Starting Up a New Business: Advice from a Successful Entrepreneur

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.