So you’ve got your million-dollar business idea? Coming up with the idea is one of the easier aspects, executing it is where it can be difficult. The top reasons businesses fail are due to cash flow and capital resource problems.
Setup costs rack up fast when you’re launching a startup, so it’s well worth understanding what aspects of your business you can skimp on and which will give you the best return on your investment. These tips will guide you to spend smart when you’re setting up shop.
So you’re launching your own business? That’s amazing! But unless you have secured investment already, you may have to get your business set up before you begin to turn a profit. Setup expenses can add up really fast when you’re just getting established, so cutting corners will be unavoidable sometimes.
When it comes to stretching your budget in the early stages, it can be helpful to get your head around which aspects of your business will promise the best returns on investment, and where you can afford to skimp a little. One of the best places you can look when it comes to saving money is on anybody you employ, or in this case, people you don’t employ. If your business needs computer services, then outsource to an IT company.
When it comes to your startup business, the important things you need to spend on will always be the basics. These tips will help you invest your money in the right areas when you’re just getting your company off the ground.
Brand Recognition
Whether you’re promoting your business online or in the real world with a 10×10 trade show booth, it’s essential that your color scheme, logo and copy all align to create a strong brand identity. Branding can be an expensive investment. Top marketing consultants and copywriters charge high rates for the benefit of their skills. But if you get your brand voice and image right the first time, you won’t have to do it again.
As your brand gathers steam and builds trust, your business will continue to benefit from that initial outlay. A strong brand and reputation will help attract the customers you want. Especially since your product or service is new, a strong brand is more important since it represents a promise to your potential customers.
Many businesses to increase their brand awareness will first focus on digital marketing. When you find yourself struggling to stand out, taking the routes which other people ignore can be a great way to push yourself further, and this is where physical marketing can come in.
Digital marketing requires complex algorithms to decide who sees what on the web. Online marketing relatively speaking is the most expensive. Certain keywords can cost depending on the keyword on average $1 to $15 dollars a click.
Physical marketing methods, such as sending mailers to a zip code, can reach individuals for as little as 30 to 50 cents. Depending on your product, physical marketing can have a higher return on investment. Buying a brochure stand, for example, and placing it in a high-traffic zone is where you can potentially reach thousands of potential clients at once with minimal costs.
Market Research
Market research is key to figuring out your ideal customer. You don’t want to go after any customer, you want to go after the right ones. It’s common for startups to skimp on market research given its high cost. You can do market research however, without spending a considerable amount of money. You can collect data through online surveys on Facebook, linked-in, or other social media sites.
You can find data through the US Small Business Administration, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the U.S. Census Bureau. These sites can help you figure out your customers’ ages, genders, income levels, and more. It is essential that you market your product to a target demographic, and you can’t do this effectively unless you know exactly who your customer is.
Until you obtain accurate customer data, you will be wasting your limited marketing budget. If you don’t know your customer intimately, including their unique pain points, you risk having your website come up in searches for users who have no special interest in your product. This is one of the ways your business could be failing without you knowing. Setting aside a portion of your budget for sound market research is an effective way to ensure your marketing efforts hit the mark.
Website and Social Media
Your website is usually the first impression people get of your company. You want it to look professional, load quickly, and be mobile-friendly. This will help you get higher up in the search engines. It is worth investing in search engine optimization so your website ranks higher.
You can get a free seo audit of your website to see what you need to improve on. This will help your site attract more highly relevant organic search traffic. It also gives a useful insight into how well your competitors are doing in this area.
Social media is a tool that when utilized properly can reach people not only in your area, but across the globe. If social media is something you are not familiar with, you can pay a social media manager or company to help you create the different social media accounts.
Social media is one of the best ways to engage with your customers. By creating a company social media account on the different sites, you can engage them on your customer’s social media platform of choice.
Social media also give you the opportunity to go to your potential customers instead of having them come to you. With so much competition, it is important that you be proactive in reaching out to your customers. It will often require them to see your brand several times before becoming a customer.