|
Are you ready to be an entrepreneur?
by Marie Grossett Running a business has been one of the most challenging yet rewarding things I have ever done. Rewarding because of the fact you are giving people a product that they like and you are achieving something. Challenging because the consistent hard work that goes into it, especially in the early stages. In terms of marketing, building creditability, making sales, and planning. Don't believe all the hype that is written where it says you can earn thousands in months. I be honest with you when you're starting a business it takes time to get results efficiently, success doesn't happen overnight, unless you are born into riches or you received an inheritance you have to work hard at it yourself. You have to constantly motivate yourself even when you don't see the results your hoping for, keep believing in yourself and in your product. When I first started my business I was shocked on how much hours and effort I had to put in. I was doing my day job and in the evening do business which consists of over 13 hours a day. Sometimes I even felt like giving up but I knew if I did I would regret it, as I would not have seen the growth of this magazine. So do you still think you're ready to run your own business? If you are then the most important aspects in business is to have passion, do research, plan, market, and prayer (plenty of it). When you have passion in doing something you enjoy it more it doesn't become a chore. I am passionate about the media and writing this is my background I am a qualified Journalist. I also have a passion for business. The more I am passionate about my product the more I want to see it succeed and I will not give up until I get the results I need too. You need to conduct research to see if your product is something people would want, or if your product is already done what unusual twist can you give to it. This is what I did when I first started out I conducted survey's and interviews I saw there was a need for my magazine which has a usual twist to it. As well as conducting audience research I researched about entrepreneurship to see if it is something I really want to do. One of the books I read was 'How to be a successful entrepreneur' by Helga Drummond, this was a really good book that gave the practicalities of running a business. Reading this book coupled with market research I was ready for my business to begin. It is important to have a business plan as you need a structure, you need to know how your business is going to make profit how you're going to finance your business, how you're going to market your business, your target audience to even what your branding would be and so forth. There are some fantastic business templates on the internet that you could follow. Marketing is essential in fact if you could market your business before you get things properly established do so. I wished I had done that rather than wait until my business is set up. At least you will have potential clients before your business starts. If you're doing an internet business one of the most affect ways of promoting your business is getting back links to your sites, this means that your website link is put on other sites. You could do this through article marketing or through contacting a site that is similar to yours and asking them to link your site to theirs. There are lots of article directory sites on the net that you could choose from, and there is nothing wrong in partnering with another site don't see them as competition instead think about the benefits you can gain in partnering with them, such as your business will be promoted. With our magazine our members promote their business on the site and we have a lot of readers so it is beneficial to them that they publicise with us so they could reach others, and I don't see it as competition I see it as business owners helping out each other. You can market your business off line by word of mouth which is another affect tool of marketing, doing leaflets, or holding an event to launch your product. As a Christian business owner it is important for us to pray and allow God to lead our steps, as the book of proverbs says commit your plans onto the Lord and he will make them prosperous. In our business we need God's supernatural intervention we must remember that unless the Lord builds the house them that labour, labour in vain. We need his guidance we must not think we could do this without him. Prayer works! I remember in my business I was praying for leads and to get creditability I still pray for these things. One of the breakthrough leads I got was that my site was put on well known Christian Author Sally Stuart's blog page. I brought her books when I was starting out in the Author's world and now my magazine is on her blog page. Only God can do that, just keep trusting and believing that he can make the impossible possible. Finally don't give up. If you really want to be a successful entrepreneur don't give up. As one person said success is like a road trip it's a journey as I mentioned before it doesn't happen overnight but it does eventually happen if you don't give up so easily, remember keep yourself motivated one of the ways that helped me is to remember why I'm doing the business and to read motivational books. Set yourself goals towards growing your business. There is plenty of information that can help. I am believing with you that your business with be successful in Jesus name. Thank you for reading this article God bless you. Marie Grossett aka Vanessa Grossett is a published Author, and has interviewed best selling and award winning Christian Authors. She is a Literary Agent at The Authors Care Services ltd. www.theauthorscare.co.uk [email protected] Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |