What Really Makes A Small Business Successful by Walt Barrett

  There are many more people today that are thinking about starting a small business because there is so little job security in the world and I am here to tell you that it can be done, but there are some simple rules to follow and the people who follow them to the letter usually succeed while those who do not follow the exact rules usually fail.  The first thing that always comes to my mind is does this person really want to run a business or are they simply in love with the idea of running a business because there is a real difference, and when you become the owner of a business you also become your own support system both morally and financially, and that can be an awesome responsibility.  Personally I think that if you are fortunate enough to be employed you should consider starting a part time business to see if your idea is as great as you think it is.  For instance, I can tell you that you do not simply put up a web site and become an instant Internet millionaire and this is also true of any business that you can think of starting.  I have been running successful businesses on the Internet for seventeen years now and I'm going to share my best ideas with you.  

1. The first thing to do is do not give up your day job unless you have money falling out of your pockets!

2.  Overhead is the monster that eats businesses. Try to accomplish as many things as you can in house because the lack of cash flow is the cause of most business failures.  You need a paycheck every week and that's why you need to keep some kind of regular job. You do not need a big rent bill either. Find a way to start off small.  I personally do not like expensive store front businesses. Think of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak starting off in a garage and the patience and guts that they had.  We started off in a basement workshop, with a home office and our warehouse was a $125.00 a month storage locker and only after we were forced to rent it.  We had to squeeze every penny until it bled!  Think twice and then think again about any purchases that you make and that goes double for any decisions involving the hiring of any kind of help.  When you consider all of the taxes, insurances and liabilities that there are today even one person can get very expensive.  In the beginning you might be much better off to contract out especially for really technical jobs. For example, we are paying a highly technical consultant right now in order to ship our chemicals to foreign countries.  Wait until your company matures financially enough before you make any serious hiring decisions.  In many cases a private contractor can be used and then excused.  We could go on and about overhead, but I think you get the general idea.  It's kind of like packing a lunch instead of eating out every day and it's less expensive oh so much better for you and common sense rules always.

3.  What is your product or service going to be?  Well I don't seriously care as long as there is a huge  demand for it all of the time.  It needs to be something that people virtually cannot get along without.  It has to save them money and it has to be the best quality possible. People have to want it and keep buying it.  I know a man that made millions by picking very successful products and figuring out how to make them better and much less expensive.

Food, clothing, shelter, daily living necessities, products to save industries and businesses money are all excellent places to begin looking for a little crack that opens the door to success for you.

   Let's talk about a service business of the very near future that deserves for us all to take a look at.  You know, the jobs really are going to start coming back to America because they have to before our economy collapses totally.  There is one thing though and that is that the new American work force is going to contain hundreds of thousands of robots.  Now there are plenty of different ways to look at this and I am going to suggest that you look at in in a very positive way.  Consider the fact that not only do people have to build these new Bots, but these Bots are going to require plenty of repairs, parts, and other services.  A good way to start a business would be to go to the library and start getting every book and DVD I could find on the subject.  That's how I learned about Chemistry, Rockets, Electronic, Engineering, Photography, and Video Production.  Believe me when you are an inventor you need to have a smattering of all of them to start getting ideas and then pointing your ideas in that direction.   The point is don't just sit there, do something.  You really don't absolutely need to have a college degree to succeed.  Just look at what Steve and Steve did!  Do not burn yourself out.  It also takes patience and powerful observation to make a business work.  A wise man once said "Find a need and fill it".

   What ever business that you start you must be sure to get as many films about your business on You Tube and all other free video sites.  You Tube is our single largest source of sales.  Social Networking customers rarely buy our products and spend far to much time on the Internet socializing all day to ever accomplish anything else.  We have over 230 Videos on the Internet and they pay big money by bringing us a ton of business!

4.  Try to stay as far away as possible from any businesses that are being over regulated by the various governmental agencies.  Many of these people have their own agendas and have already ruined hundreds of thousands of businesses and can they waste the taxpayers money or what!

5.  Last, but by far not the least today is that our company 

NEVER GIVES CREDIT AND NEVER BORROWS EITHER.

I can just see all the Harvard boys scoffing at that one, lol, but we run in the black and always have.  I always say if you cant pay me now you cant pay me later!

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Thanks,

Walt