Category: entrepreneur

Building your Website

When building your own website there are a few things to consider. If you know nothing about web design, you will need to pay someone to design it exactly the way you want. Make sure you use a reputable source so you are not wasting your money. Be very picky about choosing your domain name. Make sure it is short, sweet and memorable. One popular site you can visit to check what domains are available is www.whois.sc This is also a good site to see who owns a particular domain you are interested. If the owner is not using the domain, you can offer to purchase it from them.

Probably one of the most important factors in an internet company is choosing a very good web host. If your web site goes down, you are completely out of business. When searching for a web host company make sure they have secure server capabilities, fast servers, lots of space, unrestricted CGI access, SSH and FTP access, web-based administration, access to raw server logs, full email services, power and daily server backups, and no minimum contracts. You may want to test their technical support and see if they offer services, scripts, and software. Inquire about their downtime and how long they have been in business. Make sure you are not being charged for the extra services.

When a customer visits your website, you want them to see professionalism, knowledge and fast connections. If your visitors notice advertisements from your free or low cost web host server they will perceive your site to be unprofessional and very small time. Slow connection speeds will definitely lose customers and cost you much money. So, choose your web host server carefully and you will be well on your way to creating a website that will attract all types of visitors.

DO ‘S AND DON’TS OF WRITING CLASSIFIED ADS

DO WRITE OUT ALL DETAILS in your ad offer. Read it, edit it,
and re-write it for a shorter, money saving effective ad.
“Think small”.

DO FOLLOW ALL THE RULES when writing your classified ad. Use
these ideas.

Attention Interest Desire Action

DO USE A NAME with each classified ad including your envelopes.

DO NOT CHARGE for sales letters or circulars.

DO BE HONEST with all your classified ad claims.

DO IDENTIFY your product.

DO WRITE YOUR CLASSIFIED AD simple, clear and direct.

DO USE WORDS EVERYONE KNOWS and everyone will understand what
your are saying.

DO USE A WORD that will benefit a reader.

DO NOT OVERPRICE your product.

DO ADVERTISE FREQUENTLY. Constant exposure creates a familiar
offer with better response.

DO OFFER A MONEY BACK GUARANTEE in your classified ad,
salesletter or circular if possible. An excellent sales
technique!

DO TEST YOUR AD in 2 or 3 smaller, low cost publications.
Record results. Code each ad.

DO READ PUBLICATIONS that relate to your product. Write for ad
rates, paid circulation, discounts and closing dates. Keep
records.

DO HAVE ALL YOUR LITERATURE AND PRODUCTS ready for mailing when
your ad appears in the publication of your choice. Do not delay
in responding.

DO USE THE COPYCAT METHOD. Do what other successful advertisers
are doing. Only with a slight twist, idea or offer.

DO RUN SEVERAL ADS worded differently. Keep records of results.

DON’T OVER ADVERTISE. It can be expensive. If you want to, do
it gradually.

DON’T PRETEND YOU KNOW ALL THE ANSWERS. Because you don’t.
Take time to find out what you need to know.

DON’T TRUST YOUR MEMORY. A thought will leave you as quickly as
it came. Always write down a good idea. NOW!

DON’T PLACE YOUR AD in the wrong classification.

DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY on ad words to amuse or entertain, but
use words to persuade, inform and sell your product.

DO USE A SHORT BUSINESS NAME. Make it easy to pronounce and
remember.

DON’T FORGET THE M.E.D.I.C.S. Motivation. Enthusiasm. Desire.
Image. Creativity. Success!

DON’T GIVE UP. If your ad doesn’t pull after a fair exposure,
try re-writing it. One or two different words may do the trick.

DON’T SPEND THE PROFITS. Re-invest the money in more continuous
advertising.

DON’T FORGET, an ad that offers “FREE DETAILS” means writing a
sales letter or circular.

AVOID HIGH TYPESETTING COSTS AND MISTAKES

Getting your price lists, brochures, catalogs or newsletters
typeset does not necessarily have to be a costly procedure.
Keep in mind that the main cost in typesetting is the time
involved in setting type. By minimizing the time needed to
create a typeset piece you can effectively keep your cost down.
The following suggestions can help reduce your typesetting
expense.

Know what you want the FIRST time around. Have a picture in
your mind. Trial and error can be costly. Don’t have a
typesetter set it one way, then decide a different format would
look better.

Reduce and eliminate author’s corrections by thorough proofing
and re-proofing.

Avoid minimum charges by combining small jobs and having them
set at the same time.

Try to use one family of type to save time and money by avoiding
font changes. The consistent look is better.

Give explicit instructions on marking up copy: type styles,
column widths/margins.

With a large job, such as a brochure or annual report, request a
style setting proof sheet to get approvals before the entire job
is done.

Avoid super rush jobs, especially if you don’t really need them.

Avoid lengthy corrections on the phone. You might end up paying
for corrections later that could have been avoided if you had
done your editing on proof sheets.

Get the layout finished and approved before having type set…
the same goes for copy, of course.

Avoid the use of “run-arounds” (reducing the width of the copy
to make room for a photo in the column, for example). If you do
use them, use simple shapes, boxes, squares.

Avoid the use of curved or angular type. Type reading left to
right on a page (for example, this report) is faster and less
expensive to set than copy that is set in a curve or running
sideways on the page.

The use of unjustified text and captions is less expensive than
justified because it sets quicker, costing less time.

Don’t depend on the typesetter to read your mind. Be specific.

A Salesperson of Your Life – Pt. 2

As I said in my last column, like it or not we are all salesmen. Our lives are made up of a series of “sales presentations”, otherwise known as presenting ourself in the best light possible. Whether we’re out for a job interview, trying for a raise, or just convincing our employees that a job must be accomplished – you are making a presentation.

To become masterful at it can be summed up in the acronym IPRESENT! In my last column we covered the steps “I” through “E”:
• I – involve your audience
• P – prepare your audience
• R – research your arsenal
• E – explain “Why?”
Let’s finish the acronym today.

“S” stands for State (mental) Management. The mental state of the successful presenter must be congruent with the message. If you don’t believe that, try giving a pep talk to your sales force when you’re depressed – it won’t work! You must be aware of and manage your own mental state and that of your listeners or communication channels will not be open. I don’t have space to elaborate on methods of doing this, but here are a few key hints. First, “AAI” – act as if. Act the way you want to feel, it’s amazing how this works. Use music to set the mood if necessary, dress the part, and reduce your anxiety by whatever method works for you. Remember that you’re the one in charge, and presentation mastery isn’t about being perfect – it’s about achieving your objective.

“E” is for eliminating the unknowns. Fear of public speaking ranks high on most people’s list of worst fears. You may find you’re unusually nervous, develop poor voice tone or negative body language, and be unable to respond to audience feedback. Managing your anxiety permits you to focus on your audience and their needs. The basic approach to do this is the asking ourselves a list of “what if?” questions. Another way to overcome our fear is to take ownership of the situation. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. Double check your notes, and prepare yourself.

“N” is fudging a little by using the second letter of the word “know” – as in kNow Your Audience. Whether it is one person or many that you are presenting to you must do three basic things: Meet their needs, reduce tension, and avoid mistakes. A good knowledge of the listeners will give you a chance to tailor your objectives to meet their needs. This also allows you to reduce the “audience-presenter” tension so they will focus on what you’re saying. With a clear knowledge of your audience’s views you’ll be sensitive to potential “hot buttons”.

“T” stands for “Tailor Your Presentation Throughout”. Boring listeners leads to missed objectives or total failure. You must be flexible and responsive to your audience. To do this you need to use techniques that will give you audience feedback; you must diagnose the cause of the problem you’re addressing, and finally you must choose the solution to act upon.

When you’re presenting watch for non-verbal behavior such as clock-watching, foot-tapping, and cat-napping. When any of these are present get some feedback with, “Is it too warm in here?” or “Should I pick up the pace?” That breaks the attention or lack of, of the audience and brings them back to your talk. One important thing to remember is that the mind can absorb no more than the seat can endure. Sometimes a simple thing like taking a short stretch break will solve the problem.

The techniques for achieving your most desired outcomes are at your fingertips, when you remember that life is a series of presentations.

THE SECRETS OF SUCCESSFUL MAIL ORDER ADS

Regardless of how you look at it, the most important aspect of
any successful mail order business is its advertising. In fact,
mail order success is wholly dependent, and even predicated upon
good advertising.

First of all, you’ve got to have a dynamic, spectacular ad that
attracts the eye and grabs the interest of the people you’re
trying to sell to. Thus, unless your ad really “jumps out” at the
reader, your sales won’t live up to expectations, and your ad
money will be wasted.

The eye-catching appeal of your ad must start with the headline.
Use the headline to very quickly create a picture in the minds of
the reader–a vision of all their problems being solved, and
attainment of the kind of happiness they seek. If your headline
fails to catch the attention of your prospect, you cannot hope to
capture him with the remaining of the ad, because it will go
unread! So in writing your advertisement for just a little while,
so you must quickly interest him in your offer, show him how he
can get what he wants, and then cause him to send immediately for
your “solution” to his problems. Your copy must exude enthusiasm,
excitement, and a positive attitude. Don’t be afraid to use a
hard-sell approach! Say what you feel and believe about your
offer. And use common, “everyday,” but correct English.

Even so, you can and must remember to be honest. Don’t exaggerate
or make claims you can’t back up. Never make promises you cannot
or don’t expect, to keep. To do so could get you in trouble with
the Federal Trade and Fair Practices people.

Stress the benefits of your product or service. Explain to your
reader how owning a copy of your book (for instance), or
receiving your services will make his life richer, happier, and
more abundant. Don’t get involved in detailing all the money
you’ve spent developing the product or researching the
information you’re selling, or you’re selling, or your
credentials for offering it. Stress the “sizzle” and the value of
ownership.

It is important to involve the reader as often as possible through
the use of the word “you.” Write your copy just as if you were
speaking to and attempting to sell just ONE person. Don’t let
your ad sound as a speaker at a podium addressing a huge stadium
filled with people, but as if there were just one individual
“listening.”

And don’t try to be overly clever, brilliant or humorous in your
advertising. Keep your copy simple, to the point, and on target
toward selling your prospect the product or service because of
its benefits. In other words, keep it simple, but clear; at all
costs, you don’t want to confuse the reader. Just tell him
exactly what he’ll get for his money; the benefits he’ll receive;
how to go about ordering it. You don’t have to get too friendly.
In fact, becoming “folksy,” and don’t use slang expressions.

In writing an ad, think of yourself as a door-to-door
salesperson. You have to get the attention of the prospect
quickly, interest him in the product you’re selling, create a
desire to enjoy its benefits, and you can then close the sale.

Copywriting, whether for a display ad, classified ad, sales
letter or brochure, is a learned skill. It is one anyone can
master with a bit of study, practice, and perhaps some
professional guidance.

Your first move, then, is to study your competition, recognize
how they are selling their wares. Practice rewriting their ads
from a different point of view or from a different sales angle.
Keep a file of ads you’ve clipped from different publications in
a file of ad writing ideas. But don’t copy anyone else’s work;
just use the ad material of others to stimulate your own
creativeness.

Some of the “unknown facts” about advertising–and ad writing in
particular–tell us that you cannot ask for more than $3 in a
short classified type ad. Generally speaking, a $5 item will take
at least a one-inch display ad. If you’re trying to sell a $10
item, you’ll need at least a quarter page–perhaps even a half
page of copy–and $15 to $20 items require a full page. If you
are selling a really big ticket item (costing $50 or more) you’ll
need a four-page sales letter, a brochure, separate order coupon,
and return reply envelope.

If you’re making offers via direct mail, best to get into the
postal system with it on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday, to be sure it
does not arrive on Monday, the first and busiest day of the week.
And again, unless you’re promoting a big ticket item, the quality
or color of your paper won’t have any great effect on the
response you’ll get, but the quality of your PRINTING definitely
will, so bear this in mind when you place your printing order.

One final point to remember: The summer months when people are
most apt to be away on vacation are usually not good months for
direct mail. But they ARE good for opportunity and advertisements
in publications often found in vacation areas, and in motels and
hotels.

Again, it cannot be stresses too much or often: Success in mail
order does, indeed, depend upon advertising, and as with anything
else, quality pays off in the long run. Read this report again;
study it; let it sink in. Then apply the principles outlined in
it. They have worked for others, and THEY CAN WORK FOR YOU!

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How Do You Treat Your Women?

Marketing wisdom tells us that 80% of all household purchases are made by women, and no business owner can ignore them. Marketers of kids gear, food, cosmetics and clothes are good at reaching women, but women buy gender-neutral stuff too, like cars, auto services, technology and just about everything except Viagra.

One marketing consulting firm reports that 60% of women 16 and older are working. They comprise over half of all college students and about 38% of small business owners according to the 2002 figures of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A February 2002 study by Prudential Financial found that of 400 American women surveyed, 37% live in households with incomes of $50,000 – $100,000, and 12% were in the $100,000 annual income range.

No business owner can afford to ignore this market, but not ignoring them is not the same as attracting them. Attracting them is not the same as winning their loyalty, either. There is definitely a difference in dealing with women because they notice the small stuff. While men tend to make judgments based on first impressions and key interactions, women never stop gathering information.

Women develop a collage of impressions about a business from a hundred small factors; everything from its cleanliness to the design of the shopping bag. Smart business owners turn this to their advantage by investing in small amenities women can appreciate. Many young women today are much wiser than the boomers were at the same age. They have traveled widely and are accomplished and picky consumers.

The key to winning the loyalty of women shoppers and your share of this market is to offer carefully selected choices rather than a plethora of everything from A-to-Z that overwhelms them Eileen Fisher, designer of
womens clothes, adopted this strategy and offers simple clothes in a limited palette. Furniture stores such as Storehouse Furniture in Atlanta have pared their selections to an everything goes with everything else array. Even house paint companies are adhering to this strategy of paring down and offering carefully selected choices.

Look! Women have so many work and family responsibilities they dont have time to research and ponder every buying decision. They also arent trying to impress their friends by having the most toys. While a man may want 16 different size screwdrivers in his toolbox, you show a woman a tool with 16 interchangeable heads and shell buy it. Now she has one instrument which takes up less room but accomplishes the same thing, costs less in the end, and does the same job.

Whether buying for themselves of for the business they own or manage, women make final purchasing decisions based on the relationship with the seller, not on statistics and voluminous data. Given a choice on two nearly identical products, women will choose based on customer service and relationship with the vendor.

Men want to buy the product and leave, while women want to know how it works. Prescott True Value in Arizona has a loyal following of women running households on their own due to divorce or widowhood. By having enough staff to guide the customer and answer questions they have good to unequaled repeat business from women. Andy Andre, the owner of Prescott Arizona True Value store has learned that customer service is respect. Its taking the time to explain things to a customer and not talk down to them he says.

Entrepreneurs assume that marketing to women is all about discounts and giveaways, but care and creativity is what really attracts women. If a man is ignored by a sales clerk he thinks, What a jerk. A woman will think, I hate this company. Its the small things, good and bad, that make the impact on women customers. Learn this, and youve got a handle on your share of a growing niche.


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Need Clients? Take Ten!

The art of getting new business is no mystery, in fact it’s so simple we miss the forest for the trees. Here are 10 tips to remind you how to build more client base.

1. Get New Business From Old. Ask existing clients for more biz before you try warming up a stone cold lead. Ask the happy clients for referrals to people they know that you don’t – and be sure to keep track of who referred whom.
2. Pitch a Stranger. It’s like bad advertising when you blow hot air when pitching to a new prospect. In face-to-face mediating you’ve got to know what to say, and say it with conviction.
3. Give It To Me Straight. No one has time for the “warm-up”. Prepare well honed phrases and practice them in front of a mirror. People like it when you can get to the point rapidly and intelligently. If it’s by email, make sure they don’t have to scroll down to read it all.
4. Talk About Your Failures. Seriously! It builds credibility. Everyone can’t be perfect all the time, and when you can tell a prospect why you lost a client and what you’ve learned it’s a welcome change. They appreciate not getting the usual hot air & razzle-dazzle.
1. Offer a “Loss-Leader”. People are less and less apt to buy impulsively from a person if they don’t have a good feeling about them. Offering a loss-leader allows the relationship to mature over time. This is very important in B2B clients. (Loss-leader is the practice of offering a product or service at a considerable discount and loss of profit to attract future business.)
2. Get Sold Yourself. Pick the most successful competitors in your area and let them sell you. Play customer and be aware of how you feel during each step, and see why their approach works so well. Auto-makers buy each others cars and break them down to nuts and bolts. You can do the same thing in your space.
3. Pitch an Enemy. Find the most disagreeable son of a gun you can find and pitch him or her. Let them be as nasty as they please, then analyze later if anything they said had any merit. Be totally unemotional, and don’t defend anything. You’ll learn where you’re lacking after doing this.
4. Start an E-mail Newsletter. This is much like #5. Give them useful information week in and week out, or month in and month out. Make them happy to see your name in the “from” field. If they only hear from you when you want something, they’ll turn you off when they hear from you.
5. Offer Testimonials. Satisfied clients or customers can say things about you that you can never believable say about yourself. Use the person’s full name if possible when doing this. “KM from Buffalo” isn’t nearly as strong as “Kenneth Moore from Buffalo”.
6. Ask Questions. I can’t emphasize enough how important and how underused this tip is in business. Simply allowing people to verbalize their needs makes them happy and tells them you listen. It also allows you to hone in on the points to make when it’s your turn to talk.

It’s strange, but we become so busy doing business that we have a tendency to overlook what’s in front of our noses. Most of the tips listed, would come about if we ever had the time to visit with our customers while doing business.

Search Engine Optimization

When your website is ranked well in the most popular search engines, you get more visitors clicking on your site. The more visitors you get the more business you get. Did you know that about 20 percent to 80 percent of your visitors will find your web site through the search engines. Studies show that most people do not look past the fourth page of results. There was a time when you could use free submission services that would submit your website to search engines and directories. At one time, that would actually get you ranked OK. Nowadays, that won’t do anything for you. You want to get ranked at LEAST on the first page of Google and Yahoo. The better option would be to get ranked in the top 3 listings of both Google and Yahoo. This isn’t easy.

All search engines spider or crawl the Web and automatically index your web site based on their own secretive algorithms, which are constantly changing. How do you get ranked well. You can use pay-per-click, which is where you bid for top ranking positions under keywords of your choice. Just make sure that the bids you make are not more than what each customer is worth to you in your site. For ex, if your maximum bid per click is 10.00 dollars and it takes 100 visitors to make a sale, you are probably going to lose money.

To get high ranked, you need to have a website with fresh content and good links to other sites with high page ranking. You could have an rss feed in your site so that the content is fresh and new articles are submitted to keep the customers interested and the search engines satisfied.

Search engines are looking for fresh information, good linking, and relevance. Keep these points in mind and set forth with that high ranked site.

Internet Marketing Introduction

Today, most people access the internet for information, products and services. All entrepreneurs have turned their attention to the World Wide Web because it reaches so many people so quickly. Sales are increased dramatically and expenses are not necessarily smaller, but different. If a company had a small shop in a rural town, they would have employees and other expenses. If this same company had an online business, they would probably not have as many employees on the clock. They may have the same amount of expenses but they would be different. There would be advertising costs, web design costs, search engine optimization costs, affiliate or joint venture costs, among others.

Nevertheless, selling products or services online has become very popular for many new entrepreneurs ranging in all ages, even as young as 15. If you run a small business online where you sell an information product, such as an eBook, you can write the eBook yourself as a guru on the topic. For example, let’s say you studied religion in college and got a PH.D in this subject. You write up an eBook explaining a drastic point of view concerning scriptures. You make sure it is information packed and very good quality. You sell it for 14.95 dollars to whoever is interested and you get their email address so you can forward them new updated info. You now have an email list so you can keep in contact with your buyers and possibly sell them other products in the future. You keep track of all your sales, you take care of customer service, and you handle everything. Guess what? You keep 100 percent of the profits.

Obviously, some companies are MUCH more complicated than that. But you get the picture; online marketing is a piece of cake. All you need is an idea and an internet marketing business plan of action. In other words, you do not need millions to start up a company on the internet. All you need is a great idea and the drive to do most of the work yourself.

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Are You Building A Wall?

Americans throw away enough paper in a year to build a wall 12 feet high from New York City to Los Angeles. This fact is from earth911.org, a public service Website that focuses on recycling issues. Now thats a lot of paper!

Despite the hype that computer makers fed us a few years ago, the computer has NOT decreased the paper used in most offices today. According to the U.S. Conference of Mayors Clean Your Files Day Program, the average citizen uses 1 pounds of paper per day. The average office employee uses 10,000 sheets of paper per year according to
the Environmental Defense Fund.

Now thats just the figures on paper. What about the ink cartridges and cell phones that are tossed into landfills each year. No matter how you slice it, recycling today is big business.

Whether its glass, paper, plastic, steel, ink cartridges, computers, magazines, cardboard boxes, cell phones or another material, recycling products reduces waste and cost, and saves energy and resources. So why isnt your business utilizing a recycling program?

Many small business owners feel overwhelmed when asked about recycling, but it neednt be daunting because there are a lot of resources available. Many of them are just an Internet click away. Some that you might look at are:
 HYPERLINK “http://www.earth911.org”
www.earth911.org
 HYPERLINK “http://www.epa.gov/recyclecity/”
www.epa.gov/recyclecity/
 HYPERLINK “http://www.greenofficerecycling.com”
www.greenofficerecycling.com
 HYPERLINK “http://www.obviously.com/recycle”
www.obviously.com/recycle
 HYPERLINK “http://www.nre-recycle.org”
www.nre-recycle.org
 HYPERLINK “http://www.recyclingtoday.com”
www.recyclingtoday.com

There may also be businesses nearby you that have been there and done that and may be willing to share advice, strategies, plans, and programs. Why reinvent the wheel when you can duplicate it?

Here are 18 steps that will help start your recycling program, and help your business become a good corporate citizen:

Make the decision to start. Believing that a recycling program is positive and beneficial to the business must exist as the foundation.
Get buy-in from other manage-ment and employees.
Decide if you need a designated recycling coordinator. This could be a volunteer who feels strongly about the subject.
Find a mentor or model. Find a business similar in size that has a successful program and ask for help.
Create a program plan. This should include goals and measurable objectives.
Know what can be recycled what to collect and what to toss. There are regulations as to what can and cannot be recycled.
Understand recycling and educate the team. Tell your employees why you want to recycle, why its important and whats expected of each employee.
Determine a collection method. Decide from the beginning whether recyclables will be commingled or separated by source.
Make recycling convenient and easy. Dont skimp on collection bins, for example. If a bin is easier to find than a trash can than your program is bound to work.
Choose a method for removal. Here in Santa Clarita were fortunate to have our own trash companies alert about recycling and willing to assist citizens.
Establish program guidelines. Keep it simple and foolproof for employees.
Launch your program and get team buy in. Make it fun. Schedule a kick off program, or even a company-wide contest to name the program.
Implement! Now its time to put the program into practice. Purchase and place bins, label recycling areas/bins. Make sure you place signs about what is recyclable and what isnt in the same vicinity as the collection bins.
Promote and market your program. Keep the momentum going among your employees. Some companies even offer incentive programs to recognize individuals or departments for their efforts.
Evaluate the program periodically. Analyze your programs effectiveness and let team members know the result. How much waste is being saved? Is it reducing costs? Are supply expenses lower?
Keep it going and build on the program. If you started with just paper, now extend it to plastic/ink cartridges, for example.
Publicize successes. Internally promote the program with workers via a newsletter or email. Externally, use it for a PR boost by sharing results with local and trade publications with a Press Release. Hey, great advertising!
Close the loop. Buy recycled content products for your business, reduce waste in the office, and reuse materials when possible.

The start of a new business year is the perfect time to start a recycling program in your business. Its just whats needed to re-energize holiday-worn workers, and make them feel like a part of your companys planning team. Happy Recycling!



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But if you arent already planning a more graceful exit, you may come out on the short end of the stick. When starting a business were usually so busy with the details involved in making it an eventual success that selling out is the furthest thing from our minds. But the day you start building should be the day you should start designing your exit. It should be the ultimate goal of your success. Many entrepreneurs are successive business builders. The fact that they sell one business doesnt mean retirement for them, it just means the opportunity to start another business that has been lurking in the back of their minds. In fact many entrepreneurs enjoy the building up of a business almost more than the profitable success it becomes. What does a saleable business look like? Its saleable if its scalable says Minor. There are small-and-steady businesses sold every day, but the big bucks come looking for a business that has huge growth potential. Every buyer thinks that he/she is smarter than the seller, and that they can double or triple the present business its doing. A business will fetch the best price only when buyers believe they can take advantage of significant future growth potential. Selling a companys future upside however, means proving your previous growth and validating your future growth strategy. You should start with 2 years of audited financials to backup the historical growth. Then be prepared to explain your business strategy and how it fits into the overall market. Be it through acquisitions that youve grown, then show how many more acquisition targets are still in the market. If through new product development, be prepared to give the details of your R&D pipeline and your ideas for future products. Now as for buyers, there are two types. There are financial buyers who will typically pay a lower price because they have a fire-sale mentality. You need to find the strategic buyers out there, and paint a picture for them. Show them a great customer relationship, a great piece of intellectual property, an advantage in time to market, or a key employee. Show the strategic buyer how one plus one equals three. Then again, why settle for just one buyer when you could have two? Having another buyer in the wings is a vital strategy in the sale process. Having a strong and visible alternative makes any acquirer sit up and take notice. There needs to be tension to the deal. Each side wants the other to think that theyre about to walk away; its the tension that gets the deal closed. The best buyers are large, high-flying public companies with broad, strategic agendas and cash to spare. Selling to a public company also has other advantages and tangible benefits. Many transactions leave the seller with a fistful of stock, or worse, a long-term payout. A publicly traded acquirer makes an eventual cash payout more assured. Be sure to make your business sale more than a sale of your personal network and capabilities. Make it look like its worth the asking price, especially if youre planning to leave after the sale. Build a strong management team that can carry on when youre gone. A team with clear policies and procedures, and a broad customer base which are the underpinnings of value. Your business should not just run without you, but be positioned to grow without you. Make sure your key employees are given incentives to stay on after you go, and make sure you communicate with them during negotiations. Its crucial to minimize disruption. The sale of a business is complex. If youve been in business for 10 years, then it has 10 years of potential liabilities, lawsuits, and bad accounting. Buyers want to know exactly where the business stands, so extreme diligence and complete disclosure on your part is essential. 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