The Do's and Don'ts of Social Media for Business

I'm far and away not an expert, however, this sounds useful to me.

Start up Lessons Learned

If you read the Small Business Administration’s statistics, starting a business is a 50-50 proposition.  In five years you may be loving life and living the dream of entrepreneurship or you may be slugging it in a cubicle somewhere working for the “man” and wondering what went wrong.  With those kinds of odds, you may be better off playing black or red at the roulette table in Vegas (or Tunica for those afraid of flying and Carrot Top.)

However, what I have learned in helping over 120 businesses get started in over six years at the Tennessee Small Business Development Center (TSBDC), is that there is a very specific list of reasons that cause this failure.  And they are avoidable.

Below are four things that entrepreneurs may lack when they start a business:

Lack of experience

If you’ve ever heard, do what you love and you won’t work a day in your life, you may assume that entrepreneurs love selling, bookkeeping, and employee headaches.   That’s not always the case.  In many cases they are necessary evils to do what you love.  And you can’t ignore them.

If you don’t have experience with each of these areas, consider finding a mentor, read articles, books, journals, and take classes for financial and accounting practices, management, and/or marketing.

Lack of capital (money)

Everyone assumes that their business will make a profit immediately.  What they discover is that “immediately” may be a year or so. So before making a purchase, review your capital needs first. 

Borrow some long-term money (if necessary and possible) and put the funds into a liquid (cash) account.

Lack of planning

On average, people spend more time planning a vacation or wedding than they do for running their small business.  The business should last a lot longer than a seven day vacation or a one night wedding.

Create goals for your business and a plan to reach those goals through marketing, management, and financial planning. Obtain an annual business check-up.  Meet with an accountant, banker, or TSBDC counselor to review financial statements and get advice on how to improve performance.

Lack of marketing

“Man, this is the coolest business around and everyone will just love it.”  Cool.  But you still need a consistent marketing approach. 

First set up a real marketing budget. It should be at least .5% - 8% of your monthly expenditures.  Also, identify your target market and a good marketing mix to attract that target market.  Track where your sales come from, such as internet, coupons, chamber contacts, etc.

Although small business ownership has its challenges, it can be very rewarding and allow someone, an opportunity to turn their dream into a reality.

25 favorite fictional companies

I really wish I would've been smart enough to get the domain names to Prestige Worldwide or Vendelay Industries.

Here are the rest

The Do's and Don'ts of Building Your Niche

   Okay, so I missed the January Newsletter article.  But I have a good excuse.  I have a boy!  Lane Joseph Alexander showed up a day early, has red hair, and when you change his diaper, you unfortunately have to change his entire outfit.  He is different.  And since I have two little girls, he is definately a good different.  Well, not the outfit part, but you get the point.

   To succeed in today's small business environment, you need a niche and you need to create a following.

Consider the following:

DO: Be different.  Not tinfoil hat different.  Legitimately different.  Customers want authenticity and a reason to like you. 

DON'T: Be the same as everyone else and then boast about years of experience and certifications.  You just sound like Charlie Brown's teacher at some point.

DO: Have great customer service.  Be willing to follow up with your customers after their purchase and give them a reason to brag about you.

DON'T: Have arbitrary policies that do not make sense for the customer, i.e. Frigidaire took over a week to make a minor repair to our brand new fridge.  That's their policy.  They told me that 15 times.

DO: Charge a premium for your product or service, if it warrants it.  People will pay for perceived value, even in a recession.

DON'T: Try to compete on price.  You may not have the same overhead as a big box store, but you don't have the buying power either.  Also, the perception of low price is low value (says the guy with the free service.)

DO: Build an offense around your mobile quarterback, i.e. Colin Kaepernick, Russell Wilson, and RGIII.

DON'T: Pretend you can turn him into Warren Moon in the old run-n-shoot offense in his first full year starting.  That's a Jake Locker reference for non-Titans fans.

Local niche examples:

• Hoppity Hop Inflatable Play Center has the only indoor inflatable play center in Sumner County.
• Butterbean Bistro offers gluten-free and vegetarian dishes from local ingredients.
• Future Vision Energy allows businesses to save money by installing retro-fit LED lighting with no out-of-pocket costs.

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The TSBDC offers free and confidential one-on-one counseling for existing and start up small businesses.  To register for counseling go to www.tsbdc.org. 

Other contact information - Phone (615) 230-4780  www.volstate.edu/tsbdc

The Tennessee Small Business Development Center Network is funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration and local community donors.