From Idea To Revenue
Starting up a brand new small business can be rather easy. Breaking through to revenue can be more difficult; and sailing off into prosperity is an achievement few experience. What roadblocks should you look out for? Think about the following five points to see if your business is on the road to success or failure. 1.Find out if your idea is financially feasible?- Will it be possible for your new business to make money? Ask an accountant to help you answer this question. You'll want to do this before getting to far in. Looking at financial potentials will help you make educated decisions about putting time and money into your new business. 2.Sell things that people want to buy - NEVER start with an idea, produce it and then try to figure out who is going to purchase it. A close friend of mine said, "Most farmers look at a piece of land and choose to grow a crop. Once it's harvested they start looking for a buyer. If I were a farmer, I would not put a seed in the ground until I knew who was going to purchase my crop." Many years ago, I started a business that sold unique products from all around the world. People who invested in my company would always say, "Do people really purchase this stuff?" As it turned out, people did not purchase that stuffýeven though we spent several hundred thousand dollars marketing it. It should be very clear that people want your product before you start creating it. The higher the demand is, the faster you will be able to raise wealth for your company. 3.Create a Real Opportunity - Have you defined a true investment opportunity with your new enterprise? I spent a few days meeting with a wholesale plant grower. Their goal was to peak the interest of investors. Even though everybody was aware of the potential their technology could produce in profits, it soon became clear that the business management team hadn't correctly identified the opportunity. Instead, we pointed out that under their current infrastructure, they didn't have nearly enough growing space to produce a profit that was investment worthy under their current business model. If they had focused on providing a specialized product to a volume retailer, then they would have an exciting business. As a result, they were not prepared to see the problems and consequently, they lost their investment groups. A normal non-public investment opportunity should generate a 100 |
