Archive for the ‘Entrepreneur’ Category

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Search Engine Traffic Is Best For Business Websites

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

I am now convinced that search engine traffic is best for business website. In the one year plus that I have been working on Nigerian Entrepreneur website, I have employed differ kinds of systems, strategies and tricks to drive traffic to the website. The result from each of the effort differs, but search engine traffic has finally stood out as the most reliable source of the much sorted targeted traffic which every business website crave for.

The following are some of the methods that I have employed to drive traffic to my website:

  1. Word of mouth – I tell anyone that cares to listen that I have a website.
  2. Email – I use the website address in my email signature.
  3. Advertisement on other websites – Some paid adverts, some free adverts.
  4. Link and Banner exchange – This is common among bloggers.
  5. Forum participation – I was active in over fifteen different communities.
  6. Comments on blogs – I drop quality comments in fellow bloggers ‘websites.
  7. Social Bookmarking e.g. Blogcatalog, Delicious, Tweeter, Entrecard, Digg, StumbleUpon, Mixx, Reddit and several others.

Out of the seven website traffic strategies listed above, I spent more time on the last one, social network traffic. The reason why is obvious to the experts, it is the “get-quick-result” website traffic strategy. Unfortunately, it happens to be the most time consuming and least enduring website traffic generator.

Unlike the others, even if your website is one minute old, you can have 6,000 web visitors if you have a powerful social traffic club in place. Digg and StumbleUpon are notorious for such kind of feat. If a noteable Digg user or Stumbler smiles on your website and bookmark it, you will end up with more traffic than you can handle.

Why I don’t like Social Website Traffic

Social Website traffic requires constant participation in the social communities. You must keep on Stumbling, Digging making friends, doing others a favor so that you can get one in return and keeping yourself updated on the events in the social community so that you remain relevant. It is so much hard work and quite time consuming.

Why I settled for Search Engine Website Traffic

Search engine traffic is about the most difficult to build. It takes planning and focus. Before you can receive website traffic from the search engine, you must do your home-work on SEO (Search Engine Optimization), provide quality content and build quality back-links. This is not an easy task to perform. That is why many webmasters outsource their SEO and will rather pay for search engine traffic than work to rank high in the search engine. The ignorant ones, rely on social traffic to get visitors.

Well, the truth is that, social website traffic is indeed not the kind of traffic you are looking for. Social website traffic rarely converts to sale. Visitors that comes to your site from social communities such as StumbleUpon are not looking for what to buy, rather they are just STUMBLING around the web (the word “STUMBLING” is most appropriate to convene what I mean). If you are looking for buyers, or potential customers, you will be better off, getting targeted website traffic from the search engines.

Visitors from the search engines are people looking for a specific thing. They are not just passing away the time with the search engine, if you have what they need, or you have information on how they can get what they need, you can be rest assured that they will be happy to stay on your site. So what I have learned to do, can be broken down into three simple strategy:

  1. Get my website on-page and off-page Search Engine Optimization right.
  2. Provide Quality Content that address the need of the visitors that I am expecting.
  3. Go out to build backlinks from authority websites in the niche that I am targeting for traffic.

That sounds simple, isn’t it? Well, the truth is that it is difficult to accomplish. So why do I insist that search engine website traffic is the best method for an entrepreneur, the answer is that you get to do the hard-work only once! Yes, you heard me right. Once you do the hardwork well and you get it right, you can actually go on to some other things. The search engine will take over and continually send targeted visitors to your business website.

I learnt this truth after much Stumbling and Digging in the wrong places for website traffic that converts. Now I know better. I don’t have to drop 300cards per day, nor Digg stories I am not interested in just to please someone. Stumbling articles is now done at my pleasure, not as one of my daily TO DO TASK!

If you are serious about getting targeted website traffic that converts to sale, then it is high time you start working on those three points listed above. It is no gainsaying, search engine traffic is best for business websites, Nigerian Entrepreneur is a living proof .

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Posted in Entrepreneur, small business | 13 Comments »

7 Points Agenda For Business Success

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

7 Points Agenda For Business Success from my business mentor

If you think it’s only the government that needs a 7 Point Agenda, then you’re mistaken, one of my business mentor gave me a quick lecture on 7 Point Agenda for Business Success. Well, most of the points were not really new, but the God factor in business was unique. I couldn’t argue with him because the global financial meltdown has proved the experts wrong. If you care, here are the seven points without my usual long ramblings 😉

1. Have a Goal

If you aim for nothing, you will get nowhere. Your goal must be specific and written down. The process of writing down a goal forces you to describe in a detailed manner what you really intend to achieve. When I started this website, Nigerian Entrepreneur, I wrote out my goal. It has helped to keep me focus and restrained me from following the bandwagon of every new fad that I come across.

2. Develop a blueprint for success

Creating a plan for your personal and business success cannot be over emphasized. If you fail to conscious make a good plan of how you intend to succeed in life, then you have just unconsciously planned to fail in life. Also note that if your plan is not written, then it doesn’t really exist. Don’t be afraid to write down your plan. You can always modify it as you get more informed about life and business.

3. Get Organized

Establish a to-do-list, plan your day and make people adjust to your schedule. God can only work with an organized person, and successful people don’t like associating with disorganized fellows. Nobody enjoys the company of a man who does not know where he is going, what he is doing and what he is aiming for. Circumstances and people should not dictate your schedule. If you don’t learn how to turn down unnecessary distortion of your daily schedule, then you can’t be a successful entrepreneur. Review your performance in the evening before hitting your bed.

4. Build Networks

You can’t be an island and succeed. While following the crowd is not right, trying to be an island is foolish too. You need people and people need you. You must understand that you have strengths and weaknesses. You are designed by God to contribute your strengths and receive help from others to combat your weaknesses. Build relationships before you need them.

5. Be generous with your saving and investment, but stingy with expenses

The size of your harvest is often a function of the seed you sowed. You must understand the difference between liabilities and assets. Anything that brings money into your business is an asset, anything that takes money out of your business is a liability (your Porsche car inclusive). Great business empires were not built by great spending, rather, they were made with great savings and wise investments.

6. Self Development

Continuous investment in yourself is the best decision you can take as an entrepreneur. The knowledge you possess is greater and much more important than the material possessions that you have acquired. A successful entrepreneur can start all over again and yet become successful if striped of all he has acquired. Material possession can be taken away from you, but only mental illness can rob you of what you have invested into your mind. Take time to read good books. Listen to great message that will motivate, inspire and uplift your spirit. Read bibliography of great men and women that impacted their generation.

7. Make God your senior business partner

Irrespective of how smart or intelligent you are, there are times when nothing works. That is when God steps in. If He is your senior partner, He sure will bail you out. My mentor buttress his point with the story of an American oil tycoon named John D. Rockefeller. See the poem he wrote at the age of 86

I was early taught to work as well as play,
My life has been one long, happy holiday;
Full of work and full of play-
I dropped the worry on the way-
And God was good to me everyday.

After reading the poem, I was greatly challenged. How many businessmen can say their life is one long happy holiday? Some of us are still afraid of taking annual vacation.

Well, after all said and done, I still challenged my mentor that President Yar’adua has a 7 Point Agenda which has not really achieved much for Nigerians. So what makes him think this will work. He simply challenged me to bring up my own success formula and prove it works by showing RESULT! He doesn’t believe in TALK, cos talk is cheap. Well, since I couldn’t argue the fact that he is a successful entrepreneur (that’s why I made him my business mentor in the first place), I simply kept my cool, wishing inside of me that I could somehow prove him wrong. Until I can match his success with a better result, I guess he remains the boss (my business mentor).

Now you have the 7 Points Agenda For Business Success, what are you going to do with it? Tell us in a comment! Cheers.

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Posted in Entrepreneur, small business | 7 Comments »

Creating A Business Plan

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009

Why must I have a business plan?

Well, the answer is simple. Creating a business plan is an essential step for any prudent entrepreneur to take, regardless of the size of the business. Skipping this step is tantamount to planning for business failure. There is an adage that, He who fails to plan has planned to fail.

What is a business Plan?

It is a roadmap detailing how an entrepreneur will move a business from its current status to the intended status. It details the current status of the business (finance, manpower and other resources) the goals of the business, reasons why the entrepreneur is convinced that those goals are achievable and strategies to be employed for making the goals a reality.

It is an attempt to predict future opportunities and put in place financial, operational and marketing strategies that will enable the entrepreneur achieve his/her goals. That sure sounds complicated, isn’t it.

Well, you need not bother, simply put a business plan is a map showing where you are now, where you intend to get to and how to get there. So the key elements you need to bother about are: Where is my business now? Where do I intend my business to be in Xmonths (6months, 12months or five years, it all depends on the individual. However, 12months is recommended as ideal time frame). How do I get there? Now that the definition is out of the way, lets get down to business.

Purpose of a Business Plan

The primary purpose of a business plan is to create a written outline that evaluates all aspects of the economic viability of a business venture. It must spell out in details your business goals, business prospects, the resources required and the strategy for attaining your goals.

It is unfortunate that most startup entrepreneurs are reluctant to write down their business plan. Your business plan is the roadmap you will need to chart the course of your business.

Common Myths about a Business Plan

1.      A business plan is not meant to be an excuse to procrastinate your business startup! If you are starting a home base business, it is not necessary to write volumes detailing all the beautiful dreams you have about the business. You will be better off if you jot down a few essential points and then start implementing them immediately.

2.      A business plan is not meant to be cast in iron. As you make progress in your entrepreneurship journey, you will often review your business plan to make changes. So , don’t be afraid of making mistakes. You can always amend it as you get more understanding of the business.

3.      Creating a business plan is not an attempt to write the next best seller. It is simply a business map to guide your business journey. So, don’t get stuck trying to write the most wonderful business plan.

4.      Business plans can’t all be the same. As ventures vary, so business plans varies. Factors such as types of business, opportunity, goals, size of business etc all contributes to the variance of one business plan to another.

Advantages of a business Plan?

Your business plan is going to be useful in a number of ways.

1.      First and foremost, it will define and focus your objective using appropriate information and analysis.

2.      It will aid you when dealing with potential investors, lenders or banks.

3.      Your business plan can uncover omission and/or weakness in your planning process.

4.      You can use the business plan to solicit opinions and advice from people, including those in your intended field of business, who will freely give you invaluable advice.

Pitfalls to avoid in your business Plan

1.      Use simple language in explaining issues. Make it easy to read and understand.

2.      Use reasonable time limits on future business projections. Better to stick with short-term objectives and modify the plan as your business progresses. Too often, long-range planning becomes meaningless because the reality of your business can be different from your initial concept.

3.      Avoid optimism. It is advisable to be extremely conservative in predicting capital requirements, timeline, sales and profits.

4.      Don’t assume someone won’t get a better idea than yours. Even if your business is dependent on a patented invention be realistic that competition will eventually arise.

5.      Don’t spend so much on startup. Success comes to those who start businesses with great prudence and not necessarily great startup capital.

6.      Do not ignore spelling out what your strategies will be in the event of business adversities. The raining days will surely come it is part of the normal business cycle.

Now that you understand what a business plan is, it is time you grab a pen a notepad and start wrting down the beautiful ideas that you’ve been dreming about all this while. Don’t be afraid of making mistake. Just put something down on paper first. In reality, it is practically impossible to predict all of the changing conditions that will surface. So, just put your best on paper first knowing that after you have opened for business, you will need to periodically review and update your plan.

If you enjoy this post on Creating A Business Plan, say so in a comment and also subscribe to my RSS for future updates. Cheers.

Posted in Entrepreneur, small business | 22 Comments »

Steps to Starting a Small Business

Friday, May 8th, 2009

What are the necessary steps to starting a small business? What are the things you need to take into account before launching into your entrepreneurship adventure as a small business owner? Starting a small business requires determination, motivation, and know-how. This post does not promise to provide an exhaustive discuss of a successful small business startup. Instead, a concise checklist of the critical steps you need for a successful business launch will be provided with links to articles that gives details of each issue raised.

Choose a Small Business Idea to implement –  You can’t be a jack of all trade in business. Trying to do multiple things and calling yourself a general contractor is not the way to go. Even though there are multitudes of business opportunities, you only need one to succeed. If you are confused on how to create a business idea, read 10 tips for creating business ideas. If you have several and you don’t know how to choose, read Small Business Opportunity. The major factor is for you to determine where your passions lie and do what you enjoy doing as business. Of course that must be aligned with the changing reality in the industry you want to operate in. You should be out to serve others, not to please yourself! Money follows service, not pleasure.

Choosing the Legal Form Of Business – Deciding on the legal form of your business is not a decision to be taken lightly. Whether you choose to run a sole proprietorship, enter into partnership with another entrepreneur or form a corporation; your choice must be made with carefulness. This is because the business structure you choose will have an impact on your business and personal liability, how easy you’ll be able to raise fund as well as what your tax liabilities will be. If you ask for my candid opinion, I will advise you to incorporate your business, my reason for that can be found in a previous post I made, Incorporate Your Business.

Name Your Business – You need to give your business a name that project the right image. The name should be such that will not only distinguish you from others, but such that is easy to remember. Avoid names that are too long or complicated to pronounce. Remember word of mouth marketing is still about the most effective marketing strategy for any business. If your customer can’t remember your business name, something is wrong. If they find it difficult to pronounce it, because it is tongue twisting, then you have a problem.

Develop a Business Plan – A business plan is the blueprint or roadmap that shows how you intend to implement your business vision successfully. It should take note of the nature of the industry you wish to work in, set strategies for handling competitors and spell out the various resources that you will need to invest in the business. Remember those who fail to plan have already planned to fail. Don’t carry your business plan in your head, commit it into writing no matter how small the business is.

Get Startup Capital – The fund for startup is a critical issue to be decided upon carefully. If you are a newbie entrepreneur, I will advise that you avoid as much as possible, the temptation of taking a small business loan from either the government or your banker. You are better off raising soft-loans from several friends and relatives. My reason for this is because the probability of you loosing part or all of your startup capital is very high. Lack of experience is a serious challenge to newbie entrepreneurs, so start small with capital you can loose without going bankrupt.

Select a business location – If you are starting off in your home, then this may not be an issue (depending on the kind of business anyway). When choosing a business location, you need to take into account accessibility to your suppliers and clients. You may need a business mentor to assist you in choosing a good business location.

Get necessary business licenses and permits – Before launching out, it is necessary you get familiar with the government requirement for the kind of business you wish to engage in. ensure you get all the various licenses and permits that are statutorily required for you to operate the business. Playing ignorant in this area can be disastrous. Remember, being ignorance of the law is no excuse from jail term. Getting the necessary paperwork sorted out is always cheaper than hiring a lawyer to prove that you didn’t mean to break the law.

Establish an Accounting System – No matter how small your business is, right from day one, you need to keep accurate record of every transaction. You may not need a professional accountant to keep your day to day record, but you need one to advise you on the kind of record you need to keep so that you don’t get yourself into trouble with the Tax authorities in your locality. If you can’t afford to pay one, make friend with one and ask for his/her assistance. It can be heart breaking when you loose all your earnings or get yourself a jail term just because you fail to handle your Tax matter the way it ought to be. Never be penny wise pound foolish.

Insure Your Business – Wise entrepreneurs share risk. Why must you carry all the risk all by yourself? For a token amount paid periodically, you can share the risks associated with your business with an insurance company. No bother prays for disaster or law-suit, but it does happen. It is better to prepare than to be caught unaware.

Start Your Own Small Business Now!

Now you can’t claim any longer that you don’t know how to start your own small business. This post, has outline in a concise manner all that you need to start your own small business. You can get future updates to steps to starting a small business by subscribing to my RSS feed, that will also provide you more tips on starting up, staying competitive, and taking your small business to the next level.

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Posted in Entrepreneur, small business | 25 Comments »

Small Business Opportunity

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009

Which Small Business Opportunity is right for me?

You know quite well that a small business opportunity discovered and well executed is actually the only thing you need to turn your fortune around! Afterall, several successful entrepreneurs have testified that the first one million dollar is the hardest to make. So we know that we need just the right business opportunity which if well executed has the potential to launch us into wealth. Unfortunately, even though there are several small business opportunities around, you can’t get involve in all. Yes that is the dilemma. Lack of time, money and other resources will make it impossible for you to try out all the beautiful money making ideas that you fantasize with in your imagination 😉

Due to the present global economic crash, those who were satisfied with working for salary before now are beginning to reconsider their stance on starting a small business. Several of my friend who used to make fun of me when I tell them that it is possible to run an internet based business alongside a paid job are now getting interested. Instead of browsing and spending time on social network sites chatting with strangers, they have now made the search engines their best friend. They spend hours searching online for an internet business opportunity that will be suitable for them. Unfortunately, such effort produces poor results.

The singular reason why many are yet to start their own business is because they have no clue where to start from. Some on the other hand do have a clue, because they have bought and read books on small business ideas or home business ideas. You must have come across such books. The title usually goes thus, 101 Small Business Opportunities (since this title is not yet in existence, I guess I should write an e-book and give it that title). They were all excited while reading the book, and one will naturally expect them to start a small business once they finished. Well that is not usually the result. Many actually become paralysed after reading such books. The fear of failure keeps them back from taking action. If you have been considering starting your own business for more than 3months, you can be assured that it is either you are afraid of failure or you are suffering from information overload. Information overload is the second major hindrance to starting a small business.

How  Successful Entrepreneurs select business opportunities

Since there are several businesses one could venture into that do not require much capital and investment. The best small business startup strategy is Take Action Now!

1. Make a List – Make a list of at least ten of the common small business ideas you know of. There are business ideas and opportunities all around. If you are determined a little creativity is all it takes to succeed. When writing your list, don’t discard any business opportunity as being too small, because what you consider insignificant may end up as the best business opportunity. Some folks have become extremely wealthy by starting businesses that people considered stupid or unprofitable! Also, it is okay to include the idea of purchasing a small business franchise. It is not compulsory that you must invent your own small business from scratch.

2. Use Your Passion As Criteria For Small Business Idea Selection – Study the list carefully and strike out those you are least passionate about. You cannot be successful if you choose to run with a business idea that you hate. Successful entrepreneurs become successful running businesses they are passionate about. When you are passionate about a business vision, work suddenly becomes pleasure. The joy of seeing the progress being made by the business gives you the motivation you need to succeed. It is not all about money! Remember, if you provide services passionately, profit will follow you naturally and you will become wealthy! So your list must be founded on your passion, not what you consider as being the most lucrative business ideas!

3. Select 3 Small Business Idea For Further Research – Next select the best three ideas you feel you are most passionate about. Use your imagination to look into the future, at least 12months from the present. Will you still be enthusiastic working on any of these business ideas? Are you so passionate about any of them that you will continue working to see it succeed even when nobody is there to encourage you? This is the way to sieve the ideas.

4. Get Advice From Experienced Entrepreneurs – Visit successful entrepreneurs who are already implementing those ideas. (It is wise to go out of your locality so that the entrepreneur will not be afraid of you becoming his next competitor). If possible, chat with at least two entrepreneur for each business ideas you have selected. You will be surprise at the amount of information you will gather from such interviews. This singular step will save you a lot of pain in terms of fund, time and energy that would have been wasted due to your lack of business experience.

5.Pick Your First Small Business Risky Adventure! – Life is all about risk. So  face it. Tell yourself the truth, I wan to take a risk because refusal to deliberately and wisely take a risk at succeeding is itself a bad risk! Select a business opportunity to start with based on the tips garnered from your discussion with those entrepreneurs. You are not just taking a risk by so doing, instead you are doing what every successful entrepreneur does all the time. We take intelligent business risk based on quality information and experience gained from the past.

6. Get An Initial Capital – Get an amount you know you can afford to loose without going bankrupt. Don’t go for small business loan or empty your life savings. That will be a foolish thing to do.  Taking business risk is not the same thing as gambling or playing lottery.  Invest that into the idea you have selected and kick-off.

7.Get a business mentor – It will be nice if you can ask one of the entrepreneurs you interviewed to act as your business mentor. If you can’t get one of them, then get someone online to act as your business mentor. The fellow must be a successful entrepreneur, but not necessarily one that is in the same kind of business that you have ventured into.

8. Document Your Business Adventure – In conclusion I will suggest that you keep a personal journal where you will keep details of your business adventure for the first six months. Write down your experiences during this period. Record things that helped along the way and things that brought frustrations. Take note of business and personal decisions that work and those that got you into trouble. That journal will serve as a very useful business reference material (more valuable than books written by others on business strategies) in your future business adventures.

Start Your Own Small Business Now!

Ok, enough of the theory, get up NOW and take action! That is the only way to succeed. As you make progress with your small business opportunity, kindly return here (Nigerian Entrepreneur) to share your experience with us in the comment section. You can get future updates to this post and other Small business tips by subscribing to my RSS feed. See you at the top!

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Posted in Entrepreneur, Investing | 61 Comments »

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