USP

What is a USP?

Well it stands for Unique Selling Point or Unique Selling Proposition.

Basically it is what makes your business stand out from the crowd. What makes you differant or special?

How can you be sure your product is Unique?
Find a niche. Find a specific market within a market and target your products to the people within that market. For example Lamborgini is in a very specific market as is underpants for larger people a more specific market again would be underpants for incontinent larger people. Not pretty but a niche market all the same. Many larger people have incontinence issues due in part to their size and the current market place is yet to realise this. There are incontinent undies foor the elderly, pregnant and hospitals but not yet the mainstream public whom may use them for weight issues.
We know weight is the new problem typically in the western world and this product would be a great niche within a niche. There is a large market, easy to identify and even easier to market to. This is one example of a unique product. By researching the market and defining one area you have more chance of finding a niche market big enough to capitalise one yet small enough to still be unique.

Taking a product already out there and changing it to benefit the consumer is a tried and tested way to add uniqueness to your product as is finding an aggravation, something that doesn't quite work or isn't meeting your needs and revising it, adding missing parts to make it more user friendly or if there is no product to do what it is you wish to do create it! There are so many ways to be unique in the marketplace today why be the same? Why blend in and target the same audience that thousands are doing now or have done so.
You need to stand out in todays marketplace to even have a chance.

USP - Your new best freind. Find it and market it right and you cannot go wrong.

You may have a product identical in nature to your competitors but with a handy very user friendly packaging. Maybe you sell

Start up capital

Start up capital where to find???

Well wether it's $100 or $50,000 you need to start your business it can be very difficult to find. Good ideas require money. Unique ideas require a much larger capital base in most circumstances due to the unknown nature of a new market or idea.
The ongoing funding can be hard to access particularly if the idea is untested or hard to research.

There are many forms of start up capital from family and friends, banks and building societies, to shareholders and venture capitalists.
Business angels or venture capitalists have very strict requirements to be met before an idea will be investigated. They are sometimes wishing to invest other times to manage or both invest and manage or oversee the running of the business. Sometimes it is possible you may have to give up a large portion of shares typically the better the idea.
In almost all cases you need to have a top management team in place to expand and continue to grow the business.

Small start ups can be launched on a credit card as risky as this sounds it is very common. A personal loan is another good option certainly safer.

There are many varied ways to fund a business start up although i must say all are not without risk and you need to really believe in the idea and follow that up with a strong business plan to make a sucess of the business in order to return a profit to the shareholders or yourself as only then is it worthwhile.

Frustrations

Today i am frustrated!

I work from home and when children are present work is not.
Besides the kids i have had visitor after visitor and have been at the computer for two hours and managed to send 1 email.
Frustrating!

Besides the constant interuptions i seem again very unable to stick to one single task and get lost on the internet for hours, researching, contacting, studying. All helpful but not very progressive.

My morning routine lol if there was one would be to spend 1 hr answering emails and following up last nights research. Then i get offline so i can focus on supposedly one task like label making but in reality i work on biz plan, labels, sales figues and product lines all at once, again completely NOT helpful.
I am my own hindrence as i'm sure many of you are so if i was just to get out of my own way i'm sure i'd get things done.