saying "up to date" may not tell the whole story.

Deborah Del Mastro heard what sounded like her daughter's terrified voice on the phone, launching a five-hour virtual kidnapping scam ordeal.

Hotel TV privacy risks go beyond forgotten passwords when you sign into Netflix or other streaming apps on shared devices you don't control.

Building Your Business for Success in 2005

Small Business