Starting your own business is not that hard really.
Fill out some paperwork, visit government agencies, apply, and in a few days, you are a proud small business owner.
But is that all it takes for you to become a SUCCESSFUL business owner?
There is a big difference between a plain business owner, and a successful one, who aspires to constantly progress.
So, let’s take a step back, and try to see what every person should do before diving into entrepreneurship.
5 Steps To Go Through
Without any need to delay, let’s jump into these steps immediately.
- Plain Ol’ Research
A pretty obvious one, isn’t it?
But without proper research, when you hit the market, you will feel lost, very very lost, and that can be devastating for a new business.
While research may not be the most fun part of starting a business, it is necessary if you want to outperform the competition and reach as many customers as possible.
Knowing your target persona, market, financial aspects of similar competition businesses, potential income and expenses, as well as the offers of your competitors will give you an advantage.
In terms of marketing, your research should focus on your target audience and demographics, customer personality, competition, and internal barriers. All of these data points can help you guide your marketing and sales strategy.
- Understand Your Potential Customer & Market
Each marketing & sales strategy targets a potential person, business, and essentially a market.
Even if you’re still not sure what a perfect target persona is, don’t worry, it takes quite a bit of brainstorming and research to crystallize such a person.
It is important to start from the widest specter there is and then narrow it down until you get your ideal customer.
Try starting with figuring out the age of your perfect target persona and potentially a wider audience. Once you’ve nailed that part, you can continue to create a more detailed customer persona.
The customer’s personality is something that all marketing companies are trying to figure out. It can consist of information that specifies what color our target persona likes, what they prefer to eat, which gender they are, even which sports team they are cheering for.
The bottom line is to know your potential client and persona down to the smallest detail so that you can properly target them and achieve a great conversion rate.
Here comes the hard truth.
If you don’t understand your target persona and market, you can’t expect to reach them, and therefore your business will crumble and cease to exist.
- Communicate With Your Customers or Slowly Perish
What do I mean by this?
Your customers are your bread and butter. If they aren’t satisfied, you are in big trouble, my friend.
If you don’t know how to communicate with your customers and present your product to them in a way that they will be hooked on it from the start, you are doing something wrong.
Even the most impressive marketing strategies in the world will not work.
Clearly state what your product offers. Present the benefits when using what you have to offer, make compelling content when representing your product, and the communication with your customers will flourish.
Always keep in mind one thing!
They can go to your competition and buy something similar, so what is the shazam that separates you from your competition?
Focus on that and communicate your benefits with your customers, and don’t worry about a thing, all will line up perfectly for your business.
Free tip:
You can use case studies for this purpose. They are a great way to communicate with new customers showing how your current customers have benefited from your service, product, or whatever you are offering.
- Without Passion is There Even a Point?
You are probably thinking if it makes me money, screw passion.
But, this is where you are mistaken.
Under no circumstances ever underestimate the power of passion. Customers always know. They can feel if you are selling something just to sell it, or you truly believe in that product. They can feel your passion when you speak, and they can relate to it, and thus they will easily make a decision to buy your product.
Think about the business as an investment in the future. You are trying to make something from nothing. You are investing in your business for the long run, and if you are diving into this world without any passion for what you do, you will burn out very quickly.
If you are trying to sell something, a service, or a product and you lack enthusiasm, the customers will catch up with you very quickly, and what then? They will see right through you and your company will suffer. That is why passion is important. If you don’t care, why should they?
Simply put, people can tell when a company doesn’t care about its customers, so in the end, they will stop worrying too.
- Without Social Media, You Don’t Exist
You are probably wondering why I included social media into this list.
Well, it is almost the end of the year 2021.
The Covid 19 epidemic is still out there, and a lot of us work remotely, from our home offices, or something similar.
A lot of our time is spent on social media. Whether we are scrolling for fun, looking to buy something, or learning what is happening in the world at this moment, the fact is that a lot of hours, daily, we spend on social media.
Every modern business, small, medium, or big, must be active on social media. It is just a necessity that the modern lifestyle is incorporated into the business world.
New product launches, grand opening, information, or something else, everything is shown to the potential customers on social media.
And that is why you should be on social media even before you open your business.
To spread awareness that something new is coming, to lay out the road for your followers to learn about your business even before you are up and running.
Neglecting social media should no longer be an option, some companies are built exclusively on the background of social media.
it seems very hard, nearly impossible, to create a large enough following. But, don’t worry, as you start gaining momentum, it becomes much easier, and satisfying.
As we live in 2021, management roles are always evolving. So, in these times every successful company has its own social media manager. Hiring one should be the next step and you should consider this role when thinking about the bigger picture and the future.
Until you can afford one, make sure that your social media campaigns are unique, consistent, and represent your brand to the maximum in your way.
Don’t Skip These Steps - They Are Essential
Doing all of this groundwork can help you grow your business much faster than without them.
It may sound boring, but it helps you better understand your potential position, the position of your potential customers, and it allows you to make plans for the future.
There is no final template for a successful business, but there are companies that can help you and your products to grow.
To wrap things up.
Every day somewhere, somebody is starting a business. Every day somewhere, somebody is losing theirs. And every day somewhere, somebody is growing their business.
If you want to be the latter one, do your homework, follow these steps, and start your new business on a great foundation.
Author’s Bio
Vladimir Milić is a Senior Digital Marketing Manager whose primary passions are SEO & SMO. For the last 5 years, he has been working his way up in the digital marketing world, primarily focusing on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to help his clients’ businesses reach higher levels of profit and success. He is a co-founder at SkaleUP where he is in charge of creating inbound strategy for B2B SaaS startups.
