Member Article

Long Overdue Update!

Hello all,

Well its been a long time since my last update so here goes…

Iv been working with a local council recently helping people who are unemployed set up in business and have seen a wide array of business types get set up which is fantastic news and I wish them all well. But one thing that has kept on popping up since my last update is how to start and run a business - and “find customers”

Everyone has ideas, and sometimes the simple ideas are the best. Business doesn’t have to be complicated, especially in these difficult times, however anyone thinking of starting up needs to have a clear plan on how to find customers.

Heres a perfect example: I see lots of businesses spend valuable £’s from their budget on developing websites and blindly “expect” sales when it goes live…they get a facebook page, twitter page etc and simply expect it - sadly it doesnt work like that.

Many businesses think that just by having a website that you will get sales automatically - business isnt that easy! You need a strategy on how to drive traffic to your site but also build up your brand. Bearing in mind that with any new business, no one has heard of you before, so heres some simple tips to help all new businesses start up.

You have to think as a customer and build that into your business.

It sounds obvious right? If i wanted a wedding cake for example, I would use a local company so i can be in communication with them, see what they have done before, and know that I would be less than a hours drive away to pick up the cake or for them to deliver it. So when i visit google, i would type in “wedding cake north east” or something along those lines. By thinking like a customer and building your businesses strategy / marketing means you will have more success in finding customers.

The above point will help you choose who you want to sell to / area of country you want to sell to:

One of my current clients makes cakes and are based in Tyneside and I recently designed their website. They specalise in all things cakes, from wedding cakes to birthday cakes, and one of the main things that we discussed was where to target.

By thinking like a customer has helped my client sucessfully start up and are going strong and are now ready to expand.

Naturally, being a startup, the business needed to start small and gradually build up - so we recommened to target the North East of England for their website campaign. They are currently sitting on page one on google for terms such as “iced wedding cakes north east”, “chocolcate wedding cakes north east”, “cheap wedding cakes north east” and many more.

Now why just target the North East you ask? Because you are a new business, it is easier to build you business up locally first. This gives you the chance to demonstrate that you are helpful, friendly, fast, listen to customer needs and wants - in effect, you are customer oriented.

Get Testimonials

A key reason to grow a small business and find new customers is to get testimonials from previous customers. Aslong as your work is good and to a very high standard, then previous customers should’nt have an issue with this. Dedicate a page on your website to testimonials and encourage previous customers to facebook/twitter you. Make sure your testimonials are real, dont over edit them, and if possible, get specific date such as “our sales increased by 40% instead of “we saw a big increase in sales”.

Build up and protect your Brand

I’m going to type this bit in bold because alot of startups get this wrong - A Brand Is NOT just your logo.

We all agree that a logo is key to your business so it becomes recognisable, but it is what is expected of your product or service from your business that is then reflected by your logo.

Lets take apple for example, and its logo, an apple with a chunk out of it. Now lets pretend that apple has just started up and we knew nothing about the company. You would probably guess that the company was a apple producer, or a fruit shop or something along those lines…

But, because we know the company and the products it sells, we “expect” anything with an apple logo on to be “trendy, high price, latest tech”. Why? - well thats because that is what the business is. Apple sell trendy high priced tech gadgets.

Your logo is what reflects your business. If you are honest, reliable, and expensive, your logo over time will reflect this. If you are cheap, poor product, stack them high, your local will reflect this. A brand is the customers experience of your business - make sure you can give them the best experience you can

I’m making money…but the bank wont lend me money to expand…

So business is starting to flow, and making money and you want to expand…however many small businesses forget to do a very simple thing. Alot of business, small ones especially will use paypal or take cash, nothing wrong with that.

I was speaking to my bank manager earlier in the year and asked him why banks are’nt lending money to small businesses. Apart from the usual credit rating scores, he said that alot of small business simply dont have the cashflows going through their business on a daily or weekly basis.

For example - a local shop takes £500 per day in cash. It costs the shop owner £350 for the stock hes sold and sticks that in the bank, and he takes £150 cash wage home - what is he doing wrong?

Well firstly, that cash is the businesses cash. What the shopowner should do is deposit all £500 into the business bank account, and then withdraw his wage. However, the business will never grow if he keeps taking out all of the profits. This is why alot of businesses dont succeed in getting finance from a bank, simply because they are forgetting to deposit all of their daily takings into the business bank account and are not retaining any profits for future growth. Remember to deposit all takings, retain some profit for the business, and then take your wage.

Theres a couple of tips for startup businesses / businesses wanting to expand…

Good luck to all over Christmas Period!

Jamie

www.precisebusinessadvice.co.uk

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Jamie ONeill .