The success of a small business depends upon a steady stream of good customers. To build that stream of customer a business owner must examine five critical points in their business operations. This is first in a series of five articles that examines those critical points.

Target Your Customers---The Key to Your Success

The heart of every small business is getting a steady stream of good customers. Other things can be less than perfect with your business, but without a steady stream of good customers, your business will eventually die.

If you worry about getting more customers to your business, you are not alone. The stress and worry of getting enough good customers is number one reason small business owners lose sleep. (As a small business owner, you already feel this!)

The surest way to move your business to next level is to focus on “who” is your customer. Who is going to open their wallets to buy your product or services?

I know you have heard this before and you may even be tempted to stop reading this article. Do not stop!

If you make a mistake about your target population or if you don’t fully understand critical details about your target population, you are building your business on sand. No amount of product quality; no amount of customer service; no amount of sale skills can overcome wrong target population for your business. They will not buy because they are wrong customers.

If you need more evidence, look at large corporations. They spend millions of dollars doing market research, creating focus groups, testing their markets and profiling potential customers. They do this before they begin doing product development or before they roll out a new product or service. They are successful because they understand and know their target customers.

Lack of Money and Time!

1. When you make your first sale, follow-up with customer. You could follow-up with a "thank you" email and include an advertisement for other products you sell. You could follow-up every few months.

2. You could upsell to your customers. When they're at your order page, tell them about a few extra related products you have for sale. They could just add it to their original order.

3. Tell your customers if they refer four customers to your web site, they will receive a full rebate of their purchase price. This will turn one sale into three sales.

4. When you sell a product, give your customers option of joining an affiliate program so they can make commissions selling your product. This will multiply sale you just made.

5. Sell reprint/reproduction rights to your products. You could include an ad on or with product for other products you sell. You could make sales for reproduction rights and sales on back end product.