So you want to start a business, or perhaps you have started a business and you feel like your business has hit a stalemate. As a business owner, it’s important to know that each and every business is subject to three stages: birth, growth and death. Without this knowledge it will be very difficult to develop and maintain a thriving business. If you cannot identify the stages, you run the risk of getting stuck or falling victim to an early end of your business. Let’s look at each stage and talk a little about how they will effect your thriving business.

Phase 1 – Birth

According to Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1), birth is any coming into existence; origin; beginning: the birth of an idea.

You’ve come up with an idea for a business and now you need to know what to do to make it come to fruition. Perhaps it isn’t an actual business you are trying to develop, but a new idea for your business to make it even better.

During the “birth” stage, you will need to do a lot of research and make various business decisions.

- What type of business will you have?

o Sole Proprietorship – This is the most common form of small business ownership. The liability of the owner is unlimited.
o Partnership – This is a legal relationship between two or more persons contractually associated as joint principals in a business.
o Corporation – This is where your company actually forms its own legal entity separate from you. There are many types of Corporations and it is best to do the research to ensure that you establish a Corporation that is best for both you and your business.

- What type of pricing are you going to have for your products or services?

- What type of financing, if any, is your business or venture going to need?

o Grants
o Loans

- Along with what type of financing, how much financing is your business or new venture going to require?

- What type of marketing or networking are you going to do so that word gets out about your business or venture?

- What type of internal operating procedures is your business going to require?

Phase 2 – Growth

The growth of your business, of course, is something that is very important. According to Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1), growth is of or denoting a business, industry, or equity security that grows or is expected to grow in value over a long period of time.

To grow your business, you need to make sure that you’ve decided on a target market (your preferred client) and your niche (the product/service you’re going to be offering). You need to locate your core client and then, from there, create new clients.

To create new clients, you may need to expand/diversify what you have to offer. Continue your education by:

- reading books
- attending seminars
- attending some college courses

By continuing your education, you will not only be learning, you will be learning various ways to expand/diversify your business.

As I’ve said before, you might also want to look at writing special reports or eBooks to add to your products.

And now…

Phase 3 – Death

According to Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1), death is extinction; destruction.

Indications that your business is dying could be:

- a drop in sales
- loss of profit
- competitors taking clients

Remember if your business is not in the birth or growth phase, it must be dying. To try to keep your business thriving, there are a few things you can do to avoid the death phase:

- Re-do your business plan
o Take a look at your business plan and see what changes can be made to keep your business growing.

- Reduce benefits
o If you have employees, you may want to look at their salaries, benefits and perks.
* Your employees may not be extremely excited that you’re taking benefits away from them or that they may not get a raise when they think they should, but they’ll also understand. They want to see your business stay alive and thrive just like you.

- Add competent personnel
o I know I just mentioned cutting costs and reducing benefits, but one thing you should also look at is your personnel and/or subcontractors. Make sure that the individuals you have employed or hired are competent enough to handle the tasks they are given.

To assist you with these questions and stages of your business, you can also look at http://www.sba.gov or http://strategis.ic.gc.ca. Another thing you can do for your thriving business is to purchase The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Thriving Business to assist you along the way.

I was recently visiting a blog 37 Days to Live where the author spoke of what you would do if you only had 37 days to live. It took me no time to reflect on this as my answer was quite simple; I would spend as much time with my husband and my children enjoying life as I could. I would certainly not be worrying about what would happen to my business and thanks to the preparations I have put in place including setting up my manual I would not have to worry about what happened to my business.

In business, just as in life, we are subject to the three phases of life: birth, growth and death. So, bottom line, if we are not growing you must be dying. What things have you put in place for your business to make sure that it never dies? If you knew you only had 37 days to live, would those days be spent worrying about your business and what would happen to it once you were gone? Would you care? Is there a legacy that you are trying to leave for someone else? You have worked very hard to give your business birth and to allow it to grow and prosper to where it is today so what exactly have you done to prevent it’s death and to truly create a thriving business?

Dear Affiliates of The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Thriving Business:

Are you looking for some extra spending money for the upcoming holiday season? Until December 31st, as an affiliate of The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Thriving Business, I am going to give you a whopping 50% for each and every sale that you make through your affiliate link. That is $25 for each and every sale you make!!

So how can you promote my book? Here are just a few ideas:

• Blog about my book on your personal or business blog (use the buttons or links already created on your affiliate tools webpage).

• Include an article in your next newsletter or blog post about why someone should create a Thriving Business. (An article with your affiliate link has already been created on your affiliate tools webpage).

• Add a resource button in your newsletter, on your webpage or in your marketing materials.

• Send a notice to your subscriber list about my book.

So good luck, and I will make it my personal guarantee that any books you sell prior to December 15th are paid no later than the 19th of December in plenty of time for some holiday shopping. (Note: any sales made after December 15th will be paid the first week of January as usual).

Thanks again and happy promoting!!

Yvonne Weld
Author – “The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Thriving Business”

P.S. If you are not yet an affiliate of my book, here is the link to become an affiliate:

Affiliate Program for The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Thriving Business

When you market to a client, it is imperative that you answer the question “What’s in it for me?” (WIIFM) because, let’s face it, we are in a society where we have been conditioned to take care of Number 1 first (and why not … we all deserve that!!). If you want your potential client to take a serious look at the service or product you are offering, they need to know that they are going to get some value from purchasing from you. Even more importantly they need to be reminded constantly of the value they are continuing to receive.

Marketing Materials
The very first place that your client will be looking to answer WIIFM, even before they agree to do business with you, is within your marketing materials. If the front page of your website does not speak to their pain or entice them to look further, you have lost your opportunity. If your business card doesn’t quickly explain to a client what you do and why they need you, you have lost your opportunity. If your 30-second infomercial, doesn’t tell that potential client why they can’t live without you, you have lost your opportunity.

Give your potential client a reason to keep looking and to keep listening. Speak to their pain and answer how you can ease that pain. Tired of suffering from backaches? You need a chiropractor. Struggling with paperwork? You need a Virtual Assistant. Don’t know a debit from a credit? You need a bookkeeper. Make sure all your marketing materials and your infomercial answer your client’s questions and entice them to want to hear and/or read more. Keep them excited and interested in what you are going to offer them to make their life easier.

Making the Sale
So you’ve gotten the potential client to hear how you can make their life easier and they are interested in what your product or service has to offer them. Now what? Now it is time to close the sale and “seal the deal” as they say. When you are “closing the sale”, make sure that you ask probing questions that you know your product or service can solve. Be ready and know ahead of time what the usual objections are to your product or service and then answer the questions before they are asked. Give the client every reason to know that they cannot live without your product or service because life with your product or service is going to be so much better. Paint them a picture of how life will be once they make that purchase.

Service and/or Product’s Value
So the client has agreed to make the purchase … now is the time to make sure that your product or service delivers. Make sure that you deliver on every promise you have made. This is the best way to get your clients talking about you and referring others to your product or service. A client is more likely to talk to others about a product or service that has made their lives better, easier or more exciting. If your product or service excites, eases or enhances, then you are sure to get your clients talking.

When you answer your client’s question “What’s in it for me” they will be sure to spread that word when they hear of other’s with that same question. If you take it one step further by following up and thanking that client for their business you will truly create a thriving business and even more importantly a base for referrals!!

So I have now completed one week of my Get Client’s Now program and thought I would check in with you to let you know my progress …

Unfortunately I didn’t complete all of the tasks that I wanted to complete this week, but I am happy to say that I am making progress. Even though not every task was completed, I did sell a book this week!!!!!!!!!!!!

So 25% of my goal has been accomplished which I am very proud of!!

So what are you doing to safeguard your business?

I am sure that you have a business insurance policy and possibly an alarm installed to keep unwanted visitors out (at the very least you have a lock on your door). You’ve taken the steps to grow a thriving business and all your hard work is beginning to pay off, but is your business truly safeguarded?

What if tomorrow you were on the way to work and you were in a serious car accident? Would your staff know how to operate your business in the same manner as you would? Would they know how to contact your clients, produce your products, provide the services you provide exactly as you would? Do you even have staff to contact your clients? Let’s say you find out you are going to be gone for an extended period of time … what areas of your business will be in danger? How long will it take before your business suffers in your absence?

Perhaps you work in your home and you are thinking I don’t have to worry about that, but what if a loved one was diagnosed with a serious illness. How much time could you take away from your business before it would begin to suffer? Could you make being with your loved one your top priority?

So, I ask again, have you safeguarded your business? Could your business thrive if you were not in the drivers seat?

The answer is simple … you need to take the time to document your business. You need a business manual that sets out your day to day operations, procedures and processes. By writing out the processes and having step by step instructions available as to how you manage every single aspect of your business from answering the telephone right up to product or service delivery, you will enable yourself to be able to step away in an emergency. Every single aspect of your business needs to be included and documented no matter how mundane or simple you think the task. Make sure that anyone reading your business manual could describe your business or step in and run your business in your absence.

I know the task seems overwhelming, but it is one of the most important things you can do for your business to ensure that it will truly be safeguarded against any eventuality that could arise.

If you need help in creating your business manual, you need to check out the book that I wrote, The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Thriving Business. This book will give you the necessary tools to document your business. You don’t have to think through every task you perform as the questions are all there for you ready to be filled out in a simple to use workbook. This workbook is included with your manual and will assist you to document every aspect of your business.

Good luck!!

One of the things I love to do with my spare time is internet research. As I posted earlier this week, I am working the Get Client’s Now 28 day program. In that blog entry, I stated that I was going to be finding blogroll sites. Well, thanks to my friend Patty Dost I was given a few links and boy did I hit the jackpot.

Here are some really great business blog listing sites:

I Blog Business
All Business
Blogflux - Business Blogs
Small Business Blog Directors

While researching the last blog site, I came across Virtual Business Connection and was amazed at the tricks that she has on her site. So today’s blogroll entry is going to Cynthia Morse. Thanks Cynthia for all your great resources. To my faithful blog readers, you should really check out her blog.

When I first started my Virtual Assistant business I thought I was pretty savvy and well informed of what technology and the internet had to offer. Wow was I surprised to know that I really didn’t know anything!

Every day I am hearing of a new and easier way to provide a service for my clients. How do I accomplish this? It is easy, I stay informed. I belong to association forums such as VANA, CVAN and the REV where I am continually learning and reading of new and interesting technologies that are available to make life easier. I research and ask questions and I am always on the lookout for ways to enhance my services.

Finally, I am never afraid to ask for help. If I can’t figure something out or if I am not 100% sure how to do something I can ask many of my friends and associates and I guarantee one of them has a solution for me. It is in keeping with these simple steps that I am able to maintain my thriving business.

So what can you be doing to keep yourself informed and on the “cutting edge” of your industry?

As small business owners, we seem to want our marketing campaigns to work overnight. We open our doors to our new business and just expect that the Clients will line up to do business with us. However, this is most definitely not the case in most situations.

So what are you doing to attract clients? More importantly, what systems do you have in place to ensure you are spending your marketing dollars wisely? If you have a website what are you doing to ensure people are finding it? Do you take the time and steps necessary to draw the traffic to your website? If you are networking, what are you doing to ensure that you are just not another face at the networking event? Do you take the time to establish relationships? If you are relying on word of mouth what steps have you taken to ensure that your clients are talking? Do they even know that you want them to talk about you?

It is fine and dandy to establish a good marketing plan, but please, please ensure that you have a good evaluation plan in place as well to make sure that your marketing dollars are not wasted and you have truly taken the steps to grow a thriving business.

To keep yourself ahead of your competition and to keep your business staying fresh, it is important to keep up-to-date with your training and continually be gaining knowledge. Being a business owner, you no longer have an employer to offer the benefit of various training opportunities. You have to find them yourself.

You don’t have to sit in a classroom to gain knowledge. There is a variety of ways.

Online Training
If you Google “free online courses”, you will find over 1 million hits. This gives you the opportunity to sit at home and learn. It was interesting to see that you can learn just about anything from business topics to fun and games. Some of the courses you find will offer Continued Education Units (CEUs). This would help in getting that certificate or degree you have been working on. Some sites to look at would be:

- Free and Affordable Distance Education (http://www.docnmail.com/)
- Hewlett-Packard Online Courses (http://www.hp.com)
- Small Business Administration (http://www.sba.gov)
o Note: SBA has now joined Trump University for a few items.
- About.com – AboutU (http://u.about.com/)
- Business Week (http://www.bwcourses.com)

You might also check to see if a local university or community college offers online courses.

When searching through the online courses, don’t just look at courses to help you out. You may find some great courses to assist your clients too. This could be a value-added benefit your clients just might appreciate. You may even want to check these courses out for yourself.

Conventions/Seminars
There are a variety of online and offline conventions and seminars where you can gain valuable training. You should look at conventions and seminars that will not only assist in gaining knowledge, but also see if there are some that your competitors may be showing their products or services. You may just want to go as an attendee or you may want to participate and have a booth yourself. By having a booth, you are not only showing your products or services to potential clients, you can also learn if there is something more you can offer them. Individuals are always asking questions. What better way to find out what someone is looking for?

Trade Magazines
Another way to stay on top of things is to subscribe to and read trade magazines. Now, don’t only subscribe to magazines for your trade. Subscribe to your target markets magazines too. You never know what interesting tid-bits of information you may find. Since Google is our friend, try doing a search for “trade magazines” or even “free trade magazines”. Listed below are a few that might be of interest to you:

- Free Trade Magazine Source (http://www.freetrademagazinesource.com)
- All You Can Read (http://www.allyoucanread.com)
o Note: This site also lists newspapers that might be of interest.
- TradePub.com (http://www.tradepub.com)
o Note: This site also lists white papers/reports, downloads and podcasts/webinars

Newsletters
Subscribe to competitors newsletters, newsletters that your target market would subscribe to, or newsletters that would assist in growing your business. You never know what you might learn.

Online Forums
Become a member of online forums where your target market and your competitors hang out. Read through the forums to learn what is going on. Create relationships with other like-minded professionals so that you can develop a support network for learning and growing.

Learning never hurt anyone. As the saying goes “We learn something new each day.” By continuing to increase your knowledge, your potential for helping your clients increases and you will have truly created a thriving business.