When you first start out, there are just too many options to choose from. And it's too easy to try to pursue all of them. This is due to the pressure you feel to accomplish what's important, the uncertainty of being able to decide what's important, and the unease that comes with wondering whether or not you overlooked bona fide opportunities. I say bona fide, because you have probably discovered that there are many dead ends that don't appear to be as such until you reach the end of them. How can you as an entrepreneur decide what should be done and in what order?
The exact origins of the expression, getting down to brass tacks, are uncertain; but the gist has always been that whatever they were, the real business of discussing the most important aspects of an issue was at hand.
As an entrepreneur, you know that these can include different options, changing circumstances, and peripheral issues that may be important eventually, but not necessarily right now.
But, there are five indispensable parts to your business that you must have and, if you can only do one at a time, this is probably the correct order.
1. You must have something to sell.
This probably seems obvious; but when uncertainty abounds, it's quite easy to be drawn into something else that is more precise, but of much less value to your business.
2. Someone to buy what you sell.
This, too, is obvious. The danger here is to think of customers in general - the market - rather than specifically, as in middle-income women over the age of 50, for example.
3. An effective means for telling buyers what you sell.
I suppose that this one and the one before could change places; after all, how will anyone be able to buy from you if that haven't been told. But, I've put it in this order because No. 2 forces you to be precise about who you're selling to. And once you know that, you can choose a more effective means to reach them.
4. The resources to create or acquire what you sell.
Let's say that you decide to sell organically grown soft fruit. Where will you get it? How will get it to your distribution point? How will you pay for it?
Or suppose that you make wooden pallets. Where will you get the raw materials? What expertise will you need to assemble them?
5. A means to get what you sell into the hands of those who buy it.
How will you distribute your product, and who will make the deliveries.
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