Discovering a Business Breakthrough

I have been talking at length about home based businesses and presenting various ideas on how to grow your business. Some of you may have been in business for several years and may be currently stuck in the proverbial rut with your current small business. It is times like this when you need to find that business breakthrough that will propel your business into the next level. For many of us with a small business, it is hard to find the time to discover a business breakthrough. We have our hands full with the day-to-day processes, sales and associated issues and concerns.

Tonight I would like to suggest a few different ways to view your current business. By taking an outside view of your business, you may find that critical breakthrough that you have been searching for. Most of the time we need to step back from what we do to take a fresh look at our businesses. It is very hard to do when you have so much that must be completed on a daily basis. You end up getting into a routine and not even realizing that you are doing the same thing day in and day out. That is when your business may become stagnant. Hopefully these questions will help to get your creative juices stirring.

These ideas are similar to free-association, hopefully they will get you looking at your current business situation in new and different ways. It is very difficult to discover new and better ways to do things if you don't have an uninterested third party looking at what you are doing and asking questions. This is a way that we can simulate an uninterested stranger looking at your business and asking questions.

How do you see your products or services changes in the next 3-5 years? Do you see yourself adding or removing product or service lines? If so, why would you change? If you changed products, why did you offer the products in the first place?

Is there a new way to market your product to your customer base? Is your product environmentally friendly? What does your product do that your competitor doesn't do? Is there some off-the wall use for your product that works, but you never tell your customers about? If so, why don't you talk about it? Sometimes a new application for your product can revitalize sales.

Can your products be used by children? Or, if you have products for children, can they also be used by adults? What would need to be adjusted if you changed your demographics?

Is there a different way you can introduce your products to new customers? Do you have testimonials? If not, why not? If you do, are they current? I many businesses I have visited, I have noticed that many testimonials hanging on the walls are years old. Does this describe your business? If you walked into another business and saw testimonials years old, what would go through your mind?

Can you do any word association with your products? Is there a way you can create a silly jingle for your products or services? (i.e. wacky widgets, squeaky clean mouse car cleaners, donut dusters) Even if you don't publish your jingle, it may be enough to get you thinking about your product or service in a new light. That may then suggest other marketing ideas for you. Have fun with the jingle, the only person who may ever hear it could be you. Be sure to record all of your attempts, then come back to your attempts another day. Taking several days to create a jingle and then review it may help to again find new advertising ideas.

Hopefully some of these questions will trigger other ideas for you, they are not meant to be followed religiously, but they are intended to get your creative ideas flowing so that you can come up with even more creative ideas for your specific products or services. With luck you will discover a business breakthrough that will allow your business to be even more profitable than it currently is.

Check out our website if you are interested in adding a second income to your current portfolio. We may have something that will compliment what you are currently doing, or we may have an opportunity that will expand what you want to do.

Until tomorrow...