Making it as an entrepreneur especially in the early phase of the journey is not easy, you would have to do a lot of things on your own. He has to market his products, meet deadlines, satisfy customers and meet expectations at all times without undermining quality or incur excess cost that might eat into his bottom-line. The crux of it all is that you have to do the most important things that actually add up to your success.
You must market to sell and stay in business. The ultimate success of your business in the long run would be measure by how much you are able to generate through your sales.
In handling all these, finding and adopting a cost effective becomes important to small businesses who are still starting out and trying to find their feet in an ever dynamic and competitive business environment.
READ MORE: AFRICAN SOLUTIONS TO AFRICAN ISSUES
Here are some simple ways that small businesses can use to market their products with little effort:
NEVER SERVE ONE ALONE
According to SBG research, the true cost of serving a customer alone is about 10 to 20% of a company’s revenue which goes to suggest that customer acquisition is expensive to the company in the short run. However, every satisfied customer lead to one or more additional customers in the future. The more satisfied customers a business has, the more
Most businesses; especially the small ones do not have a referral lead strategy which can be employed on every satisfied customer to generate more revenue and profit in the future. This means leaving a lot of money on the table. Always do the best job possible and when this is achieved, ask them to do their friends and family a favor by extending the good news even if it is at a referral fee, it is still a win win for all.
TELL IT AS YOU DO IT
Every entrepreneur who is interested in maximizing opportunities must have an elevator speech neatly prepared and articulated towards winning customers and attracting opportunities. Nothing is more intriguing and interesting as a short talk that keeps the imagination awake and hungry for more. Tell what you do to everyone, everywhere and every time. You never can tell who is listening. Even if the person spoken to does not have a problem that the business can solve, he might just know someone who does.
Also, the company can sponsor some community programmes which helps project the corporate social responsibility aspect of the business in the community.
MAXIMISE SOCIAL NETWORK OPPORTUNITIES
The world has become so small that it can be summarized in a little tablet or pc anywhere anytime. This affords a small entrepreneur tremendous opportunity to tell the whole world about his business and solutions without distance being a barrier.
Social network maximization begins with businesses having a good corporate profile and proper business branding on social media. No matter how good your corporate branding or personal profile is, if the contacts you maintain on your social network don’t match what you do, the result might not match with expectations. I suggest that small businesses build a community around their brand stories and spend time nurturing such relationship.
READ MORE: WHAT SOCIAL MEDIA MEANS FOR THE CREATIVE AFRICAN SCENE
BE A NETWORKERHOLIC
Networking is a creative process. It denotes your ability to connect with strangers and turn them into friends and potential clients in the shortest possible time.
Small business owners should join profitable organizations, volunteering, going out and taking time to know the person seated close to them are all good opportunities to show people how you can create value for them and create market for your company in return. Always cease every opportunity to network and connect to people because in the long run all business transactions is actually a transaction of relationships.
PROPER MESSAGING
Customer messaging is very important in marketing. This means taking the necessary time to identify who the primary customers of a business are and developing appropriate business messages for them. This drives marketing success with positive result. The less effective the messaging is, the less positive the result would also be.
This therefore demands that the business must develop a customer engagement model that is most appropriate for the market the business is playing, the available budget and the target profile of the customers.
As small entrepreneurs continue to strive for growth and sustainability, finding better and cost-effective ways to be in the minds of many people becomes necessary for generating more revenue and serving more clients.
