The Fool-proof way to build a Successful Business - part 5

This is part five in a series on building a successful business - if you missed the start you can catch up here.

Step number four is to make sure that the people who want or need what you have, know that if they want to buy it, they should buy it from you.

There are people out there who love gold-painted frogs. It's a growing market. Unfortunately, this means that you've also got a number of competitors.

Often, this seems like a bad thing - but actually, it validates your product. If other people are selling the same thing, it proves that there is a demand for it.

Most people try to prove that they are better than the competition by competing on price. In some cases, this makes sense - especially if it's a commodity, where people can easily switch from one supplier to another.

But in a lot of cases, this is a terrible thing to compete on. You don't engender loyalty with your customers and you cut your own margins to pieces.

Instead, find a reason that people should choose you. Maybe you use higher quality gold paint than your competitors? Or fatter, louder frogs? It means you will cut off part of your target market - the ones who only want the cheapest - but you can keep your margins and you get customers who know what they're looking for and are more likely to come back in future.

Take action: How do you stand out from the crowd? Is it on price? Quality? Service?

PS: If know someone you feel might want a bit of help with this stuff, send them here