Getting Started in Business: How to become an Entrepreneur

Let’s cut to the chase: You want to win. You want to be your own boss. And you are tired of working your butt off and getting nowhere.

I can help. No charge. Right here. Free.

Let’s get started.

STEP ONE: Forget about you. Think about others. How will your product or service improve their lives? How will you deliver something they want, maybe even something they need? What is your primary advantage to others? Why should they choose you?

If you want to be in the hotel/motel business, for instance, will your property offer a clean, safe stay for travelers needing to rest overnight before they continue on their journey? Or will you be situated near a premier fishing spot and cater to anglers who will want to keep a room for several days while stalking that trophy trout?

Decide who you are, what you offer and how others will benefit. Ask yourself: What makes you different? What can you provide or do better than the competition?

STEP TWO: Know your customer or client. Who would most benefit from your offering? Build a profile based on gender, age, income level, interests, activities, education and anything else that is appropriate to your business. Where do your TCs (Top Customers) live? Where can you find them online?

If you are to build your business, you will have to let those who most need your product or service know where you are and how to contact you.

STEP THREE: Develop messaging to reach those Top Customers, and get that message to them through clear and effective channels. Don’t tell folks how great you are, and definitely don’t promise anything you can’t deliver in spades.

Treat your customers and prospective customers the way you would want to be treated. They are people, not “targets.”

Those three points sound simple, but anyone who takes them seriously is in for some soul-searching and serious thought. Launching a business is hard work, my friend. That is why most people punch a time clock for someone else.

I wish you all the best. The backbone of our economy is new business. You can do it, I know you can.

(Image credit: Thank you to michael lorenzo and stock.xchng)