Home Business

Successful entrepreneurs who risked all their money (and sometimes their family’s money) to pursue dreams that others considered foolish get lots of press. Their stories are exciting and inspirational but they are also misleading. These risk-taking entrepreneurs are actually the exception. Most business builders succeed by taking a far more conservative approach.

Some examples are: Ben and Jerry. The two budding moguls started by selling their ice cream in a converted Vermont gas station. Only after two years in business did they expand into wholesaling their products to local stores. Google was a side project of two Stanford grad students. Dell Computer was started in a University of Texas dorm room for just $1,000. Apple’s first computers were hand-built in a garage and sold to local computer geeks. Wayne Huizenga started Waste Management with just one garbage truck. And he drove it himself. Read the biographies of successful people and you will discover the truth. Most of them started small and took modest, calculated risks. They were not reckless and brave, as the business magazines would have you believe. I myself have started a business while keeping my day job. I do not want to risk my hard-earned money on an endeavor that I am new at.

I am keeping my day job while I get my ideal career going in the evenings and on weekends. I am an entrepreneur because I am taking the initiative to start my own business. I am not willing to quit my job and lose the income. I am very hopeful in this endeavor because anybody with modest intelligence and drive can be an entrepreneur. Isn’t that a wonderful and empowering aspect? You don’t have to be a wild and crazy risk taker.

The conservative approach let’s you learn about your new business while keeping the safe and steady income of your main job. You start small and build gradually. This limits your risk in case your new business fails. In exchange for taking less risk, you must work harder. You must be dedicated — willing to come home after a full workday and keep going on your side business.

It takes discipline, tenacity, faith, and a very understanding family. It’s not easy to work all day at the office and then go home at night to work on your own project. The competition for your time can become intense. But if you create a plan and follow it in an orderly fashion, you have a very good chance of eventually succeeding.. Master the necessary skills, avoid the pitfalls, and your business will grow.

At some point in the future, you may realize that you are making more money from your second income than you are from your first. That is the day you have been working toward, a big decision awaits you but one that you want to have the chance to make. You will have put yourself in a great position and you will be glad that you did it.

Dr. Kelly J Knight, Author, Speaker and Business Coach. For more information on what resources can be applied to small business lead generation and customer retention please email me at info@paladinmarketingsuccess.com or view my site at http://paladinmarketingsuccess.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6508617

As we all know, small business branding helps you to make your business memorable to the public. A large part of making your business memorable is creating a company name that appropriately represents your business. Chances are, if you already have a business, you already have a name. So your next step in your brand strategy is to create a memorable logo to go with that name. Your logo will be a graphic image that represents your company. When people see this logo, they will think of you. Let’s take a look at some tips to help you create a perfect logo.

When developing a logo for your small business, you will want to ensure that it is powerful enough to make people remember it. It should be clean, clear, and uncluttered. You will want to choose a logo that is simple yet distinct, ensuring that it will capture a customer’s attention with a quick glance. Of course, your logo must be appropriate to your business and work well with your company name. It should communicate to the audience what your business is and what it stands for.

Once you have developed a small business logo, you can continue on with your brand strategy and develop a tag line. What branding tips can be recommended for tag line development? Keep your tagline short and simple, between 3 and 7 words. Your tagline should represent not only your company, but what you want customers to remember about your company. Use McDonald’s tagline “I’m lovin it” as an example. It is short, simple, and reminds customers that they will love the food each time they eat there. When creating your business tag line and logo, do not rush. A great tagline and logo could be the difference that puts you ahead of your competitors.

When it comes to small business branding, simply developing a logo and tagline is not enough. A great brand strategy also requires brand management. What is brand management? It is everything that you do to make people associate positive opinions with your brand. Some tips to ensure that your brand is seen in a positive light rather than a negative one? Keep your customers satisfied. Offer high quality products at prices that your customers can afford, provide excellent customer service, develop attractive packaging for products, and offer special deals or savings each month. Anything that you can do to keep your customers happy – do it. This will give your brand positive associations which will in turn keep your customers returning.

When it comes to small business branding and brand strategy, there are couple things you need to consider. We have covered three of them today; a logo, a tagline, and brand management. Use the branding tips above to help you develop a strong and magnetic small business brand. If you take your time and implement each step to your business, you will see a huge boom in your profitability and customer retention shortly.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Silvia_Pencak