Most of us are too busy "doing" that we rarely take out time to plan and reflect.
Picture this:
David spends all of his time baking bread and curating his display window. He wonders why he gets only 4 customers daily while his competitor, 5 blocks away pulls in the same number in 2 hours. At the end of the day, he goes home sad and hopes tomorrow will be better.
Remarkable optimism! however, David needs more than just his optimism to see him through this time. He needs to reassess/create a strategy for his business.
Creating a successful marketing and sales strategy as an entrepreneur requires that you understand the breadth and depth of your individual product or product line, who your target customer is, how you will reach this customer, and why your product is better than that of any of your competitors.
It is essential to know what your competition is doing (don't just compare results like David) so that you can highlight the key differences that make your product unique.
To avoid doing a David, you should begin with a simple self-analysis:
- Of Your Business:
- Describe your business right now. What words express exactly where you feel you are? Brainstorm and just jot down what comes to mind.
- Make a list of the main services/products you offer
- What is selling well?
- What isn't selling well?
- Of Your Profits
- What is your turnover?
- What is your current end-of-year profit?
Next, you may now conduct an analysis of your customers.
- Customers
- How many customers do you have?
- Where do they come from?
- What kind of profile do they have?
- Who are your best customers?
- Who are your worst customers?
next, with the information gathered from the sections above, you can move on to an analysis of your business strengths and attitude.
Business Strengths
- What are the key strengths your business has?
- What are the key skills contained within this business?
Your Attitude towards your Business
- How do you feel about your business?
- What do you find difficult?
- What is it that you like and enjoy?
Your challenge
You will need to be honest with yourself and focus on the facts. This may involve some detail that you haven't paid attention to for a while. You will need to be disciplined as you gather this information. Don't rely on guesswork or gut feeling. Get the specifics as it is these details that will form the bedrock from which you can move forward. If you want to grow your business you will need to know exactly where you are starting from.
The success of a business is hugely dependent on it being able to create value and differentiate itself from competitors. Answering the questions above for your business and seeking those answers as they relate to competitors would equip you with specific facts, thoughts and feelings to work with. You now have a starting point.
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