The eBay Home Biz Acid TesWritten by Rob Spiegel
For those thinking of starting an Internet-based business, you're lucky to live in an age and country of immense possibility. You can launch from home with little capital. You can even test your idea part-time before quitting your day job. The task of launching will require some imagination, research and willingness to adapt to a market, but it doesn't require nearly risk business start-ups required in recent past.Launching a business used to be a monster task. When I started a publishing business in mid-1980s, launching an enterprise involved raising capital, finding investors, buying equipment, leasing office space, hiring employees, developing a marketing plan, creating and implementing sales strategies, developing fulfillment operations and filling out tons and tons of paperwork. If you did everything right and ran into a streak of good luck, you had about a one in four chances for success. The 1980s were a good time for business start-ups compared to earlier periods when prospects for small business success were dim indeed. There was a point in early 1970s when business academics predicted end of small business. With development of chain retailers and with mass manufacturing of consumer and industrial goods firmly in hands of large corporations, there was little room in American economy for a small company. Then came niche market. Whether it was gourmet food products, natural fabric clothes, or special interest magazines, consumers showed a willingness to buy highly specialized products that fell into corners too small for large manufacturing and distribution. Enterprising niche marketers were able to identify and serve specialized groups of fly fishers, hot sauce collectors and heirloom-seed gardeners who were willing to pay a premium for specialized products. An explosion of small niche companies sprang up to serve these high-end consumers. The key to niche marketing was highly specific expertise. In most cases, proprietors of niche businesses were fellow enthusiasts who were part of niche community. These entrepreneurs knew how to find their customers and knew how to serve them because they were one of them. Yet these small companies still had burden of creating catalogs and building shipping operations, not to mention investing heavily in direct mail lists and postage.
| | Playing "Follow The Leader" - The Downfall Of Many EntrepreneursWritten by Noel Peebles
A good education is always a good start in life, but think about this for a moment:Most formal schooling prepares us to work for others. If we are good at following school rules and what teacher says, then we will probably do okay in job world too. Success in job world, just like at school, depends on how good you are at playing game of "follow leader." When your boss says jump - you say how high? Just like at school, boss tells you when to show up, imposes acceptable standards of dress and performance, sets assignments and deadlines etc. If you behave yourself at school, try hard and do your homework on time, then you are rewarded with good marks, good report cards, good friends, certificates, camps, vacations, trophies and special recognition for outstanding achievement. The job world is no different. You are rewarded with a wage or salary, commissions, promotions, fringe benefits, bonuses, satisfying work, friendships, training programs, vacations and special recognition for jobs well done. In short, if you were good at playing "follow leader" at school, you'll probably be good at playing follow leader in job world too. Don't get me wrong. I'm not knocking "working for someone else." I'm just making a point - to be successful in job world, you need to be a good follower and a good team player. This sense of belonging and security suits most people just fine. However, working for someone else is nothing like being an entrepreneur and boss of your own business. This is where many "new-comers" in business become horribly unstuck.
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