5 Ways to Be Successful

5 Ways to Be Successful

You CAN support yourself selling African hand-made products. A home business is possible, just use the five steps below.

#1 - Passion - Passion is what drives you, and will shine through all your communications with people. Passion keeps you keeping on when all others have given up. You don't just like selling African crafts. You have a fire-in-the-belly passion. You love these pieces of Art, whether it's a hand-stitched garment or a hand-made drum, so much that your love translates into every sale.

If you don't have passion for what you sell or the business, don't start selling. Without passion you will give up on your home business and craft too soon. You may even learn to hate this job and be unhappy. And THAT will show in your work.

#2 - Quality - If you want your home business in it for the long haul, reputation is so important. A hand-made item from Africa will command better prices than any machine-made products made in a factory using cheap materials. Nothing beats QUALITY.

#3 - Uniqueness - You are a unique individual and what or how you sell should have a little touch of your personality. Tell your customers why you like a particular item, or customize it in your own way.

This is much easier with the personal care products; you can easily add your favorite fragrance to a lotion, soap, or incense, and then call it your own! You can wear your favorite African garments and when people ask you about them when you're out and about (and people WILL ask) you can always tell them about your home business. People can't find hand-made African products elsewhere, so you may be their only way to enjoy these great African products.

#4 - Targeting - Research thoroughly until you identify and understand your target market. This is the hardest step but once you know your customers, you will save yourself a lot of time and grief.

Millions of people search ebay and you can look there to see if your items sell. Just don't get discouraged if you don't see it there. Lots of items sell well offline but not online. And bargain hunters are everywhere on ebay. You may not get a fair price for your item. Use ebay as a marketing research tool. It's great for testing the waters and sometimes you actually get a great price for your item.

Search out that target market at every opportunity. Your local community probably has more opportunities than you could ever imagine for your home business. Targeting makes selling so much easier. Go to your local salons to sell personal care products, put up a flier in your local grocery or whole foods store, have a home party and invite your friends. Eventually you will figure out who is most interested in your products and who to target.

#5 - Persistence - Be relentless. If you do the first four steps, persistence will pay off. Always keep moving forward. Learn more about your products than anyone else (passion really keeps you going here) and keep searching for those targeted customers.

Be strong through rejections. Learn from them, adjust, and make steady progress. This is why passion is the first step for your home business to succeed. If your passion wanes, your persistence will, too. Without persistence, starting a home business will be a very short term endeavor...

About the Author:
Wayne Kiltz is the founder and owner of Africa Imports. You can find over 100 other articles on African art, culture, and fashion at http://www.africaimports.com To see more African Business visit http://africaimports.com/startupkit.asp
Article Source : small-business-management.bestmanagementarticles.com