Starting your own business has a thrill to it in that you get to be your boss determining your working hours and working on what you are passionate about. The thrill is only there though when the business is handled in the right way. If not, this may be quite a turbulent and unfruitful venture.
Who is Your Target Market?
Do you have a niche? Is there a market for what you are selling? How exclusive is the market? How intense is your competition? These are all questions you should ask yourself while still conceptualizing your business idea.
Tackling these questions in advance will enable you to prepare accordingly as your target market will determine:
- How your business shall operate
- What marketing/advertising strategies to use
- Kind of people to employ
- Kind of logo to generate
- Design of your business cards
Set Realistic Marketing Goals
Have a look at how much have you made in the past six months. What are your projections for the next one year? Have you considered any form of mishaps that may affect these projections? What might happen that will tip the scales in your favor?
Understanding the financial climate of your business will go a long way in determining its success. Say, for instance; a farmer knows that rains will favor his crops whereas drought may have adverse effects prompting him to put contingency money aside for irrigation.
The same line of thought should apply when gauging the climate of your business. Where do you see yourself in the next three months? Is this projection based on a realistic analysis? Setting your business goals will give you something to work towards thus giving you the drive to push on.
Do you have a Website?
Since we are living in a digital era, it only makes sense to have a digitalized marketing platform from which potential clients may learn about your business and even get to contact you on the same.
A website provides not just a means by which your clients may contact you, but it also creates a platform on which to show off your skills or the essence of your business. How else would you expect clients to find and contact you if you do not give them a sneak peek into what you do?
How up-to-date is your office equipment?
Are you using technology to your advantage or is your office stuck in the old postal age? What is the quality of your marketing material? Are your posters created using old slow printers? Perhaps you should look up for modern tech-savvy office supplies.
The technology you are employing may hamper the growth of your business such that you cannot adequately meet the demands and needs of all your clients. Another problem that comes with using outdated technology is that it is both time-consuming and tiring and yet as a business owner, you understand the priceless value of time.
Start-ups will pay off only when done right. If not, it will end up being a colossal waste of time, energy, and resources leaving you drained and disappointed. For this reason, use a checklist and make sure you are steering your business towards a future enabling its growth and sustainability
Bob Gorman is a freelance writer from Melbourne, who likes writing articles that cover small
business and marketing related topics. He has written numerous articles and contributed to several
other blogs. When he is not writing, he enjoys spending time on the beach with his family.
The target market piece falls into customer segmentation, for me, this is far too light touch to offer real value. Segmentation, and value proposition alignment is a process and whilst the value here, I suppose is to make people aware of it, to deliver results the detail needs to be much greater.
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