The start of a business... Why is it always slow progress?

OK, now you have a business. You have it started and everything seems to be going well but... WAIT!, there is a pitstop here because you seem to think things are going well but where are all the customers?

People spend a lot of money on advertising their business and still only get minimal results. A majority of the time, things do "Take their time."

But the real question is

"Why are things always so slow during the first few months/years of a new business?"

What are your views?

Tags: advertising, business, customers, minimal, months, net, people, question, results, slow

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Permalink Reply by Stan Scott on August 25, 2008 at 5:07am: Michael,

I think what it boils down to is credibility. When a business first starts up neither the company nor the people who run it are known. After some time, if the company and the people involved give good service and are proven to be reliable. trust builds and word gets around. All the advertising in the world won't build that trust, only time will do that.

If you had someone with a reputation starting the company, it would grow much faster as those who new the reputation would tend to trust that.

Stan; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by MONA*VIE Opportunity on November 10, 2008 at 10:52pm: I should agree with you on this Stan. Trust is the most important thing and it takes time to build that relationship based on reputation and trust.
Mona*Vie; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Dac Colden on August 25, 2008 at 6:49am: I agree with Stan. Ultimately it comes down to trust. Even if the product or service is not well-known, people will buy it if they trust the representative/business owner.

Secondly, I believe it is the mentality of the business owner. Most business owners feel that all their friends and family should automatically buy from them, just because. Depending on the size of this universe, you can go through those customers pretty quickly. Once through that initial pool, most business owners don't know how to expand the pool and therefore struggle along until the pool slowly grows or they give up.

Forums like these are important to teach the proper networking skills to generate a continuous stream of leads for your service/product.

Thanks for asking the question.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Dan Jensen on August 25, 2008 at 11:31am: Businesses grow when relationships grow.

Relationships grow when trust grows.

Trust grows when reliability and true regard are demonstrated, CONSISTENTLY AND ENDURINGLY.

All of these require time and the investment of ourselves and our business self.

Once the trust and reliability are in place, the barriers to business are gone.

Thanks for the question, Michael.

Dan; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Ed Thomas on August 25, 2008 at 12:41pm: I think it really depends on the business. It has to be something people want or want to do. If it costs money, then the economy comes into play. One of my problems in this type of business....NM. Too many people hit you at the same time to join their project. I joined way too many. I still belong to them but at least 5 of them get very little attention from me. The other problem is the people that are supposed to be helping you do it like you have a clue how to do this. (I DON'T). I get way too much information, and trying to figure what I'm supposed to use gets kind of foggy. Personally I don't need to read testimonials, because I don't believe them. Showing me checks doesn't show me anything except you know how to paste a picture. If someone is truely succssesful, I want that person to tell me step by step what they did. and...then I have to hope I can do it also. If they made a dollar investment...I might not have the money for that. I'm in one now thats told me that as soon as I pay $25 (Because of my down line) I am elegible for a $640 payment. I do believe this, but at this time I really can't cut $25 out of my budget. Especially if I either don't get it, or it takes a long time to get it into an account I can use. I was told by a few that it takes about 90 days to really start to make any real money. I just started trying this around the middle of July, so I have a lot to learn. In a non "Network Marketing" business I feel that advertising is the key along with advertising in the right areas. You don't advertise Bentleys in the ghetto; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Debbie Kessler on September 2, 2008 at 12:10pm: You are hitting the advertising head on its tip top! One must be smart. It is not enough to buy into a mlm business to make it. One has to play the marketing game smartly. I am on the QAlias team and I have a very interesting concept for all my small business owner friends, whether you are a mlm, online company, store front, or just for personal use. This concept is called personal branding. If you think it will cost you a heap of $$$, stop right there. How does 9.95 a month sound? Personal branding, top of google and yahoo for less than ten dollars-wow that is worth getting in touch with me. Yes, Ed, I would like to connect with you and thank you for the beautiful image on my comments.
Debbie Kessler-Google Me! try it!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Kevin Lankford on August 25, 2008 at 4:12pm: My quick response is it takes personal development and growth. There's a difference of being in business for 5 years and doing one year of business 5 years in a row!

Jim Rohn said it's better to work on yourself than in your business, so until you;re head's on right it's going to be slow!

Thanks for listening,

Kevin
Get The Science of Getting Rich Free for a limited time right here!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Dorie Boeye on August 25, 2008 at 9:37pm: Hi, They are alway slow in the first few months because there is so much you have to set up first. The website, the hosting, The advertising, the customers , there is just so much that there are never enough hours in a day to get it all done especialy when you have a full time job tthat has to come first to pay for it all, So for me these are the most important views, but in the end you hope that all the money and time is well spent. hope this helps you .Dorie; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Michael Swan on August 26, 2008 at 12:30am: Thanks everyone, yeah all is helping. This is just a general discussion to see wat peoples views are and hopefully this discussion can be reffered on and may help others in the furutre...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Debbie Kessler on August 27, 2008 at 9:36am: Asking questions like this one is a great tool. Many people only look at the end result. They forget that they have to plan for all the stuff in the middle to get to the end result--the prize of $$$$$$. When a smart business owner goes to build a tower, they will not start until they have counted the cost. The cost of owning one's own business is money, effort, and time. It will cost money, it will require your time and you will invest a lot of time caring for that business. Being a business owner can be the hardest thing one will ever do. If your are not ready mentally or intellectually you will delay. There are many obstacles in owning your own business. I believe the most simpliest explanation for the lengthy time before results is we are not ready. Just because one has a dream to own a business, does not mean they are ready. When we are ready, the business will grow.
The statistics say that over 50% of new businesses fail within the first two years. To be successful, we have to understand some of the reasons why those businesses failed so soon. Dreaming is not enough. Wanting your own business is not enough. It takes forethought and planning and surrounding yourself with a team of successful mentors. If you would like to talk more about this please contact me. I am open to discussions.
I appreciate all the openness from the fellow networkers. enjoy the synergy here on this ning site.
Sincerely,
Debbie Kessler-Google Me!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Michael Swan on August 29, 2008 at 11:31am: Agreed, there are always many things that people do not always think about when setting up or planning a business.

Alot of the time, i believe that it is stress which causes people to forget these things but i can only say, that i was fine with my business; Corporate Internet Solutions.

We have been providing website hosting services from our current site for the past year.

Any Views?

http://www.rsdarkness.com/; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Billie and Robert Nicholson on September 2, 2008 at 10:11pm: Mentorship, mentorship, mentorship. Find someone in your organization who has become successful at it and go to them and become immersed in learning and copying what they've done. This will be the best training time and money you can spend. Become a good communicator, learn your business so you can share it with others; become a good listener, find out what your prospective purchaser needs; become the leader you were born to be. When you help others get what they need, it will come back to you.
Billie Nicholson; ▶ Reply to This