Six Things Every Startup THINKS They Should Do vs. Six Things They ACTUALLY Should…
Starting your own business brings with it a whole host of decisions to make and getting them wrong can be costly (in more ways than one). Here’s how to avoid some of the pitfalls and get things right the first time ‘round.
1. Find a gap in the market.
Sure, finding gap in the market can be a golden opportunity on the rarest of occasions, but if there truly is a gap, there’s almost always a reason why, and the reason is probably a lack of consumer demand. A better strategy is to find an opportunity for growth in an already thriving market. This means you’ll be tapping into an existing product or service with a proven sales record and either offering one of two things; an improvement on what’s already available, or you’ll be taking an existing idea and tweaking it to make it appealing to a whole new key demographic. Either way, you’ll be taking far less of a risk. You don’t have to invent something completely new to exploit a market gap. In fact, this is very rare. Even the smallest change can reap the biggest rewards. An example that illustrates this idea perfectly is probably over-used but for good reason; Hubert Cecil Booth invented the ‘puffing billy’ a heavy duty, commercial vacuum. William Henry Hoover then bought the patent from his wife’s cousin, James Murray Spangler and made it smaller and cheaper to produce on a large scale. Years later, James Dyson made it bagless. The initial engineering of the invention, the transition from commercial to domestic machine and the further modernisation from bagless version revolutionised. There were countless other tweaks in-between, new manufacturing companies brought improvisations, updates and improvements, the introduction of paper bags, the upright to the canister version, the stick, handheld, cordless and even robot versions have all been released, all with different strengths and drawbacks. All variations of the same idea with one common purpose; the removal of dust and debris from flooring and upholstery.
2. Offer the lowest price.
When you’re starting out you might struggle to be the cheapest because the largest companies source goods and materials at the lowest possible price by bulk ordering in massive quantities. So when you first launch your company you can offset this by putting the emphasis on quality. Nowadays, most markets are so saturated that people value customer service way more than getting the cheapest deal; you’d be surprised how much extra a client is willing to pay just to feel like they’re valued and that their specific wants and needs actually matter. OK, so you may not be the cheapest but you can guarantee a level of service and care that the major corporations can’t (or simply don’t need to) offer.
3. Sell something that’s a money-maker.
Of course the aim of all businesses is to make money, but more importantly it needs to be something you’re passionate about. Passion for the product or service you’re selling will drive you far harder and make you more money than selling something just because it sells, or because of high profit margins. When communicating with potential buyers your natural enthusiasm will shine through and the customer will feel that; there’s nothing more contagious than listening to someone who has a true interest in what they’re doing. And if your interest isn’t genuine then your customers will feel this too. So although making money is of course the true aim, choosing something only for earning potential rarely works. If you can choose a product or service based on something you already know and love then you’ll have an added advantage of insider knowledge. After all, the accumulated knowledge and experience from the other side of the fence, as a consumer will come in so handy and you’ll be able to gauge what will be successful in your target market because you’re part of it. In addition to this, if you’ve been a hobbyist in a certain field for years you’ve likely made friends with similar interests so you’ll already be directly connected to lots of potential customers. Being networked in can prove invaluable when you’re just starting out so the more friends you have that are already linked with your hobby, the better. Your first customers are very often your closest family members and friends so make use of them; they will want to support you in your new venture! Conversely; don’t just simply do something you’re passionate about. Your hobby may be something you love but there might just not be a viable business opportunity there. Make sure you do your homework before diving in at the deep end — passion alone is not enough to justify a financial investment.
4. Choose a great name.
Believe it or not, I’ve known start ups that choose the name of their business before anything else! It’s a bit like choosing the name you want your baby to have when you grow up; it’s a fun thing to think about but it’s ultimately pointless until you’re old enough and ready to start a family. You might have a really memorable name picked out already, or it’s always been your dream to have a business called ‘Xxxxx Xxxxx’ but before you run out and get business cards and t-shirts printed with your company name emblazoned across the front, you should consider the following. First of all, is your business name already taken? If you’re in the UK you can check the business register for free at www.gov.uk/organisations/companies-house by typing your chosen company name into their beta search facility. You’ll need to have decided this before you officially register your business as this is the first question on the application form. Next, you need to check that the domain name is available. Even if you don’t plan to launch a website at first and want to focus solely on securing a retail premises or purchasing a vehicle for your mobile venture, it makes good business sense not to choose a business name that exists online already. Sometimes if the .com version of your name is taken you can opt for the local version of your site instead (eg .co.uk) but it’s best to have both your local and the top tier generic .com alias to increase your online presence and to increase visibility in search engine results. Most domain hosting services allow you to check if your domain name is taken and will offer you a greatly reduced rate on a second alias. This doesn’t mean setting up two separate websites; you can redirect the second alias to your primary URL and have all your visitors transferred there seamlessly. In addition to this, don’t use something too vague (or too specific), think carefully about any words that might cause offence and don’t include your name. You have a limited amount of words and characters and your name takes up valuable space and conveys nothing about the business itself.
5. Create a great logo.
The problem here isn’t so much that creating a great logo isn’t important, but your idea of what constitutes a good logo and what actually does might be two very different things. The biggest mistake people tend to make here is to overcomplicate their logo design. In this case, the simpler the better. The format is also important. It should be created in vector format so it can be scaled up or down for use on letterheads, packaging, vehicle signage and storefronts. (This includes the following image file formats .ai .eps .cdr .svg or .pdf) Otherwise, when you send it to the printers to create your storefront it might go blurry once it’s enlarged and the pixel ratio changes. (Do NOT send a .jpg or .png file unless you’ve created it scaled to the actual true to life size you want it to be printed). If you have no experience with digital art then you might want to hire a professional for this part. You can get a logo made fairly cheaply (as little as £5 by a professional online — seriously!) Or alternatively you can download an app or where you input the basic credentials and it will create one for you. Use no more than three colours as a general rule to ensure memorability (one colour in three varying shades will be cheaper to print if you have limited financial resources) and don’t forget that certain business sectors or trades have common colour schemes that make them easily identifiable. There have been countless studies concerning the psychology of colour so make the most of the unconscious associations the consumer makes when deciding on your colour scheme. For example; Green is related to health, nature or safety. Blue is synonymous with construction, security and dependability. Purple has connotations of prestige, luxury or wealth and Orange denotes cheerfulness, confidence and value for money. Bear in mind the emotional response your colour scheme might invoke and use this to your advantage. Also, be sure to make a note of the HEX code so you can use the exact same colour and shade on all your media, both online and in print, every time. Consistency is key when creating a brand, be it typeface, colour scheme, logo or font. An extra bonus is that flat colour schemes are trending in a major way right now, so there’s no need to use additional highlights, shadows or embossing. Keep it flat, keep it simple, keep it modern.
6. Hire a Social Media Manager
Social media is undoubtedly a great way to get the word out there and promote your new business, but you don’t have to hire someone to manage this for you. You can get the most from the free advertising that comes with having social media business pages by using a single application to create, schedule and post for you on specific sites and at specific times. This means you won’t have to post separately to facebook, twitter, instagram, Pinterest and Tumblr pages. You can simply create an account for each site separately and then link each business page up to a centralised management software such as Hootsuite or Buffer. These applications will also give you some insight into your post reach and engagement so that you can utilise each platform to its’ maximum potential. Scheduling certain posts for certain times of the day when their potential exposure is at its highest and posting the same or similar messages in the format of each individual Social Media platform allows you to advertise to the widest possible audience in any given timeframe. Different social media sites are synonymous with different target audiences; you can easily keep track of what works well and which posts generate the most interest. If the work of managing all the pages gets to be too much to juggle alongside running the rest of your business, this means your business must be thriving and so THEN you can hire someone to take care of this for you. But don’t let this be their only role. You can train someone up to do this alongside their existing position so that you’re not paying a whole additional salary, or you can hire someone remotely, part time , who will do the same thing for multiple businesses simultaneously and therefore have a lower fee.
I hope this article has helped you in some way. I wish you every success with your business venture. If I helped in any way please leave me a clap or comment and let me know. Or if you see any room for improvement please feel free to share your constructive criticism, too. I welcome any feedback.
Melanie
