Press Release
Plenty of people have the drive and the work ethic to start up a small business. The problem is finding how to turn a profit.
Virgil Froehlich of Norfolk, a volunteer counselor for the small business counseling service called SCORE—Service Corps of Retired Executives—said there is no magic formula that calls for a specific “type” of person who will make a good business owner.
Each owner is different and there are “57 varieties, like Heinz 57,” he said.
But there are certain steps that every prospective business owner can take advantage of to help provide a better chance at success.
“It would be nice if they had a business background, a business education; it’s very necessary so that they understand some of the accounting responsibilities and signing leases and contracts—a little business law certainly helps them,” he said. “I think one thing (most business graduates) really lack is marketing.”
If a potential business owner doesn’t have prior training, Froehlich said there are some guidelines available to help them start out on the path to success.
“They’ve got to get some counseling—they’ve got to get some (marketing) ideas,” Froehlich said. “Really, a drawback with a lot of these companies is basically they don’t allocate anything for advertising. They don’t have a business plan, so they don’t know how much they should be setting aside for advertising. Is it 1 percent or 2 percent or 5 percent?”
Vern Steinman, president of the Norfolk SCORE chapter, agrees that marketing is always important to a small business owner.
“Business owners forget to include marketing in their business plan. They work hard and grow and boom, then they hit the ceiling because they’ve got no marketing plan.” said Steinman.
Both men agreed that any new small business owner could benefit from the free business planning and counseling available at their non-profit agency.
“The first thing they ought to do is come in and figure out how to really start their own business and how to structure their business. That’s what we really run into—there’s no structure and (business owners) don’t know how to write a business plan,” Steinman said.
The SCORE counselors suggested that business owners always look to the future, especially in terms of promotions. They said that it’s always important to have a plan each month to promote something to lure in new customers.
Also important is knowing who the regular customers are and what they’re buying.
“Business owners want to work with establishing a customer database. Who are their customers? How much are those customers purchasing? You get a base and then you put all your promotions about what the base is,” Steinman said. “It’s just unbelievable that people don’t do that.”
Steinman also said that many small business owners are diligent, but many of them are missing one crucial piece of the puzzle of how to run a business—the plan.
“They’re working hard, working night and day,” said Steinman. “They just have no plan, and they have to in order to be a success. If you don’t do this, don’t start (a business) because you’re not going to make it.”
Even after small business owners are up and running they need to be prepared to work hard and make sacrifices if they want to succeed.
“I’d say it takes at least a year before you see a profit because you’ve got so many start-up costs,” Froehlich said.
He added that when getting into business, “you’ve got to jump in with both feet and work at it about 24/7.”
- Story Courtesy of the Norfolk Daily News
