Millions of businesses are started every day, which makes the marketplace even more crowded and competitive. This likewise has its pros & cons on business and solving customers needs also innovation. Think of the global business marketplace where everyone is striving to build out a loyal community for their product or service offerings. Not a very easy task period, especially when competing with bigger brands and players who are already dominating the scene and markets. However, the fact that there are already dominant figures and also continuous new emerging brands, means there is also enough space for you to make your mark especially since you are a different person and brand from the others and the market always welcomes new innovative solutions for their problems.
To guide you, here are some tips from pros you can apply to your business strategy to ensure your venture goes public and is successful in the shortest time possible.
1. Be optimistic.
Having not just an open mind for the ever-changing business industry, but also a positive one will set you on the right path to finding success for your new venture. Though being optimistic alone will not get you or your brand viable success, it sure plays a vital role especially from the early stages of setting a foundation for your startup. Starting a business means you are bringing a new life with a name to reality. In reality, a business is actually a network or relationship between a trader and a customer who has a need or want. Living life with positivity always outweighs a life without optimism. Also, customers like human beings seek leadership to inspire trust which is a primary factor for making purchasing decisions. Start on a positive and viable note and be consistent.
2. Be Passionate
Goes without saying, there is a very, very thin line between work and hobby. Both are considered work based on the fact they both require actions but the difference is the reason behind the action. Do you do this for fun or do you do this to get paid only? Both are always the best combination because you actually get more for paying less if you get my meaning. Doing something fun generally boosts your mood hence overall productivity, and is more internally motivated or driven which will be considered one requirement so far. The second is to be able to comfortably earn a living. Which can be considered both internally and externally motivated. The latter is in most cases observed when working because your employer would generally need to pay you cash and other compensations to keep you motivated also enforced by law, which is the second. Being able to combine both aspects of motivation for your business is key, as the competition is already and keeps getting tighter, and in order for you to stand out, you need to shine brighter than the other guys hence you need more power which means you need more drive which means you need more motivation, especially during the early stages when no one really pays much if any at all. Similar to the second aspect I mentioned earlier.
3. Keep it simple
Being too complex sometimes can confuse your audience and customers who are already having their own problems to deal with. Hence they may leave your business and never come back and in some cases may not even venture into your business to find out more as they can’t simply grasp the concept your business really communicates. Try not to make any aspect of your business too complicated unless that is a part of your culture and, your target audience needs/wants or already expects a level of complication from your business, otherwise just don’t do it. Make your name as simple as possible, your logo, your message, and product & service offerings likewise. This will lower the bar of adaptability for your customers and make sharing with friends and family as easy and seamless as possible. Especially since the attention span of human beings tends to get shorter by the day, you have but just a few seconds to capture someone’s attention to your brand so try to make simplicity a part of your company culture.
4) Do your Research
At this stage, everyone should have already got the idea that you need to be knowledgeable of what you are venturing into. Try to gather new and updated information on your industry often enough. To be a leader in your industry, having knowledge of your business, customers and industry is a primary requirement. To do this you will need to conduct frequent research from multiple sources including interviewing other leaders in the same or similar industries. Read up online constantly on information trending in your industry, ways to improve your business product and service offerings. Aim to always be ahead of the game from start and that requires knowing what other players don’t. This means consistently developing knowledge and skillsets required to dominate the marketplace and drive the customers purchasing decisions in the favor of your business. So basically research, research, research, and when you are done researching, you research again on the research you have just researched.
5. Be open to criticism and feedback
Criticisms and Feedback are generally some of the hardest pills to swallow especially if they are not the commending ones. In order to build out a business that attracts and retains customers your will need to be open to feedback from customers. Sometimes seeing the business from the owner’s point of view is not the same as from the customer’s viewpoint. It is always encouraged to make your business customer-centric meaning your customers are the center or the focus of your business. This makes customers feel more appreciated and makes gaining their loyalty and referrals a lot easier. Making your customers front and center of your business makes it easier for your team to better strategically develop a product highly targeted to your customers which vastly increases the profitability of the business. Also being open to criticisms and feedback helps you to develop your skillsets of being a better leader for your team and makes it easier for you to establish new and better network connections while attracting and maintaining loyal stakeholders.
6. Solve a problem
Speaking of targeting not just the customer in person but a pain point or problem the person is having. Let’s say for instance a supermarket for grocery shopping, it can be hassling if you drive but the supermarket has no parking spaces. Or let’s say selling dairy-free products for a person lactose intolerant. Or selling websites for young entrepreneurs without a budget. The key concept is to help someone solve a problem they are having. Basically saying don’t develop a product solely because you think it’s cool but rather develop a product or service because it helps someone solve a problem they are having. The bigger the problem you solve the bigger the reward. The food industries and healthcare are some of the most expensive once these days, likewise clothing textiles and shelters. Because these are not just big deals but are primary requirements for humane sustainability. Diving deep to identify a problem in the industry you are venturing into likewise will or should attract a level of personal and market research.
7. Be consistent
This is what separates a business from a hustle. You have to consistently show up consistently, consistent. If you get the meaning of the latter statement. Being consistent has more meaning than just consistently showing up, that is just the start. You need to likewise be consistent with things such as asking customer feedback, consistent with new innovative ideas, consistent with new content, consistent with customer satisfaction, consistent with sales to make your business consistently viable, you should have gotten the gist by this. Consistency is key. Customers generally start switching when they start noticing the inconsistencies of your business as this is a primary culprit for eroding trust, which is in the reverse a primary requirement for customers to make purchasing decisions.
8. work hard and smart
Honestly, there is really no substitute for hard work. Not saying you shouldn’t work smart. See it this way loads of people already work so hard daily they forget to eat and sometimes even sleep. Beating them is a very slim chance at their game especially if they have been doing that for years, experience ‘wink’. But working that hard may not be very smart because your body operates optimally when you are fully rested, hydrated, and fed. This means working hard and smartly gives you the advantage, especially when your solely hardworking competitors are burned out. Imagine going to run a heat tomorrow morning after training all day and all night today. Bad math that solely working hard, I mean you can win but your only chance gets thinner when you have a competitor who worked hard and smart.
9. Ask a professional for help when lost
It never hurts to ask for help, especially if you are feeling lost and the best part is you get the opportunity of building a network to help and motivate you along your entrepreneurial journey. It is common for most persons to think they can run a business single-handedly but the reality is without the correct knowledge and skillset it can be very complicated to operate a business within an industry you have no prior experience. It pays to have a mentor or coach to help you identify and work on your weaker areas. This will help you to not be making the same mistakes as other competitors make and also helps you to not repeat the same mistake in different situations. Having access to information especially key strategic pieces of information regarding your business and/or industry is the difference between a failed business and a successful one. Hiring a business advisor or coach can be the winning card for your new business startup.
10. Never quit
All in all, it boils down to never giving up. You will need to be there for your business even when no one believes in it. You will face days where you make zero sales especially during the early stages of your business. You will face periods of low motivation, at this stage all you should do is keep pushing forward and work towards better days. Ensure you compensate/treat yourself especially when you know you have put in plenty of effort and resources. Even when it feels hopeless always remember the tallest trees in the forest actually started from the ground and the tree generally roots down before it grows up. So work on really setting that foundation for your business and one day with the correct strategies you will not need to be introducing the brand because they would have already known. But the bottom line is never ever giving up, it will not be easy and it will not happen overnight.
Conclusion
Though this list of tips is not the only piece of advice you should consider when going into business, they sure are key best practices you should take into consideration when planning to start or operate a business venture. It can get very frustrating sometimes when things seem to not go in your favor but always remember things take a little time sometimes to get right. Find a reason to hang in there and get your business to the level it should be. Always look for the light at the end of the tunnel and benchmark yourself with other competitors from time to time. Remember winning takes time especially if everyone came out prepared.