Basic Tips for Starting a Business

In today’s business world, succeeding in a new venture can be quite challenging and demands adequate planning. As a rule, you should always have a business plan before venturing into any business. Decide early on how you would like your business to operate. Do you want sole proprietorship, partnership or limited company? If you are a small business owner, you should opt for the first. This is less complicated and requires no paperwork. A simple business plan will primarily include your business structure, an executive summary, products and services, market analysis, marketing strategy, management summary, Business Insurance and financial analysis.

Decide early on how you intend to finance the new business and keep it going. This requires some financial planning on your part. Learn to control your expenses. Note that you will most likely encounter unforeseen expenses along the line and as such you should make provision for this so that you don’t get stuck along the way. Incorporating a 5year plan will help ensure you do not run out of steam along the way. Your financial plan should be incorporated into your overall business plan.

Research your business thoroughly. Identify potential pitfalls and learn to avoid them from the word go. In essence, learn from other peoples mistakes. Seek insurance for your business or business items to avoid telling a bad story. Plan every step of the way before you even start. This includes full investment and expense planning as well as contingency plans.

Grab as much literature on your proposed business as possible. This will also help in ensuring that you keep your knowledge up to date and may even provide new knowledge on innovations that you had no previous knowledge about. Have an excellent marketing strategy and don’t forget to employ the tool of advertising. You want to reach as many prospects as possible within your identified niche area. Advertising can be a powerful tool that keeps you in business.  After all, the more people you reach, the greater your chances for consummating and the greater your chances of being successful in your business.

Valentine Okolo

To get the course "Basics of Starting a New Business" please click the course image or, please visit the Braincert LMS at https://www.braincert.com/course/The-Basics-of-Starting-a-New-Business

Has the fight against terrorism become a permanent source of income for government officials?

The increasing spread of terrorism in our world today is both appalling and indeed alarming. President Good luck Jonathan of Nigeria was reported to have told the UN general assembly this week that 13,000 lives have been lost to the terrorist group Boko-haram over the years in Nigeria. In Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Pakistan, and in recent times Kenya amongst others, terrorism has been on the rise and it would appear there is no immediate end in sight. Whilst the efforts of these countries and their foreign counterparts in fighting terrorism may appear commendable, it does appear that some unscrupulous elements would rather not see this scourge go away too quickly.

Take Nigeria for example, huge sums of money are being budgeted and spent annually on security. It is widely known that such funds are a good way to launder money and foster corruption if not properly checked. Nobody wants to speak about how security funds are spent, or at least, not in the public domain. If this is the case, then it is no surprise that a state of insecurity is bound to favor elements within the government as well as individual contractors who benefit from these huge security votes in the purchase of security hardware, rehabilitation of victims of insecurity and the securing of territories prone to attacks. It is one thing to budget and allocate for security whilst it is another to ensure that security votes are used exactly as appropriated. As such, the national assembly must not shy away from the responsibility of probing how security votes are spent.

Another issue puzzles me. Nigerian officials say that the US will not sell arms to it because of certain unfavorable human rights reports leveled against it. If this is the case, then someone needs to explain to me how logical it is that terrorists who kill indiscriminately do have access to arms and ammunition (whatever their sources) while a seating government is denied military hardware needed to fight them. This is not to say that i do support human rights abuses, but there should be other ways to checkmate these abuses if proven right. In fact, countries serious about fighting this menace need to tighten border controls to stop arms and ammunition from reaching terrorists and effectively cut off their sources of financing. I understand that identifying and blocking sources of financing is a heinous task, but governments need to be seen to be sincerely and assiduously working towards achieving this.

Whilst it may be too harsh to presume that seating government officials or elements within it will allow insecurity thrive for financial gains, governments must recognize that the fight against terrorism presents a full time business opportunity to many within and outside it. It must be seen to be transparent in the vote and usage of security funds whilst understanding that lives depend on it and that monies wasted could have been properly channeled into other productive sectors of their economies.

How do you get a prospective customer that would never buy from you to do so?

An insurance agent walked into my office one day and offered to sell me a life policy. I politely explained to him that I didn’t need the policy, not because I already had one, I didn’t just want to. From the look on his face, this salesman was finding it difficult to understand why a young educated chap like me wouldn’t want a life policy. What he didn’t know was that I had been badly hurt in the past by an insurance company that corned me out of my hard earned money by holding unto the supposed interest promised me as well as about half the principal amount i invested in the policy. They claimed I was being charged administrative charges. How an insurance company could claim half a customer’s principal as administrative charge never seems to baffle me.

After several failed visits and because I had fallen in love with the charisma of the salesman, I carefully explained to him why I would never buy his policy or any other life policy for that matter.

Reflecting on this realization, it occurred to me that there must be others like me out there. Customers who had been badly hurt by companies in the past and have made up their minds never to patronize a product or a service provider again.

Here comes my question: 

*Is there anything that can be done to get such customers to buy again?

*Is it a fact that some companies operating within an industry unknowingly De-market potential customers to themselves and to other players within the same industry?

*How would you get a potential customer that has sworn never to buy from you again to do so? Or is it safe to assume that such customers can never be won back?

My humble take on the matter is this:

Customers who have been badly burnt are a pretty hard nut to crack, or at least, it may take a pretty long, persistent effort to win them back. A salesman would have to place a premium on how much he is willing to sacrifice to win a potential customer. He will have to consider the perceived potential earnings from such customer, the cost of winning the customer, the time and effort as well as resources needed, and the time effort that may be lost from long persistent visits that could have been used to gain other potential customers that may be easier to acquire. One thing I know for sure is that such customers when won will most possibly be your most loyal customer. They also have the potential to win customers for the company.

 

Valentine Okolo

Understanding Customer Behavior - Part 2

Customer behavior relates to how individuals and organizations select, buy, use and dispose of goods and services to satisfy their needs and wants. Customer buying behavior is influenced by a number of factors which include cultural, social and personal factors. 

Social Factors:

Social factors which affect customer buying patterns include reference groups, family, social roles and status.

Reference Groups:

Reference groups may have direct or indirect influence on a customer’s behavior. Groups having a direct influence include family, friends, neighbors and co-workers. Relationships with sub groups tend to be informal and continuous. However, groups having an indirect influence on a customer’s behavior include religious groups, professional groups etc. Interactions with such groups tend to be more formal in nature. Reference groups have the power to influence members to adopt new behaviors, lifestyles and attitudes. Influencing the group’s opinion leaders is a good way to exercise control over members of the group.

 Family:

Family members are arguably the most influential group on a customer’s behavior. As people are born and they grow, the family they belong to plays an important role in influencing their attitude towards society. Buying patterns are also greatly influenced by one’s spouse and children as well as the social status of the family. The likes and dislikes of individual members of a family have the power to influence the buying patterns of other members in the family.  For instance, mothers are traditionally known to influence buying patterns where food items are concerned. Also children may sometimes play an important role in influencing which recreational centers the family visits. Identifying who is most interested in a product within a family and purposefully influencing that person or group can help influence the buying patterns of the entire members of the family.