To successfully start and run a business and earn consistent profit, the business needs to be based upon certain fundamental tried and test business platforms. These platforms are independent of the business and it is believed that the reason for failure of many business of the failure to pay attention to certain core elements of business.

The information provide is not exhaustive but in the opinion of the author these core elements when implemented will service to act as a sure and solid foundation for your business whether it is home based or whether you are running your own business unit within a larger corporation. Pay attention to the four areas below and work out a plan to constantly refine and update.

Category Marketing : You should know and should take time to sit down and plan out which category of the market your product or service fits into. What is meant by this ? consider the manufacturer's of cars - when they are planning to produce a new car they determine the category of car which will be produced at the design stage. That is to say, the car could be a Mini Car, a Sports Utility Vehicle, a Multi Purpose Vehicle, a Sports Car, a Soft Top convertible and so the list can goes on.

A car is not just a car - the master category of car (your product or service) can and must be split up to provide a solid foundation from which to launch your business. To define the category for your business, take a blank piece of paper, consider the example of the cars and try to come up with at least five different categories in which your product or service can be placed.

Market Segmentation : This deals with the other side of the spectrum after considering Category Marketing, this looks at the end users or the market place whereas Category Marketing focusses on you, your product and your company's services. Marketing Segmentation looks at splitting up the target market into group for which you can use to target your product and service to.

The market can be segmented by Race, Age, Earning Capacity, Living Area, Maritial Status, Disposable Income etc, etc which when devised correctly will give you a firm base for which Category of product you can sell to a particular Market Segment.

Channel Marketing : Every product or service must pass through a Marketing Channel in order to reach the end user. Most successful businesses today use multiple channels through which to reach their target market and your business should be the same. Examples of marketing channels are Retail Store, Networking Events, Distribution Warehouses, Shopping Malls, Telephone, Mail and the Internet. You should consider what you wish your primary channel to market to be and focus on this and then work on having a few secondary channels to market.

Develop most of your sales and communication tools for your primary market which will be in line with the Category of product and the particular Market Segment which you are looking to address. I consider the internet to be one of the most important Marketing Channels no matter what business you are in and I find the vast majority of my clients on a worldwide basis this way as I have developed significant expertise in this field.

Ideal Client Profile : Based on your definition of all of the above you should be able to develop and ideal client profile, this will tell you the type of person who is most likely to buy from you and with whom you are able to develop and long term relationship. The client profile will show which segment(s) of the market your client come along with the category of product that they prefer to purchase from you. Along with this you will understand through which marketing channel they prefer to purchase from you.

When working on your business focusing in on these key points will serve you will to take your business results to the next level.