The real secret to success in starting your own business is to sell a product or service -that your customers’ want-and is willing to pay
Why? Because the only reason a business exist is to serve the customer. Your business can only thrive if it’s providing valuable service to the marketplace
The two questions to ask then is:
Why do many businesses fail even when the founders appear to have -excellent product or service- to offer to in their industry?
Why do many business start-ups fail within the first 5-year of starting business?
The answer to these questions is this:
There is a flaw in the way many wannabe entrepreneurs think about starting business
Why? Because over the past few decades there has been a shift in the way business is done:
Many businesses now thrive or fail on the power of the customer.
Your business will thrive and experience massive growth-if you listen and care-for your customer or your market.
On the other hand your business will fail quickly if you are not serving your customer
I truly believe that most entrepreneurs truly want to serve their market
But…
The main challenge most business owners face is:
that they are not anywhere near there customers-even though they seem to think they are serving their customers
As a result they are not doing the most important thing a business must do to flourish: that is selling
The result is most business owners go bust in no time fast
Why? Because when you start a business-serving customers who have a strong need for your product or service, they will pay you to provide it.
And…guess what? Your business will prosper
The good news is that you can easily turn around starting your own business-from being a nightmare to the American dream you always wanted
Why? Because you’ll avoid the biggest mistake most entrepreneurs make in starting business: not knowing the steps to take when starting out.
If I had to narrow how to succeed in starting your own business to three steps, they would be:
- Find your ideal prospects
- Figure out how to reach these prospects
- Find a way to get their attention and sell your product
Find your ideal customer
The biggest waste of time for starting a business is to target the wrong customer for your product.
For example you’ll be wasting your time if you are promoting nicotine replacement patches to non-smokers. Instead you should promote the product to smokers who want to quit smoking
If you are in the car wash business you should target people with dirty cars in shopping malls and offer them a discount-to wash their cars
It is only when you can find your ideal customer that your business can flourish.
Because even if you have the best product in the market
…But sell to the wrong market…
Your business has no chance of surviving
Figure out how to reach your market
The next thing you must do is to find out how you can best reach the prospects in your market.
How do reach your customers? The answer is simple.
You need to find the best channel where your customers gather in your niche or industry
For example if you are selling golfing accessories your customers are likely to:
- Subscribe to golfing magazines
- Hold membership of golf clubs;
- Watch golf tournament or
- Talk about golf in forums online or offline
The key to reaching your customer is to research and find the multiple channels that your customers use to find your product and service-in your niche
The next thing you should do is to test your marketing message in these channels to find out the most responsive channels
You’ll be surprised that your customers use multiple channels to buy
The other important thing about reaching your customer is: you need to be perceived as a helper.
This means your business is-seen as the go to-link for finding solutions to the problems and frustrations your customers have
In order words you are seen as the authority in your niche. As a result, you’ll build trust in your niche and easily convert prospects to customers.
On more thing: your customers should be reachable online and offline. And your market should be large enough to support your business
Tell your customers the value proposition of your business
Once you have found your target customers-you need to grab their attention-so you can sell your products to them
The key to positioning your product is to offer a value proposition such that-your prospects will want to buy from you instead of your competitors
One of the biggest mistakes in starting your own business : not selling your customer the value proposition of your product
What’s your product’s unique selling proposition?
Also known as USP the unique value proposition of your product -is the benefit that your product offers to your customer-that separates it from your competitors.
Your USP must accomplish three things for your product when you are marketing to your customer:
- unique-that is it sets your product apart from the competition
- selling– it persuades your prospect that its the right product for him
- proposition– it offers your customer a benefit that fill his needs
The earlier your customers can know your USP the higher your chance of getting their attention and starting a relationship with them
A USP does not have to be something exotic …it may just be a easier and better way of solving your customer’s problem
For example Domino’s pizza’s USP
“Pizza delivered in 30 minutes or it’s free” Which means its customers will get pizza delivered in 30 or less when they are hungry
FedEx’s USP is
When its absolutely, positively has to be there overnight which means FedEx customers will enjoy next day hassle free shipping.
The key to success with position your goods and service is: to grab their attention and tell them the “pain” your product will alleviate when they use your service
Here’s a few tip you can use to grab their attention:
- Write your ads with headlines that states the promise your service will offer your customers
- Prove that you can deliver what you promise
- Offer your customers risk free guarantee
In summary the bottom-line to succeeding at starting your own business is knowing-who is your ideal customer-how to reach them-and letting them know-the benefits your products offers them over your competitors.
When you start your business this way-you are likely to build a successful business
Please let know your own suggestions and comments: on what you think is important for prospering in starting your own business
