How your business can rise like a Phoenix from the ashes

Is your business struggling? Have you been thinking of closing down shop or moving locations? Maybe you don’t have enough customers coming in or leaving great reviews for you?

Well, here is something you may want to consider instead of closing down the business for good. I mean, you’ve been working hard and in the end, you deserve a successful running business. So, why not give it one last shot. One last push before you give up for good.

There are several ways to enhance your customers experience. Yes, some might cost you some money (I see it more as an investment) and some are free. You can also use a good combination of both (which I would recommend) and find a better way to market your business.

1. Look at your customer service

Is your business a local shop or restaurant? Do you have an office where you meet customers regularly? Do you provide an outstanding service?

In many cases we find that the business owners believe they offer a great customer service only to be told afterwards that their service isn’t really that good at all. Providing a great service is one of the most important aspects of business. If you believe customers chose you because of your low pricing, think again. It’s only a minority who look for the cheapest option. Over 85% of customers are buying based on their feelings and emotions that they have towards a seller. No matter what you sell, if you are not looking after your customers properly, then you will not survive. Change your routine if you have to, but make sure you always offer top notch service to your customers.

2. Sales ability of owners and staff

Are you capable of selling? Maybe you think you are but how good are you really? Many retailers or waiters/ waitresses are just order takers. Customer comes in, buys a product and leaves. Nobody is asking questions, trying to establish the customers needs. I’ve been preaching this for years now and except a few people who took this on board many are still suffering the low sales turnover. If you ask the right questions and LISTEN, your customers will feel valued and will buy from you. Not necessarily the product they were initially looking  for, but maybe something in addition to that, or more. In rare cases customers have to be shown that the product they chose is not the right product for them. This happens every now and then but it is up to you to make the right recommendation to your customer. What is the right product? Can they get it from you? If not, where can they get it? Sales and customer service in this case go hand in hand. And even if you lose the sale because you don’t have product xyz in stock, you can still help some other person to get the deal by sending them over. You will earn credibility from your customer and they will still be back. You can also consider getting the product for your customer. Have you ever considered that? Think in terms of joint venture. Imagine a customer comes in and buys a TV from you and he also wants a very specific DVD player that you don’t stock. Maybe you know somebody who stocks this DVD player and you give them a call and tell them, I have a customer for you who wants to buy this product. Do you have it in stock? Imagine the other person says, yes, I sell it for 199. Could you make me a deal so I can sell it on to my customer for 199? And say this person only gives you a discount of 10 EUR. Suddenly you can sell a product from somebody else and get a small referral fee or commission out of this one. Put your business head on for once and think who can help your business achieve higher sales results? How can you work together? Maybe you can do the same for this other business if they refer clients over to you? Think about it for a moment.

3. Change strategy

Sometimes we have to change our strategy, our routes to market or even our entire business around in order to make it work. Remember why you went into business in the first place? Maybe it was because you thought you could do the same as your boss did. You can offer a better more proficient service or sell more products? Be more flexible with customers? How did that work out for you? Well, if you’re still reading, I presume not so good. Business is about constant change. Moving away from one strategy that you’ve held for a number of years is sometimes necessary. Don’t get stuck in “The old ways” but rather look at what you can do differently in order to succeed.

4. Use some crazy ideas

Crazy doesn’t necessarily mean bad or “insane”. Crazy sometimes is good for business. Be a bit more open to attract different customers to your premises. Be a bit more outgoing, flexible and open minded. Sometimes you have to do the drastic thing and just get out of your shop and talk to people on the street. It may not be the most comfortable way of doing business but heck it beats closing down shop, doesn’t it? Imagine you can talk to 50 people a day when you get out of your shop. And only 5 of them would visit afterwards, do you think it would be worth your while if they come in and start buying from you?

Maybe you can do a competition, work with other businesses together, create an in-house event etc. Maybe you can do a shopping hour and offer everything for one hour a day half price (maybe on selected items etc.). It would be a promotion so consider that you may need to invest in this but getting people into the store should be first priority.

How about a nice “Midnight Shopping Event” with a glass of wine or champagne (booking mandatory). Maybe you own a boutique and you could do a modeling event? Become a model for one night…The ideas and possibilities are endless.

5. Restructuring and new layout

Sometimes it’s the business itself that needs a new structure and layout. Even if you have a great marketing and sales strategy, it doesn’t mean that customers will come in flying into your premises. And maybe an event is not even a problem but bookings are not made? Look at your shop and what you would like to achieve. How is it structured? Does it look nice from the inside and outside? Is the layout great? Do you have old carpets or new ones? Maybe you want to attract a younger audience but your products and services don’t reflect that. Take a risk and create a new layout, new store front, buy some exciting new products etc. It might help you turn things around once word gets out.

6. Get a coach or consultant/ mentor

This might be a good investment. A business coach or consultant can help you turn things around. Yes, they are usually not that cheap but the value you’re getting will help you and your business not only to stay alive but to grow. Of course no coach or mentor can come in and save the day. You should not expect that. If you’re already bankrupt or very close to closing, it might not even be possible for them to help you at all. However a coach is always a great way to discover alternative options. Maybe closing the business is good but the way to do it might be worth looking into. Maybe they can help you discover new avenues to go down to and create better business opportunities with you. A business coach can cost anything from 50 – 200€ an hour and is depending on their own experience and expertise. The value of this is incredible if you are a open minded and ready to explore. A great coach or consultant can help you on any of the points raised above. You just need to have an open mind and be ready for change.

7. Don’t give up

No matter what you do, don’t give up on your dreams. Just because one thing isn’t working doesn’t mean something else won’t work. Sometimes we have to close down one chapter of our lives (or business lives) to open up a new one. There is always opportunities out there so keep following them. Learn from your mistakes and make sure that next time around you avoid making the same mistakes. You will get better at this but as with everything it requires practice and patience.

Let me tell you a quick story. Have you ever heard of the Phoenix? The Phoenix is a mythology creature, a bird that has a long life. Towards the end of it’s life-span it gets heavily sick and dies by self-combustion. Out of the ashes rises now a new, healthy bird, majestic and full of life. The Phoenix is believed to regenerate itself every 100 years or so, (at least that’s how the story goes that I’ve heard). I think it’s the perfect story for any struggling business. If you are struggling or really have no other option as to closing down shop, think of the Phoenix. No matter if you had a great run or you were struggling right from the beginning, something majestic will come out of this struggle. Something so incredible that you can’t even imagine it right now.

But I am certain that you will rise again and again out of your own ashes if you keep going and trying.  

Thank you for reading.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more up to date information.

Carsten

Carsten Schnier is the founder of SalesClinic & Coach Clinic and professional sales consultant based in Cork, Ireland. Creating a synergy between consultation, training and coaching helps our clients to achieve the best results.

Slap in the neck…Telephobia

Telephobia sounds very straight forward, doesn’t it? Somebody who is afraid using the telephone. Well, it could be that easy however we need to distinguish between people who have a fear to talk to somebody in general over the phone or who have a fear of talking to new prospects. Well, this wouldn’t be the SalesFearFactor if it were about people in general…

So, lets dig in a bit more of what Telephobia is really about:

Here is the official description of Telephobia by the BSRP (Behavioral Science Research Press):

“Prospecting energy diverted to coping with fear associated with using the telephone as a prospecting tool. Energy typically over-invested in less efficient forms of contact that do not require using the phone.”

In general terms people are usually not afraid of using the phone to order a taxi or a pizza. Telephobia is only present if people are using it for prospecting activities. That said, we still need to distinguish of different forms of Telephobia:

1. General fear of making any connections to potential new or existing customers

2. Fear of making any connections with potential new customers (common)

3. Fear of making any connections with existing customer/ prospecting base (rare but I came across a few people who had no problem digging through the Yellow Pages but couldn’t cope with talking to existing customer base)

But how can you tell if you or somebody you know has Telephobia? Here are some symptoms that you might come across:

Sweaty palms before making a prospect call

Raised heartbeat

Heavy breathing

Some severe cases even start to stutter or stumble over their words.

What to look out for?

People who would rather meet face to face instead of using the telephone

Lots of complains about the phone (being useless, just a waste of time etc.)

Did you ever receive bad news over the phone? Or do you have any negative memories associated with the telephone?

Telephobia is quite straight forward and doesn’t need a lot of explanation. But the impact it has on your organization or team could be dramatic. Many companies set calling standards for their teams such as number of phone calls to be made on a daily basis and you will probably find that not a lot of people will have a problem with the phone. However if you have somebody in your team not performing to standards (and really look for very low prospecting activity over the phone) then you might have a problem. But should you now just go and let this person go? No, absolutely not. If you want to turn things around for him/ her then there is a solution. And the good news is, that this will increase your sales revenue without doing much.

Telephobia is easily diagnosed and corrected if the right tools are applied. All you need is a commitment from this person and the willingness to change. Once you have that, you can get proper training and advise on how to cure Telephobia.

An example of a telesales rep (outbound):

One of my clients job is to outbound and sign up companies and switch them to a new tariff (telecommunication industry). His expected call rate was a min of 30 calls per day. He made approx. 15 – 20 calls per day but because he was very good in his job and signed up more clients than most other sales reps, the company left him alone and didn’t even think of threatening him to move his calls up. However they did notice some strange behavior of clever avoidance tactics from him. He managed to reach beyond his revenue target but his manager noticed his discomfort and wanted to help him. That’s when I came into the picture. After testing him and working with this person on a 1 to 1 basis he nearly doubled his calling activity going from 20 to 37 calls per day within a 3 week period. His revenue exploded and so did his commission check. The preferred tactic he chose to overcome his Telephobia? Thought Zapping. Thought zapping is about linking negative thoughts with unpleasant action such as a slap in the neck.

However most people don’t want to look stupid in front of their colleagues and might want to try other (similar) methods such as a rubber band that is put around their wrist (left hand) and every time a negative or intrusive thought comes up that prevents them from doing the task, they just hit themselves with the rubber band from the top (never from the bottom because of veins and arteries running through the lower arm) and immediately replace the negative thought with something positive. Could be a thought about their children, wife, lover etc. Basically something that brings positive thoughts out in a person or a smile, happy feelings. 

I don’t want to go into too much detail with this because as mentioned in some of my previous articles, in order to cure or help an individual to overcome Telephobia depends all on other factors as well, such as other types of Sales Call Reluctance that might be present, motivational aspects as well as other prospecting behavior from this individual.

Please do not try just any techniques in order to cure yourself from Sales Call Reluctance that you may come across through research or that was mentioned in this article. This is just an example technique that helped this particular client. The reason being is that you might end up doing more damage to your mind than actually helping yourself. If applied wrongly or if applied with the wrong Sales Call Reluctance type you might end up getting worse than better. So, please be careful and only apply if prescribed by a professional trainer who is accredited and authorized by the BSRP (Behavioral Science Research Press).

If you want to learn more about Sales Call Reluctance or would like to find out what type you might be suffering from feel free to contact us.

Thank you for reading.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more up to date information.

Carsten

Carsten Schnier is the founder of SalesClinic & Coach Clinic and professional sales consultant based in Cork, Ireland 

 

A simple guide to networking events

Have you been to a networking event recently? Here is what happens most of the time:

People meet at networking events, talk briefly and go their ways. Afterwards not much is happening and many people complain that it wasn’t really fruitful. Nobody contacted you afterwards to do business with you. Nobody send you an email or called you to buy your products or services.

Well, here is a shocker: One of the most important fundamentals of networking events is the follow up that comes afterwards. You may have made great connections but if you don’t follow up with them, no one will.

Here is a few tips of things that you can do before, during and after the event:

Before the event takes place:

Get your 60 second pitch ready. Yes, have a pitch or elevator pitch ready that you can deliver in 60 seconds or less. Make it interesting and make it count. Rehearse the pitch until you perfected it. If you need help designing a pitch for you then I would urge you to do some research.

Dress for success. Dress for the occasion. Business smart is good but (for men) a suit would be better. Proper business attire is the key for both men and women and it doesn’t really matter what your profession or business is all about. You want to get in with investors, meet new potential customers, get business referrals etc. In order to get those, you need to look the part. Nobody is referring someone who is dressed like a teenager that want’s to score.

 

Show up before. Make sure you show up on time, maybe even 5 – 10 min early. This could give you a head start by already talking to some potential new customers before others are joining the group. I personally make it usually about 30 – 45 min earlier. And as people come in, I’m already there to introduce myself before the event starts and have time to talk to more people.

During the event

Use your pitch. You have rehearsed your pitch now talk to potential new customers. These events are usually filled with different types of businesses and may not even resemble the target market that you have however this is about making connections. Maybe they are able to introduce you to some of their key customers. Keep this in mind when talking to people.

Go around. Don’t spend too much time on one or two people. We all tend to find the people who are a bit like us. And networking events are no exception. We may have the best intentions to introduce ourselves to everybody however we mostly stick with the people we either know or meet who are like minded. This is not (only) about meeting like minded people. This is about looking for business opportunities with as many people as possible. You can mingle afterwards if you wish but use the time wisely. Many business networking events have a set agenda such as speed networking or any other games that will engage the crowd. If this is the case and you followed my advise of being early, then you already have made a good bunch of connections and can enjoy the games of the evening. (Just a thought…)

After the event

Send an email. A few days after the event (no more than a week after) send an email to each of your new contacts. Introduce yourself again and of course mention that you’ve met and ask if they are available to meet for a coffee. Don’t make a big pitch of why they should meet you or what the benefits are to your products or services. Keep it short and simple.

Use the phone. Max. 2 days after you’ve sent your email, pick up the phone and again, introduce yourself, mention that you’ve met during the event and that you’ve sent an email and you were wondering when it would be best for them to meet with you. Here you may need to have a small pitch ready because some people might wonder why you would want to meet up. Many people however will most likely agree to meet with you especially if you had a connection with them during the event. But in general keep it simple. Having a coffee to find common business interest goes a long way and doesn’t scream sales right away. Yes, you may want to sell your products or services but you may also get some referrals out of this in case they are not interested. And obviously this goes both ways.

Prepare yourself. Book the meeting and prepare a small agenda of what you would like to get out of this meeting. This is mainly for yourself. You may want to send it over to your new contacts to give them a chance to prepare something as well. Remember, they give you the courtesy to show you what you’ve got so it’s only fair that you provide them the same benefit.

No sale at first meeting. Key again is to not make a full pitch. The first meeting is not about selling your products or services but to see if there is a general or common interest. Yes, you may want to be prepared for somebody telling you straight away, that they need exactly what you’re selling, but honestly, how often does this happen? You can show off what you do, who you are, what your company does, benefits, strengths etc. but take it slow. Also give them the time to tell you what they do. Afterwards establish the grounds of going forward. Book another appointment if they want to hear more about the products or services you offer, or see if you can exchange customer details in form of referrals. If you provide a handful of customers to them, they might do the same for you.

The key point I would like to make is that barely anybody follows up after networking events and wonder why no business comes out of it. It is vital and important to keep business going and if you want to not waste your time going to those events, then maybe it’s time to follow up with your new connections. Because barely anybody really follows up after those events, there is a lot of business left undone. If you’re one of the people who will follow up you can be rest assured, that something positive will come out of it. Give it a try and let us know how you got on.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more up to date information.

Thank you for reading.

Carsten

Carsten Schnier is the founder of SalesClinic & Coach Clinic and professional sales consultant based in Cork, Ireland 

First step to a successful sale – Prospecting

I’ve been asked a lot of times what I would think is the most important part of the sales process.

The answer might be shocking but simple: Prospecting. In order to initiate contact with a potential new customer we need to prospect.

 

Here are the first steps that in my opinion will help you find more customers:

1. Define your niche.

Every product or service can be defined in a niche market. If you already know what your niche is, great. Move on to step 2. If not, make sure you define what it is that you are really good at. What benefits bring your products or services to your customers? Why should they buy the products or services and most important what need do they fill for your customer.

2. Define your target market.

It is important to know who your target audience is. Not every product or service is meant to attract every single person. Make sure you know your target audience. Your niche can help. By establishing a niche you can find customers who either offer similar type of products (make sure you are not competing with them) and could benefit the customer if implemented or bought from you or you attract customers who could use your products/ services because they are looking at your niche in particular. Look at your current customer base. What do they have in common? Now find similar type of customers. Because if one car manufacturer can use your product, maybe there is another one (again, just an example). I understand, that if you are just starting out and don’t have any customers yet, you might be in for a challenge. But this is what it’s all about, isn’t it?

3. Do your research

You shouldn’t spend too much time researching your customers but to know a bit about their business goes a long way. What do they do? What is their product range? Who is the decision maker in that company for your products/ services? Who is the gatekeeper? Did their sales figures improve or decrease compared to the last year(s)? Knowing your customer can go a long way in order to help you sell your products. And don’t dismiss the gatekeeper (aka receptionists, secretaries, assistants). They can become your most important ally in order to place your products/ services with the company. If you get them on board then usually the decision maker is ready to listen to you as well. (Create a list of potential customers)

4. Develop an elevator pitch

An elevator pitch should not be longer than 60 seconds. The pitch should contain who you are, what you do, the benefits to your customers and a close (in order to get more attention or to book a meeting). You can find 3 great elevator pitches at speakingppt.com. Make it unique and interesting for potential new customers to get to know you better.

5. Prospect

Now the real fun starts. You have to start prospecting. This can be done in several ways but one thing is for sure: Most of the time it should end with you calling your potential new customer. In step 3 you created a list of potential new customers. This is your money making machine. If you don’t feel comfortable just cold calling them, do one of the following:

a) Send an email first with a short pitch. Make sure that pitch is short and to the point. You don’t want to waste anybody’s time. However, the likelihood that your email will be read is very little to none. So, after you send the email, make sure you follow up with your customers a day max. 2 days later. Now you have a reference that you can revert back to and your cold call becomes much easier. Warning: Sending an email will NOT result in your customers calling you nor is leaving a message resulting in your potential new customers calling you back. You have to do the first step: PICK UP THE PHONE AND CALL…

b) Invite them to a free or low cost event. Create an event in eventbrite.com (just as an example) and send invitations to your potential customers. Again, after you send the invitations it is important to follow up with them. You won’t get any sign ups by just adding an event. Make sure you share it and market it. But again, use the phone to follow up.

c) Create a social media marketing strategy. This might take some time but once you have build an audience on social media it should become part of your daily routine. Post regularly and inform about events, special offers and other things that you do. Here you have to follow up by making sure you monitor comments and likes. This time there is no need to phone unless you have their numbers already. This should only be a small part of your daily sales activity. You don’t want to waste too much time looking or waiting for comments to come.

d) Create a newsletter/ sign up page or blog. Writing can give you more exposure. So make sure you write about something that you do and are passionate about. If you have a maintenance business write about what you do for your customers, outcomes, what could happen if certain things are not done correctly etc. This is all about exposure and interact with anybody who comments or maybe even likes your page.

e) Lead generation tools. A lot of businesses offer lead generation or you could even use certain tools that might help you get more exposure or even clients. Some of them are costly but depending on your business and audience you can also find some that are great and free of charge. Do some research.

f) Make sure you have a website/ blog page etc.A lot of small businesses don’t have a website and believe it is not necessary. But having a page, even a simple one, can make a massive difference to any business. Websites don’t cost an arm and a leg anymore unless you get it done professionally. But if you look at pages such as wix.com or even vistaprint.com you can get easy to develop websites from approx. 5 quit a month or even for free. A website will give you additional exposure and you can use it as a tool to refer customers to.

g) Go to networking events. Business networking events are usually done in every country, county or town and most of them are being held on a regular basis. Some of them require a small fee but many are even free of charge. This is a great way to meet other business owners, entrepreneurs and like minded people who share a common interest. (Here you can test your newly developed elevator pitch).

h) Join a local/ national or international business network. Business networking is great and could bring new business to you on a regular basis by means of referrals. Referring business to each other is a great way to improve your sales and will help you stay on top of the game.

i) Chamber of commerce or other business related networks. Most countries have support for start up or small/ medium sized businesses. Make sure you know what you are entitled to and how they can help you grow.

j) Get a business/ or sales coach. Getting help should not be the last step a business owner does before he goes out of business. Waiting until it’s too late is the worst you can do for your business. Make sure you have a mentor, or coach that you can go to either regularly or whenever you need to in order to discuss business growth. A coach is definitely the way to go for increasing your business turnover.

Prospecting is the number one process any sales person, entrepreneur and business owner could do on a regular basis (at least in my opinion it is). The more you prospect, the more you will sell. Of course other parts of the sales process are important too. Especially closing the deal, however without prospecting there will be no deals to close. And if you are in retail, you might think that you can’t prospect. Every business can and has to prospect. But using the right prospecting kind is key to success. I will write another article on how retailers can prospect and drive more business into their premises but in the meantime, if you really want to improve your shop’s performance, maybe read my article Road to retail success.

How many calls did you do today?

Thank you for reading.

Carsten

Carsten Schnier is the founder of SalesClinic & Coach Clinic and professional sales coach based in Cork, Ireland 

Start Smart

Top 10 Tips to start your own business

Have you ever considered starting your own business? What are the key ingredients of making a business successful? I’ve asked myself this question numerous times and here are the answers I came up with:

1. Have a clear vision

No matter what you would like to do, when setting up a business the one thing that every good entrepreneur will need is to have a vision of what they would like to achieve. Setting a goal is one of the most important parts of setting up a business but you can only set a goal for yourself (or your business) if you have a clear vision of how you are going to achieve it.

2. Be enthusiastic about your business

You have to love what you do and if you have any doubts in your mind either get rid of them or don’t do it at all. If you do something half heartedly it will not work. Commitment and enthusiasm is one of the key areas to make you and your business a success. If you haven’t found what you’re passionate about keep looking. Once you find it, ways will unfold and doors will open. Keep believing in yourself and your business idea.

3. Prospecting, prospecting and more prospecting

I call this the 3 P’s. No matter what business you are in, you have to sell your products or services. If you don’t sell, you will not make it. There is probably a lot of people who believe that their products and services will sell itself. Let me assure you that this is not the case. Yes, you will at some stage build a reputation for yourself and your business (hopefully a good one) but until such time comes you will need to go out and look for customers. If you do this right from the beginning then it will not be so hard to continue once you have a good reputation. And if you continue with your prospecting activities even after you build a great reputation you will increase on your sales figures tenfold.

4. Be resistant 

There is always ups and downs in business. Sometimes you make money and sometimes you have to go days, weeks or even months without making any. Be committed to your goals and tasks and keep going. Don’t give up even in the hardest times. It will be worth it in the end. Now you need to be smart about it as well. Sometimes we have to do the things we don’t like doing just in order to survive, buy food, clothes etc. If an opportunity rings, take it. If you have to get a part time job (or full time employment) in order to get your business off the ground, take it. Don’t be ashamed if something doesn’t work to change your business idea as you go along. Adjustment is hard but it is sometimes necessary in order to keep going. A business is never boring or easy. Business lives from change and adapting to that change is one of the most important factors to consider.

If you want to succeed and something doesn’t work, change tactics.

5. Networking

Networking is a great way to connect with like minded people and other businesses. Sometimes you can go to networking events (I’m sure they have them all over your country as well) and they are usually free of charge. Join networks such as BNI or any local networking organization. SFA (Small Firms Association Ireland) is also a great way to get started (look for local networking groups in your country.). The important part is to throw yourself out there and let people and other business owners, managers see that you exist. If you persist in it, you might get some future customers out of it.

6. Write a detailed business plan

It is important to write your business plan (you can download a free template of a business plan by clicking here and scroll down to the bottom) and if possible in every single detail. There is a lot of people who think they only need to write a business plan in order to get funding or loans from the bank. This is just one advantage to have if you want to go down that road. But even if you don’t want to get funding or investors coming on board etc. it is of the utmost importance to have written your own business plan. The reason being is that you will find faults within your business that you then can eliminate immediately. You will also get a much better understanding of your business, your competition, your products and services and most importantly your future customers.

You don’t have to follow any rules in order to create a business plan (unless you do want to get funding). You can download a template from the internet if you want to or just start writing your plan on word or in your journal. No matter how you decide on writing your business plan, make sure you include points 1 – 5 (see above).

7. Get help

A lot of people try to create a business on their own. This is great because nobody knows the business better than yourself. However when you consider opening up your own business, you should always surround yourself with people who are supportive and want to help. Of course you will find many likeminded people in networking groups and this is a great way to start. Some people may even consider having a business partner or (when creating a limited) a board of directors who could help building the business.

But no matter if you are alone or with a team, get the help of a business coach or business mentor. A coach is a great way to help you stay focused and will encourage and enable you to think outside the box. A coach will also be able to help you get a better understanding of your business (even if they have no idea about what you do). This is a great way to make sure your business will succeed. They will challenge you and make you think in ways you can’t even imagine right now. Getting a few coaching sessions with a business coach doesn’t cost an arm or a leg but it might save you some trouble down the road, or even some mistakes you would’ve made without the coach. Yes, we learn from our mistakes but we can also learn in a safe environment with a coach and this could ultimately safe you a lot of money. Many business coaches have usually great offers for start up companies so don’t be afraid to ask what they could bring to the table.

8. Do your research

This is probably one of the most vital parts of any new business venture. Understanding your market. I came across a lot of people who just think, I want to sell product xyz and my market is every citizen in my country…so, there you have it. Market research done…Well, not really. It is important that you define your market a bit more. Look to consider the following: Private or business use, age group, male/ female/ children/ girls/ boys/ families etc., competitors, selling locally, county wide, country wide or internationally, needs analyzes, pricing, talk to your potential clientele, would they need/ use your product or service, test clients, feedback from your test customers. When testing your product or services with people don’t just test it with family and friends.  Test it with real customers, people you don’t know. That’s the feedback you can value. Your family and friends don’t want to hurt your feelings (or maybe they do because they’re envious of what you do?…). So, don’t rely just on one group of people. Understand your target audience before you start your business.

9. Create a niche market or make your business unique

Creating a niche market or making your business unique is a key factor. Even if you sell products or services that other companies offer as well (or similar items) it is important to let your customers know why they should buy from you. What is unique about your business model that no one else could offer? What is the additional service that makes you stand out from the crowd? Think about this for a while but again, don’t over-think it. Giving your customers a great experience should be part of any new business in order to survive and don’t be afraid to tell them why they should buy from you. Don’t just try to fit in everything in your business. Creating a core niche for your business is vital and you will see that you can manage this far better than trying to juggle your business in every direction. If you can’t think of a niche or why your business is unique then go back to point 7 and find a business coach or mentor. With a great coach you will be able to discover the uniqueness of your business even if you can’t see it right now.

10. Just do it

Don’t delay. If you have all the ingredients, you’ve done the market research, you lined up some customers then just go for it. You will always find things or people that could or want to stop you. Family and friends may tell you that this is crazy. You have to deal with revenue, taxes, VAT, employment issues etc. There is so many things that when you look into it, you will most likely say it’s not worth the hassle. I’m not saying that you should ignore those but you will always find excuses and you can google as much as you want of why you shouldn’t open your business. If your customers want your product or service, if you have a unique idea, or always wanted to do something on your own and you feel really passionate about it, then go for it. Get an accountant to sort out taxes etc. You need to concentrate to grow your business. There is other people and businesses out there that will concentrate on the rest for you. If you are unsure about compliancy ask your local Enterprise board. They can always help you. So, make sure you have completed all necessary steps but once you’ve done everything you need or want to do in order to take your business off the ground, then the final step is doing it. Don’t over-think your business.

I feel these are some of the most important factors to start your own business. Is this everything? Probably not. Whatever you want to do, be committed to it, persistent and passionate about what you do and success will eventually follow.

I would be interested to hear any thoughts on this, if you agree/ disagree or if you even have other points that people who start a business should consider?

Anything you can add could be of value to any other entrepreneur out there. Thank you for reading and if you do consider starting your own business don’t be afraid. There is far more scarier things out there than doing what you love to do.

Carsten

Carsten Schnier is the founder of  Coach Clinic and professional sales coach based in Cork, Ireland