Challenges for the Small Business Owner
From a survey of 1000 sole proprietors, the top challenges for them included:
1) The inability to focus on generating new business
2) Spreading time across multiple projects or roles
3) Limited resources
4) Running their business more efficiently
5) Not having enough time to focus on own passions
When you work alone or with a small group of people it is easy to be distracted. There are so many items that seem important and it is hard to know which ones to ignore. It seems like “that one might be the one” and so you pursue it until a dead end appears. Unfortunately, your time and financial resources get stretched even further.
Gurus tend to be a distraction more than offering value. Everyday it seems like experts surface with the solutions to your problems. It is difficult to evaluate all this knowledge and know when to leave it alone. Until you have been through it you just don’t know when new ideas or knowledge will help you. Experience does matter. One idea for evaluation: if the guru is selling something that is going fix your problem quickly and improve your bottom line, you can safely move on without a second thought.
There are professional groups that can help such as SCORE, the Small Business Administration, college business schools and your local chamber of commerce. These organizations give you a chance to ask questions and to learn how to ask questions that may help you analyze if the “new knowledge” is valuable or just re-hashed time wasters.
Most importantly, research, learn and be prepared before you start your business. If you start with a clear direction you are less likely to be distracted by the daily bombardment of ideas that will capture your time. In doing your homework beforehand you may also discover a key voice or someone who will be your mentor through the process. Think about it: in nearly every successful business story there has been two people that work together to develop their ideas, support and help each other resist the temptation to be distracted.
What is a Generation Y?
Baby Boomers, Generation X and now Generation Y; who are these people? Baby Boomers represent the graying of
Generation X are the kids of Baby Boomers that were going to bring new thinking and direction to American society. Generation X are the people who are going to take care of the environment, the poor and homeless and keep society strong.
Generation Y are people born between 1982 and 2000, who are influencing the consumer habits of families. These are the kids were born to shop and are influencing their parents as to what is “cool.” From a marketing and manufacturing standpoint, Generation Y picks products that will help them stand out among their peers.
For example, Gen Y may pick a certain brand name and heavily promote it to friends and family. It may be a computer, an MP3 player, sweaters, pants, shoes or cars. They will focus on this item to build their image. Gen Y may have the most expensive plasma TV but at the same time will buy clothes in thrift shops or via eBay. That person wants to be known for his or her TV.
In promoting or marketing your products or services to the Gen Y consumer, you need to rely on viral marketing and get some notoriety from Gen Y influencers. That group is the savvy consumer and they will help you gain access to other consumer groups.
The Blogosphere
According to research by USA Today, since March 2004, the blogosphere has doubled in size every 5 to 7 months and now has over 53 million blogs. Everyday nearly 2 blogs per second are created and there are 1.6 million daily postings or 66,600 per hour.
By language, 39 percent of blogs are written in English, 31 percent Japanese, 12 percent Chinese and 2 percent in Spanish. Only about 40 percent of bloggers (people who write blogs) tend to stay active for at least 3 months.
GROWTH <> LEADERSHIP <> EXCELLENCE
© 2006 3 Minute Learning LLC
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