Sharon Youngblood Business Consulting - Articles for Entrepreneurs

Expert in Performance & Profitability

Assessments, Business Consulting, Sales & Marketing, Retreats, Speaking

P.O. Box 41236
Tucson, AZ 85717
520.795.7498
520.795.7556 (FAX)
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"Sharon is that rare individual - extremely intelligent and multi-talented,"
-- Hussein Kamel, PhD, Computer Structural Analysis, Professor Emeritus, University of Arizona

"I can say we would not have accomplished our goals without your assistance."
-- Chester Teaford, HDR, Inc.,
formerly, V.P., Michael Baker Jr., Inc.

Articles for Entrepreneurs

One Trick Marketing Pony

Those who keep up with great training programs in the U.S. may be familiar with the Karl Eller Entrepreneur Graduate Business Program at the University of Arizona.

I am asked, as a successful entrepreneur and expert, to judge business plans developed by graduate students. How it works is that a team presents their plan and I and other members of an industry panel ask them pointed (ruthless?) questions about their assumptions and strategies.

They vigorously defend – I think we all learn and I thoroughly enjoy the time with these bright innovative future entrepreneurs.

There were three of us on the panel – myself, the owner of a 16 million a year manufacturing firm, and the founder of Sunquest, a large Tucson based company.

What is the number one mistake we found? Too much focus on product and/or service and not enough attention to marketing and finances.

The gentleman who started Sunquest is now an angel (read venture capitalist) and really contributed some good insight to what the entrepreneurs needed to consider in order to attract funds.

What struck me was this. The few students who paid attention to marketing used a one trick pony approach to try and bring in the business.

First off – when there is competition, product or service is the easy part – the really big challenges are marketing and financial management.

When the economy is booming everybody who has any competency at all is going to get a piece of the pie. Those who are one trick ponies will get some work in a booming economy no matter what they do.

However, really successful firms are focusing on their performance and their preparations are using a mix of marketing strategies – in boom or recession times. Some of the best strategies are:

Active Relationship Building
Low Key Targeted Direct Mail
Referral Leveraging
Forming Strategic Alliances with Others
Building Image and Prestige by Presenting Papers At Industry Meetings, Serving on Prestigious Committees
Putting Out A Client Newsletter

You can easily add many other activities. How many of these things are you ACTIVELY doing?

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Youngblood Consulting, Inc.
P.O. Box 41236 ∙ Tucson, AZ 85717
say@youngbloodconsulting.com ∙ www.youngbloodconsulting.com

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2009