So You Want To Own A Business ----------------------------- A few years ago being an executive with a large corporation was the socially and economically fashionable way to spend your work life. With so many frustrated middle managers things have changed. Today it's at least as fashionable to start or buy your own business. Seeing how many successful businesses you can own is becoming the mainstay challenge to many your entrepreneurs. If your dream is to own your own business, keep these points in mind: 1 - Look for a business idea that has a part which is a sales repeater. Often your main product is a one-sale only, but the profit is in the repeater item. Some examples are film for cameras, vacuum bags for vacuum cleaners and ribbons for typewriters. 2 - Find a gap in the market that you can supply or service. Search in your own lifestyle for things you need that are difficult to find, that aren't serviced well, or that are of poor quality. Your business will be fueled with purposeful enthusiasm if you can find a genuine need in the marketplace. 3 - Try to find a business where you get paid up front. The post office and the insurance companies are great at this. They charge you before you mail the letters or receive the coverage. This eliminates or lessens the accounts receivable problem. 4 - If you have to sell shares in the company, use a larger number. It sounds better to own 500,000 shares rather than 50. It's easier to raise smaller amounts of money from several sources rather than huge chunks from one or two. 5 - When you have your idea for a business write out a plan. It will be your business roadmap for the future. 6 - Begin on a small scale if you choose a start-up. You can only increase and it costs less if you don't make it. 7 - Be persistent with making your idea successful. Henry Ford commented, " Business is never so healthy as when, like a chicken, you must do a certain amount of scratching for it." 8 - Learn every facet of your business thoroughly. Then teach others to do it and delegate it to them after they're proficient enough. 9 - Want ads and employment agencies are effective ways to find employees. Hire people who are better at a task than you are. Favor enthusiastic amateurs over seasoned experts in hiring. Experts are great with all the reasons something will not work or cannot be done. Enthusiastic amateurs think anything can be done or learned and they think they can do it or learn it. Attorneys, accountants and consultants are obvious exceptions to this. When you employ these professionals find the most proficient and skillful ones you can find and prefer the out- going ones who can do a real song and dance for you if they have to. Be careful of the out-going ones who are not proficient. 10 - Have your attorney look at any business transactions before you sign them. 11 - Teach everyone in your business to be sales oriented. This means they have to know how to answer the telephone and appropriate phone manners. Always answer a business phone before the 4th ring. Don't leave anyone on hold longer than sixty seconds. Call them back. Their time is valuable too. Everyone who enters your business should be treated warmly and acknowledged pleasantly and immediately. 12 - When there is a problem with a customer, maintain your graciousness. There's no excuse for you to be rude even if he is. Remember the goal is to satisfy your customer so he will tell others about your good establishment and become a happy repeat customer himself. The goal is not to be right or have your ego soothed by rudeness. 13 - Know what the weak areas in your business are. 14 - Collect payments due to you. 15 - You have to excel in quality and service, not necessarily price. Set your profit first. Then add your business costs to that. This way you have enough to make doing business worth your while. Try not to charge the highest prices or the lowest. 16 - Find an accountant and attorney who specializes in small businesses. They are usually smaller firms themselves. Plan for these relationships to be long-term. Realize they are usually of a more cautious and pessimistic nature than you are. You pay them for this. They're doing their job. It's also usually their temperament. 17 - Purchase plenty of insurance to protect yourself and your business. Make business decisions as though you weren't insured. 18 - On suppliers, be careful of those who give low initial quotes to get your business. They have to make a profit so they will usually raise prices on you. Buy only what you need before you need to have it. 19 - Spend money to market your products only after you understand your customer's lifestyle and needs. Target your market and study the demographics of that market. Knowing your customer's needs will help you select future products and services. 20 - Make your business successful by making others successful. Teach them how they would benefit from your product. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Resource Box - Available from your local library THE START-UP ENTREPRENEUR by James R. Cook; DOING BUSINESS WITH THE JAPANESE by Mitchell F. Deutsch; FORMULA FOR SUCCESS by Lawrence J. Appley; MARY KAY ON PEOPLE MANAGEMENT by May Kay Ash. -------------------------------------------------------------------- (c) Copyright 1994 Strictly Business!BBS - An Information Exchange Service for Entrepreneurs, Managers & Business Professionals. 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