What does it take to create a successful business?

Many of you have ideas, or have struggling businesses, and don’t know what it takes to make them more successful. Here are a couple of points to remember when creating your business or working to keep your business strong:

Does your business solve a problem?

Successful business ideas solve a problem. Take Jenny Doan, and her idea to create YouTube videos on how to make quilts quickly, and then sell pre-cut quilting squares, and other quilting supplies. Her company, Missouri Star Quilt is now the 2nd largest employer in her small town, Hamilton MO of 1,800 people. She appealed to the desire of “instant gratification” in quilters- she solved their problem of a quilt taking months and turned it into a couple of days, sometimes only one day- project.

Or Michelle Sollicito, who was concerned about her grandmother, stranded on an Atlanta overpass, during the recent snow storm. She set up a Facebook page, SnowedOutAtlanta, to help people communicate with each other and help each other. She had 55,000 in her group within hours, and was actually fielding calls from Facebook staff members, trying to figure out how she grew the group so quickly. On just a side note- her grandmother was safe, and one gentleman offered to carry her home (she declined,) and several people brought her grandmother food and blankets, while she was stranded. While Michelle’s idea was not designed to make money, and she has turned down thousands of offers of money and gifts, you can see how a quickly crafted idea solved a problem, and generated tons of interest, in a very short time

Are people willing to pay you to help them solve that problem?

If you have a great idea, and yet people aren’t willing to spend money to purchase the solution, then put your idea on hold. There are many ideas that are worthy of doing, but won’t earn you any money… remember- you have to pay your bills and take care of yourself first, before you can help others. There’s nothing wrong with making money. Making money will allow you to help more people, and frees you up to do more things.

Do you have ways to market your product and or services?

You may have the best ideas, products or services in the world, but if you don’t have a plan on how to communicate to the world- you are not going to be successful. You’ve heard the “If I build it- they will come…”- well that was a movie, and not real. You’ve got to get your message out there, to the world, through a website with a strong internet presence, social media along with offline methods to reach your target market.

Is your business a niche?  Is it specific enough to reach your target market?

If your product or services can be sold to anyone- then it’s very difficult to target such a wide market. How to do you talk to everyone?  It’s nearly impossible to be an expert in your field if you don’t have a specific niche. Narrow down who you can help the most, or the group of people you are most passionate about, and market to this group.

I hope these points have been helpful to you. To learn more about how to create a successful business or grow your existing business, I hope you will consider business coaching. For more information about business coaching, click on the tab above.

I wish you the very best and you to be YOUR very best!

Talk with you again soon!

Shirley