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How to Build Your Own Business

Written by: Michael Laleye

Article Overview: Every day, millions of Americans think about the “American Dream” and roll their eyes in disdain. Where is this American dream, and why don’t I have a piece of that glorious pie? You may have an Ivy League education, or you may be a high school dropout. Either way, the path to true, independent success, is dependent upon the same things...

How to Build Your Own Business

Every day, millions of Americans think about the “American Dream” and roll their eyes in disdain. Where is this American dream, and why don’t I have a piece of that glorious pie? You may have an Ivy League education, or you may be a high school dropout. Either way, the path to true, independent success, is dependent upon the same things. Creativity, ingenuity, hard work, and perseverance. If you possess a large quantity of the above traits, there is a good chance you will make your business a success. And that is, fail the chance to become CEO of a huge corporation, or a celebrity of some kind, the only real path to enormous financial success in this country. Otherwise, you’re always simply making money for someone else. Someone else, who had the drive and creativity that you either don’t have or are too afraid to use, will. If you aren’t afraid to use it, and you’re ready to start building your business, here is what you have to do.

First things first. To build a business of any kind, you will first need capital. Now, you may be lucky enough to be independently wealthy to begin with, but if you’re like most Americans, this is the part where you’re going to need a loan. It is the getting of this loan that your business degree may most come in handy. Lenders like to see such degrees before parting with their money, but it is not the only important factor. Obviously, presentation is half (if not more) of the battle. You have to convince the bank that they’re taking a reasonable chance with you. You have to make the banker see what you see: the potential for profit in your business model. If you feel nervous about this prospect, just repeat to yourself one thing: Bill Gates was once in the same position, feeling the same nervousness. And he was turned down for several loans before finally getting one. That’s where perseverance comes in. You must have it, or you will not succeed.

If you’re moving into a sector of business where you’ve already made contacts, now is the time to get in touch with those people and let them know you’re going into business for yourself. Tell them what will set your business apart from others of your kind. Extend them a discount of some sort. Encourage them to tell their contacts in the business world about your new endeavor. One thing that all successful businessmen have in common is their remarkable ability for self promotion. You will need that trait if you except to succeed in the business world. If you’re the wallflower type, you may want to think about a different line of work.

What you must do next, and continue to do throughout the life of your business, is research. You must become an expert in the field. Whatever that field might happen to be. Whether you’re selling office supplies, gasoline, tires, or widgets, you have to learn everything there is to know about your business. That means researching the history, keeping up with the latest trends, and following up on that with your own innovations and ideas. Studying the past can help you avoid mistakes that others have already made, and studying the future will give you the edge you need to think ahead of the curve. No new business finds success by doing the same old thing. You need to come to the marketplace with something new, even if it’s only a minor change.

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Article Tags: american dream, bill gates, business degree, business model, celebrity, ceo, creativity, disdain, financial success, good chance, high school dropout, ingenuity, ivy league education, lenders, loans, making money, nervousness, perseverance



Related Forum Posts
Re: Great start, but no finish - My advise is FOCUS on your business. Focusing is the main factor to succeed on business. If you have a great idea, then follow it only, don't look anywhere else. It is especially essential in an online business. Because there are a lot of mind blowing sales letters promising millions dolllars or overnight success, people find it difficult to concentrate on one business and they lose their energy. Concept is simple. 1- Have a good idea; 2- Build your business on it; 3- Monetize your business; 4- Promote it; 5- Build list of responsive customers; 6- Maintain You Business. Focusing and not fearing from competition (instead you can learn from competitiors) are main tips of billionaires ,BTW. Orxan
My entry - 1. The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Business Books You'll Never Have Time to Read - this is a fascinating book about the history of Business theory, and I'd recommend it to anybody. 2. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants, by Tom Gegax. Ditto. 3. PADI: The Business of Diving Book Okay, so this book won't be of use to anyone who doesn't want to start a scuba store, but I did, and this book was of course invaluable to me in reaching that goal.
How do you know if you have a good idea? - [quote="orxan":3118uboz]My advise is FOCUS on your business. Focusing is the main factor to succeed on business. If you have a great idea, then follow it only, don't look anywhere else. It is especially essential in an online business. Because there are a lot of mind blowing sales letters promising millions dolllars or overnight success, people find it difficult to concentrate on one business and they lose their energy. Concept is simple. 1- Have a good idea; 2- Build your business on it; 3- Monetize your business; 4- Promote it; 5- Build list of responsive customers; 6- Maintain You Business. Focusing and not fearing from competition (instead you can learn from competitiors) are main tips of billionaires ,BTW. Orxan[/quote:3118uboz] Thanks orxan! But how do you know if you truly have a good idea or not? If we ask ourselves, we may be suffering from tunnel vision. On the other hand, friends/family may try to discourage us from pursuing a small business because of their own fears, while others will simply give us an empty "you can do it!" line.
Re: How to do Link Building? - Be diligent. Build blogs.Pay attention to the contents.
Re: Are Business Owners too Old School to be Sold by a blog - I think this question needs to be redefined. Is it the the senior demographic that you're posing this question to? There is a wide range of business owners young and old. Some of the older folks can grasp the quick changes occurring on the net and go with the flow, while others have lost interest. I see blogs as next generation websites... they are superior than websites in so many ways. Sophisticated webmasters are cloaking their blogs to look like websites, so it's hard to discern whether it's even a blog, yet it has all the great functionality of a blog. Business owners need to embrace the internet regardless of their industry. Currently, I see the ideal combination looking like this: Build a static website, add a navigation link to a 'current news' feature or the like, which is your blog, and get the best of both worlds. Or as I said, build a blog that looks like a website. Finally - If the Marketing message is well done, then I don't see why it shouldn't be effective regardless of the format.


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