YOUR ULTIMATE BUSINESS EDGE: Breaking the Boundaries That Bind You

Written by Denise Corcoran


Who are you? What business are you ***REALLY*** in? This is THE single most fundamental question you could ask if you seriously want to take your business torepparttar next level.

Too many businesses define themselves narrowly by what they do (eg., consultant, restaurant, dentist) rather than by what they know (core competencies) and by what they “own” (strategic assets).

For example, Disney does NOT define their business as “theme parks” (as most people might think), but rather as “three dimensional entertainment”.

Do you seerepparttar 106787 major difference between these two business definitions!!? The first is highly restrictive, whilerepparttar 106788 second is expansive and opens many new doors in terms of profit-generating opportunities.

That is why Disney’s success is everywhere!! Theme cruise ships, Broadway shows, mini-parks, retail stores and a host of other business ventures.

Let’s look at another example ... one you know very well. Mac Donalds.

What business do you think they are in? Big Macs? Nope.

The hamburger business?? Not even close. (They would never survive if they defined themselves as a hamburger business!!! Ugh!!)

Give up?? MacDonalds is inrepparttar 106789 business of ---- real estate ---- (they are experts in pickingrepparttar 106790 best locations) and ---- operational systems ---- (experts at highly perfected franchise systems).

12 Powerful reasons to start a web site for your business today

Written by Milana Nastetskaya


It's easy to build a Web site. Anyone can do it for little or no money. What is not easy is building a successful business with it. So how do you do it?

Start by asking yourself: "Why do I need a web site? What will it accomplish for my business?"

The biggest mistake you can make is to build a Web site that doesn't do anything for you. This may seem obvious, but too many companies build Web sites simply because they believe it would be neat, or because their competitors have one. Without a real purpose, a Web site is just a complete waste of time.

Byrepparttar way, there is always a good purpose for starting a web site - you just have to discover it. Just look at allrepparttar 106786 great things that will happen to you when you start your own web site:

- Your business will be open 24 hours a day. This means you won't have to stay open on Thanksgiving or Christmas day. If you live onrepparttar 106787 East Coast, people from California will still be able to shop in your store after you close. Any time someone wants to know your hours, location, directions, or any other details about your company, they can get it without disturbing you.

- Low staffing costs. When you have a web site, you can offer your products and services without hiring any extra employees. You won't have to spend any resources on compensating or insuring your new staff members and still be able to maintainrepparttar 106788 same level of sales and customer service.

- Gain thousands new customers. Because anyone inrepparttar 106789 world can see your web site, you will gain customers from other states and countries while you are putting inrepparttar 106790 same amount of effort and money.

- Create an image of a well established company. The Internet is a great medium through which you can create any image of yourself you want. It is all in your hands: design a professional web site, add helpful content, and your company will immediately take a step up inrepparttar 106791 image it represents. No matter how small your business is, withrepparttar 106792 right tools and a great desire you can make it look like a corporation onrepparttar 106793 Web!

- Save on postage and printing costs. Think of how many cards you mail out to let customers know about your sale. All of that can be eliminated by puttingrepparttar 106794 sale information on your web site and inviting your customers to visit it. You can collect your customers' E-Mail addresses and keep in touch with them about special events in your store via E-Mail.

- Unlimited advertisement. If you ever advertised in a local newspaper, you knowrepparttar 106795 costs. You are being charged per line, per inch, and per color. Onrepparttar 106796 Web, there is no limit to how much you can put. You can add pictures, articles, newsletters, rates, product images and so much more! With just one web site, you can have almost unlimited advertisement forrepparttar 106797 same low monthly cost (under $25 a month!)

- Improve communications. If you have employees or suppliers, your web site isrepparttar 106798 best way to communicate between you and them. Changes take effect as soon as you post them onrepparttar 106799 Web, and everyone can see updated information without having to wait for a new database of products, and without contacting you directly.

- Impeccable customer service. This is a dream of any entrepreneur: "buy my product and leave me alone". By this I mean that business owners do not like to spend time explaining to customers how to userepparttar 106800 product, how to install it, troubleshoot it, clean it, move it, turn it, and whatever else can be done to a purchased item.

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