Why Choosing Your Market Is The Most Important First Step In Small Business.
I've been working with small business clients for years and if I'm lucky, I get them when they're green under the gills. It's not an ego thing, it's that there are so many habits that have to be extracted from the die-hard entrepreneurs who are too proud to relearn the basics.
If you're just starting out and you feel pretty confident that you've got the skills you need to operate your own business, I applaud you. If you went to school and got your degree in business administration, or you worked for someone for decades and feel you're ready for the captain's chair, I'm proud of you.
The first step in building a small business is choosing your market. Many people get into business without ever knowing who their customers will be and where they'll come from. We found that after 20 plus years in marketing, the question is still relevant. “Who is your Ideal Customer?”
Before you go running out and setting up shop, let's figure out a checklist of actionable details for making your dream come true. Even if you have the money in your pocket to get started, you should not make a move without a plan. Sure, you have some ideas of what you want to do but you're excited to get started. Not good enough.
You have several options to choose from. The three options that your marketing plan will have to address are:
Who needs what you have to offer?
What separates your product from the competition?
Where will the customer be when they purchase your product or service?
Burn this sentence in your brain forever. “A business is not a business without paying customers.”
The first rule of successful marketing is to only sell something you know has a proven track record of attracting customers willing to go out of their way to buy what you have.
Once you've established a market, build a series of products to satisfy that market. Get feedback from that market as often as possible to establish a dialog and to learn what needs and challenges you can solve. Marketing is the engine that motivates your sales and thus your success.
About the Author: Dennis Francis is a consultant and business coach for small businesses and wellness practitioners. His website, www.doublemyrevenues.com offers its members online coaching on automating marketing on and off the web. He offers a free book called "Double Your Revenues in 12 Months or Less." He also helps businesses publish books for marketing and promotional purposes at www.didpublishing.com
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