Prevent Business Failure By Planning Ahead

I wrote a list of top 6 reasons why businesses fail on the Self Starters Weekly Tips forum a few weeks ago. Forum owner Lynn Terry then published the list on her blog, Click Newz.

At your request, I’m providing answers to these problems based on my years of experience with selling products and services online.

This time, we’ll talk about the #4 reason businesses fail.

#4 Lack Of Planning

Recent advances in Internet speed and availability, and online software has made it incredibly easy to hang your shingle, so to speak, on the internet.

What ends up happening though is someone has a great idea. They run over to Watersweb Shops and buy a Shop Kit Plus. They hire Kristine to create a web design. They upload photos of their products that they’re selling through a dropshipping program.

And then they get stuck. They have no idea who they’re marketing to, where they’re going to find website visitors, much less customers.

Perhaps they muddle along and find some customers, or perhaps they lucked into having a built-in target market because they are well-known at an online forum. The next thing they know, people are buying their stuff like hotcakes and they can’t keep up with it.

A friend of mine had this problem with her diaper cake business. She made awesome diaper cakes and acheived a #1 ranking in the search engines. But success killed the business. She found herself, her kids and her husband struggling to fill the orders.

If she had had a plan for growing her business and handling success, she would have been able to outsource her production, train employees or subcontractors to take care of the overload.

Lack of customers and website traffic is not the only thing that will kill your business. Sometimes success will too, unless you plan for it.

My Solution: Plan to outsource, create a business plan and create a marketing plan. If you need help with your business plan, you can easily create one in just a couple of hours with One Page Business Plan.

If you’re not sure where you want to go, or need help solidifying your ideas, I’d love to work with you and help you. Just contact me through my business coaching page.

What’s A Business Model?

Welcome to Episode 21!

Since we’re talking about how to plan your business correctly from the start, now it’s time to figure out just what type of business model you want for yourself. This is not a legal discussion but merely a planning phase. Depending on what type of model you choose will depend on what kind of goals you should set for yourself.

Retailers purchase wholesale inventory from a manufacturer and sell products to the public. This model has the largest profit potential but it also requires the most money upfront. This model requires you to keep inventory as well as pack and ship to your customers.

Manufacturers create a product and sell it to retailers. You will spend most of your time physically creating your product and may have to outsource such activities as marketing or web design. If your product is popular, you may eventually have to outsource the production.

Dropshippers place orders directly with manufacturers who then ship directly to the customer. Generally there is less work involved and less money needed to start because the shipping and inventory are handled by the manufacturer but you still need to market the product either online or offline.

Affiliates have websites or blogs with links to particular products and they earn a commission each time a potential customer clicks the link and makes a purchase. These commission rates are usually low so you really have to work hard to get traffic to your website to make an income.

Each of these business models have their own pros and cons, which I discuss in detail, including how to handle inventory and returns. You really need to think of how each of these models would work for your business and plan for what changes you might need in the future when your business grows.

Does Your Personality Type Suit Your Business?

Welcome to Episode #20!

Have you ever contemplated starting a product selling business but needed the extra assurance that it’s the right choice for you? Or, if you already have a business, are there some aspects of the job that you really despise?

My guest this week is Kelly McCausey from WAHM Talk Radio and Moms Talk Network and she shares how our different personality types will determine what we like about business, if we should start a business, and where our strengths and weaknesses will lie.

The four personality types Kelly discusses are sanguine, melancholy, choleric and phlegmatic. Each type has it’s own strengths and weaknesses and, with proper evaluation, can help you decide what business to start.

Please remember that you shouldn’t shelve your dreams of owning a business just because of what your personality trait reveals. Rather, you can begin more cautiously or begin a business with a partner whose personality complements yours so the balance of work can be shared and you can both enjoy what you do.

To learn even more about these personality traits that Kelly explained, help yourself to these free resources:

Finding the best work at home job for you (Mp3 file)

The Four Personality Types And Your Business (free report)

How to Find Your Target Market

Welcome to Episode #18!

This week Michelle continues her “Starting Your Online Product Selling Business” series with co-host Stephanie Fish from Buckeye VA. Knowing your target market and where to find those customers is often the difference between success and failure as a product seller.

Michelle recommends choosing a target market (or niche) BEFORE you choose your product, although that advice is the opposite of what some internet marketing circles preach. Rather than just choosing a high-end target market with the hopes of making oodles of money, choose a niche that you have a true interest in serving.

If you have a genuine interest in your target market or past experience with a particular product, your knowledge and willingness to help these customers will become apparent and you will become a trusted figure in your niche, thus increasing your sales. If you just want to make money and don’t care about the customers in your market, that will also become apparent to the customers and you will fight an upwards battle to get sales.

Michelle also reviews some basic market research tips and discusses three ways in which you can find information about your chosen market. Setting up your business with these easy steps will help you become a success!