The 5 Knows of Successful Entrepreneurs

I know it might sound like a funny title, The 5 Knows of Successful Entrepreneurs, but I believe that knowing these five truths is crucial for any business, small or large, to thrive in this modern business environment. The reason many businesses fail is due to a lack of knowledge of these five truths so bare with me as I go through them. If you will apply them to your business I am sure you will see great changes take place.

Know your own business. It might sound silly but trust me, a lot of business owners don’t really fully understand their own business. You must know your business inside and out. Every detail. Every reason you are in business. Take a pad and pen and write down ten reasons you are in the business you are in. Then look at those ten points and see if they show you how much you know about your own business.

Know your industry. This means being a voracious reader about the trends in your industry and knowing what the experts are saying is coming down the pike soon. A great entrepreneur learns to see trends before they become trends and that is why he or she is successful at picking the right business. Many business owners don’t take the time to keep up with what is happening in their industry and that is sad. Trust me, your competitors are keeping up to date and that is why they will do so much better than you.

Know your staff. Be a people person. Learn to listen to your staff. They will give you tons of great ideas to make your business better. They work in the trenches and see firsthand what works and what doesn’t work so listen to them. Learn to trust them. Learn their skills and talents so you can put them to good use.

Know your customers. Again, sounds like a simple idea but how many businesses take the time to get to know their customers by name or behavior. You must study your customers buying patterns and habits. Learn to know their needs and wants so that you as a business can meet them before some other business does.

Know your marketing. You have to know what works and what doesn’t work in marketing. Don’t pay for an ad in the Yellow Pages unless you find out a lot of your customers find you there. Don’t pay for an expensive newspaper ad if none of your customers see it. Today most people go to the Internet to find businesses so maybe you should change your marketing strategy to focus mainly on Internet marketing. Again. by learning to know your customers you will find out how they found you.