Well, I might not have a business degree but I have 3 businesses already running. I started years ago - and that means while other guys were busy playing LAN games (no offense bros) I was busy figuring out how to tackle stock/forex markets, build a business, etc. I was featured in an article in Forbes magazine along with my mentor, who does 8 figures per year through online/offline businesses. I currently make a decent sum to cover my overseas tuition expenses. I make deals with Americans, Germans, etc.
If you think you still know more than me because you have a business degree, well I'll certainly be glad to learn some theory. I'm not going to go through everything a business should ever have - how to license, how to start up, how to get facilities, outsource, etc - but I'll just share a few principles that are absolutely vital if you really want to be a successful entrepreneur.
Principle 1: Hunger defines a niche
Niche is the technical term for a group of people who want to buy a specific group of products and is a sub-section of a market. So for example, there are golf instruction niches, cosmetic niches, football niches, etc.
The world-famous marketer Gary Halbert once said: "The only advantage I want for a successful business to succeed is... A starving crowd!" You don't want to measure anything else. As long as you have a starving crowd, you can even sell ice cubes in the middle of a desert or tissue paper to a guy stranded in a cubicle after a diarrhea. Easily. But the real question is... How does someone measure hunger level?
Firstly, you piggyback the efforts of others. Find a niche where people are already buying products and already have subscribed their contact details (emails, etc) into what we call a lead generation database (or a list). Even better if they had already recently purchased a product. Look at what people do, not what they say. Yet even better if you know the list broker and he's an honest bloke.
Principle 2: Sell the sizzle, not the steak
What makes a person buy the steak is not the steak itself - but its experience. The taste, the transition, the atmosphere, the rave, the accompaniment - everything culminates as one. The same steak can be sold at a hawker centre and yet only reach the 15 dollar level, while if presented within a restaurant, it can be sold at 30-50 per plate.
First thing to do is to know your market. Research is everything - because the battle is won even before the fight. Know the psycho-graphics of your niche. What do they like? What is their market language? How do they speak? What do they wake up in the middle of the night wanting? What makes their heart itch?
Every niche is different. For example, in the computer niches, you state your benefits in terms of features and specifications. The higher the specs, the better. Yet within the computer market, you can find other niches such as the design appealers - such as what Apple has delved into. There are niches for gaming. Niches for students. Niches for the housewife who plays Farmville while taking care of her kids.
Principle 3: Understand how a market is structured
A market is like a living organism. It grows, it dies, it changes its mind - just like a human. Within the market, you have different sophistication levels within the minds of your prospects.
Some people are new to the market - they jump on the biggest benefits that you throw to them (eg. Lose 50kg now!). Some have seen some tricks of the trade and they require more convincing (eg. Lose 50kg with this diet!). Some have been in the market as buyers for a while and they know the products, so they require more extension (eg. Lose 50kg with this doctor-approved, Madagascar-jungle-whatever diet!). The smallest portion, yet the most responsive customers, don't even respond anymore to these promises, so the ingenious marketers set up indirect language traps for them (eg. Tired of being always the Bridesmaid, but never the Bride?)
This is probably one of the most powerful principles a businessman can learn. How do you zig when others zag? How do you offer more? How do you find that invisible hot button inside your prospect's mind?
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Yup, that's really it. Every successful business has had some form of the 3 principles I mentioned above. Remember though - that you should never be a "pioneer" in business, because pioneers always end up dying and others taking the credit. It's absolutely rare - but sometimes you could have a bright idea - but I wouldn't count on it. There are pretty brilliant people out there. When you want to dig yourself a piece of the marketshare, don't compete with the big leaders - instead, RIDE their current and squeeze into their openings and weaknesses. For example, when Nike and Adidas had their sport shoes - Vans squeezed in as "street plimsolls" and had a "street rebel" take on shoes.
The touchscreen phone was already selling, but Apple took it and remodelled it for its niche. That's not new. If you look at the cosmetic industry, you'll see that it has changed a lot - so has its promises. Cars, heck even biscuits have amazing marketing going on. And no, Seth Godin, i don't agree - not all marketers are liars - just like how not all journalists are liars.
