Friday, September 01, 2006

Hello again,
I'm rather getting into this blog thing.
Hope somebody reads this andleaves comments. I like to know what people think
Let’s imagine you are a hopeful entrepreneur looking for a good business opportunity.
Choose something that people will want very much. Want is much more important than need when it comes to spending money.
Think about it! If you really need a new washing machine but on the way to the shop you see something just as expensive that you’ve always wanted and with a bit of imaginative thinking you can persuade yourself that it would be silly not to buy it while it’s there – well, which item would most of us choose.
If you can persuade your customers (list) that they both want and need your product, you’re home and dry.
Remember one very important proviso!
You must be convinced that your product will fulfil your customers’ wants and needs. (If you sell them short or try to fool them you won’t last long. Your credibility will have gone for good.)
Amongst the entrepreneurial crowd there is the story of the Californian Gold Rush.
Thousands of hopeful miners flocked to the hills in the search for gold. Most of them found just enough to get drunk on.
The people who really made their fortunes were the people who went prospecting for gold and used what they found to set up a store selling shovels. This was easier than keeping on digging and far more long term because the miners kept on coming. Everybody wanted and needed good, strong, reliable shovels. (A dealer who sold a shoddy shovel would probably have been lynched by angry miners.)
The really successful shovel sellers also provided a map to show the likeliest places to dig. Not all miners chose the same place to dig. Some scratched the surface and decided it was a dead loss. Others dug in the same place but really worked at it and found gold.
And the man who sold the shovel was still the winner because the miner came back to buy other things – a lot of other things because he had made a lot of money.
Your job is to Prospect for Gold and find your own little mine and then market shovels for everyone else to dig as well.
The next instalment will tell you ways you can attract customers.

1 comment:

Alex said...

Hi Theodora,

Thanks for the tips about becoming an entrepreneur. I think your tips will really help. Did you start your own business or company?