8 SIMPLE STEPS TO STARTING ANY NEW BUSINESS EVEN WITHOUT EXPERIENCE

Putting the business idea you've been carrying in your head to work can be one heck of a rewarding task if done correctly, with the aid of the proper knowledge.

Let's go back to the wonderful month of March 2018, a time when I was eager to start my cakes and confectionery business inspired by my self-learning experience.

This business only ran for a year and during this period, I acquired only a handful of customers, a quatre of which were family members. I was filled with a passion for baking and a desire to express my creativity, yet void of the right set of knowledge to run a successful business. I remember doing a lot of recipe research and how-to-dos, yet I never ventured enough into learning more about the steps involved in running a business. I would have recorded more success in that business if I had learned and applied the steps we're about to cover in the next few paragraphs rather than relying too much on my half-baked intuition about the art of business running.

1. Find Out Of Your Idea Is In Demand And Is Profitable

According to veteran entrepreneur Dickson Everett, founder of Flasr, it is essential to determine if there's a market for your product to prevent waste of resources.

One way to know if there's a market for your product is by conducting market research. Conducting market research simply involves asking questions about your product/service and picking up data that translates to the interest of people in your service or product.

Here are three steps to market research;

• Define and research your target audiences: Your product/service has a better chance of selling when it is directed to a particular category of audience. Your target audience is a group of individuals that will most likely buy your product. It is very important you identify and understand your target audience. This goes deep into knowing their needs, desires and preferences when it comes to your product category.

• Create a survey to be filled out by your target audience: This lets you into the mind of your audience, allowing you to know whether your product idea fits their needs and whether they would consider buying this product once it reaches the market. List a number of questions important to your product, then shoot your survey either online or offline. I totally recommend using survey tools like Typeform to create seamless online surveys.

• Carry out product prototype testing: This step involves bringing your product sample directly in contact with the randomly selected target audience to get real-life responses. You will be able to get unbiased personal responses from each audience regarding your product. There are two methods involved in prototype testing and the method to utilize heavily depends on your product type. Investing in prototype testing is highly recommended because not only does it help you produce products/services that meet the needs of your target audience, but you would also be able to detect faults in your product earlier on before it hits the market.

2. Get All Necessary Legal Documents

The government in every country has sets of rules and regulations guiding the activities in the business sector. It is extremely important to comply with these regulations or face the consequences. Asides from government rules, you need to also legally support and protect your business with documents such as company registration, bank account registration, trademark, patents, partnerships agreements etc.

Speaking to an established expert in the registration process is usually the best move to make.

3. Develop Your Brand Strategy

To nurture a brand that becomes well-known and stands the test of time, you need to develop a brand strategy. A brand strategy is a structure put in place to guide how a brand presents itself to its audience. It helps the brand stand out amidst competitors and remain firm in its presentation regardless of the changes in the market. To create a brand strategy, the following twelve questions need to be answered carefully, and in a well-thought-of manner:

• What is your brand vision?

• What is your brand mission?

• What are your brand values?

• Who are your target audiences?

• Who are your competitors?

• What is your differentiation strategy?

• Where are you positioning your brand?

• What personalities do your target audience have?

• What personalities does your brand need to embody to connect with your target audience?

• How do you want to sound to your target audience? - (Your brand tone)

• What is your brand message?

• How do you want your audience to perceive you? - (Your brand identity)

Having the brand strategy blueprint will guide you while answering these questions. While setting up a brand strategy is easy, its implementation is something that should be worked on over time as the brand grows.

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4. Create Your Marketing Strategy

You've created your brand strategy, and you've figured out your target audience but how will you sell your product?

There are multitudes of marketing channels out there, but not all are designed to work in favor of your business. Developing a marketing strategy will help you figure out the best marketing pathway for your business. When creating your marketing strategy, you need to understand the basic marketing principle so that you can flow along the direction of the wheel with ease rather than working against it and putting yourself in a knot.

The marketing principle consists of three components namely;

• Attract: The part where you attract your audiences with the right tools

• Retain: The part where you ensure your audience stays within your reach

• Sell: The part where you pitch your product to your audience

Once you have the principal in mind, it's time to use it in your different launch phases.

When starting a new brand, there are three launch phases the brand goes through with each phase requiring a different marketing approach. Below are the launch phases and the marketing approach that suits the stage;

• The Pre-launch Phase: Here your brand is in the set-up stage, a time when you're putting all business execution processes in place. In this stage, the best marketing approach is building anticipation. No offer or sales attempt should be made, rather a general pitch of the brand's qualities is put out to prepare your target audience for your arrival.

• The Launch Phase: Here your business is ready for sales activities. This phase is the time to go all out with marketing your product. The goal is to attract customers with marketing tools like sales offers and free high-value content. You also want to start building your email list. An email list consists of audiences that have shown interest in your business and have dropped their contact information in exchange for the high-value content you've offered them.

• The Post-launch Phase: Maintenance is what keeps things going. You must have a workable marketing plan that will keep your brand at the top of your audience's mind. Solve problems, add value and keep looking for ways to be relevant to your audience.

5. Create A Marketing Campaign Execution Plan

Setting goals and deadlines will make your marketing strategy actionable. Your marketing plan consists of certain parameters that would help you put your campaign in order.

A marketing execution plan contains the following parameters:

• Goals of the marketing campaign

• Objectives

• The campaign duration

• Key performance indicators

• Your Budget

• Milestones and Metrics

• List of activities and deadlines

6. Find The Right Business Tools

There's already so much to handle when launching your new business, so finding the right tools to help you in execution can be a lifesaver.

iesFind tools can either involve outsourcing certain business activities to other skilled personnel or getting apps that can perfectly perform the tasks.

7. Develop A Great Customer Retention System

It is a million times easier to sell to an existing customer than it is to acquire one. Having a great customer retention system helps you constantly provide value for your existing customers, which will in turn help your brand stay at the top of their mind. A customer retention system includes;

• Having an attentive sales representative - Will help prospective customers consider patronizing your brand even more

• Having after-sales services - This will help you provide further assistance to your customers

• Email/SMS Marketing - Selling offers, new products and free products via regular emails or SMS proves to be one of the most effective ways to have new and existing customers buy from you.

• Collecting Feedback - This will help you improve and give your customers a sense of satisfaction. After all, who's not satisfied when they feel heard?

8. Persist, Adapt and Grow

Running a business is never a smooth plane, there are ups and there are also downs. Learning and getting stronger is the most important mindset to hold onto through the downs. The most important mindset during a market change is adapting without deviating from your brand mission and Identity. This is what your brand strategy has been created to help you with.

Above all, work smart, persist and grow.