Entrepreneurship. Rhonda Abrams
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Название: Entrepreneurship

Автор: Rhonda Abrams

Издательство: Ingram

Жанр: Поиск работы, карьера

Серия:

isbn: 9781933895673

isbn:

СКАЧАТЬ a business around it, over a reasonable period, with a reasonable amount of money.

      ■ Large market and potential for high or rapid growth. Certain businesses that you could come up with might offer a great product or service and become successful enough to provide a very high income for you. But you need to have a sizable and expanding market to grow large, as well as to attract the kind of investment you’ll require to expand. If you want to be the next Google, you need investors, and they will look for a speedy, high return on the funds they put into your business.

      ■ Growing industry. You’ll have far better luck building a highly successful company in a healthy, growing industry than in one that is flat or shrinking. Yes, some businesses do grow significantly in old, mature industries, but it’s easier to grow when your industry is growing too.

      ■ It’s a business, not just a product. Many would-be entrepreneurs dream up great ideas and devise wonderful new products. But some are destined to be “inventors,” not “entrepreneurs.” Often, one good product idea is not sufficient to support an entire business. A song is a product and may have a short shelf-life; a music publishing company is a business, in for the long haul.

      ■ Capable entrepreneur and strong team. One of the most important contributors to business success is a company’s management. Being a visionary entrepreneur, or having one at your right hand, isn’t enough; you have to be able to assemble a quality team, capable of both developing the product and managing the company.

      ■ Original idea, but not completely new one. Most widely successful companies build on concepts and markets pioneered by others. But why not just implement your own truly new and groundbreaking concept? Because a novel product or invention typically requires a very large budget, to educate customers on how the concept works and why they need it. That takes time and money, so sometimes it pays not to be first. Many people have become fabulously wealthy by letting the first or second company in the market invest in developing demand and proving the concept—and then coming up with an improved version.

      REAL-WORLD RECAP

       Characteristics of highly successful businesses

      ■ Compelling, executable business idea

      ■ Large market and potential for high or rapid growth

      ■ Growing industry

      ■ It’s a business, not just a product

      ■ Capable entrepreneur and strong team

      ■ Original idea, but not completely new one

       See page 40

      Every company must make money. You can’t stay in business unless you eventually earn a profit. Yet studies of business success over time have shown that companies that emphasize goals in addition to making money succeed better, and survive longer, than companies whose sole motivation is profit.

      As you develop your business concept, keep in mind those values that you want your company to embody. These values can be aimed externally, at achieving some business, social, or environmental goal. Or they can be aimed internally, at creating a certain type of workplace or quality of product or service. Or they can be aimed at both.

      Articulating your company’s values to employees, suppliers, and even your customers can strengthen their commitment to your business. Values-driven companies often achieve greater success in attracting and retaining good employees, and they can usually better weather short-term financial setbacks because employees and management share a commitment to goals in addition to financial rewards.

      A company is likewise strengthened by maintaining integrity in all aspects of its dealings—with employees, customers, suppliers, and the community. Certainly, you will face situations where it appears that you will be at a disadvantage if you’re more honest than your competitors or fairer than other employers. Nevertheless, the long-term benefits of earning and keeping a reputation for integrity outweigh the perceived immediate disadvantages. A clear policy of honesty and fairness makes decision-making in difficult situations easier, inspires customer and employee loyalty, and helps avoid costly lawsuits and regulatory fines. It’s also the right thing to do.

       One of the first decisions you’ll make

       Thinking through and deciding on your business model is critical, because it’s fundamental to your company’s viability. Even the best concept will have a hard time succeeding if it’s not supported by the right business model.

      Now that you’ve articulated a vision for your business idea, you need to consider a number of other factors as you begin to ground your vision in reality. These real, practical, nuts-and-bolts aspects of running a business will ultimately determine your success. No matter how brilliant the idea, execution in business is everything!

      One of the first things you will do is identify your business model.

      The term “business model” describes what your company does and how you make money. For example, will you make a product? If so, how will you sell it? To wholesalers? To consumers? If to consumers, will you sell directly or use intermediaries? If you use intermediaries, will you use distributors or retailers to reach consumers, or will you open your own brick-and-mortar storefront or e-commerce website? Or perhaps you won’t sell your product to consumers at all, but lease it to them. And how will you make your product? Will you design and manufacture it yourself, or will you outsource manufacture and then assemble components?

      If you sell a service, will it be for a flat fee, on an hourly or time-and-materials basis, or perhaps via a subscription? Will you provide the service yourself or engage others to work for you? Or perhaps you won’t sell a product or service at all, but be an intermediary—a broker of some type between buyers and sellers.

      In other words, what structure are you putting in place to make your money? What’s your business model?

      Thinking through and deciding on your business model is critical, because it’s fundamental to your company’s viability. Even the best concept will have a hard time succeeding if it’s not supported by the right business model.

      You have many different types of business models to choose from. By figuring out your own best model, you’ll begin providing more definition and structure to your business concept.

      Understanding your business model thoroughly is critical for planning the activities of your business. You have to know how you intend to make money to determine who your real customer is, how to set prices, what kinds of profit margins you can reasonably expect, what kind (if any) of customer service to provide, and the like.

      For example, many online companies make money the traditional way: by selling something directly to customers at a profit—a conventional e-commerce company. Other companies behave more like “land-based” media companies, making money through advertising. Some online companies bring СКАЧАТЬ