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Expert: Anastacia Brice - 4/13/2005


Question
Hello -  I started a small business, but not sure when to say it is working or not and simply quit the idea.

I think my idea is good. I sent out a few sales letters to homeowners in my area who I know need this service. My question:  at what point can I decide to continue with the business or just quit ?  For example, if I get one service order from 20 letters I send out, does that show hope ?
What if I get 2 orders out of 35 letters I send out ? How can I determine that my service is indeed needed, or just fold and quit the idea altogether ?  Thanks a lot.

Answer
The way to determine if your business is viable is by doing a business plan. In doing that, your research will tell you whether this business should fly or not.

If the plan shows the idea to be viable, you should know that it can take three to five years for a business to be built to where the owner wants it to be.

I hope this has been helpful in some way!
Stacy

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Anastacia Brice

Expertise

My company, Assist University, trains people in every aspect of starting, and more importantly, sustaining, their businesses, while having high quality lives. Additionally, I am a professional business coach. I coach clients to get from where they are, to where they want to be, professionally. All of my clients are small business owners.

Experience

I've worked for myself for more than 18 years, and have owned my own successful company for more than 13--there's something to be said for that, when the majority of businesses don't see a fifth anniversary. In addition, I've trained and supported more than 1000 people to start and sustain their own businesses.

Education/Credentials
I never graduated from University. I'm pretty happy about that--especially in a world that tells us that we need a degree to be successful. :)

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