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Starting Up a New Business: Advice from a Successful Entrepreneur

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If you are thinking of starting your own business, your success strongly depends on choosing a field of business you will love. Without a strong passion for your work, your efforts will suffer and so will your new business. Holidays, 9 - 5 workdays and weekends off are for the employed, not for the entrepreneur, so be ready for the initial and continuing work required to make your new business a success.

  • Research demands more than looking into new products or innovation. You must also determine if it is possible to provide a better product or service than your competitors do. This is by far the strongest persuasion to customers to test the waters with your company. It is possible to provide a comparable product or service and be successful, but this will require a more aggressive approach to capture your share of the market.
  • Pricing your product or service below the competitors may seem like a good idea, however this approach is more detrimental to getting customers that you would think. Approach this question with a consumer's mindset, "If it's that much cheaper, is it any good?" Market price can also vary significantly, depending on your location. Remember too that a product often yields a smaller profit margin than a service does. The real cost of a product includes the costs of the initial product, as well as delivery and packaging costs. In contrast, a service is based greatly on your talent.
  • Marketing and presentation are likely the most important aspects to successfully bringing in customers. Failure to approach these areas with the attention to detail required can result in a total loss of revenue. You can well imagine a consumer's response to an advertisement or package that contains a typo - not to mention an incorrect price, Internet URL, address or phone number. Marketing must also be on a narrow target for your customer base, because a shotgun approach seldom works efficiently. Be informed of the type of response expected from your marketing campaign, and weigh out your cost-to-return ratios.

Companies spend millions on market research (marketing and presentation) for a reason. It produces results. And let me share one other success secret. I regularly ask my significant other to proof my work, which is a good idea, taking into consideration the fact that she will see things from a totally different perspective from mine. Plus, she is not about to agree just for the sake of agreeing.

Richard F. Guyon is CEO of NEXRUN Technologiesand an active participant in Trump University.

Editor's note: Have you noticed that a man named Richard F. Guyon writes some of the smartest reader responses on the Trump Blog? Well, we noticed it too. That's why we invited him to contribute this headlined post. Richard is CEO of NEXRUN Technologiesand is involved in many other worthwhile activities too. He's CTO/SEO Advisor to Global TESOL Collegeand the designer of the World Trade Center Memorial Tribute site. To thank Richard for his contribution to the World Trade Center Memorial Tribute site, the New York Fire Department invited him to march with them in New York next September 11th. We're proud that Richard is part of Trump University.

If you are interested in following in Richard's footsteps by launching a business of your own, participate in Trump University's Entrepreneurship Mastery Program. Check it out now and you'll be on your way to startup success.

Richard F. Guyon is CEO of NEXRUN Technologies and CTO / SEO Advisor to Global TESOL College. Richard also designed the World Trade Center Memorial Tribute site.

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6 Comments

[-] Posted by Ina Matijevic on 07/12/2006 8:10 AM
This is my favourite words of Mr.Guyon: "Anyone who spends their day complaining about the wealth of others and lack of their own, should spend less time complaining and more time examining the amazing fact of simply being alive or feeling the sun on your face. No amount of money, fame or power can ever complete someone if they can't enjoy the most basics of what being alive is."BEAUTIFUL FRAGRANCE !
[-] Posted by yohani mwamunyange on 07/13/2006 12:38 PM
That was a nice advice. What i have failed to understand is , what Mr.Guyon talked about is foundamental when it comes to opening up business,everyone follows up those steps but how come many people still fail to rise up and maintain their business???
[-] Posted by marcel creed on 07/14/2006 12:17 AM
I have had the opportunity to meet Mr Guyon in person. He is not only a man who offers great insight, but practical wisdom as well.
[-] Posted by Panu Hamari on 07/15/2006 7:56 AM
Reading the latest TrumpU newsletter and especially Mr. Guyon's article and the comments about it forced me to write my own comments. The whole idea of "learning
[-] Posted by Donna on 07/16/2006 12:33 PM
I believe I have an above average service and product that I give to a small group of children in a small community. I own a language enrichment center. Our results are amazing. We have children who are learning to read so effectively that their school teachers are saying they should be tested for "gifted". It's not about gifted. It's about the method we use. I believe I have a franchise on my hands. I've created a systematic plan of teaching that can easily be passed over to qualified individuals. I have a cash flow problem, however, and have fallen behind in rent. The cash flow problem has to do with a recent divorce and providing for my children, not the business. It appears I may sink very quickly. How do I stop this, turn it around and grow my business?Any suggestions would be seriously appreciated.
[-] Posted by Rachael Sutton #1253595 on 11/30/2008 10:09 PM
I agree with you that attention to detail is very important when you are marketing products. As a matter of fact, attention to detail is pretty important in most areas of life!

One thing I would like to add to your list is Customer Service. Once a customer is in front of you, how he is treated will determine whether he buys your product or goes down the street to Jo Blows - and whether he returns. Shortly after being hired for my first job in business, I found myself in customer service during a company crisis. My job was to answer the phones and deal with the upset customers who were not receiving their overdue product. We were 2 months behind as a result of transferring the product line from one plant to another, and we had just experienced a major power loss when a transformer blew requiring special a custom made replacement resulting in 1/3 normal production capacity. The things I found disgruntled customers needed included the following: Honesty about the situation, an attentive ear - I needed to listen, and they needed to vent, then, they needed to be part of the solution. So, it was my job to ask "How can we resolve this?" or "What can I do for you?" Most of our customers came up with very reasonable suggestions such as free shipping, and emergency partial roll of the product, generic product in stock instead of the custom order, etc. Without effective customer service, we would have lost many customers.
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