5 Steps to Maximize your Social Network ROI

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We all think we know how to network. I mean, it seems simple on the surface, right? You arrive at the event, well-dressed, grab some drinks and just start working the room. You talk to everyone, exchange information and maybe business cards, and move on. Easy. But what if there was something else you should be doing to maximize the returns of your social network strategy?

In this post, we will examine how to build a personal networking strategy that will maximize your efficiency at these events. This strategy will give you focus, direction, and an overall game plan to take with you to all networking events. A good networking strategy will give you solid goals and well-planned ways to achieve these goals.

Here you have five steps to help you develop a good networking strategy: Read more

Business Plan Template

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After hundreds of requests for a business plan template, we decided to post the following business plan template as a guideline to help entrepreneurs identify the basic needs to start their firms. A business plan is an essential roadmap for business success. As such there is no single business plan template that will fulfill every business needs.

Introduction

A business plan is a living document that projects 3 to 5 years ahead and outlines the path a company intends to take to grow revenues. To make your business plan stand out determine your target market and why they would want to buy from you. As yourself the questions:

Business plan template

  • What makes your business unique?
  • What needs does your product or service fulfill?
  • What benefits and differentiators will help your business stand out from the crowd?
  • Is the market you serve the best one for your product or service?
  • Are the benefits of dealing with your business clearly stated?
  • Are they aligned with customer needs?
  • Beyond basic products or services, what are you really selling?
  • Which specific need or clientele are you targeting?

    • Read more

Entrepreneurship: Exploring Market Needs

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So, How Do I Explore Market Needs, Anyway?

So, you’re standing in the shower one night, or taking a quiet walk alone, and all of a sudden, it hits you. It’s perfect. It’s complete. It’s radical. It’s the coolest thing you’ve thought of, possibly ever, and you’re sure others would agree! You immediately want to rush home and put pen to paper, plan to action. But wait…how are you so sure that your grand idea is salient and marketable? How do you know people will care? Is it a real business opportunity, or simply a cool idea?

entrepreneur

In this blog, we’ll attempt to address those questions. It takes a creative mind to come up with a unique idea, but a more pragmatic approach is important for proper execution and implementation. It is important, first of all, to consider a potential customer bases’ needs. A need in a customer base is simply an unsolved problem. Take, for example, Google. Google was started by a group of friends who identified a need that they themselves had – a way to easily and exhaustively search for specific data. This need happened to also affect a greater community, and Google grew to be the powerhouse it has become today. Solving your own problem can be the first step toward marketing yourself or your own company. Read more

The Choices of Technology and Innovation Startups

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pros-cons2In general, technology startups are presented with two business models to market their technologies. In both cases, the innovation or technology developer have to protect their intellectual property (IP). There are three different types of IP protection: patents, copyrights, and trademarks. Click here for differences and more details.

In this post we discuss the pros and cons of both models to help you make the best decision for your company.

The Traditional Model

In this model the developers (and investors) of the technology or innovation build a corporate structure around it. The objective of the company is to turn the new technology into a product, i.e., to manufacture, market and sell the product. Read more