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Every entrepreneur sets out to make money yet so very few accomplish this goal. One of the reasons is that too much emphasis is put on projecting profits rather than designing the roadmap that leads to profits. Regardless of how a business is funded or its exit strategy, here are steps enterprise leaders can take to increase the odds of success .
Starting with the Cloud
One of the advantages to launching a new business these days is that a company can start out with fresh equipment instead of relying on old machines. Too many companies still use old legacy computer systems that become more vulnerable to hackers, the more they fall out of date. Old operating systems no longer serviced by the manufacturer (such as Microsoft's Windows XP) are particularly vulnerable to attacks.
Modern businesses can cut various upfront costs just by utilizing the cloud. Not only does this strategy save thousands of dollars on hardware and software, it moves toward a paperless sustainable solution. Documents are easier to access and store. They are less likely to get lost or tampered with in a well controlled virtualized cloud environment. So much of last century's technology can be integrated into the cloud at low cost, as with VoIP instead of a traditional landline phone system.
Another advantage to basing a company in the cloud is that the owner pays as they go along for the services that they use. Owners can easily add or subtract services as they need them. The cloud gives a business access to a wide variety of specialized software services that can provide competitive edges for emerging businesses.
Raising Capital
Another key reason why many businesses fail is because they simply don't have enough capital to pay for equipment or employees. But instead of giving up, the enterprise striving for success looks for ways to find partners or investors. An investment firm like Sarofim Private Investments analyzes businesses around the world to find worthwhile investments. These types of firms invest in multiple industries to create portfolio diversification, one of the keys to successful investing.
Smaller venture capitalists may only take on a few regional projects per year. Either way it's a competitive journey that requires plenty of financial research and making a strong presentation to investors. The entrepreneur will need to show some type of track record for financial success in their field. They will also need to connect with venture capitalists interested in their type of business.
Promoting the Brand
Brand building has become more crucial this century because the internet has sped that process up. Last century building a brand was accepted as a long-term goal through a series of marketing campaigns, whereas now it's possible to reach target customers much quicker. The business simply needs a website that attracts followers with an authoritative and interactive blog. Building a brand can now be done with a combination of blogging, making videos, posting social media content and developing an email marketing list.
Search engine optimization (SEO) has become an important component of low to zero cost digital marketing because it's the system that links followers with destinations through search engines. The more a company can develop a unique niche and share expertise about it, the better its chances for search engine visibility. Search engines want to connect their users with desired content, not sites full of fluff. That's why Google values deep content sites while penalizing those full of spam and weak content.
Part of brand building intersects with online content creation . In other words, a content developer is doing two things at one time: building content that gives the site credibility and building a brand name associated with values, emotions and lifestyles. Even though SEO is low cost, it takes months to develop. Paying for Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads online is a faster route to reaching a target audience through keywords. An effective marketing plan is to mix traditional media advertising with digital marketing.
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