Questions to ask before starting a new business

There are so many so-called ‘business opportunities’ out there in the big wide world that the problem is deciding which one to start with. Here are a few simple tips to help you start out and begin the investigation process.

• Follow your heart – You can’t commit your life for something you don’t believe in. Let me give you an example.  Just a few months ago I was pitched with a business opportunity, yes it was MLM, based upon healthy coffee. Looked interesting so did a bit more research. The product is basically instant coffee with an added extract from a mushroom. The mushroom extract looks good and has some valid research around it. Looking good so far. Ok then try the product. This is where it comes unstuck for me – the taste wasn’t great and the aftertaste was very bad. So despite lots of promise the product fails to impress – so walk away from that one.
• Have a clear pathway that you use to evaluate each potential business. When someone pitches you with the new business that they have just bought into – at a price of £1000 or more very often – you have to ask is this hype or is this genuine? So what is my process like?
• do I respect the person pitching me
• does the product fit with my belief system
• is the product a one-off or repeat sale
• is there clear evidence of success
• if it is MLM has the company been growing steadily for at least 5 years
• If it is a health product are the claims being made reasonable, backed by science, legal (a big one these days)
• Do you have a network of people who would likely buy these products?
• Can I afford the investment to get things going – what is the timeline?

There are many other discriminators that I use and that are very helpful but the 5 points above weed out 95% of the time wasters and that enables me to look at the few that qualify for my time.  Diligent Investigation is the key.

In our weekly discussions we’ve been concentrating on customer service and the ultimate customer experience. In a survey, the largest consumer survey ever, from 2001 the most important factor is overwhelmingly solving problems for them and helping them to make informed choices.  Click the image to download the full summary.

One of the best ways to foster a healthy relationship with your customers is to use a regular, but not too frequent, Newsletter. Here is an example – again click to download.

Ken Blanchard’s book The one minute manager is a great little book for anyone looking to accomplish more in a given time. The competition this time is to put into 50 words or less why you think time management works or doesn’t work. The person most insightful observation, judged by me by close of play Friday 19 March, will receive a brand new copy of the book. It isn’t a long, hard read and I’ve seen many people devour the book while waiting to get on a plane or on a relatively short train journey.
What are you thoughts on time management?

Post your comments below – you might just win a great little book. The result will be posted here on Friday 19 March

So often we only see things we expect. Is it possible that we can tune our eyes, ears and minds to look for the unexpected? For example how often have you walked down a street in a town you are visiting only to walk past someone you know really well but you are not expecting to see them in that setting.

If I mention the word Swan – you probably think of a large, often quite fierce, bird moving gracefully upon the water. What would happen if you saw a black swan instead – you’d probably be a bit startled.

If you are in business, or pursing a cause, you might want to begin to look for the unexpected as very often the unexpected is where opportunity lies.

Ask yourself what your competitors are doing that you might do better? What is the next challenge or opportunity? If supplements are going to get more difficult to supply to your customers then start asking how you might find an alternative delivery route?

Look in odd places for the unexpected.

I came across a really simple but sensible bit of information.

According to some well respected authorities web search engines are programmed to look for the following on every site, including blogs, and those sites that don’t have them all will be ranked less well than a comparable site that does have them.

• About page
• a privacy policy
• a profile picture – a picture of the author creates confidence
• easily-found contact info – physical location info – not full postal address but town and country is normally enough

Does your site have them? If not then you might want to look at it pronto.