Spread the Word

So by now, your product is out in the market. At least theoretically! It’s time to focus on your customers now. Tim Nguyen, co-founder, and CEO of BeSmartee says “Everything you do should center on your customers. Taking a vacation? Ask yourself how that will affect your customers. … Thinking about revising your employee incentive programs? Consider how that will affect your customers. Don’t worry about the sale, and definitely, don’t focus on the money. Focus on your customers.” This is a real gem of advice. When your product is in the market think how your customers will respond. Whether they will be happy with the price or will they appreciate its quality. If you think you need to make a little price adjustment then don’t hesitate a bit. For if you care for your customers your customers will care for you. Love them because they are going to make you a millionaire. Cater their needs accordingly. Don’t worry about the capital or trades only. Even if the sales couldn’t touch the skies for a few initial months you will build a set of people ready to buy your product whenever it is out. For your loyal clients, if the prices are a little raised, they won’t mind buying it because of the trust they keep in your product. Take it as a marketing strategy. If you make one happy client he will recommend you to others making at least two more. Calculate here how well you can do by making at least one hundred happy customers. By offending one customer you take one step to your downfall and you surely wouldn’t want to do that. Your customers are your biggest asset. They will raise you and they are the ones who can bring you the fall. You need to think of the best ways to spread the word. This is an era of social media. It has become very easy to reach any community in the world. A strong marketing campaign will ensure the success of your business. A direct mail campaign can be a good start. It takes less time to reach to your customers as compared to printing, radio or television ads. It is also cheaper and will save you resources which you can invest anywhere else. If you can spend a little more consider printing an ad in the newspaper. You can also hire a marketing firm. This can get expensive but will definitely improve the look and design of your ad. If you select a local newspaper do survey before making a hasty decision. Consider what group of people should your product target to and is that newspaper fit for it? Since every business nowadays requires a website to advertise their services, it is important that you also create one. Your website should be digitally attractive and should contain all the information a client could need. This includes what your product does, why is it important for people, where can they buy it, prices, offers and most importantly how can they register complaints, if any. People would love to investigate a website which can answer all their queries. Web sites with half information and contact-us-for-more often get failed.  In a busy world, people don’t have time to make calls for each and every query. They would prefer a website with the complete story. This means they would prefer a business which can guide them well. Don’t forget to include offers and deals in the start. This will earn you many clients.

Applications like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have made it easier to reach your voice to people. But consider what age group is your product targeting. Combine newspaper, social media, and other print media to reach as many people as possible from all age groups. It’s best to design a logo for your business and market it. People don’t always read full descriptions but an eye-catching logo will surely keep you in people’s eyes. Hire a graphic designer for that. This is an extremely important part of marketing. Besides a business without marketing is a failed business.  You also need to keep in mind the type of client. Is it an old established businessman or a housewife? Marketing will be different for all kinds of professions and age. For example, men health products will be different from women health products and therefore requires different strategies. Putting a female model in every type of product may ensure a soft image but not a successful marketing campaign. Use innovative approach. You may add a little humor or an ad that could leave your clients thinking for hours. Leave an impression. Let’s check out some of the best ads made this year. Microsoft’s “change the odds” ad has created a vibe in the audience. Not only it is educational but it’s also very motivational. From curing breast cancer to creating a sustainable environment, Microsoft has encouraged ladies to come forward and change the world. Similarly, New York Times released its first ad in 7 years telling the audience that truth is hard to find. It is a very simple yet impactful ad. It ends with these thought provoking lines “The truth is hard to find, the truth is hard to know, the truth is more important now than ever. There are many other ads like these out there which leave its audience mesmerized with the concept behind.

Related  The Most Thought-Provoking Ads of 2017 — So Far

( https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/289833 )

 

People are compelled to share ads made so good. And see what a cost effective idea it is. You make an ad like this and people love to share it with friends and family through social media. While you just sit back and watch your business grow. You can also arrange a small event or tea party and invite all your friends and business tycoons to it. Deliver a small but moving presentation about what you are doing and how are you planning to proceed. Not to mention your future goals. Invite media over. Maybe a few reporters from different newspapers. This will spread the word in town. Make sure your full involvement in the event. Deliver the presentation yourself, answer all the queries up to your guest’s satisfaction, accept any suggestions or complaints with an open heart. If you have a product to display this is the best time to present it to people.

However, don’t expect that everyone will like you. Even the most successful businesses like Apple and Microsoft has haters. But this didn’t stop them from growing. Don’t accept criticism but don’t ignore it either. Positive criticism will help you identify the loopholes and bridge the gaps. There is an enemy for every tribe. Obviously, you will have a few too. Handle them the best way you can. The truth is you need to put effort to make friends. Enemies are made inevitable. Just remember that there should be more friends than enemies and the best way to do that is to keep your client happy.

Focus on product and metrics

A business metric is a computable quantity used to evaluate the status of a specific business product. Every area has specific assessment metrics which are assessed by the audience such as marketing managers, sales team, investors, customers etc. marketers assess marketing and social media performances. This includes various types of campaigns. Sales team monitors new opportunities and how well a product is doing in the market and what is the future scope.  All these metrics are compared with the company’s objectives. This information allows a company to better view its performance in regard to a certain object. These are very important tools and should be monitored carefully. Having a record will allow you to correct your mistakes made in past and plan better for future. Business is not a one man show. A good team always comes handy in difficult situations.

Evaluate weekly performance in the start using different metrics and then monthly. This will help you stay focus on your goals. In business it not about you or your thinking, it is about the numbers which tell you what to do. Martin Zwilling is a CEO of Startup Professionals. The purpose of the company is to provide services to startup founders around the world. With his 30 years of experience in this field Martin Zwilling, he writes about the ten main metrics every company should focus on. This includes

1. Sales revenue

Simply put, the sale is the income obtained from the selling of your products. For a successful business sales numbers need to go up. This metric is related to the marketing campaigns and the price variations. So you need to carefully monitor it. This will give you a clear picture of how well you are doing.

2. Customer loyalty and retention

Zwilling says that “Customer loyalty is all about attracting the right customer, getting them to buy, buy often, buy in higher quantities and bring you even more customers. You build customer loyalty by treating people how they want to be treated”. Monitor this metric through surveys, feedbacks directly from the point of sales, and through social media. Customer loyalty will directly increase your profit

3. Cost of customer acquisitions

Customer acquisition is calculated by dividing total acquirement expenses by total new customers over a given period. The total cost of acquiring a new customer is evaluated by this metric. This also gives you information whether your marketing investments are paying off. The values regarding this metric should go down with time, unlike others. When you establish a name in the market you should be spending very less in this sort.

 Operating productivity

This is another important metric to evaluate staff performance. You should know the inner strengths and weaknesses of your company. A displeased staff can put your business at stake. The highly productive staff is inevitable for your company.

5. Size of gross margin

Gross revenues are calculated as company’s total sales minus its cost of goods sold divided by the total revenue generated. This is expressed as a percentage. A higher percentage means higher profits. Tracking gross margins is especially important for new or growing companies because increased volumes should improve efficiency and in return lower the cost per unit.

6. Monthly profit or loss

Profit is not calculated as the difference between the manufacturing cost of the product minus the price it is sold for. In fact, it includes all the costs of operation that are paid regularly each month irrespective of the profit loss, for example, the rent of the place, insurances, utilities, taxes, and salaries etc. you need to adjust the price of your product accordingly. This doesn’t mean fixing a price that would cover all the expense but will lose you a big number of customers. Adjust the prices according to the needs and demand of the people. 

7. Overhead costs

Overhead costs are payments an on-going business has to do whether it is producing high volume or low volume. It is not related to direct materials or labor. For example costs like rent, utility bills, insurance etc. if not taken into account properly these can grow out of control. Reducing overhead costs also greatly benefit you in increasing your profits. Overhead costs are important when making a budget. There are various ways to reduce overhead costs in terms of rent and energy saving, for example, switching to a low rent accommodation or energy saving energy bills etc. also check for cleaner production programs for industries and small offices. Even a penny saved at production line can significantly improve the profit at consumer’s end. 

8. Variable cost percentage

Variable costs are expenses that change according to the activities in the business. This includes the cost of products sold, cost of raw material, labor, shipping and other expenses directly related to production and delivering services. The values connected to this metrics should decrease as your business grows but should be consistent with industry standards. Higher variable costs won’t let your business prosper even if the sales are good. 

9. Inventory size

Inventory is the raw material or the completely finished goods a company hold for the purpose of resale. Keeping an inventory is important because of the time lags present in the supply chain. Seasonal demand is another factor. Demand may vary but producer capacity is fixed. Inventories are maintained as buffers in the times of uncertainty. A sudden high demand can be incorporated with it. It is an important area to manage. You may either have too much inventory or not enough. The challenges include forecasting inventory requirements, buying in cost-effective lot sizes and efficient delivery systems.

10. Hours worked per process

Labor is probably the most important and expensive raw material. You need to record it in total labor hours in various operations including manufacturing, assembly, and support. Technology has enabled us to replace human labor with machines and you need to upgrade it if the cost of automation is justified. Because machinery cost can be expensive but it will save you on production and time.

All these metrics are required to be reviewed at least every month. Making use of the latest data will show you which part of your business needs attention and which part is growing well. The resources required or to save in order to make your business established can be tracked by using all these factors. Focus on the product quality and these tools

Simon Slade, CEO and co-founder of Affilorama: “My best advice for joining the million-dollar-earnings club is to create an awesome product and then continue its growth. Pick a single, straightforward metric, such as sales units or revenue, and aim to beat yesterday’s total every day. This growth strategy is both sustainable and manageable.” Business metrics are important. Keep a record of what you have earned and set a new target every day. This will give you a clear view of how well are you doing and what else needs to be done to overcome the deficiencies. For example, your company makes a profit of $100 in a day. Set the target of $150 for tomorrow and when the day starts just make as much effort as you can to achieve it. Even if you wouldn’t be able to make 150, chances are that you will achieve somewhere between 50-60% of your target. Even if you make $125 the next day and $150 the following day, then you are doing great. Steady growth is more sustainable experts say. People, who know the market, invest in the companies that make steady growth. A sudden rise in the business may sometimes mean a sudden fall because of the saturation. The market will even out eventually. Aim for a steady growth and leave the rest to fate.

Keep in mind that the desire for money is going to last forever. You will always find yourself in situations when your needs will grow out of your resources. Having said that, this is where you need to be careful. Learn to distinguish between needs and wants