How to Get Your New Business Started

Thinking of starting your own business? We’d like to share this thought provoking article “10 Mistakes that Start-Up Entrepreneurs Make” By ROSALIND RESNICK

How to do Market Research?

A recurring question amongst small business owners is this: Does a small business owner need to know how to do market research?

The short answer is – yes, absolutely! No business can operate successfully without knowing something about the market(s) it is working in.

However, the term “market research” is more often than not associated with terms like “statistically significant” and “sample size”, followed closely by “very expensive”! Those three by themselves, let alone any of the other technical terms usually associated with scientific research, are enough to make any small business owner throw their hands up in despair and run for cover.

So unless you have a qualification in statistics, or enough money to employ a market research company, the likelihood of a small business being able to get directly involved in a formal market research project is remote to say the least.

Yet your small business still needs information on the market it is operating in. So where to from here?

Well, its a sure bet that every small business owner, after running his or her business for a while, intuitively knows quite a lot about the market – prices, suppliers, competing companies, geographical distribution etc etc are factors that a small business owner will deal with on a daily basis.

The trick then is for the small business owner to try to put all this intuitive knowledge into a meaningful framework that will not only help them make good marketing decisions, but will also highlight areas where information is deficient.

The ideal framework for this kind of information can be found at The Small Business Marketing Toolbox. Here the small business owner will find a step by step process for developing a marketing plan unique to their business, utilising their own knowledge and filling in the gaps using methods that involve the business’s brains trust, and not the owners trust fund!

Market research is a key element in running a successful business and it doesn’t need to cost an arm and a leg. On the other hand, market research is not an end in itself – it needs to be used and incorporated in a marketing plan that will give a business direction and a competitive advantage. The good news is that any small business owner, using The Small Business Marketing Toolbox can easily and quickly put together a marketing plan that they can use to achieve their goals.

Strategy the Nuts and Bolts

A small business with a strong sense of identity, knows who it is and where it is headed.

Its strategy may be a simple matter of “nuts and bolts”, so simple it can be written on a serviette or the classic “back of a cigarette box”.

Yet without this basic strategic framework any small business is much like a rudderless boat in a storm. No
matter how sturdy the craft it has no direction and will end up wherever the wind and currents send it!

A good strategic plan will create synergies both internally and externally and this increased momentum and energy will provide positive direction attracting both customers and alliances, which are essential to sustainable success for small business owners.

Bring your team together, use data already available within your business and brainstorm “what if’s” around new, cost effective way to create awareness, interest, desire, trial and conversion in your product or service.

It doesn’t have to be complex. What makes a good customer for you? What problems do they have that your product/service could solve? Where can you find these people i.e. where do they “hang out”? How can you get your story across in a way that has them listening e.g. what benefits can you offer in order to solve their problem?

Having answered these questions you’ll be able to allocate tasks against an action plan, track progress, monitor the budget and measure the results.

Success is achieved when the plan is used to breathe life and purpose into the business activities undertaken and exceptional success is found when the plan is revisited regularly all through the year, tweaking and amending until your individual success recipe is found!

Use TheSmallBusinessStrategicToolbox.com to assist you in determining your unique selling potential, bottle your small business’s individual character and decant it liberally to outclass your rivals.

Goals in Strategy

Goal setting is a necessary and critical aspect of any strategic plan and developing your strategic plan is a process that requires both introspection and vision. Setting goals is the bridge between dreams and reality and they must be tangible and realistic to avoid frustration and disappointment.

Simple goals are definitive and historically elicit a better success rate from the implementation team. Specific targets give staff a clear sense of purpose, eliminate confusion and minimise distractions. By including staff in the discussions and goal setting process you increase your success rate 10-fold and build a strong and committed team along the way.

Seek consensus on achievable expectations from the ground level and discuss different methods of committing to goals and implementing the action plans. Incentives, beyond any usual bonuses or commission structures are a great way to challenge comfort zones and stretch the boundaries. Aim to inspire your staff, not necessarily with monetary incentives but perhaps some time off or even just a simple and sincere thank you!

Allowing the goals, which are typically managerial decisions, to evolve through discussions with employees builds a sense of shared work, common goals and team rewards. In turn this builds a sense of accountability and responsibility, which your customers will reap the benefits of by way of improved service levels and you, of course, will see the impact on your profitability.

Good communication between staff and employer aligns the team to the corporate mission. Persistence is the key to living the Strategic Plan and later revelling in the rewards. For a simple step-by-step guide to Strategic Planning visit TheSmallBusinessStrategicToolbox.com today.

Sponsorship as a Marketing Tool

In small business today South Africa still presents itself as a land of opportunity for those with the energy and vision to overcome the challenges.

We have a dynamic and growing middle income market to tap into, we have wide open spaces and a climate that lends itself to many and varied businesses and we have the FIFA World cup. We can top this list with a president who clearly supports entrepreneurship as seen by his commitment to massive job creation.

South Africans are also becoming, along with the rest of the world, increasingly aware of the future of this country. As small business owners there is more interest than ever before in mission statements, business charters and especially looking at social responsibility programmes that enable us to give back to the communities within which we operate.

Social media has opened this arena to the small business owner at a fast and cost-effective rate. Successful marketing of your business through sponsorship programmes is no longer limited to the arena of corporate giants!

Now South Africa also boasts a wealth of opportunity for creative sponsorship. We have orphans, HIV/Aids, poverty and all the green issues to be tended to. Suddenly you can be bold in your sponsorship, choosing the beneficiary of your social responsibility efforts with clear focus and you can not only involve your staff in a hands on capacity you can also be vocal about it, both within your business and in the media serving your target market.

You can spend a lot or you can spend a little. It’s not about how much you spend, but about how much impact what you spend has on the organization concerned.

Why not encourage communities or other businesses in your area, to join your venture and then you’ll be able to watch the effect you have as it ripples through your community. You can make such a difference in the lives of others while improving your own bottom-line by aligning social responsibility with an effective multi-pronged marketing campaign. Win-Win. Way to go!

Take your marketing team to the next level and be sure you are armed with the right tools to reach your target in this exciting landscape by adding TheSmallBusinessMarketingToolbox.com to your Board of Directors!

To find out more about a Practical Step-by-step Marketing Programme for small businesses visit us today.