While preparing for my upcoming Business Victory Club, I decided to sit down and map out the steps that I use when I start a new business.
And, since I've gone through various stages of starting 43 different businesses... (many never launch, just because the process weeds them out as improbable) I have the process fairly-well intact. Each business takes a little bit different angle, but they all pretty much follow the same process.
I came up with 7 steps - 7 processes to follow that give the best assurance of success. Then I noticed that the word success has 7 letters.
Coincidence?
I hope not. So, I came up with the acronym: S.U.C.C.E.S.S.
1. S elect a proven market
2. U ncover market needs/desires (Market Research)
3. C reate your USP (Unique Selling Proposition)
4. C onstruct a simple business plan
5. E stablish consistent effective marketing
6. S plit-test, adapt, and improve
7. S ecure funding, if needed
This set of steps has served me well over the years. It serves me well now!
If you want to build a successful business, not a single one of these steps can be ignored. Just follow the 7 Steps to S.U.C.C.E.S.S., in order, and you can't go wrong...
IMPORTANT: The S.U.C.C.E.S.S. methodology of starting a business is NOT for those with access to large sums of money up front. I've never had that luxury when starting a business... Maybe it makes me less of an entrepreneur, but if I was given $100K up-front to start a business, I wouldn't know what to do with it...
It is also not for those that require a large sum of money to get started, like bio-tech, or manufacturing. However, I do find that most businesses can be started in some capacity without funding up-front (even if it's not in the way you originally thought).