Start That Business

I had a great time last night at The Entrepreneur Connection’s event “Business Success In 2010 & Beyond.”  I really enjoyed presenting some trends to the great group of people that attended.  Thank you to everyone for participating in my interactive discussion on trends.  It’s always great to discuss the challenges facing other new and established entrepreneurs out there.  Here is an outline of the topics I covered last night for anyone that wants to refresh what we discussed.

1. 2010 Business Trends – Introduction

1.1 Your current business? (Ownership, Age, Number)

1.2 2010 small business trend overview.

1.2.1 Financial focus (State Of The Union mention for $30 billion in new small business fund allocation)

1.2.2 Analysts look to the small business and entrepreneur to create new avenues for consumer spending, creating new jobs, etc.

2. Trend: Customers Are Spending Less

2.1 How do you attract customers?

2.2 How do you engage customers?

3. Trend: Value

3.1 What value do you provide to customers?

3.2 Is the value you provide enough to earn a customer’s business?

4. Trend: Trust

4.1 Why should customers trust your business?

4.2. Trustworthy advocates for your business.

5. Trend: Going Local

5.1 Customers travel / search less to find you.

5.2 Owning your local market.

6. Trend: Staying Targeted

6.1 Are you really targeting your ideal customers?

6.2 Does your marketing messaging still relate to your target customer?

7. Trend: Discounts

7.1 Many customers expect discounts.

7.2 Be careful not to devalue your brand.

8. Trend: Be Consistent

8.1. Is your business consistently saying the same thing?

8.2 If you sound like a different company, you’re losing opportunities.

9. Trend: You Can’t Rely On 1 Way To Reach Customers

9.1 Do you have your bases covered to be effective in person, over the phone and online?

9.2. If you don’t have a solid and consistent presence, you are losing opportunities.

10. Closing

10.1 Q & A

10.2 Thank you