Small_Business_Startup_-_The_90_10_Rule

Title:

Small Business Startup - The 90/10 Rule



Word Count:

300



Summary:

Small business startups must follow a 90/10 Rule where 90% of the time is

spent on direct marketing and business development activity and 10% is

spent on technical skills development. The trade off in order to gain

valuable, long term clients is well worth it and will ensure the business

lasts for a long time after your small business startup.





Keywords:

small-business-startup, small business startup





Article Body:

Small business startups require a lot of work. You might however, be

surprised by what type of work should be taking up the majority of your

time. Computer consultants, when they contemplate small business

startups, tend to focus on the technical aspects of the business. The

rational is that they want to offer a decent service and must have great

technical skills before anyone will be willing to pay them.



In fact, the 90/10 Rule tells us that during small business startups, 90%

of your time should be spent on direct marketing activities and only 10%

on building technical skills. The type of small business startup

activities to spend 90% of your time on include:

prospecting

lead generation

going out on sales calls

preparing proposals



During the small business startup phase you must be very attuned to the

need for acquiring high quality clients. Every non client hour that does

not have to go into administrative or organizational duties should be

plowed into prospecting and networking. This can ease up a bit once you

start to get beyond the small business startup phase. For now though,

client generation is your priority.



The Bottom Line on Small Business Startup



For small business startups, following the 90/10 Rule is critical.

Spending 90% of your time on direct marketing and business development

activity versus 10% on technical skills development is a trade-off that

is well worth it. There is no point gaining technical skills if you have

no clients to practice them on. Small business startup is a time that

will make or break your business. Put your training and certifications

on hold for a while and get out meeting people and making as many

contacts as possible.

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