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Sep 16

Entrepreneurship is one among the words that often misunderstood by people who don’t have an in-depth understanding of what management is all about. It is a popular beleif that an entrepreneur is one who plans or runs a small business. An entrepreneur is one who stuggles to establish a good business. The interpretations goes on…

As a matter of fact, there is an entrepreneurship activity in every BIG business, that makes the back bone of a big business. Say, an R&D activity is a typical example of entrepreneurship.

1. What Is Your Product or Service?

An entrepreneur, who plans a startup business, may think the question is very simple and obvious. But simple things are always difficult to understand; your success as an entrepreneur, starts from clearly defining what is your product.

I agree with you that you know what is your product that you are going to promote. Well. Let me tell you something, which is NOT obvious.

First thing, a Product need not always give the meaning to somebody, as you perceive yourself. Everybody has his or her own mental picture of a product or, of a service.

If you say “Mobile Phone”, I may say, “Great thing that I can be stay in touch with people wherever I go”. And: I may say “The thing that never allows me to talk to somebody standing beside me!” A Product proposed is, essentially, a utility proposed.

Being an entrepreneur, you must be able to clearly define, your product or the service you plan to offer in your business; in a clear, understandable way to a layman. For a novice entrepreneur, it is a difficult job. It is not difficult to define your product; it is difficult to define your product in 3 words. Can you do it?

Why in 3 words? That is going to give you the tough time. No way, you have to understand clearly what your are about. You may be in need of a venture capitalist or an angel investor, for your startup business. If so, you need to write a clear business proposal to present. It is a fact, not a surprise; most of the startup business which are supported by a venture capitalist, has rare chace to fail.

It is good idea to assume that you are going to present a business proposal to a venture capitalist, though you really don’t need a venture capitalist. There is a fair amount of chance that you would be clear when you need present a proposal to somebody.

Entrepreneurship Is A Creative Activity

Entrepreneurs are the people, who invented ways to bring you whatever you enjoy in your life. Car, telephone, Television, even the Web and the list never ends. Entrepreneurs are the people who make things better for people around them. Entrepreneurs are the people who make the impossible to possible by their creativity and innovation. Be Proud To An Entrepreneur, for the reason that you have choosen to become one among the people who run the world.

You Need To Pay For The Pride You Enjoy

Start taking the pain right from defining your product.

2. Who Will Buy Your Product?

Business is there because people are there

Being an entrepreneur, it is your responsibility, from its core definition, to define who would buy your product. Being an entrepreneur, you are going to make something better for people around you. What betterment they would get by buying your product? Benefits vs. Features of a Product

Often the entrepreneurs new to entrepreneurship, equates product features to product benefits. You cannot ever convince a prospect by listing the features of your product. You must convince them by listing the benefits your product would offer.

You write a word processor, which has thesaurus. You have two ways to talk about it.

Way 1: “My word processor has a thesaurus which would be help you in your writings”

Way 2: “My word processor will let you know the synonyms and antonyms of the words you use and make your writing better”

If you take the Way 2, then you speak about the benefits. List down the benefits of your products; polish them; make them striking to mind of your prospects. Do the reverse work, you will know who would buy your product.

There is no good product for everyone on earth.

3. What Benefit Your Product Will Give Your Buyer?

As I said, entrepreneurs are people who make things better for people around them, it is obvious that they have a responsibility to make a buyer’s life better, in a way, by providing a product or service.

Give a clear thought and ask yourself “What are all the benefits you can offer?” Try to make them better. The more they are good, the more the chances that you succeed in your business.

It is the set of benefits you are going to sell. Not the product features. A customer never bother how intelligent you are, what technology you have used, how wonderful your product is. He would just bother about what he or she has in your product.

Often entrepreneurs who are new to entrepreneurship expect the customer to appreciate the technologies used; the pain the entrepreneur had taken to bring the product; the smartness that contributed to the birth of the product. Often they miserably fail to understand why the customers don’t respect these efforts. All efforts may be good on your part. Unfortunately, nobody is ready to pay you for your intelligence. Even though you are consultant, you can not sell your knowledge against the popular belief. You can only sell an advice.

4. Will You Buy Your Product Assuming That You Are The Customer?

It is you who knows how your shoes fit you

A Customer has his or her own expectations. Assume yourself that you are the customer. Though you have clearly defined your product, target customers and benefits of the product, don’t forget the fact that it is all your own opinion. I agree with you if say you are reasonable and have followed some standard scientific methods to work them out, like prospects interview, sample survey, etc.,

Still, you have to imagine yourself as a customer for your own product and must be able to love it! It is not about how good your product is; It is about how best it is. Don’t ever forget the fact that competition has become the way of life.

5. Who Are Your Competitors?

Know your competitors before you know your customers

Do you know how the ad industry works? Every commercial you see, speaks about a competitor. Off course indirectly. It is neither the product nor the customer who dictates the advertisement strategies. It is the competitor who dictates that.

Know your competitors better. Give insight. If you sell your products thru web or if your products are knowledge products, then you could know easily who your competitors are. If not, consider demography; list competitors.You need not know every business around the world, who sell similar product. I assume you are not already running an MNC!

In your competitors list, you would find inferiors and superiors. Understand the fact that you need not worry about your superiors. Let them face their own competition. Narrow down your list with people who are on par with you. They are your friends. Let us talk what our friends are into.

6. What Your Competitors Do?

Know what your competitors do to succeed. Appreciate their strategies, knowledge and tactics. Know what is their strength. Be happy that you have competitors, from whom you are going to learn what you have to do to excel!

Take a paper. Write down the strength of your competitors. Research them. Collect details. Understand what is not obvious about them. Guess, brainstorm, write on paper; take a walk…know them well.

I suggest you to concentrate on their strength, not on weakness. You may be able to identify a weakness in their strength. You have to attack them by knowing a their weakness in their strength, not by knowing their weakness. Understand the difference.

An attack is just bringing something unique to your product.

7. What Is Unique About Your Product?

How do plan an attack on your competitor? By understanding a weakness in their strength? Write about your product’s uniqueness. That is what the key, using which you are going to ride your market.

What if don’t find something unique about your product? No harm if your product is a new invention; a new concept; a new creation where there is no one already doing it. If so, Bravo! You are a good entrepreneur!

If not, I am sorry, you have to find out one. Go backwards from here thru above sections; refine them, come back with some uniqueness. I agree with you if you say “It is too hard!”. Although it is too hard, actually it is not impossible.

No other go; you must come out with some uniqueness about your product. Just for the reason the uniqueness is going give a start for you as an entrepreneur.

8. How Are You Going To Sell It?

This is an important question for an entrepreneur. A clear plan about the channel, about the methods, for selling your product or service. This is the place where many startups fail. Though you have a good product, though it has uniqueness, though you know who are your target customers, it does not make any sense if you are not clear about your channel of sales.

The question creates lot of discussion about the nature of your product, about the nature of your market, about the buying habits of your target customers and more importantly, about your customer’s cultural habits that has an indirect influence in their buying decisions.

What are the geographical limits of your market? If your product is not something that could not be sold over Internet, this question is an important one. Do you need any assistance in selling? You may need a channel partner who has better resource to sell your product. How are you going to motivate your channel partner? A good entrepreneur is the one who stays with smart people.

So the channel of distribution, channel of promotion is a major area, in which a beginner is vulnerable to fail. If you fail in this, it does not matter how smart you are; you fail in your business.

9. How Are You Going To Support Your Customers?

Assume you buy some product. You want to know something about its utilities or you have some problems with it, what would you expect from the seller? A good care? Right. Being an entrepreneur, you have to be the one who give good care to your customers.

A customer always needs to be listened. I don’t advocate the popular myth “The customer is always right”. I know they need not be always right. But they need to be educated and convinced always.

Do your product needs a user manual? Even though if you don’t think it needs, try to make a manual that teaches your customer how to make use of your product for maximum satisfaction.

Like the channels of selling, consider a team for customer care. Team size could be even two. It depends. “Business man who does not know the importance of the teamwrok die young”. “One Man Army” often makes you unhealthy over a period of time, especially, if you plan a small business.

10. Do You Have The Patientce, Courage To Answer The Above Questions Repeatedly Till You Get Them Refined?

Do you have the patience for answering above questions?

Do you have the courage to face the reality and to work again and again in refining your business concept till you get them clear?

Take your plan to your neighbor and ask whether he or she understands. If your neighbor says “Yes”, Congrats! Welcome to the wonder world of entrepreneurs.

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Sep 16

Why Do You Want To Write?

It is up to you as a writer. You may want write for making money, to earn a face value and for the fact that you just love writing. The reason could be anything but there is some basic understanding you must acquire to become a successful writer. Following sections would help you.

If you really know why do you want to write, you will understand how to make it.

Which Is The Right Place To Write

If you research thru web, and if you read what experienced freelance writers who are successful in making money by writing, there is a fair amount of chance that you get confused as you are a beginner.

I don’t suggest you not to research, or not to read a writer who is making money by writing. Research is useful and essential for beginners. But you must plan your research. In other words, you must have roadmap, which would help you to know what you want to understand.

Ask yourself what information you have to write. Ask yourself what could be the right place to put your writing. It is all about trial and error.

What You Should Understand

By your search and by your readings of successful writers who make money, you will get a lot of information. Being a beginner, you may not digest them well. It is not important what a successful writer tells, it does matter what do you understand.Successful money making writers give you advice, which are often a clear roadmap to your success. Still, every writer has his or her own opinion and own experience. What they write is the result of their experience. They give you fruits out of their hardship and experience they have earned.

It is your responsibility to decide what level advice you really need.

Plan Your Research

Obviously, you can understand how to make a good writing and how to compose your writing in interesting ways. You have to define your own boundaries within which you have to hunt for information and advice. Always pay attention to what a money making writer advices and don’t forget the fact that you need something basic, something clear to start with.Always consult a money making writer, but give your own insight into the matter you read.

Following sections give you the basics you have to understand.


Traffic - How To Get It?

Every writer is suppose to be concerned about the traffic for the obvious reason that good traffic to your article is the key in money making.

Often you could see Money Making writers say “Write tons of articles” It is good idea to write tons of articles, provided you have tons of information to share with people. Any desperate effort to write tons of articles is a fallacy. The idea behind this advice is, the more you write the more you earn. Though it seems to be good, the real mechanism of this kind of writing is, assuming few views for every article you write so you have to write tons of articles. A good idea is writing as much as you can. But write them informative, interesting. Focus on content, instead of writing more. Quality matters, not the quantity.

Though you can promote your writings by emails, social groups and in every other way possible, an article that has no valuable information in the eyes of reader is vulnerable to go unheard. Concentrate and make quality writing, be patient. You will get good traffic.

What Is Good Topic To Start?

Anything. Really anything; about what you are informed. Anything provided you have useful information to share with people. Often beginners choose popular topics assuming that they would get great traffic. It won’t work unless you have something useful to share with others. Again, I stress, no desperate efforts.

Choose a topic of your interest. It could be anything. Topic of your interest is a good way to start writing. Otherwise, you must be good in hunting information pertaining to the topic on which you would like to write. It must be you who decides what to write. You know what things would work best for you.

Give a brainstorming and come out with really useful information. There is no best topic for all. You know what is good for you. Trust yourself.

Why A Reader Should Read Your Article?

Ask yourself the question. A reader needs information. If a reader who is desperate in searching for some information he or she needs, if you have presented the information in good way, your page will surely get good traffic.

So try to write informative, stuffed articles. That is the right way to attract people and it will not work otherwise.

Honest truth could be bitter, at times.

Do Not Switch Between Sites

Don’t do this unless you have a valid reason. It is not a good reason to say “I wrote some articles on site X and I got only few cents and some money making writers suggest site Y as they are making money with that site.”

A money making writer may have his own experience. If you decide to blindly follow that without understand why he or she says so, you will end up with frustration. Give some insight and understand.

Be at a place till you get a valid reason to quit. That gives you experience. Because, your readers should see your writings often at a place. On due course of time, your reader would expect you at the place. It is all about developing an indirect relationship with your readers. Again, that works for traffic.

How To Present Your Writing

Once you choose the topic on which you have good information, you are ready to write. Make a draft, an outline, which shows you a logical sequencing. Read your outline and think about it. Refine it till it gets polished.

Fragment your information into paragraphs, so that a reader would feel that he or she is reading a piece of information. Don’t forget the fact that fragmenting your article into paragraphs is not dictated by the length of the paragraph. It is dictated by composition of your writing. It is just like shifting the gear while you drive your car. Make it sensible.

Before you publish your article, read it few times and check if it needs any fix or polishing. Don’t bother about SEO kind of things if you are not an expert. There are writers who do good composition and SEO in their article. But don’t try SEO till you cultivate a good presentation skill.

What Is It All About?

Be reasonable in understanding a money making writer’s advice. Check if it is suitable for you. Be patient with a place where you write (give a good thought before you choose the place to write). Don’t switch over sites just for the reason you don’t make good money. Understand the fact that freelance writing is all about developing a readers community for you and about experimenting, learning from your own experience. Many beginners often waste their time and effort, not understanding these facts.

Be patient. Learn from your experience. You will understand the secrets of successful writing soon. The more you pay attention to details, the more your chances are to become a money making writer. Good writing is not attained overnight.

Don’t give up. One day you will find yourself having terrific traffic and good money making.

Good Luck!

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