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Ten Steps To Business Success
By the Alabama Small Business Development Consortium
(1) Put together an effective and detailed Business Plan. It is the blueprint to your success. Update your business plan to reflect changes as they occur. A good plan should be flexible enough to adapt to a changing environment. Include cash flow projections in your Business Plan; insufficient working capital can be hazardous.
(2) To be successful in small business, one must be an entrepreneur, a manager and a technician.
(3) Take pride in your business; it is an extension of yourself. Understand your weaknesses and strengths, your product and the market. Provide your customers with the right product at the right time.
(4) Know your competition, your field and your target area inside and out. Do not rely on assumptions and hunches.
(5) Trust yourself and your own judgment but take the time to truly know your market well and the products it values. To stay one step ahead, constantly evaluate your business and its role in the market.
(6) Serve the needs of the customers. Be sensitive to their needs, how to reach them, and most of all, what will convince them to buy your product or service.
(7) Know your limits. Are you willing to work day and night to make it work? Don't do it all yourself. Get moral support, and the right kind of help to run your business. Professional consultants can help you tap the full resources of your business.
(8) Carefully select your staff. They are the faces that people associate with your business. Train them to perform the job to your satisfaction and reward them when the job is done well.
(9) Treat employees as individuals. Each has their own strengths, weaknesses and preferences.
(10) Read relevant newspapers and magazines daily; become familiar with the financial section. Keep up to date so that you may understand the big picture.
Next section: Market Research, pt.1: Why Do Research?