First steps: choosing the business

When I was thinking about starting an internet business there were a few things that were must have requirements.

The first one was that I needed to be able to get the business to profitability for less than 1600 (100). In practice each site has cost more than that when you figure in the marketing costs needed to get it off the ground quickly. The silk tie retailing site was set up for less than 300 but when you factor in marketing spend, then I have spent almost 800 per month on marketing, mostly Google Adwords and Overture. It is only after month three that I have got close to breaking even. Anyway, near enough and if you are more patient and make less costly mistakes than me then you should be able to do it for less.

Secondly. The business had to need as little manual work as possible. I am after a business that I can start working part time and as am a management consultant and sell my time by the hour, for me time really is money. I am also not keen on hiring people if I can avoid it. The internet has the potential to offer some really virtual businesses and I wanted to use this. For this reason as well as start-up costs this means that I do not want to stock or handle any products. I do a lot of supply chain consulting work so it was obvious to me that I could have a business that used other companies to buy, store and deliver the products. The easiest way to do this is by using dropshipping. Dropshippers are wholesalers that ship individual customer orders direct to your customers.

There is a lot of information on dropshipping online, however it has to be said that there are some terrible dropshipping companies where prices are too high or products too common to successful. Typical of these is thSelect which charges a fee to join, but once you join you find that the prices are often higher than they are being sold for on eBay and are widely sold with lots of competition. It is very hard to make good money from these sort of dropshippers. There are however some good companies out there with niche products where achievable margins are good.

The third requirement was that the business needed to have the potential to generate at least 1k per month in profit. That way with a few web businesses it could become my full time job. I decided that I was not trying to start the next Amazon, instead I was after a good profitable niche. Something not too competitive and with no house-hold names as competitors. This means that I have not gone into electronics even though it is the area I know the best, it is a very competitive market online and were competition includes Amazon and Dixons. To be successful in electronics you either need to find a niche not served by the big boys or spend serious money to get established.

I then started searching for business ideas. I read the get rich quick newsletters, internet marketing newsletters, internet business forums and drop shipping websites. I searched for dropship suppliers then when I found a product that I thought might be promising, did a search for it and checked out the competition. If after that it still looked interesting then I did a keyword search on Google AdWords to find out how many clicks I could get and at what cost.

While doing this I came across some sites selling ready-made business websites. Essentially they provide a shop template, a catalogue and a supplier of stock and off you go. These sell for between 50 (80) and 500 (800). I wasted a fair bit of money with a couple of false starts. I bid on a lingerie web business template on eBay with a starting price of 99; my wife was a lingerie merchandiser for Marks & Spencers and so I though she could help, then I saw a gadgets website from the same people and thought I would get that and see if I could find a gadgets niche and bid for that too. Trouble was I then did some more research and found that lingerie was very competitive online and that the supplier I would be getting had a limited selection of very tarty undies at rather high prices. I also found that the gadget supplier was the Select and as I have already said they are overpriced. I then found the tie web business and decided this was a better niche where margins really are 60% and bought that one from DpbUK who have been very good. Unfortunately no one else bid on the two on eBay and I ended up winning them although I no longer wanted them. 300 wasted. Oops. So do your homework carefully before buying; look carefully at the sample sites and try and find some clues to the suppliers, check the competition out and make sure the margins are high enough.

Small Business Owners: Should Your Business Be Storefront, Online, or Both?

Are you in the process of trying to start your own business or are you already a small business owner who would like to expand? If you are, how is your business currently being operated? Is your business in a storefront location, one where your customers can come and visit you, or is your businesses address primarily a .com one? How your business is run may have an important impact on its success and the profits that you are able to make. That is why it is extremely important that you thoroughly research all of your small business decisions, especially this one, before making them.

When it comes to deciding if you should start a storefront business or an online business, there are a number of important factors that need to be taken into consideration. One of those factors is your local economy. There are some areas of the United States, where unemployment rates are high. These are the types of areas where it may be somewhat difficult for you to start a storefront business. Of course, that doesnt mean that you cant try though. Other factors that should also be examined include the competition and the available commercial space; are there any affordable spaces available in or around your intended location?

In addition to examining starting a storefront business, from a local standpoint, it is also important to examine starting an online business. What you may not necessarily know is that just about anyone can create an online store, but that doesnt necessarily mean that they will end up making money with it. To have a profitable online store, you need to have a freshly designed website, particularly one that is easy to navigate. You also have to have a sellable product, particularly one that is easy to sell online and easy to transport to your customers. As with starting a storefront business, the less online competition you have, the better your chances of being successful are.

If this is your first time starting a small business, you may want to take the time to thoroughly research and examine your two above mentioned options, having your business have an online address or a physical one. This is because it is often advised that small business owners start out small and then gradually expand their business. This often reduces the likelihood of failure from trying to expand to quickly, which is actually a common mistake that many small business owners make, but it is a mistake that you will not want to make. Once you find that your small business is doing well, it may be a good idea to consider expanding your small business to the point where it is able to service more customers.

When expanding your business so that it can serve more customers, you will want to examine your current business situation. For instance, if your business is being operated out of a storefront location, you may want to think about supplementing that with an online store. If your business is solely online, you may want to think about opening up a physical store. Waiting until your business is proven to be profitable or at least successful is a great way to reduce or minimize your risks of failure.

The decision as to whether or not you want to have your small business be a storefront business or an online business or both is yours to make, but it is one that should be carefully decided on. How your business is operated will plan an important role, perhaps actually be the deciding factor, in whether or not your small business is a successful, profitable one.

Small Business Owners: Should Your Hire the Services of a Professional Organizer?

Are you a small business owner who just recently started to see success or profits? If so, how easy is it for you to run your business, from a management standpoint? Unfortunately, not all small business owners, especially new ones, are prepared for success. That is why many small business owners end up getting in over the heads, especially when it comes to keeping all of their business records in order. Of course, you can take the time to get yourself organized, but if you are like many other disorganized small business owners, you may end up right back where you started in as little as a few days. For that reason, you may want to think about hiring the services of a professional organizer.

When it comes to hiring the services of a professional organizer, there are many individuals who wonder exactly what one is. Just as the title sounds, a professional organizer is an individual who not only has experience with getting and staying organized, but experience with helping others do so as well. At first glance, hiring the services of a professional organizer may seem a little bit silly or ridiculous to you, but it is actually something that you should look into a little bit more.

When it comes to hiring the services of a professional organizer, if you want to do so, you will need to find a professional organizer to do business with. Most professional organizers are small business owners themselves. Many actually end up advertising their services online or in local newspapers. When finding a professional organizer to do business with, you may want to think about examining the number of small business owners, like you, that they have helped to train, the number of years experience they have teaching organizational skills and such. Cost of training should also be examined.

Once you have found a professional organizer to do business with, it may be a little bit easier for you to understand how the process works. One of the reasons for that is because different professional organizers work in different ways. For instance, there are some that come in and organize your office without any help from you. This is done by creating a detailed map or by labeling every box and drawer. There are other professional organizers who work with you to organize your small business, particularly your office. This is nice because it also gives you the opportunity to know, firsthand, where everything is. Also, you may learn some neat tips from your professional organizer at the same time.

As a reminder, the hiring of a professional organizer is something that is optional, but it is something that you may want to look into a little bit more. When it comes to running a small business, it is important that you keep accurate records of your business. These records may be needed to obtain more financing in the future or to have your taxes prepared. Not knowing where all of your important documents are can spell big trouble. For instance, if you were trying to claim a business trip as a business expense, but you couldnt find the trip receipts, you would have to lose out on a moneysaving tax deduction. That is why it is important that your small business paperwork is always up-to-date and organized.

The conversion rate is the key stat for a website. As long as you are paying for clicks, the efficiency with which you convert those clicks to sales is really the only measure that counts in determining your website design. When I started my UK silk tie website it took a while to get enough data to start tracking and conversion rate as you need at least ten sales to get any sort of statistically valid result. It took a couple of weeks to make the first ten sales and I calculated my conversion rate at 0.5%. As I was paying 25p per click, this means that it was costing me 50 per customer. Even with an average order size of 30, this was a long way from profitability. Luckily, conversion rates can change quite dramatically with things like the website design, sales copy, products on the front page, range of products, product descriptions, guranatees, pricing, ease of payment etc. etc. In short there are many things you can do to get conversions up.

The great thing about internet businesses is that you can make a change, measure the result and if it doesn’t work, then change it back. I am constantly trying new things to see if it affects the figures. Initially I changed too many things too quickly and it was very hard to unpick the results of different factors. Also the Christmas period started when I was one month in and conversion rates rose strongly and then fell back after Christmas, it was hard then to unpick the seasonal effect from my changes.

One of the first thing I experimented with was pricing. From my initial prices of about 9 for a woven silk tie, I tried cutting them to 8 for a few weeks and then putting them up to 11 for a few weeks, then cutting back a bit, until settling on prices about 15% higher than my first try, just over 10 average price. Cutting prices below this point did not seem to increase sales.

I also looked at which ties sold well and put them on the featured products list which are then randomly selected on the front page. I worked a lot on the cataloging of the ties by colour, style etc. and added keywords so that people could find what they wanted easily.

I also experimented with my sales copy and have made the money back guarantee more and more prominent. One of the first things you need to establish when people visit your site is credibility. So I have the address at the top so that people know we are easy to physically track down, I have put the Visa and Mastercard symbols near the top for legitamcy, I have signed up to affiliate programs for upmarkets shirt makers so that I can display their ads to add credibility and as I started to get a few pieces of nice feedback from people, I added them to the site. All of these changes have pushed the conversion rate up to over 1% and I am now targeting 2% with my next wave of changes which will try and capture email addresses for follow up mailing by offering a free ebook on a mens fashion related subject. More about that another time.

There is a feature in both AdWords and Overture which, once you have inserted a piece of html code into your payment page (or, as I did got your web site supplier to do it) will allow you to track conversion rates by keyword. I am only now building enough data to do this justice, but it allows you to cut out keywords which don’t convert well. For example, I had been buying the keywords “how to tie a tie” and was getting 50 clicks a day at a bargain 0.02 each, however after 1700 clicks I still hadn’t made a sale, despite making sure there was sales text in with the tie instructions and ties shown either side. Not entirely surprising as people searching for tie instructions were not looking to buy ties, but clearly they do wear them and I thought some people would buy one. Not so. So now I am saving that money.

I recently received an email from a reader of my previous articles, Louis Roberts. It’s great to know that people are reading my blog already. Louis asks “I first read your article on “ezinearticles” and it brought me to your site; I like your online store. How are your online businesses doing? Are you hitting your goals of 1000 profit per site? I am very interested in opening a store myself. Since you seem to enjoy sharing advice; I was wondering of you could recommend some good products to sell, suppliers, dropshippers, etc. that carry as you would say “healthy margins”? ”

These were good questions, so I have devoted this post to answering them.
Thanks for the note, glad someone reads the articles. In answer to your questions:
No I am not yet anywhere near reaching 1000 profit per site per week. I expect it to take a year to reach that figure. As my sites are less than four months and one month old respectively there is still a way to go. It is easy, reading some of the web business sales pitches out there to believe that instant riches are easily achievable. This is not true, it takes hard work and dedication to make money. I have reached the break even point on both sites which was the first milestone – initially I was losing 500 per site per week as the cost of advertising on Google AdWords way outran my sales.

It is hard for me to tell you what to sell, but I can recommend the criteria that I used to rate a product:

Niche product where there is not a major house hold name supplier (i.e. don’t go into the book business against Amazon)
Must be being sold on the internet already (you don’t want to have to create a whole new market by yourself)
Must have keywords that people searching for that product would use but that are not shared with other products (for example “silk ties” and “oil paintings” are good “gifts” would be bad)
Do a search on Google for the product. If less than 5 advertisers come up on the right hand side, then chances are you can get reasonably priced traffic
Must not need a support to get it working. Things that need technical support are too problematic. You want things that are easy to use and where you can sell and forget.
I have also made it a rule that I will not hold or carry stock at least until I have strong sales and good demand already. So need a drop shipper or a make to order product.
A final point that I have learned from trying to do ties, is that you need a 50+ margin per product. The cost of attracting customers for paintings or massage chairs is not much higher than the cost of getting customers for ties, although the conversion rates are lower. It is easier to reach break even with higher ticket price items.
It also helps if it is a product that you have bought yourself and get interested in and passionate about.

Based on these criteria I have gone for silk ties with www.tiespecialist.com, oil paintings with www.artspecialist.com and soon to be launched a massage chair website. I tried selling cuff links on my tie site but the AdWords competition was so fierce that I needed to pay 75c per click to be on the front page and there was no way to make money, I dropped that idea quickly.

As for good drop shippers, I search for reviews or feedback on any supplier I am thinking of using and then do a trial order with them to make sure the quality and service is good. However popular drop shippers will have lots of people selling their products and it will be hard to make money. Always check eBay to see what prices the products sell at.

Another option is to find suppliers in China of make to order or high value products I used www.alibaba.com to find suppliers and have dealt with them by email. I hope this helps. I hope you have found this useful. Read more on my blog at http:specialist-paintings-ties.blogspot.com. In the next article I will take about conversion rates

Small Business Owners: Should You Use the Services of a Professional Cleaning Company?

Are you a small business owner, particularly one who runs a retail store or an office-like setting where your clients need to come into your building? If so, what do you think about the appearance of your business? Better yet, what do you think that your customers think about it? How your business looks, on the inside and out, can actually have a huge impact on the success of it. For that reason, there are actually many small business owners who make the decision to use the services of a professional cleaning company, but should you?

When it comes to determining whether or not you should use the services of a professional cleaning company, there are a number of important factors that should first be examined. For instance, you may want to examine your current employees? How many employees do you have working for you? Since you are a small business owner, there is a good chance that your number is less than fifty. Fifty employees really arent that many to have, especially when you have a lot of work that needs to be done. If you could find other tasks for your employees to do, other than cleaning your business, you may want to think about hiring the services of a professional cleaning company.

Another point that needs to be examined is the type of cleaning that needs to be done, as well as how often. Using the services of a professional cleaning company on a daily basis is usually not possible and it would often be too costly anyways. For that reason, you and some of your employees may need to keep up with semi regular cleaning tasks, like at least keeping the bathrooms presentable or keeping the break room clean. Other tasks, the like the mopping of floors, the cleaning of blinds, or the washing of windows can be done by a professional cleaning company. Many times, these tasks only need to be completed a couple of time a month, or once a week at the most.

As outlined above, using the services of a professional cleaning company can get expensive, especially overtime. That is why it is important that you first examine your ability to afford a professional cleaning company. As a reminder, you do not have to have your small business establishment cleaned daily or even weekly for that matter. There are many cleaning services that will come in and do a job for you at a moments notice. To combat the cost of hiring a professional cleaning company to help you keep your small business presentable, you may want to think about first calling around to get price estimates or more information about local companies.

What is nice about doing business with a professional cleaning company is that many professional cleaning companies are actually run by small business owners, just like you. This may give you more comfort in spending a little bit of extra money. It is sometimes hard to explain, but once you become a small business owner yourself, you often try and help out other small businesses whenever possible, especially since you know how difficult it can sometimes be to survive. In fact, the fact that you may end up helping out another small business owner may actually give you that extra push needed to make sure your business is always clean and presentable.

A lot of people today are searching for small business grant money to start their own for profit business and thinking that grants are nothing more than free money. Well, sorry to be the bearer of bad news but small business grant money are hardly free money at all. In fact, they are more like contracts with their own set of obligations and restrictions that you must comply with or risk suffering sanctions imposed by your funder.

In the case of government grants, the rules are even stricter. Every year, Congress allocates something close to 67 million in the form of grants to be distributed to several of the agencies under the Federal Government.

These grants are usually awarded to deserving individuals or nonprofit organizations who have some community-based project in mind, such as a street-paving project and the like. Rarely will you find a government grant awarded to help you set up your own for profit business. Thats why when searching for small business grant money, you shouldnt turn to the government for funding resources.

But if you cant turn to the government, then what is your recourse? And considering how rampant scams are these days, how can you stay assured that what youre applying for is legitimate?

Well, first things first. You should know by now that there are hundreds of millions of dollars in grant funding available free to entrepreneurs and small business owners. Yes, the figure sounds a bit suspicious, but come on, when have you ever seen an ad that tells an outright lie? As is most often the case, the ad would be making claims that are partly true and partly false. The false part is that small business grant money is not easy to come by. However, you will find it true that small business grant money is indeed available and if youre lucky, you could even be facing six-digit figures for your funding.

These small business grant moneys come from the government, non-governmental organizations, and private institutions. However, since we already discussed how difficult it is to get government funding for starting a business, lets discuss the non-governmental and private institutions options you have.

In the case of non-governmental or private funding, the grant amount ranges from 5,000 up to some in the six figures. And like all grants, they require absolutely no payback. This is part of the reason why small business grant money is so much more attractive compared to loans. Unfortunately, what makes small business grant money preferable also makes it difficult to find because of the tough competition youll be facing.

Whats more, there are only a few grant sources that provide small business grant money directly to individuals. You will have to actively seek them out, or stand in line for one particularly well-known funding resource. In the latter case, someone else would have run away with your idea and made lots of money with it before your grant application even gets approved. That is why is its always best to search for funding resources first before even thinking about setting up your own business.

Theres a great line in Alice in Wonderland when the Queen says, Sometimes I think of 6 impossible things before breakfast. I think youll agree that this has to be creativity at its best! As a small business owner this is an ideal you really need to strive for but how on earth can you open up your mind to get to the point where ideas just spill out?

Small business owners are expected to be creative and inventive, otherwise how could they run their own firm? If you have a sneaky feeling that creativity is not one of your strong points what can you do to stimulate your brain and get it kicked-started?

Be Unlimited

Too many people are limited thinkers. They have their world placed squarely in a box and nothing can exist outside of that. If the newspaper reports something then it must be right. If Joe next door says that something is impossible then he must be right. As a small business owner, you cannot afford to be a limited thinker. You have to be an unlimited thinker. Get into the habit of seeing no boundaries; decide that there are no taboos. Have the belief that with a bit of focus you can find a creative solution to all of your problems. This is the foundation for a creative thought process.

Be Future-Focused

Creative ideas invariably come when you look into the future. The feeling of propelling yourself forward and seeing the problem solved is a great motivator. Do you think you could achieve the same result if you were backward focused? I dont think so! Train yourself to be future-focused, always looking ahead, not a traditional thinker who tries to find answers in todays world.

Be a Writer

Once you open your mind to the joys of creativity the ideas will quickly start flowing, as if someone has opened the flood gates! Just like flood water, unless you catch it the ideas are lost for ever. Capture all your ideas by carrying a small pocket notebook with you. As soon as an idea pops into your mind, write it down. It doesnt matter how outlandish it is, you can look at it in the cold light of day later on.

The fact you are responding to the ideas by noting them will further encourage you to be even more creative good deeds encourage more good deeds!

Be Clutter-Free

If you are naturally an untidy person, then get out of the habit! A cluttered office will lead to a cluttered mind. You cannot expect your brain to work efficiently when all its doing is constantly reminding you how untidy your office is. To be creative remove all the clutter from your life and free your mind.

Be Action-Oriented

All of these points are great, but if you dont take any action with your ideas, then you may as well not have bothered. An idea is nothing but a thought unless you take a specific action to help bring it to life. Periodically review your notebook and see if there are any hidden gems, or ideas which can be quickly actioned. A lot of your ideas may not suit at all but in there somewhere is probably an idea, which if acted upon, could change you or your business. Commit fully to move forward on as many of your ideas as you can.

Dont be afraid to break down the boundary walls. As John Stuart Mill said, That which seems the height of absurdity in one generation often becomes the height of wisdom in the next.

Let me close with one question – can you be creative enough to be dismissed as a dreamer? No? Then get practicing!

Small Business Owners: How to Make Your Specialty Store Profitable

Are you a small business owner who runs a retail store, but not just any retail store, one that is considered a specialty store? A specialty store, as you likely already know is a store that focuses on a particularly type of product or at least a particular niche. For instance, a store that only sells plus size clothing for women can be considered a specialty store.

Specialty stores, as you likely already know since you started one, are a great way to make money. The only thing is that it can sometimes be difficult to do, as you often end up with competition from larger companies, often in the form of one stop department stores; department store that carry everything. Yes, it can sometimes be difficult for you to make a profit, but that doesnt mean that it cant be done. In fact, outlined below are a few ways that you may be able to increase your profits.

One of the many ways that you can go about increasing your profits, as a specialty store owner is by making sure that the public knows that your business exists. Alto often, many specialty store owners do not take the time to effectively market or advertise their businesses. Depending on the type of specialty store that you run, there is a good chance that you may be able to develop a fairly large customer base, but those customers must first know that you and your business exist. To do that, you may want to think about buying advertising space on one of your local television stations or radio stations. The least that you will want to do is distribute flyers around your local community, either as newspaper inserts or on community bulletin boards.

Another way that you can go about increasing your business profits, when running a small, specialty store, is by expanding your business. You dont necessarily have to move to a new location, open up a new store, or increase the number of products that you sell in your store. You can also expand your business by also opening up an online store. There are actually many specialty store owners who are turning to the internet to help increase their profits. Yes, a large number of consumers still like to shop locally, but many also prefer shopping online, especially when they are looking for something in particular or something that is hard to find. Having an online store, in addition to a storefront location, will only increase your chances of making a profit. In fact, the cost of a running an online store is actually quite minimal, especially when compared to running a storefront one.

Another one of the many ways that you can go about increasing your business profits, when running a specialty store, is by limiting the amount of money that you end up spending. As a retail store owner, you may want to make sure that your store is fully stocked with merchandise. Although this a good approach to take, you need to proceed with caution. If you are just getting started, you may not necessarily know how successful your business will be. For that reason, you may want to start out small when ordering your merchandise. Yes, you may be required to buy from your supplier in bulk, but you will want to be cautious with buying too much merchandise at one time. Should your specialty store not work out and you need to close your business, you may end up losing money by being stuck with merchandise that you cant sell for a profit.

The above mentioned tips are just a few of the many what you may want to think about implementing to make your specialty store a profitable one. Perhaps, the most important tip, the one that deserves the most thought, is the opening of an online store. It is not uncommon for small specialty store owners to find that their online sales actually end up paying for their storefront locations.

Are you looking for a new job or a way to make money? If you are, have you ever thought about starting your own business? If you havent, you may want to think about it. Each year, a large number of individuals make the decision to startup their own small businesses. Many of those individuals end up starting businesses that will be profitable for years to come. If you play your cards right, you may be able to be one of those individuals.

If you are wondering whether or not you should startup your own small business, there are a number of important factors that you may first want to take into consideration, before making your decision. One of those factors is the type of business that you would like to start? Do you know what type of small business you would like to start? For instance, would you like to open up a dog grooming business, start your own alteration business, or develop a small retail store? If you are serious about starting your own small business, it is advised that you choose something that you know and love. For instance, if you have a love for pets, you may want to start your own doggie bakery, a dog grooming salon, or a pet sitting service, and so on.

In addition to the type of business that you would like to run, you also need to examine how that business would be operated. For instance, there are many small businesses that are considered locally owned and operated businesses, while others operate solely online. There are also a number of small business owners who choose to have both, a physical location, as well as an online address. How you would plan on running your small business is an important component of determining whether or not you should open one to begin with. For instance, if you are interested in having an online store or website, but you dont know how to make one, you may need to take a web design training class or hire a professional web designer.

Your current financial situation should also be examined, when determining whether or not you should try and startup your own small business. Just about all business ventures require some startup cash, although some require more than others. If you currently do not have the financial means needed to start your own small business, you may be able to seek financial assistance. Many financial lenders, including banks and credit unions, may be willing to give you financial backing to get your small business up and running. However, to do this, you often need to show the lender in question that your small business is one that can make a profit, or at least enough money to payback the business loan. The best way to do this is to create a professional business plan for yourself; one that you can show to all loan officers that you end up meeting with.

It is also advised that you examine how big you want your business to be. For instance, if you are planning on opening up a small retail store, like say a craft store, do you know how many employees you will need to hire? In fact, do you even need to hire any at all? If you are planning on running your store by yourself or if you have some family member who may be able to help you, you may not need to hire any additional employees. If the time comes when you need to hire help, you may be required to pay additional insurance or taxes, like for workmans compensation and such. For more information on this, you are advised to ask about your states rules and regulations on small businesses and employment.

The above mentioned factors are just a few of the many that you will want to take into consideration, when trying to determine if you should start your own small business. As you likely already know, the decision as to whether or not you want to startup a business is yours to make, but it is a decision that shouldnt be made on a whim. You are advised to discuss your possible business venture with your family and possibly even with a financial planner. Starting your own business may be a lifelong dream of yours, but if your small business dream isnt thoroughly thought out and planned, it can quickly turn from a dream to a nightmare.

There are many differences that separate the winners in business and life from those who are struggling and falling by the wayside.

One big difference is how they handle failure. Successful entrepreneurs have a positive mindset around the experience of failure.

When they fail, they look at it as a result. They took “x” steps and produced “y” result. “Y” didn’t work, so it’s back to the drawing board to change the formula and try again.

Many new business owners don’t make it out of the gate because as soon as they fail, they figure, “Who am I kidding? I knew it wouldn’t work” and then quit!

If everyone had that mindset, we wouldn’t have electricity, airplanes, vaccines … actually, we’d have pretty much nothing!

Every single success in this world was preceded by one, two — a thousand failures!

Babe Ruth set a record for the most home runs. Did you know he also had the record for the most strikeouts?

Thomas Edison failed more than a thousand times before he perfected the light bulb.

If you’re not failing, you’re not pushing yourself enough. You are remaining in your comfort zone and cannot expect to reach the level of success you’re capable of.

Failure is what allows you to learn and grow. If you quit as soon as you meet with failure, you will always remain exactly where you are.

Albert Einstein once said, “You cannot solve a problem with the same level of thinking that created it.”

And, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”

What these statements teach is, in order to overcome failure, you must think differently and act differently. It is what separates the ordinary from the extraordinary!

You might have to seek out guidance from someone else who can offer the expertise you need. You may need to inject new perspectives and talent by forming a team around your project.

Fear of failure is one of the biggest obstacles that hold new business owners back. Failure should not be feared, but embraced because a life lived in fear is a life half lived.

If you’re stuck and unable to move forward because of fear of failure or because you have failed in your previous attempt, bring someone else into the mix to offer support and guidance.

Tweak your plan and give it another go.

Engrave the words of the following masters into your mind and never, EVER give up.

Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. – Albert Einstein

He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat. – Napoleon I

Problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines. – Robert Schuller

2006 Laurie Hayes – The HBB Source