All posts tagged: Business

Overseas expansion How to find the best target country

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This is the second post on the topic of finding the ideal target country for your business expansion Another criterion in your market assessment is what is the competition like? There is likely to be local competition and probably international competition that have entered the market before you. Find out as much as you can about their products or services, pricing, quality, distribution methods. Is there national and regional competition? How are they perceived? What is their after sales service? A SWOT, Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunity Threats analysis could be helpful in assessing the potential competition. You should consider the Macro Economic climate. We have talked about GDP growth but extend this to look at per capita income, demographics. Does the country have a young growing demographic? In many African countries more than 40% of the population is under 15 years of age. Niger’s under 15-year-olds represent half of the country’s population. The country with the lowest under 15 years population? Singapore at 12.3%. Look at the trend of the working population size. China’s working population …

Are you thinking of expanding overseas? Week 2 Is it right for you?

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Is my company ready to expand overseas? Is it right for me? Taking your company overseas Taking your company’s products or services overseas is an exciting prospect, the potential for a larger customer base, the opportunity to enter faster growing markets, maybe less mature markets where you can ride the tide of expansion. There is also a certain cache in being an international business but with opportunity comes challenge. The international journey can be treacherous with unexpected setbacks that need to be overcome. Even before you embark on the adventure you must assess whether your company is ready to operate overseas. And are you personally suited to doing business abroad? The first question is whether you have the financial reserves required to support your overseas business during its startup phase. This will cost more than you expect and take longer than you plan. This is based on my own personal experience in entering foreign markets. At this stage in the process, you do not know what you do not know. There will always be surprises. …

Be Confident Be Minimalist

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Lessons from “The Minimalist Entrepreneur – How Great Founders Do More With Less.” By Sahil Lavingia Don’t let self-doubt set in; build as little as possible. Writers are told, “Write what you know” for entrepreneurs it’s not quite that simple. When you are starting a business you are imaging something that has not been done before, or at least not in the way you are contemplating your business vision. This applies even if you are considering a consulting or coaching business, there may be many similar businesses out there, but yours will be unique because you will bring your skill sets and unique personality to the table. Unfortunately, this is when many aspiring solopreneurs decide that building a business is not for them. Although they have the passion, they let self-doubt set in. They convince themselves they do not have the hard skills they need to be successful.  Let me tell you a secret, every entrepreneur has doubts that their business with be successful. Even the most successful were not sure of success when they …

Finding your business niche

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Lessons from “The Minimalist Entrepreneur – How Great Founders Do More With Less.” By Sahil Lavingia Give away so much value that you think you’ve given too much, then give more. Michael Port Book Yourself Solid Start with Community Sahil Lavingia starts this chapter with a story about entrepreneur Sol Orwell who, in 2009, was overweight and unhappy. He decided he needed to learn more about fitness and nutrition. He joined a Reddit community and the more he learned about the subject, the more he shared, he answered questions and posted about his personal journey of losing sixty pounds (27KG). Working with co “Redditor” Kurtis Frank, they built a community of 50,000 members. Kurtis and Sol noticed a common theme, many questions were raised around the subject of nutritional supplements. In 2011 together they launched Examine.com, they did not sell anything, just provided information. In 2013 they began to think about monetizing. By asking their audience Kurtis and Sahil identified a need for a single reliable source of information about supplements available in the market. They launched Research Digest a …

More Ideas from Dori Clark’s “The Long View”

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Continually reinvent yourself – Think in Waves. That you cannot do it all at once is obvious, nor should you try if you are playing the long game. But do not fall into a trap that many professionals fall into. Which is finding an activity you are good at, and simply keep doing that forever. This leads to frustration as you begin to feel you have plateaued. Often this is because they have overplayed their strengths and ignored areas where they are weak, or they are afraid to take a chance on something new Heads Up, Heads Down. Articulated by Jared Kleinert an Atlanta based entrepreneur. Heads Up, Heads Down provides guidance on how to avoid the shiny object syndrome, the difficulty many of us face in avoiding chasing the next big thing. There is no shame in trying other things, but only when you are in Heads Up mode, where you are looking for opportunities, But not when you should be Heads Down mode, the time when you are focused on execution, getting stuff …

Are you too busy to be successful?

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Lessons from Dorie Clarks book “The Long View” Part 1 Rejection is part of every entrepreneur’s life. The proposal that is not accepted, the call that is not returned, the blog that attracts little interest, the client who terminates a contract. But if you believe social media, stories in the press, courses that offer instant income, you could feel that everyone else has the secret to success figured out and only you are struggling to gain traction. Maybe you tell yourself that you need to work harder, put in longer hours, expand your social media presence, start podcasting, writing a blog. These activities take time, and it is likely you are hustling as hard and as fast as you possibly can. You do not have time to breath, let alone think. Even though you know it’s not right, you focus on execution and the short term. What can you do about it? Dorie Clark suggests you adopt strategic patience. Strategic patience is the ability to do the work without any guarantee of success, to toil …