Keep Moving Fourward Entrepreneurship Competition
Frank Carnevale, of Keep Moving Fourward, has an exciting announcement in this guest post for High School students intereseted in entrepreneurship. Take it away Frank…
Attention High School Students Nationwide…
The Keep Moving Fourward Entrepreneurship Competition is officially under way!
Have you ever thought about what you’re going to do with your life after high school or after yougraduate college?
Have you ever thought about working for yourself, while doing something that you love? Even if you haven’t, now is the perfect time for you to find out if being an entrepreneur is right for you!
The Competition has Two Main Goals?
1) To show high school students that they do not necessarily have to work for someone else for the rest of their lives… They do have another option: They can be an entrepreneur. In other words, they can be in business for themselves, doing something that they truly like (or hopefully, LOVE) doing.
2)To give the competition winner the tools necessary to successfully get their business idea off of the ground.
Where Should I Start?
“So what kind of business should I start though?” a student might ask. Well, what are some things that make you want to keep moving fourward? What are you passionate about? What subject or topic can keep you interested for hours on end? What kinds of things make you the happiest? Thinking this way plus constantly asking yourself good questions, will usually lead to an idea you can run with.
Other Questions to Get You In the Entrepreneurial Mindset
Here are some more questions one might ask themselves to get their entrepreneurial juices flowing:The point of all these questions is that one question will lead to another question, and another question,and another question. At the end of your series of questions lies some type of solution.
What is it about X that you love so much? Is there anything you could think of that would make you love X even more? If so, do you think it would do the same for other lovers of X?
What is the one thing that annoys you most about X? Why does it annoy you? Do you think it annoys others as well? What two things could you immediately do to make X less annoying? And so on…
Now for a dose of reality: Just because you’re passionate about something, and have a good idea related to it to pursue, does not necessarily mean that it would make a worthwhile business.
You need to also ask yourself whether the idea has the potential to generate revenue. Can this improvement on X put some money in your pocket? Can you make money consistently from a business in X? How much money will it take to get X going?
Ready To Get Started?
Get the picture? Good, enough of these questions.
For more information on the competition, and to sign up, go to http://keepmovingfourward.com/.
If you have questions or comments please email me at: frank (at) gofourward.com
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21 Ways to Keep the Competition from Taking Your Business
Does it seem like the shop down the street always has more business than you do? Or that your consulting calendar has plenty of free space, but Rick Consultant is always booked. There are only four reasons this could be the case…and the following 21 points will help your business not only compete, but win.None of these areas are exclusive, and you will need to do all of them well in order to stop that flow of business to the competitors. Ready? Let’s get to it…
What four areas make you the provider of choice?
- Marketing
- Quality
- Value
- Simplicity
Marketing
- Realize all business owners are in the marketing business.
- If your competitors are getting the business, they are doing a better job at letting the target market know they exist.
- The #1 reason you aren’t getting the customers you deserve is that they don’t know about you yet.
- Spend time crafting a marketing plan that will reach your target market. Your messaging in your marketing materials should cover the three other main points below.
Quality
- Customers want quality plain and simple.
- They are going to your competitors because they perceive the quality to be better than what you provide.
- If what you provide is of superior quality, or your service is of superior quality to that of your competitors, it’s your job to make sure your target audience knows and understands that.
- Market yourself in such a way that customers immediately understand the quality you provide.
- Even better if you market yourself so that your customers understand the quality you provide in relation to the quality your competitors provide.
Value
- Right behind quality comes value. Give your customers value and they will buy from you
- Find ways to provide more value than your competitors
- Adding value does not mean discounting prices
- In fact, adding value usually doesn’t directly cost you anything
- If you add more perceived value you can sometimes raise your prices, get more business, and make more per customer
- Need an example? Offer 6 months free service on a product you sell. Most people will never take you up on it, you can probably charge the same or a little more than a competitor, and if they don’t offer such a service you take business from them
Simplicity
- Are you harder to do business with than your competitor?
- If yes, stop what you are doing right now and fix that!
- Simplicity works as a perceived value to your customers, and again doesn’t cost you anything
- Streamline your processes and procedures to the point they are seamless.
- Be easier than your competitor. Easier at what? Everything!
- Customers are in a hurry. Make it quicker to do business, quicker to pay, and quicker to benefit from your product, and you’ll get the business from slower competition
That’s it. If you market your services to your target market, then follow up with quality, value, and simplicity you’ll be able to redirect the flow of customers from the shop across the street to yours, and it will be Rick Consultant with all the free time on his hands.
Photo Credits: Jaminwell
