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Perhaps you’ve been in business for awhile… You’re not a “newbie”, but you’ve fallen stale, developed some bad business-building habits.

Maybe…just maybe… it’s time to look at your business with fresh eyes, as if you were starting a new business.

Here are nine secrets from Michael Masterson, the editor of Early to Rise:

Apart from starting off with (and sticking to) a good plan, there are nine secrets I’ve discovered to making a start-up business work:

1. Business doesn’t happen until you’ve made the first sale.
2. The most effective way of entering a new market is to offer a popular product at a much lower price.
3. It’s ultimately about selling.
4. When choosing a business, select one that can be grown without your personal involvement.
5. Before you invest time and money in any business, know exactly how much you are willing to lose - and get out if you hit that point.
6. First, improve your strengths. Then, eliminate your weaknesses.
7. Focused effort is more effective than a diversified approach to business building.
8. Let your winners run and cut your losses short.
9. Pay attention to Pareto’s Law (the 80-20 rule): 80 percent of your success comes from 20 percent of your resources.

[Ed. Note: The above article was excerpted from Michael Masterson’s book Automatic Wealth for Grads… and Anyone Else Just Starting Out. Get the book to learn the details… plus much more.]

The key take-aways here:

FOCUS your efforts. You focus your efforts when you target your market.

Work to your Strengths.

It’s all about sales. Pay attention to the 20% that drive 80% of your sales volume.

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