Starting a Small Home Business

5 Mistakes Many Entrepreneurs Make

April 22nd, 2008 Filed under: Uncategorized — Small Home Business Author

Whether you are an emerging entrepreneur just launching out or you’ve been in business for several years, you may have been (or still could be) guilty of one of these mistakes that many entrepreneurs make:

1. Having no clear WRITTEN plan or strategy for your business .

No matter where you are in the growth of your business, you must have some sort of written plan or goals for where the business is going. Your written strategy is your road map of three things:

• Where you are now.
• Where you are going.
• How to get there.

A plan is written for intentional progress. It can be flexible, but it MUST be present.

2. Not having an EFFECTIVE web presence for your business.

For those of you that still don’t have a website yet, shame on you! It’s a shame that most of your customers or prospects use the internet but couldn’t connect with you there if they tried because you have yet to launch your website. For the rest of you, you do not need just any website, but one that does the following:

• Clearly identifies what you do or sell and what it means to your prospective customer.
• Displays how to call you, email you or find your physical location.
• Allows your customers to connect with you for an ongoing relationship (email gathering, registration forms, etc)

3. Not clearly identifying your audience.

Many business people make this mistake quite often. When you invest anything in order to advertise or market your business, you must be sure that you know “who is MOST LIKELY to do business with you. Never think that you will sell to everyone. What is the average age of those that are MOST LIKELY to do business with you? What is their average income? Where are they geographically? The answers to these and a few other questions allow you to target your marketing strategy to those most likely to respond.

4. Not following up with people who’ve expressed interest in your product or service.

People that may not have bought from you yet but have expressed some form of interest in your product or service are one step closer to becoming a valued customer. Following up with an email or phone call with prospects keeps you top of mind as they are in their buying cycle for what you have to offer.

5. Not keeping in contact with former clients.

Who else to do business with you now than someone that has already bought from you?

Get more free tips on how to reach more customers and make more money by visiting Tony Snipes’ Sales Coach Blog!