Established Business Plan

When Ren first began running his own business he questioned the importance of the “soft stuff,” like business planning. But as he grew and ran into glitches in the beginning, he took a step back and created a plan. Ren found the clarity this provided was crucial for identifying issues and moving his business to the next level. Now, Ren reviews and tweaks his business plans regularly. Have you created a business plan? How has it helped you?

Marketing Well Spent?

When your business is just starting up, how you spend money marketing can be critical to the success of your business. It is important to focus your marketing dollar on the locations and demographics where it will have the most impact.

What have you learned through your experiences with marketing? Have you ever dealt with a business that was ill-equipped to handle a particular operation, even if they advertised they specialized in that service?

Prospecting

Cold calling is without question, not the most effective method for finding prospective. : In this week’s program, Ren discusses The Prospecting Toolkit by Jacques Werth. Jacques’ Toolkit helps identify methods of improving current prospecting, what to do when a potential client ignores messages, and the importance of persistence.

What are some suggestions you can offer in regards to prospecting to your fellow business owners? Does cold calling work for your business? Have you ever purchased a product or service from a cold caller? What was your experience?

Target Acquisition

Acquiring a new business is one way to grow your business quickly. Ren talked about the importance of targeting the correct acquisitions to properly fit into your business in terms of size, geography, price, and industry. Knowing which businesses NOT to buy is just as important as knowing which businesses to buy.

What are some of the criteria you have used when considering acquiring a business? What are some of signs you might want to look elsewhere?

Making a Successful Business

The Business Reality Network is all about how to begin and run a successful business. In this week’s program, Ren discusses the common traits he has noticed personally that make a business successful. As a guideline, the BRN will be providing a list of Bob Parson’s “16 Traits of a Successful Business” in this week’s newsletter.

Do you have the magic recipe for creating a successful business? Have you seen family members or people you know make critical errors in running their businesses?

Strategic Marketing

A business without a strategic marketing plan is akin to a ship without a rudder. A wise entrepreneur will use and update his or her plan regularly as the business grows and changes. Ren spends the hour talking about the benefits and importance of reviewing both your short term and long term goals and revising where you are and where your business is headed.

What benefits have you seen from developing a strategic marketing plan for your business?

The "R" Word's Back

You hear it everywhere; our country is in a recession. Ren talks about what you can do to drive sales and make your business profitable even in tough times. He also talked about if your culture is focused on the downturn in the economy, it can affect every aspect of an entrepreneur’s business if they let it.

Are you finding that your business has come upon hard times and you feel you have the economy to blame? What are you doing to help your business stay alive in this difficult market?