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Your EnterQuest Bulletin - Issue 377
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| Thought for the week: "A person will sometimes devote all his life to the development of one part of his body - the wishbone." Robert Frost |
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In this week's issue:
Business advice you will be wise to ignore
Once you start your own business, there are plenty of people who are willing to give you the benefit of their advice and wisdom, either a professional who will charge you for it, or your well-meaning family or mates down the pub.
Which, of course, is absolutely great.
But what's worrying is how much complete drivel is written or spoken by people purporting to be experts in the small business field. And that's across all corners of the business support world, including so-called no-nonsense publications produced by the Government and other agencies, or online 'advice' websites which have appeared out of nowhere in the last couple of years.
Here's our quick guide to six of the most common pieces of rubbish business advice you'll hear which you should ignore at all costs. And by the way, this stuff really is what you'll hear or read.
1) Your business plan will identify where your business will be in three (or five) years time.
Now just think about this for a second. You're expected to produce a document that will state where you're going to end up in 36 or even 60 months' time. Do you realise how long that is? Most businesses die in half that time anyway. There's no problem with you visualising what your business might be doing in three, four or five years' time, but don't waste your time writing about it in a plan.
Instead think about the next 12 months, in fact the next three to six months, concentrating on what you can realistically achieve, and more importantly on how you will do it and get there. Success is based on the journey and the path you will take, not on a dream destination. Certainly think about where you want to get to, but spend your time planning the route.
2) People who dream of success will achieve it.
This is a bit like the business plan advice above. If you dream it enough, it will happen. Really? A bit like dreaming you will win the lottery, or that England will win the World Cup?
It's just not going to happen.
It's not dreams you need, it's ambition. And it's about getting your finger out and spending every minute of every day available to you researching how you're going to achieve your ambition.
3) Your idea will probably succeed.
If someone you describe your business idea or plan to tells you that your idea will probably succeed, be very wary of this advice. How do they know that it will succeed? Are you just being told this to avoid upsetting you? Get a second, third and fourth opinion and if they all say they think it will succeed maybe you can begin to take more notice of the reactions you're getting to your idea.
Never act on the first piece of advice you get. Always get more opinions.
4) Your idea will probably fail.
As above, always get more than one opinion. In fact, plenty of people will happily tell you your idea won't work, often because they don't want it to, or just don't believe you are capable of doing it. Don't be put off by people who are negative about your business idea, just make sure you seek more advice and opinions, and refine your idea based on the feedback you're getting.
To illustrate this point, back in 1999/2000 just as the Internet was beginning to take off for real (the first Internet bubble) we had innumerable pieces of 'advice' telling us our own business model had no chance of succeeding. Back then we were selling an information service by subscription only, while free information and so-called 'advice' was exploding all over the Internet. We were being told that nobody would buy information now that everyone else was providing it for free. We stuck to our guns, and have never made our prime information service freely available anywhere. We're still here and have never looked back.
5) If you find the right product you'll find success.
This is the all-time classic piece of crap business advice. Find the right product, eh? OK, but exactly who are you going to sell it to, and how do you know they want to buy it?
Success is based first and foremost on finding a market. An untapped, unexploited, or under-serviced market that you can gain a slice of with the right offering at the right price.
Find your market first, then select the product or service that will meet its needs.
6) Just go for it.
This is also a dangerous one. Being encouraged to hurtle head first into the deep end without any foundation for the advice you are being given. If this is happening to you, then the best thing you can do is test your idea or concept before you take too big a plunge.
In fact, you should test your idea, then test it again, and then test it again after that.
Like we mentioned at the beginning of this week's bulletin, we've heard or read all sorts of good, bad and indifferent business advice, or witnessed it first hand many times over many years. And we'll make a point of highlighting more examples in future issues of EnterQuest.
If you've got any examples of good or bad advice that you've received personally and would like to share this with us, then please do so by leaving a comment on our website.
You can view comments made by EnterQuest readers on last week's article Small business owners are not very green or charitable.
The latest EnterQuest survey is seeking your views and opinion about the media and other sources of information that you use to keep up to date with business issues, news and current affairs, and for your own personal business development. So far we have had a good response, but if you haven't taken the survey yet you can do so now - it will only take a couple of minutes to complete.
Please click here to take the survey.
Each week we provide you with summaries of some popular or emerging business ideas in the UK and elsewhere around the world.
Free office app for BlackBerry users
Nice Office LITE is a free BlackBerry app that enables users to manage contacts, e-mails, calendars and tasks as well as store documents online and send them to customers. It can also be used to track sales and lead activity too.
Productivity tips for freelancers and home-based businesses
These productivity tips will help home-based businesses, start ups and freelancers to become more productive. The article also features some popular productivity and project management tools.
Competitor keyword bidding article
This article explains the legal pitfalls of bidding for keywords that are associated with a business' competitors, such as brand names. It follows a ruling by the European Court of Justice which has paved the way for businesses to bid on their rivals' names.
Free online back-up service
Humyo is an online back-up service that can be used to back up important documents and access them online. The service enables users to store up to 10GB of data. Free and subscription versions are available.
Here's our weekly look at some unusual, daft and often ridiculous business ideas, products and news.
Win Acronis Backup & Recovery 10
EnterQuest has teamed up with backup solutions provider Acronis to offer one reader the chance to win a copy of Acronis Backup & Recovery 10.
Acronis Backup & Recovery 10 is a family of products for data backup, system recovery and reduplication.
To be in with a chance of winning this great prize, just answer the following question:
In which city is the ultimate in luxury desserts being sold?
a) York
b) New York
E-mail your answer, together with your name, address and daytime phone number, using 'Acronis competition' in the subject line, to enterquest@cobwebinfo.com.
All entries must be received by 30 September. Full competition rules are available on request.
Claim Three Business-Building Reports Worth £90
Visit the link below to claim over 75 pages of FREE content, plus details of my Maverick Marketing Newsletter: fortnightly advice on practical client attraction strategies you can apply and profit from.
www.maverickmarketingconsultancy.co.uk/newsletter.htm |
International Enterprise Promotion Convention
8-10 November 2010
IEPC 2010 provides an opportunity for business creation and support professionals to network, share best practice, and exchange experiences.
www.enterprisepromotion.org |
To promote your products or services in EnterQuest Classifieds,
call us on (0191) 461 8000 or e-mail enterquest@cobwebinfo.com.
Also from EnterQuest's publisher
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The UK Small Business Marketing Bible contains hundreds of tips and tactics for boosting your sales using proven marketing strategies that work no matter what product or service you sell. |
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Good luck
The EnterQuest Team
This information is meant as a starting point only. Whilst all reasonable efforts have been made, the publisher makes no warranties that the information is accurate and up-to-date and will not be responsible for any errors or omissions in the information nor any consequences of any errors or omissions. Professional advice should be sought where appropriate. |
