Kamau and Associates. Since 2003 - The World's 1st Blog for Black & Minority Business
Let Your Sales Grant You A BusinessA good number of subscribers to Keep it Real Profitable and Einfonews ask about Grants. However, sometimes rather than wait for a grant, or while you wait for a grant or loan, you may have to grant yourself a business. Through advance sales of your product or service from pre-sales you can grant the start of your business. Pre-sales is when you sell people your product or service, before your business - opens it proverbial doors so to speak.
Let me give you an example from personal experience. I sold Internet advertising, and built a business on the Internet, before I even had a computer. Where there's a will there's a way. I would go down to the Library, and use the free computers, and then search weekly databases of print and Internet publications looking to hire sales reps.
Then I drafted up a standard sales letter template. Next I would use my broadcast fax (since I couldn't afford a computer at the time) and faxed all the publications that week. I sold them on the fact, it would be cheaper and more efficient, to contract the sales work to me instead. Furthermore, I sold them on giving me an upfront retainer to do the sales work, as an independent contractor.
Of course I had good references (former employers) - as testimonials. It was hard work in the beginning. But in about 6 months I had clients, enough money for a computer, and other business equipment. Within a year I was making a few thousand dollars a month, moreover I made commission money on top of this income. In other words, Pre-selling went on to Grant me tens of thousands of dollars of working capital! Pre-sales had granted me a Business. Do something while working on grants, loans, equity, or other forms of financing. Learn to pre-sell your Idea. A good book on selling on the Web's textcentric environment is:
Make My Words Sell . The Bible for Selling on the Web is :
Make My Site Sell!