Don’t Go Into a Saturated Niche

I used to think this kind of advice went without saying, but as I see more and more crappy web hosting businesses popping up throughout the internet, I wonder just what people are thinking.  There are already soooooo many hosting businesses out there, the quality, and the crappy.  Most people are already with the good hosts, such as Bluehost, HostGator, LunarPages, and DreamHost.  So, what is the purpose of creating yet another business in a field that already has it’s share of crappy ones, especially if you are going to do a crappy job with yours.  If you are going to start a business, stick behind it, and put forth 100%, otherwise yous will end up in the gutter with the thousands of others that did the exact same thing that you did.  I mean, look, if you want to create a high quality web hosting business, with top notch customer service, by all means, please do it, but don’t overextend, and don’t give up.  Business is slow for all new businesses, it’s just cliff you have to climb, and you’ll never get to the top if you give up.

Most upstart businesses that die off real quick are in already saturated niches anyway, becuase there’s no concievable way for them to compete with the giants of the business.  So, what’s the solution?  Simple, find another niche.  There’s a ton of business opportunities out there, but you have to be willing to look around and find them.  Personally, I just found a great business idea, that I’m working on capitalizing.  Of course, it’s in a very unsaturated niche, where most of the businesses in it do a crappy job anyway.  This is the type of opportunity you need to look for.  If you can find something like this, you’ll be a rich man (or woman) down the line, because you found the demand, and created the supply for it.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to our RSS feed!

Don’t Overextend

If you’re local small business, you should stay local, and small.  especailly in this time of recession.  There are many businesses that are going out of business because they have overextended throughout the time of prosperity.  They started offering more, and more services, which became more, and more outside of their original scope.  A good example of this is Circuit City’s Firedog.  Needless to say Circuit City is out of business now, and no it’s not ALL because of Firedog, but one has to wonder how many people actually used their service.  So, if you’re a local bakery, it’s not in your best interest to advertise in newspapers outside of an hour or so.  If you’re running a web design business, it’s probably not a good idea to hire a coder, unless many people have asked you for coding services.  Just because you think it might be more convienient for your customers, you have to think about supply and demand.  If there’s no demand, don’t create the supply, because creating the demand is hard work, and it normally takes up time that you don’t have.  Instead, you should look at supplying the demand that’s out there, which is this case, is only your design.  Just remember, business is all about economics, which is all about supply and demand, there should only be a supply if there is a demand.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to our RSS feed!

4 Lessons Small Business Owners Should Learn

1.  Your entrepreneurial mindset, assuming you have one, is not just a different way of thinking, it’s the only way. Let me explain, if someone with an entrepreneurial mind sets out to start a business, by obviously solving a problem or many problems, their business will turn out better than someone just in it for the money who creates your standard corner bakery when there’s another one right across the street.  Entrepreneurs tend to have a personal brand, that complements every aspect of there life while not getting in the way of the business or corporation side of things.  This is very useful to have, especially when starting a business.

2.  Problem = Opportunity.  This is what entrepreneurs are all about.  This is how they are born.  They see problems, and create a solution for them.  This can come into play anywhere, in any situation, such as an employee creating a new file system that works specifically for one company, but works much more efficiently than the previous, standard filing system that was in place.  Right now, the hot thing is taxes, in America at least, so a lot of people are offering accounting services, not just those big businesses, but people who have taken classes in High School and College who are seeking to make money by solving a current problem.  Today, it’s taxes and accounting.  Tomorrow, it’ll probably be how to live greener, or something else on a popular topic.

We entrepreneurs also have a lot to thank huge corporations and organizations for.  Without them not addressing the real problems, we would have to find something else to do with our lives.  Instead, there are many problems, with rather simple solutions, which can be easily implemented, which have been created and neglected by these huge businesses.  So, thank you bureaucracy and huge businesses for creating problems that we can capitalize on and fix.

3.  Run straight at something, and don’t try to sidestep it. This is applicaple anywhere, and not just small business, but it is still great to mention.  If you quit your job because you hate it, I’m sorry to say, but you’re probably going to hate every job.  Now, of course, there’s special situations, such as myself, but in general someone who quits their first job because they hated it will quit their second, third, fourth, etc., because they hated them too.  Don’t use leaving your company as a chip on your shoulder to start your own business.  Sure, this will give you the initial motivation, and the drive, but once it starts becoming succesful, you will probably start to lose your drive, and it’s probably not because the buiness you are running isn’t for you, it’s because it isn’t you.  Entrepreneurs don’t fail slowly, and don’t fall easily, they either hit the ground at 100 mph, and become road kill, or bounce off the ground at 50 mph, and keep plugging away for that day of gratification in the far off future, so if you’re the kind that leaves marks on the road, you probably shouldn’t even start your own business.

4.  You’re different, not better, not worse.  With this mentality, you may see your world completely differently.  You don’t need to look at other businesses and compare yours to their necessarily, because this creates the illusion that you might need what they have, or they might need what you have.  While the business world is like that, I ask you not to make it like that for yourself.  You’ll be a lot more successful by putting things into perspective and focusing on yourself, not others.  Instead of comparing your earnings, at least compare your customer satisfaction rate, because along with that, comes more money.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to our RSS feed!

Why Your Business Should Use Google Apps

Google Apps, free web apps provided by google have become very popular for personal use, but not as much so for business use.  Why?  Well, this is mainly because most people think that they have to have a GMail, or GoogleMail, account in order to use these services, but they are wrong.

You can actually sign up for a Google ID without a GMail account, the only thing is, you won’t be able to use GMail to check and respond to the email you have on your domain, unless your host supports POP3 access to the select few ports that GMail offers.  For people and businesses who use BlueHost and other hosts like it, which use port 26, and an obscure SSL port, the option to simply use GMail isn’t available.

This is where Google Apps comes in.  You can sign up for a free account for your domain, which gives you Google Docs, Google Mail, Google Talk, and Google Sites, all on your domain.  This means you’ll be easily able to use GMail with your own domain to check and respond to all of your email.  The additions of Docs,  and GTalk are all pluses, because they allow you to collaborate with other people, whom you will be able to add account on your domain for.  The best part of all of this, is Google Apps for your domain is free up to your first 50 users, and for most small businesses, this is not a problem, but for those businesses who do need more users $50 per year isn’t all that much at all.  Plus, you’ll be getting top notch support from Google with any problems you might have, as they give you a telephone number to call, instead of waiting for email support in the free version.  Another thing I noticed is that you can’t use GMail Themes in Google Apps, but I’m hoping for that to change soon, once they become more stable.

There’s isn’t really much to setting up Google Apps, either, so if you’ve set up your own hosting, and have bought a domain, and know how to set nameservers, you’ll be able to set them up fine, and you’ll be up and running in no time.  Google does provide pretty clear instructions, and I was able to set it up even though they didn’t have specific instructions for BlueHost, and I by no means consider myself an expert.  So, what are you waiting for?  You can be using Gmail to read and respond to emails on your own domain today!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to our RSS feed!