21 May 2013
When launching a company, the primary concern for entrepreneurs is drawing in more business. While the product/service being offered might be revolutionary, the crucial aspect is presenting it to the right people and only by understanding that can you decide on the best way to market your company - and in the right way.
Understand the product
It's impossible to figure out who the 'right' customers are for your product if you don't understand the product itself (whether you provide physical goods or offer a service). Undoubtedly, it's important to be familiar with the characteristics of the product - the specifications of a new gadget or the color range that is available - but at the same time, as an entrepreneur, what's more important is understanding why the product is important. The first deciding factor should be how the product is useful, because by determining who can benefit from it, you are automatically beginning to segment the market and focus in on who your target is.
Segment the market
A common mistake many entrepreneurs make after launching a business is targeting the entire population instead of a clearly defined market. While it's definitely tempting to target 'everybody' in the hope that it will increase chances of drawing in new customers, it's a waste of time and effort.
When starting up a small business, it's important for entrepreneurs to sit down and think about these things in the initial stages, says Warsha Joshi, founder and managing director of Platinum VA. According to her, "bringing a laser sharp focus" to the target market is helpful for all businesses and can help firms reach the clients the product is designed for, more easily.
Joshi enrolled in a course at the Referral Institute in Dubai to learn about target marketing after she launched her own business providing virtual assistants to small companies. According to her, it was an "eye-opener" because it really helped her pinpoint the right target market for her business. She also realized that it that made finding customers much easier.
"Finding clients should be the easiest part of running a business," she adds, explaining that once you have defined the right market, you'll also find clients that you enjoy working with since your product or service is directed at them.
How do you identify your clients?
The measures that you can use to paint a picture of your ideal client will definitely depend on the kind of business you are running.
Demographics
Income, gender and marital status are all important criteria when launching a consumer product or a retail business. Other demographic criteria include age, nationality, occupation and number of children.
Product
It's not always these general characteristics that are important and sometimes it is the product that determines what criteria you should look at. For a B2B service provider, for example, the criteria can be completely different. Joshi points out that at her firm, which provides executives with virtual assistants and targets small business owners and entrepreneurs, they look at how young the business is and how many members there are in the team. She explains that when targeting new business, it's important for them to evaluate whether a company is big enough to warrant a full-time assistant or whether it is small enough so that it makes business sense to outsource their PA needs.
Behavior & attitudes
Cultural tendencies and lifestyle attitudes can only be defining characteristics of customers, depending on the type of business you are running. If you are offering a luxury product or service, you know that your ideal client will not be someone who's thrifty. Similarly, it's important to take note of the cultural values that people have in a particular country into consideration in your marketing plan.
The profile
Once you have listed out characteristics that are relevant for your business, you will be able to create a profile of your ideal client. This is the key to determining where you should be looking for clients, says Joshi. In her case, she explains, since the ideal clients are small businesses and free zone-based consultancies, she finds it useful to look for new customers at freezone networking events.
According to her, once you understand the market, another way forward is learning how to collaborate with other businesses that have similar target markets and are not competitors (in her case, it is businesses that offer different services to small businesses and entrepreneurs). This, she adds, is an easy and effective way of increasing your client base and expanding your market.
© Zawya BusinessPulse 2013
When launching a company, the primary concern for entrepreneurs is drawing in more business. While the product/service being offered might be revolutionary, the crucial aspect is presenting it to the right people and only by understanding that can you decide on the best way to market your company - and in the right way.
Understand the product
It's impossible to figure out who the 'right' customers are for your product if you don't understand the product itself (whether you provide physical goods or offer a service). Undoubtedly, it's important to be familiar with the characteristics of the product - the specifications of a new gadget or the color range that is available - but at the same time, as an entrepreneur, what's more important is understanding why the product is important. The first deciding factor should be how the product is useful, because by determining who can benefit from it, you are automatically beginning to segment the market and focus in on who your target is.
Segment the market
A common mistake many entrepreneurs make after launching a business is targeting the entire population instead of a clearly defined market. While it's definitely tempting to target 'everybody' in the hope that it will increase chances of drawing in new customers, it's a waste of time and effort.
When starting up a small business, it's important for entrepreneurs to sit down and think about these things in the initial stages, says Warsha Joshi, founder and managing director of Platinum VA. According to her, "bringing a laser sharp focus" to the target market is helpful for all businesses and can help firms reach the clients the product is designed for, more easily.
Joshi enrolled in a course at the Referral Institute in Dubai to learn about target marketing after she launched her own business providing virtual assistants to small companies. According to her, it was an "eye-opener" because it really helped her pinpoint the right target market for her business. She also realized that it that made finding customers much easier.
"Finding clients should be the easiest part of running a business," she adds, explaining that once you have defined the right market, you'll also find clients that you enjoy working with since your product or service is directed at them.
How do you identify your clients?
The measures that you can use to paint a picture of your ideal client will definitely depend on the kind of business you are running.
Demographics
Income, gender and marital status are all important criteria when launching a consumer product or a retail business. Other demographic criteria include age, nationality, occupation and number of children.
Product
It's not always these general characteristics that are important and sometimes it is the product that determines what criteria you should look at. For a B2B service provider, for example, the criteria can be completely different. Joshi points out that at her firm, which provides executives with virtual assistants and targets small business owners and entrepreneurs, they look at how young the business is and how many members there are in the team. She explains that when targeting new business, it's important for them to evaluate whether a company is big enough to warrant a full-time assistant or whether it is small enough so that it makes business sense to outsource their PA needs.
Behavior & attitudes
Cultural tendencies and lifestyle attitudes can only be defining characteristics of customers, depending on the type of business you are running. If you are offering a luxury product or service, you know that your ideal client will not be someone who's thrifty. Similarly, it's important to take note of the cultural values that people have in a particular country into consideration in your marketing plan.
The profile
Once you have listed out characteristics that are relevant for your business, you will be able to create a profile of your ideal client. This is the key to determining where you should be looking for clients, says Joshi. In her case, she explains, since the ideal clients are small businesses and free zone-based consultancies, she finds it useful to look for new customers at freezone networking events.
According to her, once you understand the market, another way forward is learning how to collaborate with other businesses that have similar target markets and are not competitors (in her case, it is businesses that offer different services to small businesses and entrepreneurs). This, she adds, is an easy and effective way of increasing your client base and expanding your market.
© Zawya BusinessPulse 2013
