Researching And Developing Your Business Idea

Chances are, if you think your idea is original, it isn't. You will need to do a lot of research to make sure that nobody else is currently doing what you are doing. Even then, you will have to consider that somebody, somewhere, is also thinking the same thing you are, and at that point it's a race to see who can get the patent andor copyright first.

1. Modify An Already Good Thing

Even if you don't have your own idea, you can modify someone else's pre-existing idea. For example, many people like popcorn but want butter on it. Origionally, the only way to get butter flavored popcorn was to literally heat butter and then dip or spread the butter over the popcorn, and this required putting butter into a pot or bowl and melting it over a stove or in the microwave. Eventually, popcorn makers had built-in repositories to place butter so that as the hot air passed over the popcorn kernels, popping it, it also heated the butter so you didn't have to dirty a separate dish. Then, someone came up with the idea of coating kernels of popcorn in a butter spread so that they butter themselves as they pop. Of course, the idea was very messy and unusable in hot-air popcorn poppers because the butter would drip down into the machinery, so instead, a foil bag was provided to contain the buttery explosions and, as it turned out, double as the bag you could eat the popcorn out of (assuming you didn't then pour the popcorn out of the bag and into a bowl for eating). Always think to yourself, what's the next logical step? What doesn't change the product itself, but might make it faster or easier to use?

2. Avoid Impractical Ideas

If you stumble upon something that has a lot of potential, be sure to evalute how realistic and practical it might be. For example, you might come up with the idea to manufacture something, but there ends up not being a market for it. You might think kids will love your particular product, but then parents don't end up buying it, or you have limited success but your product gets known as a fad at best.

3. Do Market Research

The best thing you can do is actually get out there and talk to potential customers. Never be afraid to ask them what they want. At the same time, you will get a general sense of how many people out there might be interested in such a service.

4. Find A Niche

Let's face it, youre not going to be big. You don't have a lot of capital, nor do you have a big advertising budget. You don't already have a million customers so you can't price your product less and still make a profit because youre still getting a little bit of money from each customer. What you can do, however, is find a niche market. You might know what industry you want to work in, and that's about it - now's the time for you to narrow your options and cater to a specific type of customer.

5. Get It On Paper

Once you have an idea, it's time to flesh it out into the most basic elements - products or services, suppliers, customers, and work. For example, if your idea is to provide web design for small businesses, then this is where you need to sit down and figure out what suppliers you might need (web hosting, for example), and what services youd be providing for customers. Think of it as inputs and outputs. The next step, of course, is to determine a price that is profitable.

Developing your own business opportunities.

In the world of business, developing trade opportunities is really about nurturing trade relationships. The days of a worker spending 20 to 35 years with one company are long gone, and the most important way to keep all your business opportunities wide open is by nurturing these relationships. In some ways, this complicates the world of making truly sound business decisions. If you have strong business relationships, there will no doubt be the odd phone call or email with a new business proposition on the other end. Some of these propositions will be fantastic while others will be gone before the finished idea even reaches your brain. Some will permit you to test them out while you maintain your current work position while others will demand your full time focus.

If you are going to get far ahead in this world, you are going to have to be receptive to new options that come across your desk, as well as being receptive to those who have a desire to convey them to you. Beware though if you have quite a lot of money at the get-go you might see many more business proposals which might be thinly veiled pleas for financial aid for someone elses doorway rather than your own.

Learning to discern between outstanding business opportunities and business relationships is mighty difficult though. Sometimes the relationship between the parties gets in the way of sound decisions. If a business relationship is sound and the idea initially appears good, the temptation is to jump right in without looking past a shallow level. This strategy may backfire unless the opportunity is quite foolproof. And when someone does come up with a foolproof business opportunity the rest of the world will know about it too. Until then, we are all still out there swimming with sharks and hoping for the best.

Business ideas can often pop up in the strangest of places. These are the thoughts and concepts that materialize during family outings, holiday soirees, and of course, seminars that are more useful as a cure for insomnia than anything else. It takes not just a bright mind but a bit of bravery to leave the proverbial door open for continued discussion. There are few things more distressing than driving home from a social event wishing that you had gotten someones contact details because you felt they seemed really onto something, and you wanted in. If you could have only been a little braver you might have snatched up his contact details, let your mind ponder their idea for a while, and then called with your own proposition a short while later. But you did not, and another million dollar opportunity went home early, along with the inventor.

It is a shark infested world out there, and everyone is looking so hard for success that they arent remembering to look for the friendly face of those who can help them. Sometimes the best key to developing your own winning business plan is to simply continue to listen to others.

Developing VIP Clubs that Increase Business

"Before you begin marketing through a VIP Club, you need to take a step back and look at your restaurant. Make sure that you are ready for increased business. Don't attempt to market your restaurant unless you have above average food and service. Good marketing can actually put a restaurant that provides poor food and service out of business faster because more people will have a poor dining experience, and the negative word-of-mouth will cause them to fail faster than if they do not market at all," says Brent Davis, Director of Coaching Services for RestaurantMarketingGroup.org (RMG) a company that specializes in helping restaurants to build sound, trackable marketing systems through its easy-to-use software, "How-To" marketing manuals and personalized coaching.

Gathering the Data:
Once you have taken an internal inventory and feel good about the food and service that you provide, it's time to start using and building your database of existing customers. Remember that in most restaurants 30 percent of the customers are bringing in 70 percent of the business. For the sake of our discussion, let's say that Joe's Family Diner has 10,000 customers a month. That's 322 customers each day. Seventy percent of the diner's monthly customers would be 7,000. If the restaurant's VIP Club marketing creates only one more visit per year per customer at an average check of $25, the volume will increase by $175,000 per year or $14,538 a month and that's with only
one extra visit per existing customer per year. You can see why it's important to go after additional customer visits.

"Don't forget that your existing customers are your neighbors. A VIP Club nables you to market within your neighborhood to existing customers. It's permission based and therefore considerably more effective than if you did a
blanket coupon offer to all of your neighbors. These are folks who know and frequent your restaurant; they took the time to fill out a VIP card and have shared personal information with you," says Davis.

"VIP Clubs are a great way to build customer loyalty. Always give a thank you reward bonus for joining the club. We recommend that the offers go out by email or regular mail within 72 hours after signing up. The offer should be
without any strings attached. I like to suggest that the offer be for a dollar amount. A flat $15.00 or $10.00 amount could be enough depending on your guest check average. You could give a FREE, dinner with a $10 or $15 limit. Give them an offer they can use on anything they want. The offer is now valuable and they feel compelled to use it," says Teresa Horn, RMG Marketing Program Development

Specialist.
To enjoy the greatest return on your VIP Club enrollment campaign, you should train your employees so that they understand everything about the VIP Club. Have a contest and give prizes to the employees who sign up the most
customers. Place VIP Club displays and sign-up cards in very high-traffic, highly visible areas. Use pre-printed "Post-It" pad messages and put them on your menus so that your customers and employees will be reminded to fill them out.
Always emphasize the benefits of VIP Club membership. Enter the names and additional information into the computer software program on a daily basis, using a part time employee.

Horn suggests that your VIP Club sign-up cards include the
following information:

Name:
Address:
Birthdates of each family member, so that they can receive a
birthday surprise.
Anniversary:
Email::
Phone: (Optional)

"Carefully select your expiration date. I usually suggest using a three-week expiration date. If it's not used by then, it is usually lost. You want to create a sense of urgency," says Horn.

Processing the data:
Don't wait until you have built a large database. Start marketing to each VIP Club member the minute you get their data. You will find that this information is your most valuable marketing asset.

Creating a database of your customers and immediately communicating to them on a regular basis will increase the frequency of visits to your restaurant. For almost any reason, or sometimes for no reason at all you should send
the customer a postcard or an email with an incentive to bring them into the restaurant again. Remember, the goal is to bring the customers in at least one EXTRA time per year. By sending them a reminder postcard or email around a
holiday or during a local community event will remind them to visit your restaurant. And if they make several EXTRA visits you have exceeded your goal and dramatically increased the sales and profit of your restaurant.

Create a Birthday Club:
What is the most popular holiday for eating out? According to the National Restaurant Association, it's on your birthday. In fact, 55 percent of all Americans eat out on their birthdays. The best news of all is that people have
birthdays 365 days a year, spread out over 12 months. Birthdays are the perfect time to encourage additional business.

"Use the information gathered in your database to send out birthday cards for each VIP customer as you recognize one of the most important days in their lives. Their celebrations might as well happen at your restaurant. Always include a FREE offer such as a FREE dinner for the birthday guest.
Remember that birthday guests rarely party alone; the average size of a birthday group is five individuals," says Horn.

Go out of your way to make the birthday party a special event when a customer redeems his/her certificate. Your restaurant needs to become the "Party Place." Develop definite policies to ensure that it happens¡ªthat the parties are fun and your birthday guest is treated like royalty for
their day. You must create a special party atmosphere. One Northwest seafood chain has a crazy fish hat that the birthday person wears while they take a Polaroid or digital photo of the birthday guest and his/her friends. The photo is then slipped into a cardboard photo holder and becomes a
nice takeaway remembrance of the evening. Of course, the restaurant's name and address is on the card. If you include a "year" sticker, it can become a collectable item.

Celebrate Anniversaries:
Another great marketing campaign can be centered on your VIP customers' anniversaries. Forty-three percent of American couples say they go out to eat to celebrate their wedding anniversaries. If you own a fine dining restaurant,
try to make your guests dining experience special and romantic. Doing "little extras" is what will set your restaurant apart from the competition. Value-added incentives are more important than discounts on anniversaries. You must
make it a "special occasion."

Quick Service Restaurants and Pizza Shops can effectively wish mom and dad a happy anniversary by giving them a great offer for their children's meals that way, Mom doesn't have to cook for the children before she goes out to dine.
This let's the children celebrate the anniversary too.

Advertise Specials or New Menus:
"With a marketing database, you are prepared to communicate with your regular customers. It's a great way to introduce a new menu or a new menu item. Always include some special offer just for VIP members," says Horn.

Many companies have developed a newsletter for VIP members. Others are sending out e-newsletters. This is a great way to say thank you to your frequent customers. It's also a great medium to tell them about new menu items,
new employees, and new recipes. All this helps to make our customers take an interest in your restaurant and keep your restaurant's name in front of your VIP members. Be sure to make the newsletter newsy and fun to read. Always include some sort of incentive for those members to stop by for a
meal. Change your incentive in each newsletter and track the results.

Sponsor Contests:
One restaurateur saw a substantial increase in VIP member visits when she started having a weekly drawing. She sent out a postcard to the VIP members and asked them to bring in the postcards for a FREE offer. When redeemed, the
postcards were entered into a weekly drawing for a free lunch or "Dinner For two". Monthly drawings were also held with prizes such as a digital camera, CD player, clock radio, etc. Grand Prize Drawings held twice a year gave away a
grandfather's clock or a cruise. With every mailer, she reminded her customers of the grand prize drawings.

Additional Celebrations:
Create theme nights to attract your VIP members back to your restaurant. Tie your theme occasions with holidays. For instance, February is National Chocolate Lover's Month. Offer your VIP members a special chocolate dessert promotion for the month of February. One creative Italian restaurant
owner did a VIP promotion for its St. Patrick's Day celebration. He sent out an email invitation saying, "Come party with real Italians on St. Patrick's Day. We'll show you how to celebrate St. Patrick's Day in style." Any holiday will
do. One restaurant celebrated Agatha Christie's Birthday by offering a surprise entree special.

Remember that the number of dollars that a customer is going to spend is limited. To get more than your share, you are frankly going to have to
take them away from your competition Effective marketing will help you get a larger share of your customer's dollars and includes the tools to track
each and every promotion to determine your customer response and return on investment. With good marketing and tracking you will be able to
keep your restaurant in Top OF Mind awareness with your customers.

"It's not your customer's job to remember you. It's your obligation and your responsibility to make sure the customer doesn't forget you! An effective VIP
Club will do just that," says Horn.

Developing A Document Shredding Strategy For Your Business

Creating a document shredding strategy is an important aspect of almost every business. Not only are there lots and regulations that require businesses to shred documents, but it is also part of running a trustworthy, excellent business.

Why do business is need to destroy documents?

Practically every business is creating and managing new paper documents every day and the list of documents that legally need to be shredded is constantly growing.

Bills, customer order information, contracts, employee applications, in-house memos, receipts, piles of mail, insurance documents, old tax records, payment records, account records and balance sheets, personnel files and bank records… Practically any document that has a first name last name address, and other information probably needs to be shredded.

What can happen if this information falls into the wrong hands?

Well, aside from forgery, credit card fraud, con schemes, corporate espionage, there is of course the potential for bad publicity, loss of customers, lawsuits and fines.

It is important that all businesses shred or destroy certain sensitive documents. Law enforcement, legal industries, government agencies, banks, health care providers, insurance providers, financial brokers, and real estate are just a few industries where managing paperwork is crucial. Not to mention hospitals, insurers, doctor’s offices, retirement homes, drugstores, legal papers.

So how can a business manage their documents safely and effectively?

A detailed security policy for every type of document your business uses is essential and employees need to know these policies!

For example: What are the shredding requirements for the various document types that your company frequently uses? What are employees allowed to photocopy? Who has access to files with private information?

Signs can be posted in the workplace and next to trash cans and recycling bins were sensitive documents may inadvertently be thrown out, un-shredded.

Also, whoever is overseeing the destruction of documents should closely consult with the company’s IT staff and any other department that works with electronic records and files to ensure safe handling.

Training employees about disposing of sensitive documents and developing a very specific policy about how long to hold and went to discard documents will go a long way. Access to company read records should be controlled and restricted to a small number of individuals and there should be rules relating to records.

And finally, use a certified document destruction company that has a good track record.

For a more information about safe document disposal and list of document shredding services including mobile document shredding services, you can browse our services directory.

Developing a growing business

Many people crave to develop a growing business. Unfortunately, few people can

actually develop one successfully. You see, many people, just like you, start off

but get distracted by not being able to have a vehicle for success.

I'd suggest that you look at some of the leverage factors for the internet.

Leverage Factor #1 - A successful business model.

If you have not built your own business model, you should adopt one from someone

else. For instance, marketing using network marketing, affiliate marketing and so on

are useful, but you need to have a program that allows you to derive multiple

streams of income all at one go.

If you don't already have a business online, or are just interested in looking for

someone to provide you one, you might want to explore this one at

http://www.MySuccessCollection.com.

Leverage Factor #2 - Learning and expertise.

To build a bigger base, you definitely need to increase your knowledge. With the

right kind of knowledge, you will find that you become more credible and people get

attracted to you directly. If you had a database of thousands of hours of a learning

library, I think you'd skew the chances to your favor, don't you think? I've

discovered that it's the learner with the right attitude who actually is able to

master the skills necessary to grow the business.

Leverage Factor #3 - Teams and collective effort.

Let's face it - nobody really succeeds on their own. There's really no such thing as

a self-made millionaire - only a team-made one. IF you want to leverage, you have to

find not just the team, but the way to build the team up effectively. I suppose you

might want to be a leader as well, and that takes #2 - your learning. Over time, an

effective and growing business could be in your hands.

To find out more about this opportunity and gain access to mentoring to excellence,

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