The Seed & Startup Capital Blog

Developing new business is one of the most important tasks facing any entrepreneur. Whether you are launching a new operation or taking your company to the next level, there are some key guidelines to follow. Here are five golden rules:

1. Make sure you are meeting a need.Your manufacturing company might easily crank out some gidgets along with its gadgets, but if no one wants gidgets you’re not going to develop new business. Study the market, survey potential customers, find out whether someone else is already serving the need and make sure what you’re planning will be desired and different enough to draw customers.
2. Write your business plan.After you’ve confirmed a need, identified your target client base, established how your product or service will be different and figured out how you will make or deliver it, write it down. Be specific about each step. Include financial data showing how you’ll initially fund the new operation, how much you will charge and how much profit you need to continue. Use the plan to launch your endeavor and to keep you on track later.
3. Build relationships.Don’t make new business a one-time affair. The trick to making it a long-time business relationship is to ask for feedback, respond to it and strive for a partnership rather than simply an order-taking process.
4. Insure your business.You need insurance to protect your assets and investment. Go to BusinessInsurance.org for information on general liability, product liability, professional liability, property, workman’s compensation, commercial auto and other types of insurance.
5. Know when it’s time to adjust or quit, and do it. Constantly reassess the market, your customers’ needs and your process. Realize when it’s time to tweak your product or service, to add something new or to quit it altogether. Some good ideas run their course. That’s when it’s time to launch your next great idea.