Have a Small Business Idea? Here’s Some Considerations

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Have a Small Business Idea? Heres Some
Considerations
Tammy Hawk-Bridges
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Marketing Equation. All Rights Reserved.
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Hi there! My name is Tammy Hawk-Bridges. I
provide marketing training and education for
entrepreneurs. I hope youll visit my website
Perfect Marketing Equation - www.perfectmarketing
equation.com and also follow me on Twitter
_at_THawkBridges.
Hi there Im Tammy! Ready to learn about
marketing?!
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One of the worst things you can do? Create a
business with absolutely no foundation other than
it seems like a cool idea. When I left corporate
America and entered into the world of
entrepreneurship I thought that being a smart
business woman gave me a leg up. Boy, was I
stupid!
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I had a very cool idea, all my friends and family
said so! But I did no research on my market. I
didnt know who my buyer was, and whats worse I
couldnt reach enough of them to support my
business. So guess what? 13 months, tons of lost
time, tons of lost money, lots of tears later
big failure.
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Small Business Idea Ignorance Surely youve seen
Shark Tank - there are plenty of people out there
that go hundreds of thousands of dollars into
debt to support their baby with absolutely no
market research! Theyll listen to no one!
Theyll run everything into the ground and even
jeopardize their family and relationships. Its
craziness!
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• Do NOT go out there and create an entire business
  without considering the most important part
  YOUR BUYER!!!
• You cant create a business just because you or
  your Mom thinks its a great idea!
• You cant create a business just because youre
  jumping on the train of an already existing fad
  you dont know how hard it is and you may get egg
  on your face.
• You cant create a business that doesnt serve a
  need or solve a problem.

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Heres a new flash in order to make money
youll need to reach and sell to enough people to
support your business. Which brings me to another
part of the equation you must learn about
marketing! You have to know how to attract buyers
to your business especially in todays
world. The Build it and They will Come is not
going to happen, please trust that.
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• So before you go out and get a second mortgage on
  the house ask yourself these questions
• What problem or need does your business solve?
  How do you know for sure? What hard evidence do
  you have?
• Who is your buyer? How do you know?
• How will you reach enough of those buyers to
  support your business?
• Who are your competitors? What are you doing that
  is better than what theyre doing?

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You should never ever enter into a business
without having a very solid idea of how youre
going to reach enough people to buy your product.
You should also never think that just because no
one else is doing something that its wide open
opportunity. In most cases, theres a reason why
no one is doing something, and those reasons may
not be good.
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Small Business Idea Failure I certainly dont
want to discourage you from exploring going out
on your own and having personal freedom. As a
matter of fact my goal is the contrary. Its my
purpose and mission in life to help people escape
the cubicle world and find their peace and
personal freedom. I just dont want you to do it
badly, fail, lose your ass, or much worse.
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Even large companies fall flat on their face with
an idea. Look at the recent Google Glass fiasco!
I read a recent article by Simon Reynolds on
Forbes Why Google Glass Failed A Marketing
Lesson and he gave an overview of why he thinks
it failed which as a marketer I think was spot
on. Siimon explains that no one really knew why
the Google Glass was so fabulous and Google
certainly didnt try to explain it. Any product
that needs the public to spend time working out
for themselves why its valuable has already lost
the battle.
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The harsh reality of it is, most start ups ( 8
out of 10) fail even with the best of
circumstances! Many dont fail as soon as they
should have because theyre being backed with
borrowed assets from credit cards and personal
bank loans. (Notice I said personal bank loans
against homes or other assets, you cant get a
business loan without some hard criteria.)
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Is Your Small Business Idea Valid? Heres Some
Ways to Make a Determination Once again I want
to tell say, please dont think that Im trying
to discourage you! I just want to make sure you
do it for all the right reasons. Ive seen way
too many do it for all the wrong reasons. It
takes WAY more than a great idea to start a
business! I want to share a few simple steps
that could literally save you from financial
ruin! So before you go and take out a second
mortgage on your house lets see if your idea has
any validity.
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Step 1. Do a Google Search Go to Google and do
a search for the business youre considering. For
example, lets say youre thinking about doing
guitar lessons and you live in St. Louis. So you
would type into the search guitar lessons in
St. Louis, MO. What comes up? Take a look at the
businesses that already occupy that space. How
many are there? If theres a lot of competition
or its over-saturated that may mean it will be
tough to get customers. You MUST know who your
competition is!
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Step 2. Find Out Your Search Equity Google has
an incredible tool called the Keyword Planner
which youll need a Google account to use. Then
youll want to type in the same words you did in
step one to see what the return is. In this
exercise were not looking for competitors
instead were looking for what potential
searchers are looking for. So for example youll
type in guitar lessons in St. Louis, MO to see if
people are looking for that on the Internet. In
this step youre getting an idea of your search
equity which in turn can be related to potential
demand for your business.
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If you know a lot of people are looking for
guitar lessons, you know theres opportunity.
Because as you know, when people need something
they typically go to the Internet to find it!
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Step 3. No One is Doing it - If you find that no
one looks your business idea and/or you dont
find any competition. Please dont think, Oh my
goodness no one else is doing this, I will be the
only one, Im going to be soooooo rich! I dont
want to bust your balloon please believe me! I
want you to have your own business! But I want
you to do for the right reasons, not false ones.
You have to consider that if someone isnt doing
something there may be a reason!
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Step 4. What Problem Are You Solving? What Need
are Your Fulfilling? Just because Mom, your
friends, or Uncle Bill says somethings a good
idea doesnt give you the validity to go out and
start a business. You need to have solid proof
that your business model idea is going to fill a
space thats in demand. So please by all means
explore your idea but please find out who your
potential competition is and how theyre
positioning the business. Also, find out what
your search equity is which gives you an idea of
demand and also make sure youre solving a
problem or fulfilling an established need.
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If you cant answer all these questions with
raving yeses then you may want to reconsider and
come up with a different idea. As wonderful as
the world of independence is ( I really enjoy it)
it really is quite hard, youre in for a tough
journey. Dont make it any tougher by creating a
business that may not have a market.
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Please visit www.perfectmarketingequation.com
for many other marketing lessons for
entrepreneurs!
Content Intellectual Property of Perfect
Marketing Equation. All Rights Reserved.
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Also check out these FREE training
resources Design Your Own Marketing Strategy
Process www.perfectmarketingequation.com/marketi
ng-strategy-blueprint-for-2015/ How to Find
Your Niche www.perfectmarketingequation.com/niche
-marketing/ The Pajama Entrepreneur www.thepjent
repreneur.com
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Marketing Equation. All Rights Reserved.
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Also check out my Video Marketing Library for
quick lessons on how to market your
business! www.perfectmarketingequation.com/market
ing-videos/
Content Intellectual Property of Perfect
Marketing Equation. All Rights Reserved.
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Connect with me! Twitter www.twitter.com/THawkB
ridges Facebook www.facebook.com/TammyHawkBridge
s YouTube www.youtube.com/user/THawkBridges Goo
gle https//plus.google.com/u/0/TammyHawkBridges

Content Intellectual Property of Perfect
Marketing Equation. All Rights Reserved.