Your Start-up Test Phase; 9 Tips to Keep Potential Clients Interested

(This is an excerpt from my article printed previously on WomenEntrepreneur.com on my blog: Plan With Pizzazz.)

Here's something most startup business owners forget: You are in the test phase of your business, and this means your initial clients are testing you also. Once you've started your new business, one of the challenges you'll face will be listening to your clients--even when they don't speak. Most of the time, your new clients won't tell you when something is wrong. YOU have to watch and listen.



You keep potential clients interested by showing interest. You're testing out your new business, and they're testing you. They may still be uncertain. So don't just blow somebody off because she doesn't want to do business with you. That's childish--and that type of attitude will hurt your startup business. Remember, your business is not all about you. A good way to plan as you go along is to pay attention to the ones you serve in business.


During the test phase of your service-based startup, keep these planning tips in mind:

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3 Steps To Help You Take the Right Direction in Business

In April, I started piecing together the puzzle for a Non-Profit Corporation that I've recently Co-Founded. During this time, my team and I were also planning the launch of my new book and community, A Different Business. Then, I realized in April that there was a need (within my business) that I had only been partly fulfilling--catering to the businesses that TRULY make a difference. Here I was, writing about how to Make A Difference in business, doing private planning for businesses, getting inquiries from non-profit startup corporations...oh but wait, I was not providing SPECIFIC programs for not-for-profit corporations--the true pioneers of A Different Business!

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Do You Feel Inferior To Your Dream?

"We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? ...We are all meant to shine...And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others. "

These are lines from the inaugural speech of a man I've admired for years--President Nelson Mandela.

Think about it: If we are all meant to shine, how is it that most of us choose not to? Could it be because we feel inferior to our own dreams or because other people make us feel this way?

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As A Result of What Your Business Does....Blank Happens...

This week, I've been in Atlanta for Black Enterprise's Entrepreneur Conference.

Motivational Speaker, Business Coach, and Best-Selling Author, Lisa Nichols talked about "thinking big" in business and creating new clients by having what she calls a SNAP method.

S-Super
N-Networking
A-At Accelerated
P-Pace

Simple meaning--win people over immediately. Answer the question for them, Why should they have a meeting with you later?  People don't care about what you do, they care about what your business can do for them.

One way she mentioned to do this is by having this statement completed for your business:

" As a result of what my company does...blank happens" 

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Your Business Purpose

I had a discussion today with a potential client about the definition of purpose. Purpose and passion--you hear those words used often that sometimes you drown out the words. Although they're both meaningful terms, they have the tendency to sometimes leave some people feeling confused.

So what is purpose in business? My definition: it is the real reason upon which you've built or want to build your business--the same reason that encourages you to charge forward despite your odds.

When your financial situation seems dismal, yet you continue to do the necessary things to build your business, you may be doing it with your business purpose in mind. When you strive to serve others in business; despite the lack of support you receive from your friends and loved ones, you most likely do it with some sense of purpose. When everything around you seems gloomy, yet you can derive a sense of peace from what your business represents, you have purpose. When you do what you do with a vision in mind that includes helping someone else become better at what they do, you have purpose.

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Are You Focused On Your Goal?

"A dream is a fragile thing--yet it can be the most powerful thing in the world. But it needs to be constantly reinforced, so that it becomes firmly rooted in the subconscious. When that dream is put down in a concrete, achievable plan, on paper, then the magic happens: All kinds of forces you never dreamed of come into play and help you manifest your dream."

These are quotes from the book, Visionary Business; An Entrepreneur's Guide To Success. This is one of my favorite business books of 2010 and I think you can see why. Marc Allen introduces us to his mentor in this book and together, they walk the reader through the importance of startup business planning.

"Keep your mind focused on your goal. Don't let doubts, fears and 'small thinking' undermine your goal. Don't think too small--if you do, the company you create will always remain small. Your company reflects your mind; it reflects your dominant visualization."

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My Book, "A Different Business; 7 Easy Steps To Starting & Planning A Business Around Your Purpose"

I'm writing this blog in awe because as time draws near to my book launch event, I can't help but remember how far I've come. Let me explain.

Over a decade ago, my odds of surviving a civil war in Liberia, was next to none. As a result of the war, my odds of graduating high school were slim--girls my age were most likely not high school graduates.  But through every "ceasefire," I enrolled myself in school and graduated high school (I say I because it was literally me...no parents around at the time for explainable reasons). Afterward, with a looted school and destroyed records, my odds of entering college were even lower. Considering the fact that I was the first among my siblings to graduate college, this shows that those odds were against me too.  

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