So you have identified a problem, come up with a suitable solution for this problem, carried out market analysis to find your target audience. (If you haven’t conducted the first three steps then you’re nowhere near ready to start a business)
You have answered the What (the product/service is) and Who (the product service is for) and all that’s left is the HOW (best to deliver this product/service to your audience). If you’re like most; you’re probably very excited about the idea of owning your business and feel ready to dive into the entrepreneurship sea with both feet so you go ahead to start checking out office spaces, printing out complimentary cards that boldly has CEO attached to your name, and employing labor so you can become someone’s boss.
Wrong move. Wrong Move. Wrong Move!
An office space is the least of your worries at this stage. Most likely your new startup requires you to be out in the field (whether that happens to be on-line or off-line) doing some networking and marketing heavy-lifting.
There’s probably no worse way to shoot your startup (which is yet to start making any revenue) in the foot than having staff on payroll to do work that you are perfectly capable of handling yourself, and better off doing so too.
While the complimentary cards may come in handy during networking sessions; networking goes beyond just handing over a nicely designed card to everyone you say hello to. Usually people will politely accept this, maybe even give you one in return, and then it gets slipped into a bag or pocket where they completely forget to pull it out ever after. To have this contact card mean anything to the receiver, you first have to put yourself in a position where they consider you valuable enough to be remembered. That’s when the card then makes a better impact, so they have a means of reaching you after the first meeting.
Which brings us to what you should do when trying to start a business the right way ; In very few words, they are:
Branding
Positioning
Visibility
We’ll talk about these points in details one after the other.
Branding : What is branding? Is the process involved in creating a unique name, term, sign, symbol, design or any combination of them intended to identify the products
or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of the competitors. (from the AMA, Keller 2013)Branding aims to establish a significant and differentiated presence in the market that attracts and retains loyal customers. Effective branding is how you get to imprint a unique identifier in your consumer’s mind. When they think of your or your product, they visualize a certain color, a unique symbol, a catchy time-line, etc, in association with your product.
Your branding (logo, tagline, colors etc) should reflect in your website, promotional materials, product packaging, complimentary cards, office décor, and even up to the tone of your employees when you eventually have one. Some companies that offer professional web development services in Nigeria also provide digital branding services which helps to maintain the same tone across all platforms. If you do not already have a custom website or need to rebrand your existing one, you can contact Genrosys Technologies ltd one of the top website development companies in Nigeria here
Brand Positioning : is how you help your consumers to see the values that your brand brings and how that is different from what other competitors offer. Kotler definesbrand positioning as the act of designing a company’s offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in your consumers’ mind. It is important to get this right early on your business and to do this ensure that your positioning statement :
– Resonates with your audience
– Can be delivered at all times
– And is different from your competitors
For instance, if you are a new delivery company, do you want your consumers to think of you when they want a speedy It is important to get this right early on your business and to do this ensure that your positioning statement :delivery to be made? Or when they want to move a less urgent parcel at a very affordable rate? Or when they have bulky items to be hauled? In this case; speedy delivery, affordable delivery or hauling of bulk items are different areas that your consumers can resonate with at different instances. How you position yourself needs to reflect the situations or circumstances when you need your brand name to pop up in your consumers’ mind.
Brand Visibility : So you’ve created a brand and have highlighted the values to be positioned in your consumers’ mind, but are you reaching your consumers yet? If your target audience is looking for the product or service you offer, are you certain that they will find you? A common and very critical issue faced by startups is how to acquire customers and grow your business. Branding and positioning efforts is almost futile if your brand is not visible to your target audience. While there are several ways to promote your brand’s visibility, some of the best ways are repeated advertising and promoting referrals amongst existing consumers.
You might require the services of a professional marketing strategist to help come up with a plan that would be effective for your target audience and niche. You can contact recommended marketing strategists here. When advertising is done right, people usually try to reach out with questions that will provide them with more information. It is important that your brand is considered accessible by these people. A great way to have all the information in one place without having it look cramped is with the use of a custom website designed to meet all your brand’s specific requirements.
If you are about to start a business, you can contact one of the best web development agencies in Nigeria on discounted web development and branding packages they offer
exclusively to startups
