If you have a great business idea and need to be sure that you are going to be taking it and applying it in the very best possible way that you can – you need to consider these following points.

But before you go off and read the rest of this page I would like to point out to you that almost any business will succeed if you apply two or three simple things to your planning before you set off.

These items are covered below, BUT if you ignore any of them then you do so at your complete peril.

Preparation and research in your start-up business is EVERYTHING. Just saying that you are willing to work 20 hours a day is not enough.

Work Smart – and Hard!

Is there a Market?

The question of is there a market for your product is very important. Now I am not saying that you cannot ever go into a market that is extremely targeted or a tiny niche, but if you have done the homework on this question you will at the very least be fully prepared for what faces your future.

I remember once coming across a wealthy man, and as I always did, I immediately asked him what he did as a business. He owned a lot of houses and had a large factory – and I was very curious.

He told me that he made spring rolls.

Well I immediately had visions of him standing in front of a type of hot-dog cart selling spring rolls to all and sundry. For the life of me – I could not see how he made enough money to have got so wealthy. Then he pointed out that he supplied restaurants and shops with crates of these spring rolls.

To be very honest that business model would be close to last on my list of possible businesses that I might like to start.

But it tells you that if you see a niche and set about doing it the right way you can succeed in almost any business.

BUT!

I would rather that you focused your attention on what I call “hair-on-Fire” products.

It works this way….

If your hair was on fire – how often do you think you would think about it?

So things like anxiety, pain related products, fat products, health products, and any other PROBLEM type products are always going to be a winner.

Look at places like the yellow pages, the classified adverts, TV commercials, online in places like Craig s list and You-tube and see if there is interest in that product.

I have had a hammock business for close to 15 years now, and to be very honest, had I done this sort of research properly in the beginning I probably would not have ever done the hammock business at all. Back then my decision went something like this…”I like hammocks”

How often everyday do you think of hammocks?

Hmmm! (and yet I fed my family – bought a house – Employed 4 people for 10 years doing that full time)

Have you covered all the details?

Once you have got down to the part where you are fairly sure that you would like to start a business doing XYZ, then please take a little time to think about things that could break your business.

In fact at this point you can happily involve all those negative people in your life that think you have completely lost your mind with this business idea.

Sit them all down and ask then what they think could go wrong with your business idea. Tell then that it must relate to the exact business idea that you have.

For example last week I was doing online research for a client and was looking into setting him up with an online website based business, and one of the ideas had some potential – Kayaks.

Now within minutes a few problems cropped up that made pursuing this particular business idea not worthwhile.

Firstly my client lived in Johannesburg, and Google keyword research told us that a very large portion of the kayaking business came from surf kayaks, and that meant that your biggest client base lived at the coast.

Deeper digging told us that the kayak industry was very tight knit, and that meant that the clients would probably only “buy” from a fellow kayak-er. Now my client could have employed someone who was well established within that industry – but the reality was that there were many other business options that suited him better.

Stock and suppliers

If you are going to be selling a solid product (as opposed to a service) then you need to be sure that your suppliers are secure and not fly-by-night types. The last thing you ever need is to have a great big pile of orders and no stock to give them.

Importing

Do not simply assume that you can import easily. While it is not very difficult, there are a lot of costs, laws and details that you need to be very sure that you have fully thought about long before you open your doors.

It pays to contact you local trade and industries office to be sure of all the advantages and disadvantages that you might encounter. Certain products and services that create employment or have export benefits can get you very nice payments/payouts from the government.

Opposition

Ask 10 people that are already in the business that you want to go into, you will be surprised as to how many will actually be willing to give you advice.

Yeah – some will be a little difficult, but you could gain huge input from those people.

Never start a business without having done a very carefully thought out business plan. All your passion, all the planning into potential markets, all the willingness to work hard and finally all the cash flow will not help you if you have not done a detailed business plan.

Every little flaw will show up on a well written plan.

Now you could just guess how to do it, which would be silly.

You could go to a professional who would possible  be a couple of thousands of Rands – but would definitely be worth the outlay.

Another way would to look online for free business plan templates, and if you go this route then I suggest that you do the following.

Do not just take the first free template that you find. Remember that you very future depends upon this little bit of planning. Download a few, and cross reference them to be sure that you have covered all the options. I would only suggest that you use this method if you have no extra money at all to lay out on a well prepared business plan. However if you are struggling for money so early in your planning then you need to take extra special care financially – as this means that your funds are very limited, and that is not really the best way to invest in your future.

Another way would be to go to the local bookstore and to find a quality book there, and then to use the guidelines in that book to do your business planning.

Finally I have a website link that you might consider looking into. These people have over 2000 detailed business plans on offer and the great part is that they get really detailed down to targeting your niche. Think about that – 2000 business plan options.

In fact their website can actually help you decide on a business just by going through their lists.

here are some of their plans…

Aerobic Instructor Business Plan
African Bakery Business Plan
African Hairdresser Business Plan
African Restaurateur Business Plan
African Tropical Foods Store Business Plan
After School Center Business Plan
After School Centre Business Plan
After School Club Business Plan
After School Program Business Plan
After School Programme Business Plan
Agricultural Business Plan
Agricultural Consultant Business Plan
Agriculture Business Plan
Air Conditioning Business Plan
Air Conditioning and Heating Company Business Plan
Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineer Business Plan
Air Conditioning Installer Business Plan
Airbrush Tattoos Business Plan

So as you can see there are a lot to look at.

do you actually like the “product”?

I needn’t go into too much detail here but you do need to think about this.

Remember that you are likely to be working for at least 8 hours a day in your business and if you have no interest at all in the product it will be a lot harder to do.

Please bear in mind another thing – especially if you are going into business with a partner or your life partner. If you are absolutely freaked out mad for the idea but your partner is not, be very scared. Stop and think for a year or two before you decide to do nothing, as it will fail. Sorry.

Do you have the funds to see it to the profit zone?

If you did your business plan properly then you do not need to be nervous at all in this regard. I have always built a big safety factor into any business plan that I have done.

Many years ago I did a Tom Hopkins sales training course and in it he had a detailed section where he taught me to do a long term plan and then to finally break it all down to simple daily tasks. (His long term plan involved buying a Lear Jet)

So for example if you need to do sales of an item to the tune of R90 000 per month – then that breaks down to R 4 500 per day.

Then if you called on 10 people before you got a sale, and each sale was worth R900 – then you simply need to make sure that you called upon more than 50 people a day.

Easy huh?

Oh, and another thing, do not deviate from your business plan unless your targets have been surpassed as extra spending etc might not seem like a big deal – until you cannot pay someone. No jokes -It happens very easily.

P.S. At this point here, I have details on a very good offshore bank if you are interested.

Finally -this is what I can do for you…

1. Contact Me

I am very open to you contacting me in relation to a number of aspects of small business ideas and advice on which direction you should start off in. Mail me and we can chat. The first couple of e mails will not cost you anything. If you are needing more detailed help I can send you a list of my services and the fees attached.

2. My E Book

Almost all of my businesses have been “work-from-home” type businesses, except for a big kitchen business, and I have written a report that I sell online which you could buy from me. If you wanted to buy this report and at the same time needed other services from me we can talk about bonuses etc.

Most of the report revolves around the trade shows or flea market aspects and if that is the type of business you have in mind the E book will be a great help to your business.

3. Websites.

Now here is most likely the area that I can be of the biggest help to you and your new business. I have extensive experience on website building and personally have over 100 websites of my own.

I offer a very varied and detailed range of services that will show you how to not only get your website built and properly set up online, but at the same time get the website to be noticed by the search engines.

A pretty website is great – BUT completely useless if nobody is able to find it online.

The Internet has become an integral part of any business and if you are not taking advantage of all the dozens of ways to place your website above your opposition then you are sort of running your business in the dark and on top of a mountain, where nobody will ever find you.

I also have a lot of other products that you would be welcome to get copies of, in relation to Internet marketing – simply tell me your plans and I will send you off in the right direction.