Extra Income – Online Business Opportunities

Extra Income

Extra income can make a big difference for people seeking greener pastures.

You can turn a hobby, an interest, knowledge, skill or a passion, into a profitable business from home that fits in with your lifestyle goals.

Look at the financial benefits by focusing on the end goal.

Extra income rids you of only one-source of income and having to worry about how to make ends meet.

It can help pay off your home, clear any outstanding debts, build savings and investment, go for a holiday or do the things you dream about.

A WEBSITE WORKS ALL YEAR ROUND, 24 HOURS A DAY, 7 DAYS A WEEK

Online Business Opportunities

Online business opportunities require commitment, the desire to learn, targeting the right traffic and, pursuing your goals.

An online business is not restrained by geographical demographics.

It opens the door to a vast selection of products, services and information to sell and promote to a global market that works all-year round.

There is a variety of online income avenues to pursue through the most affordable and cost-effective forms of promotion.

Treat your website as a business and it will generate long-term, ongoing, passive and residual income around the clock.

Pick a Niche

A niche is a more focused or smaller part of a broad market.

Niche marketing is focused to targeting those visitors who will be interested specifically on those products, services or information.

Affiliate niche programs have digital and physical affiliate products to promote and make money.

Drop shipping allows you to sell niche products through your website, eBay or Amazon.

Bricks and Mortar Business

A website can help business stand out from their competition because it will increase its visibility in their community, promote to target audiences, find a new consumer base or to develop another profitable niche that compliments an existing business.

Food Ideas

For example, an information website is a great way to showcase inspiring recipes, cooking methods, and handy hints designed to make time in the kitchen easier.

Visitors can re-discover tried and tested old favorites along with fabulous new tastes.

They can get tips on how to choose the best quality produce from fresh vegetables, seafood and cheeses to creating delicious, healthy meals that are balanced and nutritious.

Over the years you may have accumulated favorite recipes from your own cooking experiences, there are your mother and grandmother’s unforgettable dishes and those you enjoy with your family on special occasions.

And, of course, there are the time-tested great dishes of your heritage.

Aside from earning affiliate income through your website, you can create your own cookbook and self-publish it via Kindle Direct Publishing and promote it on Amazon Books.

Case Study:

Work at Home Moms (WAHM)

Crystal Maleski

makedinnerseasy.com

Crystal, a non-techie, turns her passion for cooking into a successful online business. It all started with some emails to friends about easy dinner ideas. Now this WAHM, with four teenage kids all in sports, loves how she can work whenever and wherever she wants.

“While I loved my career when I was single, I found the stress of working long hours when I had small children was very taxing. I no longer feel stressed when one of my kids needs to stay home from school. I can take care of them and still work on my business. I wake up excited every morning. There is nothing like the sense of accomplishment that I feel when I learn something new or master a new skill.”

SOLO BUILD IT!

To build a successful, online business you need to know where to start and how to go from one step to another with easy to understand language.

The SBI! software tools provide everything you need to build an online business in a systematic and professional way.

It includes domain registration, easy-to follow site building tools, website hosting, creating optimized, quality content and analysis, keyword research, traffic building, link building, search engine submissions through to marketing, pay-per-click and monetizing your website.

Solo Build It! Action Guide

The Action Guide (in written and video format) includes:

*Brainstorming and Keyword Research Tool

*Website Builder (you don’t have to know any HTML)

*Built-in SEO (Search Engine Optimization (to get high-ranking in search engines)

*Built-in Social Media Marketing

*Success-Focused Private Forums

*Dedicated 24/7 Support

Thousands of people around the world have started and succeeded in building their online businesses using SBI!

Case Study:

Gerhild Fulson Solo Build It! Review

JustLikeOma.com

“How hard can it be?” Gerhild Fulson thought when she volunteered to build a web presence for the ministry she and her husband had founded in Germany. She chose a recipe site as her “training ground.”

A few years into her webmaster career, a lightbulb went off in her head. Her recipe site had enough business potential to raise all necessary fundings for their ministry — if she only treated it as a business.

Once she switched her mindset from “building a website” to “building a business,” profits started to soar. She redesigned and rebranded her web presence, grew a massive following on Facebook and Pinterest, added a store, and is now selling more digital cookbooks than ever before. She also started selling print-on-demand items, like T-shirts and mugs.

“Most importantly, since I really do enjoy all that I do, I’m just going to keep on doing it, together with my hubby. With an online business, as long as there’s internet, there’s no telling where we’ll go.”

“The alternative? Since I’ll soon be 70 and hubby 80, should we be sitting in those proverbial rocking chairs? I think not.”

The Aspiring Entrepreneur

When you create an e-business you are building an asset that makes you money.

As an aspiring entrepreneur, you have the desire to own a business and that creative spirit to turn that interest into financial gain by investing into the ideas and ways that make money.

Financial freedom gives you the freedom of choice to live the lifestyle you desire.

It is the path to pursuing dreams and enhancing your quality of life mentally, physically, socially, financially, intellectually, creatively and spiritually.

Internet Business Opportunities: How to Start Earning From Home?

Internet business opportunities are ideal for anyone who wants to work at home. Thanks to the Internet, there are many business opportunities being offered online. They allow anyone to make a living by working from home.

How can you earn a decent income from these opportunities?

Obtain Internet connection at home. If you do not have an Internet connection yet, you should have one. A reliable Internet is the first tool that you need so you can start working from home. Whether you are selling products online or making a website to generate income, Internet connection is a must-have tool.

Search for legitimate Internet business opportunities. When exploring your options, you have to know what special skills you can offer to your potential clients. Specifically, what are you good at that can help you make money? Do you love writing? Are you good at working with jewelry? Do you have a talent in graphic arts? As soon as you know what skills you have, then you can start searching for a job related to your skills.

Find out the needs of your potential clients. What are the things you can offer them that cannot be provided by anyone? There are many clients out there looking for someone who can do data entry jobs, computer programming and web designing. You can visit and browse job listings at freelance consultant sites. Most of these sites do not require fees upon registration.

Start your own blog. There is money in blogging. There are hundreds to thousands of bloggers out there who can testify to this fact. Blogging is one of the Internet business opportunities that you should not miss.

Create an eBook. If you want to share your tips and ideas on how to become a full-time mother or whatever topic you have in mind, you can create your own electronic book and sell it online. You do not need to have perfect writing skills. However, it can be a big plus if you have excellent writing skills. Most readers prefer to read friendly and informal tone. The reason for this is that it is easier to understand and digest, rather than opting for a very formal writing.

Earn through affiliate marketing. When considering this, you have to own a website where you can post your ideas and comments about a particular product. Do not worry. Starting a new website does not burn a hole in your pocket.

Before you start looking for Internet business opportunities, however, you have to make sure that such home-based work is reputable.

Internet Home Business Opportunities – How to Boom Your Business in 3 Easy Steps

How To Make Internet Home Business Opportunities Boom Instantly?

I’m not one to mock your intelligence over the matter but we all know that most Internet home business opportunities doesn’t make you rich overnight. Instead people who so called ‘made it’ are really people who follow a certain step to success.

What is this well kept secret that they possess which possibly have eluded you for all the wrong reasons? While you frantically rush to get the answer fast I have news for you: your answer has arrived in 3 short steps.

Step 1: Be A Believer In Your Own Opportunity

Everywhere you look there are numerous Internet home business opportunities all over the web. Heck, I’ll bet your inbox is just flooded with tons of ways to make money online. Dare I say that it is not easy to believe every single thing you hear about online anymore.

However, if you want to really prosper beyond your wildest dreams you will need to start with your own belief system. What opportunities will drive you delirious even if you gotta to it for close to nothing?

Step 2: Plug Into The System And Work On It

You see, business-in-a-box often times make the best of the marketing game there is which you will see “this is a fool proof system” plastered all over the website. Not all over but its pretty obvious once you are near the ‘buy now’ button.

Systems are meant for you and I to put our hands to work and no matter what there is still work involved. The question is, how much time and money are you willing to invest into your business system? Think about this before going onto the next step.

Step 3: Profits Come In Many Different Sizes

Last but not least, we are all in it for the money even if you are involved in some of the most ground breaking Internet home business opportunities. Face the truth about making some serious profits can be a struggle to even high fliers sometimes.

You will need to recognize that if an opportunity doesn’t pay you much after so much sales then it should be time to move on. No matter how much you love it, better remember that you are a marketer and a 3rd person not the product owner.

The Real Secret To Booming In The Gloom Times

My best advice would be instead of just marketing Internet home business opportunities, consider giving yourself a chance to create your own products when you have the chance to. This way you can have a taste of both marketing your own products and also someone else’s products at the same time for a complete evaluation.

Make Money Online With Home Based Business Opportunities For Everyone

More and more people are researching about profitable ventures that they could do at the comfort of their own homes. This could be quite difficult for those who have no prior knowledge about how to make money online with home based business. People could actually learn a lot from the internet. All that they have to do is to use the various search engines to come up with a list of websites that offer information regarding home-based businesses. However, there are a lot of questions that may arise in the minds of the people regarding this type of business. Are these businesses real and possible?

There are a lot of possible things that could happen online and one of these is the possibility of putting up a business that is home-based yet will be able to usher money in. For those who have families, this is actually a great idea. They could get to spend more time with their loved ones at home while at the same time, they get to earn for a living. Can you really make money online with home based business? Yes, you can. As a matter of fact, there are a number of different options available for people who wish to stay at home but still have a business to turn to when it comes to getting money. But then, how will the people know if the offer is real or not?

Research is a key factor in pointing out what websites are the real thing and which ones are the ones just after to cause havoc among the lives of people. People who wish to indulge in this kind of business should do their part and perform background checks on the websites that they have seen offering such opportunities. Scammers would usually offer the people get-rich-fast schemes, which is something that is difficult (as well as near impossible) to reach. To make money online with home based business one has to do the legwork and learn more about how they might be able to achieve this.

There are a lot of people who would rather stay at home and put up their own businesses so that they could spend more time with their loved ones. But it could be difficult to find the appropriate type of business for the people at first. They could try looking for such businesses online, with the help of the search engines. It is best that they do a thorough check on the feedback of people regarding the sites or the online businesses so that they will not commit any mistakes. More and more people want to make money online with home based business because it is easier than having to look for work outside their homes.

Expanding Business Opportunities in Grasscutter Farming

Introduction to grasscutter farming

Many of the farmers and people in the great plains of Africa are finding a new source of revenue. This is through grasscutter farming, a practice of raising grasscutters for their meat. The grasscutter is an herbivorous rodent and its meat is tender, delicious, rich in proteins, free from fat and can be prepared in a number of ways.

People belonging to different occupations both high and low consume the grasscutter meat. The taste and nutritive value of this meat is comparable to poultry meat. This farming practice is a multimillion-dollar business, which has now opened the doors to prosperity for many people in Africa.

You need to take care regarding two or three things listed below.

– Enough space so that there is no spread of diseases

– Give enough nutrition for the grasscutters

– Keep the place clean to prevent infections

– Check with market before you start

Worldwide appreciation for the meat

The market demand for this delicacy is rising day by day. Apart from the local hotels and many homes in the vicinity, the Chinese also hugely favors this. The expense of raising them is minimal since they are herbivores and if you obtain the proper manuals and gather information regarding raising grasscutters, you should be in an advantageous position to make money in this multimillion-dollar affair. If you have excess meat they may be dried and packaged.

Requirements for Raising Grasscutters

You would only require a piece of land to raise the grasscutters. They are herbivores, they have a gestation period of 5-6 months, they are relatively easy to maintain. If you keep the surroundings clean and sanitized, there is no chance of infections and no need for medicines. The food that they eat is obtainable locally at no cost.

Aspects of Business in Grasscutter Farming

This is a multimillion-dollar business where anyone with a few dollars saved up will be able to start. You would need to know the addresses to ship the meat to if you wish to expand your business overseas. Exporting the meat brings in large profits. However, you may also sell them locally to the houses nearby and the hotels in town when you are just beginning.

Grasscutters are not hostile because they get all their food from vegetables, plants and grass. They are susceptible to elimination due to the forest fires and extensive hunting. By encouraging the grasscutter rearing practice, we will be able to preserve this species from dying out.

Small Home Biz – Top 10 Home Based Business Ideas and Opportunities For a Beginner

Kudos to the small home biz segment that brings into a significant number of the educated, senior and entrepreneur work force from the masses. This section comprises of the people who cannot resist the temptation of working in niche areas and utilizing their creative skills without the corporate intervention and hypes. The small home business sector provides them the essential opportunity they are searching for. No fancy skills like web designing, computer programming and scripting are required for these top 10 home based businesses. It is a small leap from a full-time office job to a full-time “working from home” which eventually gives way to flexible hours when there is a steady source of income.

My choice of “Top 10 home based businesses” that will give you an edge and expedite earnings to break even quickly with your investments are the ones that produce results and have ways to measure your incremental success in steps, however small. A birds eye view of the systems that will make you a self employed home biz owner –

  • Plug-In Profit Site (PIPS)
  • Niche Profit Classroom (NPC)
  • Ewen Chia’s Super Affiliate Inner Circle Club
  • Internet Marketing Centre (IMC)
  • Strong Future International (SFI)
  • Empowerism
  • Global Domain International (GDI)
  • The International Association of Home Business Entrepreneurs (IAHBE)
  • Warrior Pro
  • The Reverse Funnel System
  • Plug-In Profit Site commonly known as the PIPS program comes with a complete money making system that runs on auto-pilot. The package has everything – a professional website, reputed 5 affiliate programs, pre-written sales letter and automated emails by an autoresponder. It is all about earning a residual income from the internet. The advantage of the program is that it gives a kick-start to a newbie who is readily equipped with a useful internet product. A small disadvantage of the system is the initial cost of the membership programs and a 30 days training series that may end up in a total spending spree for an inexperienced marketer.

    Niche Profit Classroom is a membership program that I have found very helpful from my personal experience. NPC provides one-to-one support, premier web hosting for 15 domains and ready made high quality niche websites that are very easy to customize and deploy. The video tutorials are very educational and are made keeping the view of a novice who is new to the internet with no expertise in computer skills. Every month, you get instant access to two ready made businesses and a step by step approach to implement the blueprint. The membership fee is slightly on the higher side for newbies who have just come in but worth investing.

    Ewen Chia’s Super Affiliates Inner Circle Club is a monthly membership program in which the super affiliate shares the secrets, strategies and resources on how to make a fortune from affiliate marketing and various other online techniques. The membership provides 5 modules out of which three of them provide new content every month. One of the modules contains products that you have PLR (Private Label and Resale Rights) that alone is worth your investment in the program.

    Internet Marketing Centre has 12 modules and each module contains a number of lessons, resources along with bonus materials that are broken down into small steps so that you can follow the time-tested, proven business building techniques in order to make profits. There is an action plan for you to follow once you read the lesson. You should join only if you are serious and ready for investing a significant amount of the one time yearly fee. With the latest upgrade, it comes in different options of quarterly payment as well.

    SFI for more than ten years is successfully showing masses how to build a highly profitable internet business from the comfort of the homes. By promoting TripleClicks, an online store, the affiliates can earn commissions by simply referring the people to store. To grow in SFI, you need strong referral and sponsoring skills that can be easily built up with the online SFI training.

    Empowerism is a great web based home business that provides state-of the art website, powerful SEO tools to help drive free traffic to your site, comprehensive training with full access to resources and free “Excellence” magazine that is filled with latest online success tips and strategies. The only thing which may deter one’s online business is that one needs to be good in referring and building network.

    IAHBE is an organization that champions the home-business opportunities and provides access to an unparalleled, one-of-a-kind business building arsenal of your own. You will have at your disposal, dozens of exclusive reports, interviews with the internet’s most successful entrepreneurs, and much more!

    GDI Fight the recession with the most powerful home business, an easy program to build an income from home. GDI offers a great product – domain, web hosting and it is 100% free to sign up for. This eliminates a lot of objections that prospects have when they are looking at online business opportunities. There is absolutely no risk involved.

    WarriorPro comes with a subscription to Host4profit, membership to the world famous Warrior Forum and a complete Ad tracking system. It pays you for each person that signs up for a Host4Profit hosting account either through your PIPS site or individually and is a great way of earning residual income.

    The Reverse Funnel System is an extremely profitable business built in the PIPS website where you get 100% commissions. It is not a scam but requires a significant money amounting to $2K to $5K for the membership schemes that are quite expensive. Hence it isn’t for all and does not provide a launching pad for people who are not prepared to invest.

    Today there are thousands making it big with their home based business. Success is certain for tenacious people who are there for the long haul. Just take up some or all of the above and give your best shot.

    Dubai – Full of Life, Entertainment and Lots of Opportunities for All Nationalities

    Dubai being the world renowned place for tourism, investment, job opportunities etc! There is a lot one can say about Dubai, but feeling the excitement is different and that cannot happen unless you visit Dubai once in a lifetime. There is a lot to do in Dubai if you are visiting the place just for fun. Accommodation in DXB is not a problem, there are a bazillion hotels round the corner at every street you walk down. Furnished hotel apartment’s are comparatively cheaper and a better place to live in and gives you a homely feeling as well.

    My personal experience of staying at Imperial Residence Hotel apartments was just great! The environment was just great with the housekeeping staff just being overly courteous with the best of the customer services & of course the pricing was just within my budget, 270 AED per night for fully furnished one bedroom apartment! Isn’t that just too great? Living in Hotels is just not a good idea because you will have to pay extra for every single facility you use such as Laundry, tea etc, at hotel apartments you will get a furnished apartment with a installed equipments like washing machine, microwave, electric grill, etc. So it will just be your another home in DXB giving you the best of the feelings. I strongly recommend Imperial Residence hotel apartments to travelers planning a trip to Dubai. The best part about Imperial Residence is that it’s just 5 minutes walk away from the shopping area and the Metro station as well as all the clubs for party people! Giving you all the options just a walk away.

    Dubai whole heartedly welcomes travelers from round the globe be it India or Uganda, Dubai is the place for you! Be it a fun trip or a business trip, Dubai welcomes you and is the best host country for any traveler. Getting a visa to Dubai is not a problem, for some countries Dubai visa is available upon arrival such as American citizens don’t need a visa prior to travelling to Dubai. There is a lot to do in Dubai such as, Desert Safari – the most renowned adventure to do offering free drinks, BBQ dinner, ride through deserts with dune bashing and the very best of the belly dance! What more would you want? There are quite a lot of malls which are definitely worth visiting such as Mall of Emirates, Dubai Mall etc. The newly built Burj Khalifa – the world’s tallest building is now the best attraction for tourists. The building is prominent from any corner of the city, you can view the building and the lightings and the view is just amazing. Visiting that place is not costly and the view from the top floor of the building of Dubai is just fantastic, Worth visiting! Apart from malls, movies, desert safari, city tours, Dubai’s night life is definitely the best offering a all kind of beat’s to move your step’s on with a wide variety of drinks to drive you crazy. The most happening clubs are but not limited to Keva, Elegante and many more!

    Dubai welcomes all nationalities for employment opportunities, if you want to take up a job in Dubai, thoroughly go through Khaleej Times classified & appointment’s page to find yourself the best job! Visit Dubai once for a month or more and keep dropping your resume with the most recent passport size photograph and a copy of all your educational documents and certifications at different organizations, I am sure of you getting a quick response from employers soon! There is a constant need of man power in Dubai and all nationalities are more than welcome, you just need the right move and luck to be on your side to find yourself a suitable place.

    There is a lot more to know about Dubai, this is just a bit of it! Visit in person and feel the excitement yourself; there is no other place like Dubai, Racism free, cheaper beyond imagination with a lot of opportunities to be explored! Enjoy.

    6 Solid Opportunities for Startups in 2016

    According to Thomas Oppong of AllTopStartups.com, there are a few emerging trends ahead for startups in 2016. He predicts that in the coming year a few waves will come crashing in. Some startups will ride those waves to success, others will drown in them. These trends and opportunities include:

    1. big data,
    2. data privacy,
    3. better analytics,
    4. content marketing,
    5. greater use of freelance contractors versus full-fledged staff and,
    6. increasing alternative payment options.

    Not only will there be more startups popping up in these specializations and sectors, startups in all industries will need to evaluate their business and marketing plans for the 2016 business cycle to see if they’re positioned to optimize these trends.

    1. Big Data or Bust?

    Once upon a time, only the big boys could afford to benefit from big data. Recently, though, the cat’s out of the bag and a growing number of firms and companies are capturing and selling data at rates even the little guys can get in on. Part of this trend stems from how open people are on social media sites and profiles, and willing they are to interact with ads and promotional platforms.

    Sophisticated and specific data can eliminate guessing games in demographics and target markets. Although the population has rampant suspicions about how that data gets collected, most people can easily recognize and understand that big data does have some pretty practical benefits. Which ones can you put into play for your business in 2016?

    2. Better Safe Than Sorry

    2015 saw a lot of data security fails, not only for startups but for established players as well. Things will likely be just as tough in 2016. As more businesses invest in cloud and cloud-hybrid technologies, there will probably be a continued growth in this industry. What are your biggest data security risks? Or will your startup be the one to capitalize on the opportunity to provide premium security features?

    3. Building Better Dashboards

    Up until now, most analytics dashboards are active and dynamic, requiring the user to manipulate the data to find what they’re looking for. Coming soon, these dashboards will become more passive. Instead of you sitting down and operating the platform, your platform will work on autopilot in the background and alert you when significant changes occur in the metrics you’re measuring. This will give you greater control over your information in a more real-time fashion. In fact, this trend towards automation will show in other areas as well – with a heavy concentration in marketing-related functions.

    Manipulating dashboards? Ain’t nobody got time fo that.

    4. Content Marketing is Here to Stay

    Content marketing was the buzz word of the 2015 year. Buzzzzzz. Don’t expect things to change in 2016. Content marketing is a key component of the trend towards inbound marketing, which is effective not only at producing more leads but also by doing it cheaper than traditional outbound marketing and advertising outlets like television, radio and print. In fact, HubSpot reports that inbound marketing brings in about 54% more leads than traditional paid marketing does and saves the average company $20,000 in annual advertising costs! Traditional smaditional.

    Which brings us to the next trend of 2016…

    5. The Just-In-Time Workforce

    Startups are always pressed for resources, and a significant portion of them end up in the human resource department. As traditional advertising outlets are left by the wayside, so are a number of the more traditional workforce models. Salaries are a huge expense. So are benefits and other perks.

    Today, startups are trending towards investing as much as they can in building the best founding team and then turning to the contract, freelance workforce to fill in the gaps, if and as needed. Virtual assistants are as effective as receptionists. Content marketing doesn’t require that you pen every blog post – there are freelance sites to shop out steady sources of content at surprisingly affordable rates.

    Which positions in your startup could be supplemented with a freelance team versus a traditional staff? An estimated 33% of the American workforce is now moonlighting and freelancing. Business Insider predicts that number to grow to 40% by 2020.

    6. Do We Take What?

    Bitcoin, and other cryptocurrencies, have revolutionized the concept of digital payments and other major players decided to get in on the action. Mobile payments are constantly on the rise and even Dollar General has set up payment systems in their stores that allow you to pay directly from your PayPal account. Gone are the days where just any merchant account will do. Today, there’s a greater needs for diversity. Be on the lookout for all-in-one payment systems that update regularly so you can say yes no matter what alternative payment system customers throw your way!

    Can a Market Research Company Increase Business Opportunities

    Research can be used companies of any scale to build a strong foundation, understand their product, know their market segments. A Market research company guarantees them these benefits.

    Helping companies with how they conduct business:

    A startup is smaller in scale and enters their market with the intention of positioning themselves as a unique name with a unique product or service. So, naturally they want to cater to a niche market. A good amount of research can be used to help build a product and get it out to that market. They can even determine why consumers may not want to purchase that product.

    With relevant data, they can identify their target segments in a market. You see, start-ups know that a type of problem or need exists and that they can solve it. They are even aware that the service or products that they have will benefit people, but they aren’t sure who those people are. Research shows them exactly who it is that they need to cater to.

    Big companies need to adhere to a product development phase that is much slower. Competitors can easily surpass them in the time that it takes to perfect a product. This reduces the differentiation that the company could have used to get ahead.

    Research can help bridge this gap. They can use exclusive market research reports to evaluate where they stand in a market. With this viewpoint, they can understand how fast their product iterations need to be, if any. They can even focus on what’s more important to them and what needs changing, like pricing, derivative product offerings or if the product requires redesign.

    Big companies and start-ups benefit from research in this way:

    The main reason are the risks of loss. Startups always need to revise their product offering several times. It’s because they launch a product immediately, usually without the prerequisite research to define a particular set of customers. They don’t want to invest in understanding who their customer is, as it’s assumed that they already have buyers.

    The general thought is that capital will be better utilized in building or developing the product and not business plans.

    Bigger corporations do have plenty of capital, but don’t have the time to gather individual customer feedback, expert opinions – they use market research for that. They’ve also got a much bigger, commercial level market too and research agencies are the feasible approach.

    To set long-term goals, prevent cash overspending and actually sell a product in the market, companies need to have plans – detailed plans, which can only be developed once they have the right data.

    Unlike start-ups, they are focused on improving a product and price points and not on proving how many consumers they have for their respective products. Only detailed data, collected and assessed using precise parameters, enables them to do that.

    Having the right market research partner can prevent costly mistakes or the failure of startups. It’s the tool that’s required for getting that game-changing business strategy that could make all the difference.

    BB Chart: A Method for Targeting Benefits and Barriers in Business Opportunities

    Business leaders are always looking for new opportunities to reduce costs or increase profits. However, these opportunities may only be discussed during strategic meetings, often by doing an analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (aka SWOT). SWOT is a great tool for leaders to see where the business has been, where it is now, and where it could go. However, the result of SWOT falls short when some of the opportunities identified may not be immediately pursued. This can be due to management feeling they need to do further research before proceeding with an opportunity. This follow-up research can take lots of time, effort, dollars, and possibly result in lost opportunities. Instead, decide if additional research is necessary and which opportunities are immediately implementable by following the SWOT exercise with a quick Benefits and Barriers (BB) review.

    To do a BB review, simply make a T-chart with each opportunity listed on the top of a separate page. Then put the words “Benefits” on the left side of the T and “Barriers” on the right. Once the chart template is ready, leaders can begin to brainstorm ideas to place into each side of the chart.

    • Benefit examples: rapid influx of cash, easy to do, profit increase, already have expertise, low cost to implement, matches long-term goals/objectives, can use existing equipment, cost savings, strong market for product, easy to sell, fits into corporate values, improves customer satisfaction, etc.
    • Barrier examples: costly to implement, do not have expertise, requires training, quality concerns, special equipment is necessary, expensive to implement, takes too much time, government restrictions, outside current customer base, legal issues, requires additional insurance, more space needed, etc.

    Once the ideas for the chart are exhausted, leaders can easily see where benefits outweigh barriers to quickly implement some opportunities. If barriers are much larger than benefits, those opportunities may not be worth pursuing at this time. Where benefits and barriers appear equal, further research may be warranted to make a decision and determine potential for return on investment. For those opportunities that will not be immediately implemented and still look promising, the leadership can now make a plan for overcoming the barriers so that the business can reap future benefits.

    An alternative method to quickly analyze each opportunity during a strategic meeting is to break the leadership team into sub-groups of three to four people. Each sub-group would be assigned two or three of the most interesting opportunities to do a BB chart for in a short period of time. Once the charts are complete, the sub-groups would re-unite into the larger leadership team to vote on which opportunities to pursue, which to research more, and which to abandon for now.

    SWOT analysis is a useful tool for business leaders to determine where the business is and where they want the business to go. However, do not stop there as it can let easy opportunities slip through the cracks by trying to do too much research before starting them. Instead, use the BB chart to target the benefits and barriers of potential opportunities. This charting method allows for quick execution of those opportunities that will quickly result in immediate benefits to the business. As well as identifying which opportunities are worth the time and effort of additional research versus those that may not be as advantageous as they appear when brought before the business leaders.

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