When you think about it carefully, all that marketing stuff is really based upon your knowing Who cares about your product or service? and why? You need to know what Motivates your client to buy your product or service and then you need to leverage that information throughout your business and definitely in your Marketing Collateral.

If your customer needs a widget, that might be good business for someone, but generally speaking, that will not create and drive a viable Niche market for most small businesses - that Niche should be something the customer really and truly wants, desires or dreams about and is motivated to part with hard earned money to buy.

Customers typically will only part with their money if they need to or want to and your business should choose to target that niche market where the customer WANTS to, or is motivated to pay you for your product or service. Leave the "NEED" market to the Big Boys who have lots of time and money to invest in very slim markets and invest your business's efforts in a more lucrative niche where motivated customers WILL pay your prices because they perceive the VALUE of your product or service.

For example, people can go sit on the Red and Yellow benches and drink coffee for $0.68 or go to that other starry place where coffee costs $2.00. Why would anyone pay more for the same product? Because they perceive a VALUE in doing so! Yes, the Red and Yellow bench place has cheaper coffee, BUT also has Red and Yellow benches and likely a bunch of noisy, screaming kids, while the other has sofas and nice artwork and music to make the experience more enjoyable. Some people VALUE that more comfortable cup of coffee and even see it as a prestigious thing to have that label on the cup they are carrying around - they are the motivated customers who will pay more.

If you understand what motivates your customers, what it is they really, really want, and what your Value Propositions really are, then you are well on your way to being able to charge more and expect your customers to willingly pay more.

Contact us for further assistance in finding and developing your niche market and branded pricing!

A lot of business owners believe that just because the previous business in this same location was very much like theirs, they obviously don't need to worry about a Zoning or Code Review. Sure, it might be nice to avoid the extra costs and delays, but you should know that even if you buy an existing business, that does NOT guarantee that you can just go ahead and start. Many cities and counties may let a previous owner "slide by" or "grandfather" them in to NEW codes, but they probably won't let the new owner do the same. If codes or zoning have changed since the previous owner started their business, you will need to bring the building into compliance before you can legally operate there.

Therefore, a really good idea is to ask the landlord or building owner if the building is up to code BEFORE you sign any lease. It's never a bad idea to ask the landlord if they are willing to bring the building up to code or at least split the costs, but even if they decline, at least you know up front so you can plan rather than being surprised after the fact.

Definitely make sure your building is up to code before you start operating.

Let us know if we can help you consider your options.

Some people come to this website because it addresses the processes of envisioning, planning, funding, launching, and growing their business, but many others seek the necessary information to import or export. A surprising number of people don't realize that they actually need to have both kinds of information in order to export - they have to have a domestic business first in order to start and run an export business.

The Business section deals with the domestic business

The Global Business section deals with import and export businesses and the additional, inevitable required compliance.

The Resource section deals with information from organizations and people who provide additional support to exporters.

The Resource Videos section has videos and webinars in the member login section.

Having your own business is often a part of the American dream, financially, socially, emotionally, yes, and even logically, but for many there are too many unknowns to dare to proceed.

In this section we address the process of starting a business. There is a reasonably small set of mandatory things on the checklist, and then there are millions of little things that can pop up to "overfill all of the available time". One good strategy is to make sure the mandatory things take precedence over the "nice to do", "want to do" things that will show up.

For example, a handful of cities and most unincorporated areas don't require you to have a business license to carry out business within their domain, but the vast majority of cities do expect you to pay a fee to do business in their city. Many try to hide the fact that they are requiring a business license by calling it something like a "business tax". Bottom line, one of the mandatory things on the list is at least one business license in the city where you conduct the majority of your business, and additional licenses in any other city where you routinely go to conduct your business.

The mandatory list typically includes:

Determining the legal business structure

business license

Fictitious business name statement

Commercial banking account in the business name

Business insurance