Essential Knowledge for Entrepreneurs

By Sharon • October 1st, 2009

As a full time or part time business owner you need to have a certain level of knowledge about your business. For example, the more you know about your target market, the more inclined you’ll be to develop products and services that they’ll actually be interested in and want to buy. The more you know about online marketing strategies the more effective you will be in using your time and limited resources to increase your sales.

I could go on and on, but the message here is that the more you know, the better it is for your business. Now I’m not suggesting that you become an encyclopedia about your business as you definitely don’t need to be immersed in details you shouldn’t be spending your time on anyhow.

For instance your business will need a logo, but that doesn’t mean you need to learn about graphic design. Rather you need to know how to present your business professionally in the marketplace. So instead of learning how to use Photoshop to design your own logo you need to learn about the essentials of marketing a business and why it is important to establish a consistent brand and image for your company, all of which includes having a professional logo.

Obviously there is work to be done in your business that is management oriented (work for you to do) and there are tasks that are better addressed by outsourced professionals or specialized contractors who can get the job done right, within budget and on time.

One of the best ways to ensure that you’re not running down rabbit holes on tasks while your business languishes is to develop a sound business plan that outlines your:

Goals: these are major achievements you want realized, like attaining a certain position in the marketplace or income level.
Objectives: these are preliminary and measurable achievements you want realized on the way to meeting your goals – consider objectives as being mile posts.
Strategies: this is your road map for achieving your objectives and explains how you’ll go about doing things like increasing sales by 30% or obtaining media coverage in 10% of the major media reaching your target market, etc.

Once you have that business plan the next thing to do is to ensure you LOOK at it REGULARLY. Too many entrepreneurs keep their business plans tucked away in a file and then lose track of their strategies and goals. That’s a sure way to greet failure fast.

Keep your business plan handy, refer to it often and seek out mentors and resources that can help to enhance your knowledge of your market, best practices in your business and trends in the marketplace.

Information about creating a business plan and outsourcing tasks effectively and affordably will be included in our next Biz Facts Online newsletter. To get this handy information you’ll need to be a Biz Facts Online subscriber. You can sign up using the subscribers form up on the top right hand corner of this page (and every page of this site).

To your success,

Sharon