Tag: new markets

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Detect changes in your market really and act quickly

If your market changes and your customers have new problems they need to solve but you keep using the same selling methods, then it will be no surprise when your sales drop.

The selling methods you’ve used two years ago, three years ago, even five years ago may no longer work with new prospects. Your market is constantly changing; people face new problems, new wants, new tastes and new personal and business challenges.

Look at it this way: You have changed over the past few years; technology has changed, costs such as electricity and fuel have risen beyond predictions; the economy has been in a worldwide recession; bankers eroded trust in the financial system; large companies are squeezing suppliers and taking longer to pay. Continue reading “Detect changes in your market really and act quickly”

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An innovator shows how new uses for products can open new markets

Technology developed in Africa shows how innovation can lead to new uses for products which can open new markets.

greysanatomy1A small to medium-sized company developed an x-ray scanner for detecting diamonds at mines in South Africa. Because regular checks were made the scanner had to emit minimum levels of radiation.

The innovative entrepreneurs making the scanner were not satisfied with this one market for their product. They began looking for new uses for applications for their scanner technology.

Now Lodox Systems has supplied more than 40 of their x-ray scanners to hospitals in South Africa and around the world. Their Xmplar-dr scanner takes 13 seconds to produce a full body overview of injuries and foreign bodies (such as bullets in gunshot victims). Continue reading “An innovator shows how new uses for products can open new markets”

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Are you staying opportunity focused in this economy?

Money_Man
Credit: Creative Commons

In this economy every source of income counts. But where do you begin to discover hidden or new sources of income?

You may wonder about the term “multiple streams of income”. What is it? A buzzword from some self-help business guru that helps him or her sell their books and other products. It’s really a term to entice people into believing that it so easy to make money that you merely need to turn open a tap and money will pour into your banking account. This does not happen in the real world. You need to work long and hard for any sort of income.

In every business or new venture knowing where additional sources of income will come from is important. The simplest example is a product business that adds after-market service to their offering. This provides two sources of income: product sales and service. Continue reading “Are you staying opportunity focused in this economy?”

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How do you turn your small business into an innovation machine?

Innovation
Innovation (Photo credit: Seth1492)

A dog day care business faced stiff competition with similar businesses starting up. The owner decided to introduce new services such as caring for older, sickly pets, offering on-site vaccinations and placing webcams in the facility so owners could check their pets anytime. This innovation helped the business expand from 11 locations to 100 franchise outlets and wholly-owned shops.

The perception exists that small businesses are not as innovative as larger companies. Yet while this may be true for common village professionals like shopkeepers, real estate agents, plumbers, lawyers and doctors, many small business owners are highly innovative.

Why is innovation so important to small businesses? Continue reading “How do you turn your small business into an innovation machine?”