location, location, location

You hear it all the time in real estate commercials. "Location, location, location, x house is only min away from points A, B AND C!" Why is that phrase all over the place? Because, no one wants to be an hour away from the closest Walmart. The same goes with opening a business. You have to be in a good location for people to come and patron your business. If you run a high end fashion store but you're out in the boondocks of Kansas, you arent going to get a bunch of customers. There just isnt the market for it. You have to study the potential area you are going to open up shop in. Is there a large number of your target market readily available? Is the building new? Is there going to be enough parking? Is it well lit and easily accessible? All these questions and more are important factors in the location process. This is easily one of the top three reasons, in my opinion, that small business fail-terrible locations.

target market

Businesses fail. It's a fact of life. One reason for this is the business overlooks or misjudges its target audience. The bar I want to open for example. I probably shouldn't market to people over 55 or under 18. I need to focus on young adults aged 20-45. Otherwise, the people coming into the bar wont come back for repeat business. It can be easy to misjudge your audience. you have got to have a targeted, focused plan set forth from the start.

Image is key

This week in class we're working on elevator pitches for our prospective businesses. During this process, I have learned that confidence and image are extremely important when marketing your ideas to other people. When the owner/inventor of a company is not comfortable talking about their own idea, then the prospective clients won't be interested in giving you their money. Even if you are not the best speaker, fake it till you make it. Go through it in your head. Get a trusted friend to listen to a pitch you have, and see if they have any critiques about it. Other people tend to catch mistakes more easily than you can yourself. Also, if you mess up in the presentation, do not freak out. They don't know its a misstep. So, go with the flow. The more at ease you are the more likely you are to succeed.