Unleashing the power within- Learn tools to develop your business ideas
March 28, 2010
Generating ideas is one thing, developing ideas is quite another. Everyone can come up with ideas to start a business, but not everyone can come up with smart ways to organise these ideas towards a definite cause that will provide solutions to a given set of societal problems. In the book ‘Think and Grow Rich’, author Napoleon Hill reiterate that the ability to organise specialised knowledge and direct it towards a given market to provide unique solutions to a problem is power in action. Power is the ability to effect chantge and get results that is for the highest good of all parties concern.
If you are starting your business and have ideas but struggle with developing these ideas, you will do well to get help from a coach like myself because it will make the difference between launching a lame duck business that will suck money out of your bank account and launching a proper business that will put money into your bank account. You will be surprise how many businesses under perform due to lack of expertise in organising their ideas.
One simple step you can take to develop your business idea is to step back and look at the broad market and start thinking outside the box about all the different ways the problem can be solved before coming up with your solutions. Avoid falling in love with any particular solution because to do so will leave you expose to making the wrong choice due to biasness. Think about how you can combine different independent solutions into one single solution to come up with a unique product. In one of my audio CDs titled ‘Creative Mind’, I covered some of the tools you can use to address this issue. Those of you in the paid coaching programme can access the audio and workbook in the membership resource page. Combination is a technique whereby you look at different services you can combine to form a unique product. I was with a client last week seriously in need of assistance in this area. She has been running a small fashion and accessory boutique for the last twelve months that is struggling to make sales. The business offers:
1. Ladies bags
2. Ladies shoes
3. Jewelleries- necklace, brace lace, earrings,
4. Body and facial cream
5. Lipsticks, nail polish
6. Hair dressing
7. Textile
8. Ladies dresses
9. Menes shirt
10. Perfumes
All the products are sold individually to the end users. No packaging for the gift market is done to capitalise on the opportunities of special celebrations throughout the year such as Valentine’s day, Mothers day, Easter holiday, May bank holiday, Fathers day, August bank holiday, Back to school, Christmas, New Year, special birthdays – 21st, 18th, 40th , 50th , 60th , 70th , 80th etc.
The poor organisation of the ideas of this business alongside, weak marketing plan and strategies have resulted in poor financial outcomes for the business. Why did the owner not see what was so obvious to others. Her internal conditioning (thought patterns are an obvious suspect). Until she dissolves limiting thought patterns and access new and empowering beliefs and thoughts she will be operating below her capacity. She will continue to blame everyone except when all this time the answers lied within her. If this story sounds familiar contact me for more information.
Smart Entrepreneur Meet Up Event – 26 March 2010
March 21, 2010
Are you one of the smartest budding entrepreneur around London. Business Startup Expert Sheila Elliott is holding her very first ‘Meet-up Event’ on Friday 26 March and you are more than welcome to attend. Visit http://www.meetup.com/smartentrepreneurs
to download agenda and find out more about the group. We have 10 spot left.
Ticket is £5.
Smart Entrepreneur Meet-Up Event is a monthly network event, sponsored by BSS Management Consultancy, designed to facilitate open discussions about what it takes to start and operate a successful business. It is the place to be to get answers from experts on the day about business startup. Membership is free so visit http://www.meetup.com/smartentrepreneurs
More Tips On Raising Finance For Your Business
March 21, 2010
Well, you need finance to start your business, you have no savings of your own and you need other peoples money to start your own business. Does this sound familiar? Join the club. Why should a third party take you serious? I am serious, why should they hand over their cash to you. It never ceases to amaze me when entrepreneurs dont think about these issues before approaching funders or investors. I meet countless numbers of entrepreneurs who need finance but yet are unwilling to take actions to boost their success rate. Perhaps you are one of the exception. It is with this in mind I want to share yet another three top tips on how to raise funding for your business.
Tip No 1
Make sure that you present yourself well, when you meet with investors and lenders. The way you dress and speak matters. Every step of the way you are being observed. Your presentation must be compelling. This is why we provide training seminars in financing your business to help you develop the right knowledge base so that you give yourself the added advantage when you are faced with potential investors and lenders.
Tip No 2
Think correctly and positively. Your mental life is one you have to take control over. One of the secret of success is the ability to take control of your mind and direct it to what you want to see happen in your life. If you want to raise finance, you can’t be talking about defeat and doubting your ability to do so successfully. I covered this aspect of “Mind Power” in my book “My Business Is My Business- Learn How to Earn a Fortune” and I have produced audio CDs on the subject of the power of the mind. Remember, you have something to offer the investor or lenders. Investors and lenders of money make their money through your ideas. They sell money for interest or dividend to those with great ideas that will generate profits. So the relationship is two ways. All you have to demonstrate is that your deal will help them realise their dreams. They have to see it clearly and so it is up to you to show them how it will work. Stay clear from fuzzy language and terminology that will only serve to distract from raising finance when faced with the opportunity to do so. Do not use jargons familiar in your industry but not outside your industry.
Tip No 3
Solicit the support of experts. You do not want to be “Jack of all trade and master of none”. Remember, the money you pay for expert services is not an expense; it is an investment in your business. Change your perception of money. This is one of the causes of success. Successful people always pay for good advice. The opposite is equally true for people who repeatedly fail in business and life generally.
OK, I rest my case. If you think you will get your hands on other peoples money to invest in your business without incorporating these tips, I will be glad to hear from you. However, it is more than likely you wont and so i would like to encourage you all to take decisive actions to improve your capacity to raise finance.
Regards
Sheila Elliott
Making Your First Sales – top tips for business start-up
March 14, 2010
I hesitate to blog on this topic today but I think I should. I really want to share my own experience with you when I started my business. Believe it or not, even with all my qualifications and experience in business management issues, I did find the issue of marketing daunting when I started for a variety of reasons. Firstly, I have no track record in business and many prospects will ask for testimonials and trade reference.
Secondly, my role from being a finance employee to becoming a business owner was a significant change because I was responsible for my own income and dare I say my salary. Where do I start? Will people take me seriously? What if no one buys from me…………..? These were all the questions I silently asked myself. It is funny, because the truth is, I experienced a mixture of excitement and anxiety all at the same time.
One of the biggest challenges that many entrepreneurs will find when they start a business is the practicalities of selling their own products and services to the target market they really want to serve. Making that first sale is important to boost your motivation to continue. Being able to sell is a skill no entrepreneur can afford to be average at. True, you may be average when you start your business but you should not be content to stay at that level, unless you want to have an average performance in your business. In my case, I had to utilise the expertise of gurus who have helped others in the field and with strong market reputation. I utilised Jay Abraham’s ‘Marketing Mastermind and 93 Extraordinary Referral Systems’ which I used and quite honestly my income grew by more than 300% in twelve months just putting some of the tools shared by Jay Abraham. It is funny when I think about it now but I remembered when I started putting the techniques learnt and seeing the results. I remembered how I unwittingly sought advice from people who are not in business on a subject they know nothing about and sure enough they guided me towards the wrong directions. Thank God, I was wise enough to recognise when to put a break on their proposals. Remember, that it does not help you in any way to get someone who is not running a business to be advising you on this subject. If they know how to market they will be in business. Marketing is not just textbook stuff, it involves your interaction with yourself and others and much more.
Here are my top tips for start-up businesses trying to get their first sales and growing their business by at least 50% over eighteen months- consider them as my top tips.
• Start spending more than 25% of your time per week on marketing activities
• Recruit and utilise the skills of associates and joint venture partners to leverage time and boost sales income
• Seek ways of understanding your existing clients needs and develop solutions for them so that you can increase the average spend per clients
• Develop a marketing system using the likes of Jay Abrahams Marketing Mastermind System and be prepared to invest the time and money to put the system in place. No business will succeed without a solid system to support its success.
• Monitor the performance of all your marketing effort and do more of what works and less of what does not work.
• Seek expert advice and never take advice from people with no track record of doing what you are doing or for that matter with poor results in the area you are trying to master.
• To find out more about tools to assist your business in effective marketing, please visit www.businessservicessupport.com/marketing-strategies
Membership
March 9, 2010
When I started my business, I had one vision in mind; My vision is simple but yet powerful. It is to help entrepreneurs build successful businesses using a system that never fails. You and I know that there are many systems out there but very few live up to expectations and so my blog site and membership site are designed to put you in the right direction to cut down the frustration and time wasting activities that all too often entrepreneurs can be caught up in.
One thing I do know is this, there is a business system that guarantees your success but it is only used by few people. The likes of Donald Trump, Robert Kiyosaki, Richard Branson, Mark Victor Hansen, Robert Allen, Zig Ziglar and many more are not successful by accident. They all agree that success starts from the mind and without an entrepreneur mastering the quality of the thoughts in their mind, success will elude them.
My membership site will teach you three things, all of which you need, if you are to be successful in business:
1. Mindset Solutions- You will learn how to develop a creative and success conscious mindset using a wide range of tools that are appropriate to your particular needs and preferences
2. Personal Development Solutions- You will learn skills for putting together a very robust personal development & growth plan, which will help you improve your personal effectiveness. This is so important if you are to build effective relationships with your customers, prospects and those you work or do business with.
3. Business Management Solutions- You will learn skills to generate and develop products and services, market and sell services online and off line, raise and manage your finances, hire and manage staff and much more.
4. Leadership Solutions- You will learn how to develop leadership qualities that will enable you to gain the respect and trust of your team and of course achieve much success in your business.
I like excellence and I like the best things in life. So what I do for my members is find and link them with the best experts in the market. The contents that will be made available to you through our e-courses via teleseminars and more are high quality contents that will guarantee your success. Moreover, the additional resources recommended to you are from affiliated partners with unbeatable records which all goes toward enhancing your capacity to succeed in the market. All in all, you are in good hands and the only thing that remains is for you to sign up today and start learning with us.
Click here to access the membership site
Online Marketing Strategies for Generating Strong Sales
March 6, 2010
This is an article put together to help the average entrepreneur navigate the important journey of understanding what is required for effective online marketing. All too often, experts in SEO and even website developers will provide half the information required for business success to their clients, leaving entrepreneurs with little or no value for their money because they do not understand that effective online marketing must be supported by a number of strategies and systems.
In order for you to sell online effectively, here are my top tips to get you going. As a matter of principle you need:
1 A user friendly website with a well written and presentable sales letter that speaks to the target market in a way that influences them to take action. By the way this need not be expensive. Some expensive websites are ineffective and remember, website by itself does not earn you sales. You will find my recommended suppliers of website and SEO services on my blog site. Remember also to get your website hosted by a reputable host provider.
2 To optimise your website with keywords phrases that are searched on engines such as Google and Yahoo as well as include meta description and meta title on your site. Each webpage should be optimised with its own unique keyword phrases, meta description and title
3 To implement strategies for ongoing traffic generation such as website submission to major search engines and directories as well as writing and submitting articles via blogs and ezines.
4 To set competitive product prices with clear images and descriptions on the website. Products you want to sell online should not be too expensive except where they are well known brands which are in high demand.
5 A reliable customer support system to help you address issues quickly. This can be via phone or email.
6 A system for managing contact list and promoting services to contacts. Email marketing systems are critical tools for on-going relationship management and sales promotion.
7 A merchant account with PayPal and other payment gateway processor such as 2checkout or Nochex. Never rely on a single provider. You never know when you may have a dispute and the last thing you need is not to be able to receive payment from customers.
8 Details of contact names and business telephone number, as well as testimonials and success stories should be on your website and other marketing materials. All of this should be well laid out and presentable.
9 A domain name that is keyword rich and a reliable web host that provides 24/7 technical support 52 weeks in the year. Do not compromise your website hosting with a business that does not offer 24/7 support. Check out our recommended providers.
10 A landing page with a short sales letter carefully crafted to persuade leads to opt-in for your invaluable special report or gift to them.
These simple tips if utilised will make a big difference to your marketing activities over time.
Sheila Elliott is a business start-up and development expert offering group and one to one coaching as well as financial consultancy and training sessions. She is the founder of Business Services Support Limited and the author of My Business Is My Business- Learn How To Earn A Fortune. For more information about are free articles visit, http://www.businessservicessupport.com and http://www.sheilaelliott.com
Business Coaching
March 6, 2010
I am very pleased to see that many entrepreneurs are now realising the benefits of coaching and mentoring support to fast track their business development and growth. However, one cannot deny that there are still those who remain sceptical about the value of a coaching or mentoring programme primarily because their experiences with a coach or mentor have not always led them to the desired results.
Let me assure you that every coaching and mentoring programme you obtain through myself, or those associated with my company will result in the outcomes that were agreed from the onset of the programme. Whilst I am acutely aware that I am sticking my neck out here for others, I have to also draw your attention to the importance of playing your role in the coaching and mentoring programme. It is widely believe and accepted that one will only get as much as they invest in training and coaching programme as well as the investments of the coach or mentor. And so, it is important you realise this point from the onset.
When it comes to me coaching and mentoring you, I have very strict processes in place. It is not an automatic process. I do not want your money if you are not serious enough to learn and make changes to your life. I only coach or mentor people who are serious about achieving personal and business success.
Consequently the first step you will need to take is to complete an application form before I can definitely confirm that you will be coached by me or an associate of my company. It is so important that we establish this point from the onset. Some of our partners offering e-commerce solutions also offer similar selective approaches in people they mentor or coach.
Coaching Programme- Whats on offer
- 1. Business Success System Coaching Program is a level four programme on our membership site- click here – Level Four Membership Programme. If you are looking for a shorter programme, do contact me directly to discuss your needs.
- 2. Blog Mastermind Coaching Programme l will teach you how to supercharge your blogging learning from the expert. Click here to find out more.
Software
March 6, 2010
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We help small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs grow
March 6, 2010
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We help small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs grow their sales and profit by more than 20% each year – Our clients consistently achieve extraordinary increase a mind-blowing surge in sales income and profit ………read our superb testimonials & success stories Dear Friends, Whether you are looking for support to prepare a business plan, financial forecast, marketing plan, strategies, tenders for contracts and organisational policies, BSS is here to support your business. Have you ever wondered why some businesses are growing significantly whilst others are lagging. Have you ever wondered where you can find well respected expert business advisors and business consultants with proven track record of helping clients to achieve extraordinary financial results. Here, at BSS Management Consultancy, we are proud to inform you that we can help you grow your income and profits so that you can achieve your business goals. Whether you are just starting in business or have been running a small or medium sized business, we can support you to improve your sales revenue and bottom line results. If you are currently dissatisfied with the results of your business and need a high quality consultancy support from a business with a proven record inorder to achieve your desired results then read on…………. BSS Management Consultancy is a company that cares about its customers and proactively seek to understand clients’ needs so that support can be tailored to accomplish the outcomes clients are looking for. We only work with businesses that are committed to make the changes required to accomplish their goals. We employ unique approaches in the delivery of our services which accounts for our numerous successes. Our success is tied in directly to your success. In other words, we measure our success to extent that we can help your business to accomplish its desired outcomes. For that reason, there may be times when we will decline working with a business, although we anticipate this to be the exception as opposed to the norm. Our consultancy services can be summarised under two broad headings. · Business Start Up Consultancy
· Business Growth Consultancy We offer support in the development and implementation of : · Strategic business plans · Marketing plans · Marketing and sales strategies · Financial plans- including cash flow forecasts · Financial management systems including budgeting and management accounts and financial statements · Business finance · Tendering for public sector contracts · People management · Personal development and leadership Whether you are looking for support in writing a business plan or you need expert templates on how to write a business plan, BSS is here to support your needs. The key to your business success with us lies in you implementing our recommendations with our support as appropriate. Here are some of our success stories.
As part of our consultancy services, we execute a thorough diagnostic review and produce an action plan for improvement, within one week of the review. We work with expert consultants, who are all qualified and have substantial experience in this area of work. As part of our services, we offer clients templates for putting together their business plans, marketing plans, marketing strategies, policies for tendering for contracts and much more. We support our clients in every way we can to ensure they accomplish their desired goals. We expect that clients will implement plans agreed with us because all of the success stories mentioned above were only achieved when clients implemented our recommendations. Here are some of the benefits you accomplish when you choose to work with BSS Management Consultancy.
· Your customer satisfaction rate will increase · As customer satisfaction rate and retention rate increase, so will their demand for your services, as well as word of mouth referrals · Strategies for product and market diversification plan will inevitably lead to increase in sales, as better marketing plans are developed and implemented. · A surge in sales income and profitability is ultimately the end game for our clients and this is the key outcome you will gain · Improved staff satisfaction rate and staff retention rate · Improved income collection rate as monies owed to the business are managed efficiently due to better credit control systems · Boost in the financial efficiency rate When it comes down to it, what you need is all of the above benefits and more. Our promise to you is that we will seek to understand the best outcomes you are looking for and then develop strategies and implementation plan for the accomplishment.
Now you know how we can help your business. Pick up your phone now and Contact us today on 0845 226 4315 and you will get a free 15 minutes consultation with one of our consultants. |
Business Management & Leadership Skills
March 6, 2010
Are you wondering why many women in business or black entrepreneurs are finding it challenging to start or grow their businesses successfully?
Do you know that numerous researches have identified that women and black businesses need a far greater support in:
• Business management
• Interpersonal & leadership skills
Do you know that in spite of these findings more and more women are going into business? In fact, various researches have shown that women owned businesses are growing faster than men owned businesses. Moreover, black women in business are growing faster than any other ethnic groups in the UK and dare I say the USA. This is “Good News” and I for one I am happy I am around to see this.
The Bad News- the support available for women in business and black business owners is not always adequate and a lot more needs to be done in this area. Coaching, mentoring and flexible training solutions are far and few between when it comes to support for women in business and black businesses. True, we should be grateful for what is available and I will advocate gratitude in all things.
So, what can I do about this? Well given that I now know for a fact that only 5% of businesses are successful, whilst the remainder find themselves extinct or die a natural death with three years (if they are lucky), I have been researching what it is that the 5% of businesses do that the 95% do not do. I set out to study the best business minds and got mentored and coached by some of the top successful business owners, authors, investors and coaches. The truth is this; you cannot start a successful business without the key ingredients for business success. You need to know what these ingredients are; otherwise you run the risk of wasting your time and money and giving up in the end. This is where the coaching, mentoring, training and consultancy services you get from me is different. It is holistic and robust. It helps you build a successful business from the inside out. It saves you headache and pain and helps you to bring the best out.
Take a look at my testimonials and you will see what people say about me. There are various products you can immediately access through this site. You can also attend our workshop events, tele-seminars or opt for online or face-to-face coaching.
Products:
1. Have you got what it takes to become an entrepreneur? – Entrepreneurial Indicator Test – Learn about the qualities and characteristic of successful entrepreneurs and practical strategies for developing these qualities. You also have immediate access to a self-assessment toolkit that you can complete and assess yourself against, using the results of the assessment to put together your personal development plan.
2. Developing the foundation for business success” is a great audio resource that will help you learn the core foundation underpinning the success of all businesses that have made fortune in monetary terms. You learn how to identify your passion, mission and vision and take steps to achieve them
3. How to generate, develop and protect you business ideas will show you how the mind works, strategies for boosting your creativity, tools you can use to fast track your creative powers, how to protect your business ideas from intellectual property theft and more.
4. My Business Is My Business is a great book that has been endorsed by millionaires who have personally taught me what they do differently from others. Now you can learn the secret of the millionaires.
5. To fast track your business, you want to become a member of my club where you get to learn a wealth of skills to help develop yourself and your business for accelerated growth. Go to http://www.bssleaningcenter.com
6. For personal development skills, http://www.bsslearningcenter
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