First, have a financial plan. The first year and a half involves a lot of sacrifice where every penny earned will have to be reinvested in the business, the owner may not be able to take a salary. Plan to draw less on salary so that more money can be reinvested.
Plan ahead on how you are going to fund the business. You can take loans if the turnaround time of your business is very short so that you can pay back the loan quickly
Plan to keep costs as low as possible. You must know your cash flow, know what you have in cash and plan for contingencies. Cut your initial budget to the barest minimum- second hand computers, printers etc. work with volunteers at the beginning. You can even hire them as and when you need them. Strip your expenditure to as low as possible.
Secondly have a marketing plan. You may have the best product or service or you may be good at what you do in the world but that does not guarantee that people will patronise your product. It will depend on how good you are at marketing and sales.
McDonald’s don’t make the best burgers but they sell most in the world because they know how to market it. It takes money to make money but word of mouth is the best and cheapest form of advert. Work hard to beat the expectation of first few customers, do some networking, take advantage of free press etc.
Above all have a marketing strategy to target your advert at your intended recipients so that you can focus on the job/business.
"Marketing is really not about telling [people] how great your products are. Good marketing is based on a deep understanding of the problem your customer has and doesn't want, or the result they want and don't have. When you focus your marketing message on the customer's problem and desired result, they notice and come over and ask for more."
Importance of relationships in business: Play to your strengths: Bring your strengths to bear in the business. Where you are weak, let those who are strong in that area help you. No one is good at everything, if you partner with someone, you build synergies with your strengths. You partner with someone who compliments you. Working alone can paralyze many would-be entrepreneurs, so consider getting a partner or two to share the workload and the risk.
2 Chronicles 2:7 Send me now therefore a man cunning to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue, and that can skill to grave with the cunning men that are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father did provide.
Learn from your mistakes: One of the things young entrepreneurs should learn is to learn from their mistakes. As you go along, don’t let your mistakes bring you down but rather use it as a learning curve.
Start: Start whatever God is laying on your heart no matter how small it is.
Job 8:7 “Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.” Do not despise small beginnings. It is said that taking advantage of small opportunities will get you there faster than waiting for one big opportunity.
The grace of God will always be there with you so don’t be worried about how you start.
Ecclesiastes 7:8 “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.”
Many great businesses started small. Many started when the owners went through die financial situations and crises. Many started out of necessity. Many started as ideas without any capital. Start no matter what. You may think that you are going through a difficult time but God at times allows you to go through that so that He would glorify Himself. Joseph told his brothers that “ye meant it for evil but God meant it for good. Things are not going to get any better so start. The best time to start is now.
May whatever you are experiencing now turn out for your good.
Tuesday 20 March 2012
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Every business starts with a gift or identification of a need. You either have a gift or identify a need which results in producing a product or a service.
The Bible says Proverbs 5:15 “Drink waters out of thine own cistern and running waters out of thine own well”.
The word cistern, according to the Collins English dictionary means a water tank or an underground reservoir. This means tap into your own resources, tap into your God given reservoir of gifts, tap into your underground, unseen talent, tap into your skills and tap into your talent. It is a resource that God has given you so make the best out of them. Use what God has given you.
Use your skills to identify opportunities, cease them and make the most of the opportunities. Be influenced to take action. Don’t just identify them and sit down.
Proverbs 18:16 A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men. Identification of a need helps you spot an opportunity that you can take advantage of.
But having the gift alone or spotting an opportunity is not good enough.
You set objectives: Objectives are goals that you want to achieve. These are the reasons why you are putting your talent to use.
Proverbs 31:16 She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.
They are the set SMART targets.
S - specific, significant, stretching: i.e. well defined, clear to anyone that has a basic understanding of the project
M - measurable, meaningful, motivational: Know if the goal is attainable and how far away completion is, Know when it has been achieved.
A - agreed upon, attainable, achievable, acceptable, action-oriented: Aim for results
R - realistic, relevant, reasonable, rewarding, results-oriented: Within the availability of resources, knowledge and time
T - time-based, timely, tangible, trackable: enough time to achieve the goal, Not too much time, which can affect project performance.
A goal may be what you want to achieve in two, three or five years time
Get organized: Plan effectively. Planning is necessary to achieve those goals you have set for yourself. If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. Have a plan of action. Have a plan that is clear, concise, compelling and consistent. Have a plan in place how you intend to achieve those targets set above.
Proverbs 21:5(NLT) Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.
Prov. 24:3-4 “An enterprise is built by wise planning, it becomes strong through common sense and profits wonderfully by keeping abreast of facts.” (Living Bible)
Write your plans down. Hab.2:2-3. Only 3% of people write their purpose, plans and goals down. 10% keep them in their head. The remaining 87% just drift through life. They have “the whatever will be will be syndrome”. Research shows that the 3% achieve 50 to hundred times what they write down.
The Bible says Proverbs 5:15 “Drink waters out of thine own cistern and running waters out of thine own well”.
The word cistern, according to the Collins English dictionary means a water tank or an underground reservoir. This means tap into your own resources, tap into your God given reservoir of gifts, tap into your underground, unseen talent, tap into your skills and tap into your talent. It is a resource that God has given you so make the best out of them. Use what God has given you.
Use your skills to identify opportunities, cease them and make the most of the opportunities. Be influenced to take action. Don’t just identify them and sit down.
Proverbs 18:16 A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men. Identification of a need helps you spot an opportunity that you can take advantage of.
But having the gift alone or spotting an opportunity is not good enough.
You set objectives: Objectives are goals that you want to achieve. These are the reasons why you are putting your talent to use.
Proverbs 31:16 She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.
They are the set SMART targets.
S - specific, significant, stretching: i.e. well defined, clear to anyone that has a basic understanding of the project
M - measurable, meaningful, motivational: Know if the goal is attainable and how far away completion is, Know when it has been achieved.
A - agreed upon, attainable, achievable, acceptable, action-oriented: Aim for results
R - realistic, relevant, reasonable, rewarding, results-oriented: Within the availability of resources, knowledge and time
T - time-based, timely, tangible, trackable: enough time to achieve the goal, Not too much time, which can affect project performance.
A goal may be what you want to achieve in two, three or five years time
Get organized: Plan effectively. Planning is necessary to achieve those goals you have set for yourself. If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. Have a plan of action. Have a plan that is clear, concise, compelling and consistent. Have a plan in place how you intend to achieve those targets set above.
Proverbs 21:5(NLT) Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.
Prov. 24:3-4 “An enterprise is built by wise planning, it becomes strong through common sense and profits wonderfully by keeping abreast of facts.” (Living Bible)
Write your plans down. Hab.2:2-3. Only 3% of people write their purpose, plans and goals down. 10% keep them in their head. The remaining 87% just drift through life. They have “the whatever will be will be syndrome”. Research shows that the 3% achieve 50 to hundred times what they write down.
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