Three keys needed when starting a business

Hey guys!

Any business you start, whether it be online or offline, these 3 key questions need to thought of. This should be your first step when trying to start a business.

1) What do you do?.. Pretty basic. Do you sell products online? What kind of products? Do you offer a service? So what is it that you do?

2) What is different or special about your business? Also known as a USP (Unique selling proposition/point) this is what you'll be marketing to consumers. Let's say you sell kitchen cleaning supplies. What about your kitchen cleaning supplies is unique? Maybe it's 100% organic? Maybe it's the strongest on the market? This is VERY important because this is where all your energy in your business will go. You don't have to be different than everyone on the market, but you need to be THE VERY BEST at it. If you are selling the kitchen cleaning supplies and your differentiation point is it being 100% organic you MUST be the absolute greenest kitchen cleaning supplier on the market. This is where all your attention needs to be. If there's 3 suppliers you need to be the one that offers the BEST organic kitchen supplies. Hands down. Very important.

3) You need a tangible goal - This is something that whenever I create a business is very important to me. A tangible goal is something that you can physically see or touch. For example Pixar... When Steve Jobs bought Pixar their tangible goal was to create the first "Full length animated feature film." This is something they can see right in front of their eyes and know when they completed it. An example of a non-tangible goal would be something like "I want to inspire a lot of people." this is important, but how much is a lot?? A "Tangible Goal" is something you need to be able to see when you accomplished it.

So whenever you're thinking about starting an online business make sure you run through these points.

-What do you do?

-What makes you different?

-What's your tangible goal?

This is my #1 first step anytime I look at a business or am thinking of building my own business. I use to hear these statements and rub them off, but now with having more experience I completely understand why people say this over and over again.

Hope this was helpful. Even if you already have a business up, make sure you still answer these questions because they are vital.

If you want let me know down below!

Anyways, take care guys! See you soon.

Adam

Nice post Adam!

I especially like #2. Many people go into a market/niche/etc. without having anything unique to offer their customers. They want to do the same thing that countless other people or businesses are doing, without having some kind of value to add to their product or service to set them apart. Why should people buy from you when someone else is offering the same thing? You have to give potential customers some reason to choose you. Perhaps something that is better, has more features, costs less, better for their particular need and so on.

Give people/businesses a reason to choose you over the competition and you be much more successful !

Point #2 is important when doing business online and I often do a research from my competitors to see what thing they are doing or having before offer services on my site, it also needs a bit creative...

I think your point #3 is about analyzing a product, a service or a market to know it is potential or not...may I get wrong?

Hey,

Yes point #2 I would say to be the most important out of the 3. The last point is more just having something physical to reach for. I used to be big into weight lifting and I like to compare it to saying I want to bench press 225lbs instead of saying I want to become stronger. It gives you something that you can go after and know when you succeeded it.

I always believe your tangible goal should be something world changing/shifting. It should be something huge that is going to probably take a long while to get to. Once you achieved that goal it's all about expanding and smoothing out your business.

In IM especially, having a goal is HUGE. SO many people give up trying to earn anything online because they aren't making $1,000 a month after a week of work.

A more tangible goal for the short term would be $5 per day. Then shoot for $10. Then $25. Then $100. Pretty soon you'll see making thousands a month as a piece of cake instead of a daunting task.

Point 2 is good also. We need to be different and actually provide value. Unfortunately lots of marketers sell junk that is low quality and helps no one. My philosophy is that I should never sell something I wouldn't want to buy myself.