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[F204]Finance A Small Business

by Jupita, Jup

Raising capital is the most basic of all business activities.
But as many new entrepreneurs quickly discover, raising capital
may not be easy; in fact, it can be a complex and frustrating
process. However, if you are informed and have planned effectively,
raising money for your business will not be a painful experience.

This guide focuses on ways a small business can raise money.

There are several sources to consider when looking for financing.
It is important to explore all of your options before making a
decision.

Personal savings: The primary source of capital for most new
businesses comes from savings and other forms of personal resources.
While credit cards are often used to finance business needs, there
may be better options available, even for very small loans.

Friends and relatives: Many entrepreneurs look to private sources
such as friends and family when starting out in a business venture.
Often, money is loaned interest free or at a low interest rate,
which can be beneficial when getting started.

Banks: The most common source of funding, banks, will provide a
loan if you can show that your business proposal is sound.

Venture capital firms: These firms help expanding companies grow
in exchange for equity or partial ownership.

It is often said that small business people have a difficult time
borrowing money. This is not necessarily true.

Banks make money by lending money. However, the inexperience of
many small business owners in financial matters often prompts banks
to deny loan requests.

Requesting a loan when you are not properly prepared sends a signal
to your lender. That message is: "High Risk!"

To be successful in obtaining a loan, you must be prepared and
organized. You must know exactly how much money you need, why you
need it, and how you will pay it back. You must be able to convince
your lender that you are a good credit risk.

Article written By John Mussi.

Marketing a small business is one of the most difficult activities any entrepreneur will face. It's full of challenges and obstacles that demand preparation, dedication and determination to win the game. It's just like playing football – success will ultimately be determined by your commitment to win and your desire to compete.

Running a business is a lot like playing an intense game of football. Essentially, both are organized chaos with competitors who aim to prevent you from gain ground and scoring points. In business, you win the game by scoring mores sales than your competitors rather making touchdowns or field goals. The one who become the champion of your industry is the company with the best marketing which attracts the most clients or customers.

There are five key similarities between marketing and football that every business must implement if they want to become champions:

1. Preparation and Planning

Any successful football coach will tell you that preparation and planning is the key to winning. It's not the will to win, but the willingness to prepare to win that is important. Countless hours go into scouting opponents, developing plays and practicing for specific situations before the game is ever played.

As a business owner, you must also invest the time to research and planning. The only way for you to create competitive advantage is to understand your market, know your competitors, and create a plan that will score consistent sales. This begins with committing to working on your marketing every day. By dedicating an hour each day to marketing your business you'll create momentum that your competitors can't stop.

2. Aggressiveness

It's simple – you can't compete if you don't play. Marketing your business demands that you get in the game and take on your toughest competitors. To achieve victory you must be aggressive and execute marketing plays which positions your company as the best choice, lowest risk option to fill a need or solve their problem.

Being aggressive is a positive, go-for-it attitude. It's not about being out of control and acting recklessly with your marketing dollars. Instead, it's about being focused and taking action before your competitors have a chance to beat you.

I tell my football players, “Be the hammer, not the nail.” This means you deliver the hit and not take it. During a football game the more aggressive team wins, just like in business.

3. Positioning

Football is a game of exploiting gaps in the defense to advance the ball down the field and across the goal line to score. Marketing your business is the same – you must find a gap in the market that is not being filled with a product or service that people are looking for. When you have an offer which none of your competitors can match you position company as the obvious choice.

You'll score more sales and become a champion quicker by finding a gap in the market that is currently unfilled and not crowded with competitors. Creating plays which have an easy path to a score is the goal of every football coach. Your goal as an entrepreneur is to score a sale every time you execute a marketing play. Understanding the value and strategy of positioning is the best way to achieve it.

4. Play Calling

In football, calling the right offensive play in the right situation against the right defense becomes the highlight which is shown on SportsCenter over and over again. When marketing your business the offer that attracts a huge response and generates massive sales is very similar in stature.

A marketing play is any advertisement, promotion or communication you execute to get a prospect to take action. Calling the right marketing play that meshes with your audience is essential to your success. However, this takes time, testing and persistence. Most marketers give up after their first marketing play fails. Entrepreneurs become champions in their industry because they persistently try new marketing plays until they find the ones that perform and score consistently.

Legendary football coach Vince Lombardi said, "Perfection is not attainable. But if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence." Marketing champions are the ones who never stop chasing perfection no matter how big the challenge.

5. Consistent Scoring

An old football coach once told me, “It's hard to win if you don't score!”

In business in scoring a sale is not only important but the required to survive. Without people buying what you offer, you will soon be out of business. All of your business activities should be in support of creating sales. Accounting, production, engineering, distribution and any other area of your business must help to create the conditions to make more sales.

Unfortunately, most business cut marketing when business slows down. This is a big mistake! No other activity in your business can increase your sales except for marketing. This requires commitment to the marketing process and understanding how to play the game. Like football, reaching a sale is usually a sequence of steps that gets you closer to the goal line and the score – not a one shot “Hail Mary” pass. By focusing all aspects of your business as part of marketing you will no doubt become the champion in your industry.

These five keys are a few of the essential building blocks of creating winning marketing. However, the biggest point of leverage any business owner can have their marketing attitude. Are you marketing offensively or defensively? Are you the aggressor or accepting what the competition dictates? How you approach your marketing is the single biggest determining factor of your success.

Article Source : branding promotions

About Author

Both Jupita & Ron Abbott are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Jupita has sinced written about articles on various topics from Marketing, Finances and Debt Reductions. Author Bio::------------ John Mussi. Jupita's top article generates over 1300 views. to your Favourites.

Ron Abbott has sinced written about articles on various topics from Marketing, Small Business Marketing and Business Marketing. . Ron Abbott's top article generates over 3600 views. to your Favourites.