Quote:
Originally posted by roxbrand
I dont really like service based business. I like businesses with a tangable product.
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LuckyDuck and roxbrand,
Just so you know, EVERY business today is a service business, and MUST operate like one in order to survive. If you start reading up on marketing, I think that is something you will realize. The first step to being successfull is to change your thinking on marketing and business.
If you open up a clothing store, you are actually opening up a company that offers a service to consumers. The service must become your main focus in order for you to stay profitable and something you will also find is that anything you use to set your company apart from other competitors is actually going to fall into the service category.
Walmart sells tangible products, yet they are a service company.
There service is providing great products, in mass quantities, at low prices to their customers. People do not buy from Walmart because of the products. They buy from Walmart because of the convenience of the selection provided to them, because of the low prices offered, and the friendly customer service delivered everytime. These are all aspects of the SERVICE side of Walmart, and you should also take notice that Walmart markets there service side FIRST and their products SECOND. All of their commercials focus on the low prices and wide selection they offer (THE SERVICE SIDE), and then they give examples of their service by showing specific products and offers (THE PRODUCT SIDE).
Just remember that customer's do not buy a product simply because they want that product. You don't buy accounting software because you simply want the thing on your computer. You buy accounting software because you want to eliminate the stress of doing your finances by yourself, because you want to free up your time and make your job easier, and give yourself more time with your family, and make your business more efficient and profitable. The accounting software is the commodity that delivers the benefit of what you sell, and the BENEFIT (the service the product delivers) is what customer's buy.
The same goes with running a business. If you sell t-shirts, customer's are not going to buy the t-shirt simply because they are dying to have a piece of cotton sit in their dresser. They are going to buy t-shirts from you because they want to feel better about themselves, impress their friends, etc. So, no matter what product you sell, whether the product itself is a service (like a consultant company), or the product is tangible (like t-shirts), the service side of your business is what will make you money, bring you profits, and keep your customer's coming back for more.
The day you realize what I've briefly described above, is the day that you will begin to go down the path to launching a successful business.
One last bit of advice I'd like to give you is that it is CRITICAL that whatever you do, whatever business you launch, or whatever product you sell, you must make your company different from your competitors. Your company has to be unique or fill some sort of market vacuum that hasn't yet been filled. The bigger the vacuum the bigger your chances of being successful will be.
An example of this would be the company Blue Mountain. Before free online greeting cards was even a fathom in the average consumers imagination, Blue Mountain saw a vacuum in the greeting card market for a free online greeting card service. At the time, no such service existed, and the only companies offering online greeting cards was Kodak and Hallmark. The thing was, that Kodak and Hallmark were charging for their online greeting cards. So Blue Mountain decided to filled this market vacuum by offering a free online greeting card service and they consequently grew at incredible rates.
In fact, they never made a single penny off of the greeting cards, yet they were just recently bought out for 1 billion dollars! After Blue Mountain filled the vacuum, Kodak and Hallmark realized that this meant serious problems for them, and they both decided to also launch their own version of a free online greeting card service. The problem was, the vacuum had already been filled by Blue Mountain, so Kodak and Hallmark never experienced the same type of growth and success Blue Mountain did and now the market is flooded with look-a-like companies and very low profits.
My point is, it's actually RISKIER to be just like everybody else in your industry, and it is actually SAFER to be extremely different, completely incredible and unique with your company. Doing something first or the best is always the key to success. The reason is because by being unique and different you will make it easier for you to set your company apart from your competitors and ultimately give yourself a better shot at acquiring customers. But, NEVER BE DIFFERENT SIMPLY FOR THE FACT OF BEING DIFFERENT. Whatever it is about your company that sets you apart from your competitors, whatever it is about your company that is DIFFERENT, it must be different because it is trying to fill a market vacuum.
Also, I'd like to add that I completely dissagree with what mtd1523 said when he/she told you "There is a saying out there that 9 out of 10 businesses fail. So in these terms, you should expect to start 10 businesses to succeed with 1.". This type of thinking will get you nowhere (no offense mtd1523). If you really think about it, 90% of all small businesses fail within the first 5 years because they offer the same product, the same services, the same messages, they market the same exact way, and do everything completely identical to what their competitors do.
I've launched three businesses using my beliefs and strategies and every single one has been a success. I can't say that everything I launch will be a success or that everyone who uses my way of thinking will be guaranteed success, but if you really focus on the points that I've outlined, you will greatly increase your chances of being successful. Rather than using the "Well, 9 out of 10 businesses fail, so I guess I'll just through stuff up and see what sticks" approach, you can greatly increase your chances of succeeding by learning and understanding why those 9 out of 10 businesses fail. They fail for very specific, preventable, reasons, and my goal in this post is to try and get you to understand that. I think it's one of the most important things you can learn as an entrepreneur.
By being the same as every other company in your industry, small businesses end up blending into the background and never get the type of attention they need from distracted buyers to be successful enought to stay in business and grow profitably. We as buyers have way to many things on our mind, way to many distractions in our lives, we get busier by the day, and there are way to many marketing messages thrown in our faces. We have learned to tune out marketing messages, and ultimately only the most unique, different and extraordinary messages come across to us. We can only absorb so much information before we shut off our buying sensors.
LuckyDuck, it seems that the previous businesses you tried to open are focused on the product, rather than the service aspect of your company, and I can guarantee that THAT played a big role in the mediocre performance and complete flop you experienced with each one.
90% OF ALL BUSINESSES ARE COMPLETELY THE SAME! That is why 90% of them fail.
AND the fact is, this trend of buyers tuning out marketing messages is getting worse by the day. Every year the number of businesses launching and advertising to consumers dramatically increases, and with that the effectiveness of traditional marketing gets less effective by the day. That is why it is CRITICAL that you look for ways to fill a market gap quickly (or a market that has not yet been tapped) and make every effort to be completely different from any competitor that is out their.
There are a ton of books on these ideas, but I wanted to give you some first hand friendly marketing and business advice. Consulting is one of the things I do for a living, and I felt compelled to share some powerful ideas with you.
I've included a link below that will allow you to download a copy of my latest insider report: "10 Simple Steps to Building a Profitable Website" free for a limited time. The link is:
http://crunchbug.com/10_Simple_Steps...le_Website.pdf
The insider report with give you some valuable secrets on the steps needed to make your website profitable. It's just some additional help I'd like to give you to get you going on your venture.
Best of luck with your business, and enjoy the free report!
