If you are a new business / start-up or you are planning to start a new business, I am about to save you months, if not years of pain and hassle.

There are some simple, but vital things you need to be aware of when starting a new business. Unfortunately, most people who embark on such a venture are not aware of these basics. That’s why so many new businesses struggle and fail. If you follow these steps, you will not be one of the failures.

WARNING: The biggest problem with most start-ups is that nobody has ever told them the blunt truth about what works and what doesn’t. I believe I owe it to you to be 100% honest. It may not be all comfortable reading and it may involve you making some big decisions about whether you’re doing the right thing ….but it’s better to make those decisions now rather than when the Baliff is knocking on the door. 

Ok, here goes. Every new business owner thinks his or her idea is amazing and that people will love their product or service. But most of these businesses will fail. Why is this?

It’s because most people go into business and make a fundamental mistake. They do not understand the difference between offering a product/service that people NEED and one that people WANT.

Let me give you an example. You probably know people who would really benefit from some therapy! If they could sit down with a good therapist and sort out some of their problems, their life would probably be easier, right? In other words, you probably know people who NEED therapy. But most of them don’t WANT it. Big difference!

Everyone on the internet seems to be setting up Directories. I am sure that there are some Directories that you and I could benefit from joining. You could say that we NEED to be on them. But we don’t particularly WANT to be on them because we’ve got 101 other things to do.

There is a supplement called Lutein that could save you from going blind. If you take it regularly it will reduce the chances of you getting macular degeneration when you are older – a condition that leaves millions without their vision. Not only does everyone on the planet NEED this supplement, I would go as far as saying it’s one of the most important products in the world. But I wouldn’t want to sell it for a living because most people don’t WANT it. By ‘WANT’ I mean being already driven and motivated enough to have a strong desire for it. This leads us to an important rule:

“The superior quality and benefits of your product/service are not necessarily linked to whether people will want it.”
The list of great products and services that people NEED but don’t WANT is endless. My point is this. It is possible to create a successful business by selling something that people NEED but don’t WANT, but it’s a hundred times easier to be successful something that people WANT NOW. Something they’re craving for, hungry for.

So let me be really upfront with you. However convinced you are that you have something great to offer people in your new business, the reality is, it doesn’t matter how great it is – if people don’t want it!

This can be a tough lesson for us to learn. What we’re really saying here is that if your business involves educating people about a product or service they’re not already familiar with, you’re taking on a huge challenge. Why? Because you’ve got to create a new category in their heads for what you’re offering. New categories are normally created by corporations who have millions to spend on advertising.

Here’s an example. I’ve been contacted several times in recent months by several entrepreneurs who’ve come up with various versions of internet-based estate agents. The idea is that if you sell your house, you just put it on the internet on one of these sites and pay far less than you would with a traditional estate agent.

It’s a great idea. It’s something we all need. Wouldn’t it all be so much easier if the process of selling your home could be done online?

Unfortunately, I can tell instantly that there’s a 95% likelihood that these businesses will never work. Why? Because not only are these small businesses taking on the traditional considerable marketing challenges of estate agency, they’ve also got to convince people to totally change the way they sell their home. They’re trying to create a new category of business (internet-only estate agents) It will happen eventually, but it’s unlikely to happen on a traditional small business marketing budget.

If you’re into property and you’re committed enough to Marketing to be on this site, open an estate agent, blitz the competition with great Marketing, THEN use your huge profits to transform the world of estate agency.

Which leads us on to the reason most people end up making the NEED / WANT mistake.

This is the other huge mistake that most entrepreneurs make – and it’s a real tragedy.

There is a misconception (a massive misconception) amongst entrepreneurs that to be successful, you need to come up with a great new idea.

This is absolute nonsense. It’s also the fastest way to lose a fortune.

The reason this misconception exists is because the media focuses on entrepreneurs such as Richard Branson, Bill Gates etc who have changed the world by coming up with something new. There are a handful of such success stories in the world – and they are certainly impressive individuals.

But for every Branson and Gates, there are a thousand other millionaire entrepreneurs who we’ve never heard of, who’ve made their fortunes by offering products and services that already exist, but out-marketing the competition. They own restaurants. They sell hats. They manufacture the switches that operate on all the world’s elevators. They run wedding companies. They have property businesses. They sell re-fills for your printer cartridges. The list is endless…..

These entrepreneurs took the easy way to wealth. They looked for products and services that people WANTED…really really WANTED and they just did it better than the competition.

Now here’s the thing. Doing it better than the competition is not hard. Out-marketing the competition with the information on this site is a no-brainer. If you’re looking for the perfect business, look for one that already exists, because here’s the other thing you need to know about people like Bill Gates. They didn’t look for the ideal business that was going to make them money. They looked for ways to make money out of their PASSION. There’s an absolutely, fundamental difference.

If you have a driving passion for a new product or service that no one has ever heard of and it’s your life’s mission to take it to the world – GO FOR IT. Be prepared for the massive challenges that lie ahead and be prepared for great wealth when you succeed.

But if you’re basically looking for a vehicle to make money and give you financial strength and security, realise that you’re a totally different type of entrepreneur. Let someone else take on all the risks of coming up with the great new idea. You should be looking for what already works, what people already WANT.

OK, I did warn you that this feature contains the harsh truth, but again, this is something I really want you to know.

There seems to be some type of law of nature at work, that dictates that new business owners who are desperate for money have the hardest time making money.

I believe it’s because the desperation comes across in their communications with customers and it seems to put people off.

Sometimes, there’s no option. But if you have any choice in the matter, set things up so that you’re not dependent on the early income from your new business. This may mean setting up your finances in a certain way, or doing a part time job. If you’re still in your job and planning to make the leap, I strongly advise you to stay in your job as long as you can, if it’s feasible, while your business is growing.

I know from personal experience how hard it is to work for idiots in a ‘proper job’ while you’re launching your new project. I had to do it early on so you have my sympathy. But I can assure you it’s not as bad as trying to run a new business with no cash and no customers!

It’s actually a great feeling to grow a business knowing that the world wont end if you get no sales this week. The paradox is, once you have that mind set, the sales flow more easily anyway.

All of which leads us to……

You Should Allow at least Six Months to Launch your New Business

Again, there seems to be a law of nature at work. Most new businesses seem to need at least six months to get going.

Very few people are going to buy your product or service at first contact. They’re going to need several emails, letters, phone calls or whatever marketing approach you are using. Also, in the early weeks of a business, referrals are not much of a factor.

In other words, however well you do at the outset, you’re going to be doing considerably better six months down the line.

Remember too that the fundamental rule of marketing is testing new marketing methods on a small scale, measuring their effectiveness, stopping the ones that don’t work and rolling out the successful ones on a larger scale. This approach needs to allow some room for failure. Some of the things you try in the early days may not work. That’s fine, providing you’ve built it into your planning.

Remember that one of the vital character traits of being a successful entrepreneur is Optimism. But it’s a character trait that can also cause big problems. It’s one thing to be optimistic when things are going against you and you need to find a solution. It’s another to be so optimistic that you’re certain the business will be making immediate, massive profits within a few weeks – when the realities of growing a new business make that highly unlikely.

Plan for your business taking at least six months to turn a good profit. If it happens earlier than that, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. If it doesn’t you’ll have the financial and emotional space to be able to deal with challenges as they arise.

There’s a phrase I see again and again in messages we receive from business owners. The phrase is ‘limited marketing budget.’ When I see this, I know that what they really mean is ‘no money left to spend on marketing.’

I’m all for avoiding throwing huge amounts of cash at Marketing, but I keep seeing cases of people spending large amounts of money creating their product or service (and often an expensive website to go with it) and having virtually nothing left for Marketing. As you know, having a great product or service has little to do with your success these days. You have to make people aware of what you have to offer – and you achieve this through Marketing.

So how much do you need to allocate for Marketing? That varies with each business and with the product/service that you are offering. But you certainly want to set aside enough to accurately TEST some of the main Marketing approaches, because the results from this will rapidly accelerate your progress. These may include:

• Sending 500 people to your website through Google Pay per Click and analysing the results

• Mailing 1000 – 2000 of your target list a compelling offer

• Telemarketing a few hundred potential customers (possibly some of those you’ve mailed)

• Testing a couple of ads in relevant publications

• Sending out 50 well written press releases and following them up with phone calls

• Setting 20 appointments for you to sell your product/service face to face (if appropriate for your business)

• Allocating enough time to set up joint ventures with at least 10 businesses who have access to the type of people you want to reach.

• As I’ve said, this list will vary depending on your business – and none of the above will cost you a fortune. But if you haven’t allocated enough cash to easily do this type of initial testing, your journey to profits is likely to be longer and harder than it needs to be.

Summary
In this feature, I’ve given you the blunt truth about where so many businesses go so tragically wrong. Now the good news. You’re still reading! So you’re almost certainly smart enough to learn what you need to from others’ mistakes and set yourself up for success.

Please don’t embark on all the great marketing strategies on the rest of this site until you have taken all of this on board. Even if you need to change your approach, now will almost certainly be the best time to do it. With these foundations in place, you are now set to take advantage of the world’s most effective Marketing and Business Success Strategies to give you the success and profits that you deserve.