5 Things Every Entrepreneur Must Know to Succeed
Regardless of what niche you operate in, what product you sell and your method of selling, there are some universal truths to all businesses. If you are an entrepreneur, these 5 truths can make or break your business, so read them, know them and implement them wisely.
1. Sales, Sales, Sales
As Alec Baldwin says in Glengarry Glenross, “Always Be Closing”. Sales are the lifeblood of any business. Everything else – the new phone system, business cards and other fun things, are minor issues that can be taken care of later. Sales is why your business exist, and it’s the only thing that keeps you afloat, which leads us to #2:
2. Cash is King
Even if you’re doing enough sales, you might not be getting paid right away. Monitor your cash flow on a daily basis to make sure you have enough money to make it until you get paid on more sales.
3. Execution Over Planning
Great ideas are nice, but proper execution is better. If you take a decent idea and execute on it well, you will have much better results then an excellent idea that is not executed at all!
4. Know your numbers
Numbers are the lifeblood of any business. What happens if you sell each widget for $30 but it costs $40 to make? Bankruptcy! You need to know how much it costs to acquire a customer, how much profit you make on the customer, what your overhead is, and a lot of other numbers. Study up on these numbers, because they will make or break your business.
5. The Customer is Always Right
Sounds Cheesy, right? It’s a shame so many companies have forgotten this mantra. Your customers are the people who pay you and recommend you to their colleagues. Piss them off and you’ll lose money, future customers – more then that, you’ll spend most of your budget on putting out fires that could have been prevented.
This guest post comes from Maya Richard, who writes about http://www.cablemodemhelp.com high speed internet for Cable Modem Help. She can be reached at mayarichard [at] gmail with feedback.
Hi, I'm Stanley Tang - a 17 year old internet entrepreneur, author and student. I'm obsessed with entrepreneurship, new media and pretty much anything to do with technology.
Those are important but don’t forget to that not only is your customer always right (except when they’re not) but that a passionate, well treated customer is better than a customer that is pandered to.
Being an accountant, I see business fail all the time.
It amazes me how many people don’t do their homework.
… or worse, they have no cash to run their business!
To make money online requires skill and maybe even a little luck. You offer great points! Here are a few we would like to add for long-term success:
1. Offer a product or service that people want.
2. Know your product or service.
3. Have a written plan to achieve your goals.
4. Know your market and have the resources to reach it.
5. Add a questionnaire to generate leads and learn from visitors.
6. Offer a joint venture or affiliate program.
7. Build your market lists with newsletters.
Keep up the awesome work!
ProfitFu