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No Faith in a Young Entrpreneur
I am a young, female entrepreneur. I have recently completed my bachelor's degree in business adminstration and decided to start my own business that deals with business management and support. The main goal is to act as an extension of the client's business by performing all relevant tasks from a remote location.
I face two main problems: 1. Many companies still prefer to operate their businesses in tradional ways and as such, many of my potential clients are unsure or recluctant to utilize my services. 2. I am young, or so it is perceived by my potential clients, and since I do not have the years of experience, etc, they do not have faith that I can do the job. Most of my clients are young entrepreneurs themselves who understand the concept of my business, and appreciate the benefits it has to offer. I am very organized, accurate, and driven. You could say I am almost a perfectionist. I settle for nothing less than exceeding my client's expectations. I would like to show the older grouping of my target market that I am more than capable of handling the job. Do you have any ideas on how I can attract them, or gain their trust?
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Young Entrepreneurs
Hi Danielle,
Thanks for the great post. I think you should check out Scott Gerber's Young Entrepreneur column on Entrepreneur.com (http://www.entrepreneur.com/columnists/scottgerber/archive201310.html). He offers great advice, tips and insight for young and aspiring entrepreneurs from a young entrepreneur in the trenches--I think he might help to answer a lot of your questions. Thanks! Kara Community Editor
I would suggest that you offer your services free for a month and show how good you are!
Since you don't have any experience, its only normal for a potential client to be hesitant. If its a physical product, then it can be easily judged and age/lack of experience wont be such a big issue. Plus, you seem to be offering a way of outsourcing (except for maybe marketing), you are actually competing with low cost countries (they offer experienced people apart from the cost factor) In my opinion, you have to get creative in your approach. List down the advantages that you offer and which others don't and offer it for a trial period! And never stop the cold calls, cold calls and cold calls! Good luck!
Hi Danielle,
I agree with Kara, you have a great post here. I do support what MR offers - providing "free" service on a temporary basis. This tactic will help you to break through the "no experience" affliction and help you to fill the experience void that plagues all new graduates. When challenged by those who would "diss" you, offer a money-back guaranteed program - "give me a week, month, etc. to help you," and if your not satisfied, it's free. Hard to argue with that kind of confidence. Obviously, there are other strategies to deploy but the "free" tactic is difficult to turn down since it displays enormous belief in one's abilities to do the job and one that will eventually build your experience base to compliment your other credentials. Good Luck Danielle, Keep me posted on your journey. Tommy Jaye
Hi Danielle,
Another thought regarding your post - volunteering is another great way to build your experience base. Also, try blogging or some other type of "community" communication platform. Offer free seminars or workshops at the public library, chamber of commerce or with other social type groups. It's all about getting your word out and creating an awareness of your existence and the benefits that you offer. While deploying these tactics be sure to log your accomplishments and build your reference list. At some point, you'll begin to see the fruits of your efforts. Tommy Jaye .
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