Will you only be a distant memory?

Business is a lot like politics; once the people cast their vote you are either in or out. The hardest, gut-wrenching thing about people is that you will never know what they will say until they have said it.

You have done all the research, quantified the data into various colourful charts and graphs, and you are now tempted to predict what people will say.
I hate to tell you this, but if I were you I would rather stick my head in the beehive and see what is going on inside.

Good questions lead to good answers, and by asking the target market good questions you can quickly determine if there is a demand for this fantastic new product or service everybody needs so badly.

The most important discipline and skill you will need for this exercise is to provide as much need-to-know information to the potential clients without giving it all away.
There is no copyright protection for ideas, and if you don’t play smart you will see your great invention published before you even completed your market research.

Although there are few things not yet discovered or invented, you might find yourself “inventing the wheel”. If this happens there will be no concrete information at your disposal to determine if it will sell. How will people know they need something they have never seen before?

The risk (sticking your in the beehive) is part of what defines entrepreneurship. Good entrepreneurs do their homework and sell the product. They worry about the rest later. If you have the information at your disposal, the risk is too high, and it is likely to fail, forget about it. But, if there is no information to make sound decisions you have to take your idea to the market and get someone to pay for it.

What really matters is that you commercialise you IDEAS and get them to the market.
Will someone pay for it? I don’t know, and neither will you until you try and sell it. You might end up being the next Bill Gates.

Gain market share at the bottom of the economic cycle

There is no better time to gain market share than when we are at the bottom of the economic cycle. When I tell this to business owners the first reaction I get is a frown or a twitch. After I explained my statement the frowns quickly turn into smiles of hope.

If you look at your competitors and other fellow businessmen you will find that most of them are negative, demotivated, immobile, depressed, withdrawn, unsure and often in a state of panic.
It is easier to outperform your competitors when they are down and out.

Following is a list of a few things you can do to gain market share during economic down-time:

• Get rid of the excess. Be keen on what you spend your money on and get rid of the extra weight that drags you down in tougher times.


• Get focused on a target group. Cut your marketing costs and focus very strongly on specific segments of you target market.


• Increase your contact frequency. Make more calls an spend more time developing your existing clients (especially the A-list clients).


• Get training. Read books, listen to recordings of successful business coaches and owners and go to exhibitions and seminars. Do everything, read everything and listen to everything you can find in order to get your attitude and skills level up to standard.


• Take some vitamins and exercise regularly. This is a sure way to keep your physical and mental energy levels up.


• Associate yourself with positive, successful, motivated and upbeat people.


• Be more creative in your inventions, and be more aggressive in providing excellent customer service.


• Project a positive attitude and make sure that you have a powerful personal marketing agenda to "be seen".