10 great pieces of advice on how to run a successful business
It's all about strategy.
Start by focusing on a niche market you know that can be served better.
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There are a lot of factors to consider before cashing in on a business idea. The following are great minds who have seen it all and learnt from their experiences.
Take notes guy, this is what they had to say to Business News Daily.
1. A good business idea is problem solving.
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"If there is a problem that affects you, your friends, family, co-workers, etc., then the chances are high that it affects people you don't know as well, " Entrepreneur and co-founder of the Web design school The Starter League, Mike McGee.
2. How much will you sell your product or service for?
"Once you have determined that you are solving a legitimate problem in a scalable way, you need to determine not only the value that it delivers to the world, but what people would pay for that value. Once you determine the price, then you can assess if your solution is businessworthy or not." -Founder and Partner of investment firm H3 & Co, Charlie Harary.
3. Will people be ready to pay?
"An idea is just an idea until you have a paying customer attached to it. Anyone can discredit a simple idea, but no one can discredit paying customers. " -Wil Schroter, co-founder and CEO of Fundable.
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4. Do you have a sizeable market?
"Start by focusing on a niche market you know that can be served better. Make sure the market is large enough and that you can serve those customers better than the alternative. Large companies won't focus on niche markets, so there is room to compete and exceed customer expectations." -Ruben Soto, CEO of shapewear company Hourglass Angel.
5. Be open to advice
"Success happens when you are willing to listen and consider others' advice. Most good ideas take some tweaking to get to market. Being closed-minded is a business killer," -Angie Yasulitis, CEO and managing partner at YaZo Marketing and Business Development Strategies.
6. Give it a test run
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"Test it: not just with friends who will be too polite to tell the truth, but with honest people who would make up your ideal target audience, and then listen to the feedback," said Lisa McCartney, Chief "PLYTer" at educational math board game company PLYT. "If your target sample is saying [your idea] is fantastic and [asking] where can they get it, you know that you're onto something, but if they are less than enthusiastic, it's probably not as good an idea as you thought."
7. Always plan on marketing
"If you have a solid go-to market strategy and a decent product, you'll probably be successful. But if you have a great product without any idea how to reach your potential customers, then it's going to be really tough to make it successful. Thinking through that as early as possible is really key." -Jesse Lipson, Corporate Vice President and General Manager at cloud company, Citrix Cloud Services.
8. Is is realistic?
"Just because you have a vision and decide to build it does not mean the rest will follow. While you may have an idea that is original, revolutionary or ahead of its time, there should be a real, solid market opportunity to ensure it is successful. Any new business case or new endeavor has to have a viable market that you believe you can sell now, not theoretically or on the premise that there is a future for this market." -Thomas J. Gravina, Chairman, Co-founder and CEO of cloud services company Evolve IP.
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9. Can you explain your plan in simple terms?
"When you typically hear someone pitch their idea, it's usually chock-full of important-sounding jargon that rarely makes sense. When you think about your new business idea, ask yourself, 'Can it pass the grandma test?' In other words, would your grandma understand what you do? Perhaps your business is solving a complicated problem, but early on, come up with a way to explain it that makes sense to the masses."-Kris Duggan, CEO of goal management company BetterWorks.
10. Are you passionate about it?
"Since starting a business requires an inordinate amount of time, energy and patience, ideally, the idea will be one that you are passionate about, as well as one that you have skills or experience [in]," said Melissa Bradley, Executive-in-residence and director of entrepreneurship and innovation at the Kogod School of Business at American University.
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