Simplify Your Business Success - For New Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners (Part 4 of 4)

Success is simple. Would you believe me if I told you so?

A brief summary of my previous posts: In order to succeed in your new adventure as an entrepreneur or small business owner, you need three things right - Right reason, right mentality, and right game plan.

So you've figured out WHY you want this and that you DO have what it takes. You'd taken off with a great start. Now is time for the most important thing: A Game Plan. It's actually a Business Plan we're talking about here, but you already knew that, right?

First step of your game plan is to picture your goal(s).
What is it that you want the most? Is it a dream car? Dream vacation place? Whatever it is, print it out, and stick the picture where you can easily see it.  All around the house, in your car, wherever you spend most of your days.

I prefer to picture one thing at a time.

Second step is to do a lot of research, research, and more research.
Now that you're prepared yourself, it's time to find out if you have viable business idea.

Are there any needs for your services/products? Look at what your competitors do, mirror it but adjust to your level and capabilities.

Research of your target market. Picture your ideal clients. Determine what gender, age, and class of income of people you will be selling to. Carefully design your marketing plan. Fish where the fish are, does that make sense?

This step is very important that until you're sure you have a salable business idea, you should be very careful with throwing more resources into it. If you don't think this type of business is going to work, don't be afraid to stop now and re-think your niche.

However, once you're sure about your business idea, the third step would be to make the plan.
Find out what they would cost you. How much money you'd need, and how much time you'd need to invest. You do NEED a business plan. Not necessarily those fancy ones. Just a simple business plan that you can get from some free templates out there. Microsoft Words have some nice ones. Otherwise try "docstoc.com". Start small. Your business plan will evolve as you go.

You would also need to consult with at least 2 professionals: An attorney and a CPA. So set aside a budget for those 2 people. They will be well worth it, for the peace of mind and getting all the help you can get with deductibles.

Last but not least, once you've got a plan and a blueprint, stick with it.
Persistence is the key. You will meet challenges, but always know that if other people can do it, you can too. Be optimistic, but realistic with your expectation. Depends on type of your business, losses and setbacks are expected, especially at the beginning. Just try to hang in there and keep moving forward.

At any step of your business quest, these sources are helpful: SCORE and Chamber of Commerce. Just type them into Google and sometimes you might be able to find local ones near you.

If you do a lot of your research online, type in "entrepreneur" or "small business help", or visit and join various internet forums to surround yourself with like-minded people and keep you on track in reaching your goals.