"Little Money = Getting Hungry for Sales!

Starting a business takes money. I read the books about businesses that were started on a "shoestring", and I tried to do the same with my business. Starting on a shoestring is much harder and takes much longer for the business to reach a stable point, but puts much less risk on your personal finances.

Unless you are one of the lucky ones, not everyone will want your product or service. In fact, once you start trying to sell it, you may find that those people who said "What a neat idea" don't think that the real product is something that they really need or want. Suddenly you have your start-up costs (business cards, computer, printer, phone, PO box, product development, etc.) with no cash coming in. This is where one of two things usually happens.

OPTION ONE: You get hungry. I don't really mean physically hungry, but hungry for the sale. What will it take to make the sale? How many people do you have to talk to? Cold call? Network? You start to see that the business is going nowhere unless you start to really work. It came for me after about 6 months with no sales. I thought that the Internet would bring them to my door. I checked my e-mail and voice mail, but when there were no business messages, I shook my head and wondered "why?"  What was missing?

In this new age of on-line business, the same old principals still are the best ones. Network with other business owners, join your local Chamber of Commerce, join as many women's business groups as possible, donate your time to Junior Achievement, your church, and other places that you can go to meet people. When you go to the meetings, take the risk of walking up to people and introducing yourself. Tell them about your product or service. Ask about theirs. Develop relationships. Ultimately, it is the relationships that will make your business work.

OPTION TWO: You close up shop and learn from your experience for the next time. This is not really giving up - you have learned a great deal this first time around. Next time, you will make the changes necessary to choose and build a great business.