Tuesday, May 25, 2010

How to Start a Service Business in an Area You Have Little or No Experience

Going by the increasing toll of unemployment in Nigeria and in most countries of the world, one option that readily comes to mind is churning out business ideas and making a living from such ventures.

However, good as entrepreneurship may seem, certain challenges are likely to be faced by the aspiring/budding entrepreneur who, due to lack of experience in his chosen career path, finds it difficult to get notice in the marketplace.

Amongst other qualities, experience, is obviously the most vital requirement needed for a successful service business. But this is not to say that some service business can’t be ventured into with little or no experience.

If you are thinking of starting an interior decorations business, for example, you are most likely to do well if you have worked in an organization or with someone having similar interest. Consider someone who starts a business and offers human relations management services, but never worked in an HR firm or as an HR administrator for a company!

Experience readily brings the judgment you would need to manage your business. This is the single most important skill needed in the service industry (and perhaps, in all types of businesses).

All hope is not lost if you are just a fresher. You can start a particular service business, and do well even if you have not worked professionally in a similar field. “How?” you ask. I will tell you now.

Let me identify two types of experience. These are: 1. Hands-on Experience; and 2. Self-Acquiring Experience.

Hands-on experience is the type of training you get as a result of your involvement in a particular activity. Here, you learn the skill first-hand; you make mistakes/errors and get corrected. Over the years, hands-on experience has proven to be the most accepted method of staff training, and many companies are aware of this fact. An accountant just starting off cannot, in any way, be compared with one with many years of hands-on experience. Likewise, a veteran sales person will, in most cases, outsell a beginner.

It is, however, worthy of note that acquiring corporate experience is not limited to the hands-on level. In the self-acquiring experience level, you engage in a conscious, self-acquiring exercise in order to be ahead of the game in your chosen career path.

The following are methods you can quickly use to become an experienced business person:

Read books authored by people who have several years of hands-on experience in the field that interest you. For instance, one of the professional books that have shaped my career is The Corporate Communications Bible by Robert Dilenschneider. In just one book, I was able to acquire public relations “wisdom” which had took the author several decades to learn!
Attend professional training/short courses. Attending programmes of this nature gives you unique opportunity to listen to experts as they teach. In most cases, you get opportunity to ask questions and practice what you have learnt.
Subscribe to and read newsletters regularly (whether paper or electronic-based). Newsletters offer unique information that may not be found elsewhere. Your self-acquiring effort may just pay of by reading one more newsletter.
Associate with ‘senior’ friends. You have no business spending your time with people who don’t know as much as you do. Pitch your tent with people who have gone ahead of you (and are successful) in similar business. Have them mentor you. By doing this, their experience rubs on you.
Apply what you have acquired. It is important to note that acquiring does not equal applying. You need to apply the wisdom acquired. Start small. Offer a kind of service that you can proffer immediate solutions to. The more you use what you know, the more you get skilled in the art, and the more you become experienced in that area! In the words of Dr. David Oyedepo, “Every fact you locate and apply puts you in control of life’s circumstances.”

Friday, May 21, 2010

Has Your Small Business Adopted Integrated Marketing Communications?

Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) is a broad concept that involves the totality of ways or strategies a company uses to convince its publics (target audience) to buy its products, services or both – especially through advertising, marketing and public relations.

Marketing communications, at best, draws a business organization towards the direction of sales by using various tools such as billboards, the internet, SMS, direct mailing, brochure, special event, photography, TV and radio commercials, press releases, corporate social responsibilities, pricing strategy, product information, etc.

Gone are the days when someone opens a shop, erects a signpost and expect customers to troop in. Obviously, business has gone beyond this primitive idea.

In modern business organizations, IMC has taken the centre stage. The marketing departments of many medium and large-sized companies now than ever include advertising and public relations in their policies, actions and inactions.

IMC plays a vital role in today’s competitive marketplace where people are constantly filled with all sorts of commercials; hence, the marketing communication must be unique, timely, informative, usable, creative and memorable.

The marketing communications effort of any organization becomes effective when their advertising campaign attract sales; when their web site provides an intended effect; when their bulk SMS campaign keeps the phone ringing; and when their sales representatives make huge sales with little effort.

The small business owner should, therefore, focus on his business demeanor: how the organization communicates, interacts, persuades, informs, relates, publicizes, promotes, and how it chooses and uses its words in sales pitches.

It is, however, not needless to say that budding entrepreneurs should take short courses in marketing, business communication, advertising, and public relations. And a regular study of write-ups in these subject areas is advisable.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

ADVERTISING YOUR BUSINESS JUST GOT CHEAPER WITH SMS MARKETING

As an entrepreneur, identifying the marketing tools and strategies that work well for your kind of business is paramount to her overall performance.

An enormous marketing budget doesn’t necessarily translate to large sales. It’s effective marketing that generates large amount of sales. As a small business owner, it’s erroneous to think that until you have a huge advertising or marketing budget, that’s when more sales will flow. Wrong! Doing the right thing for your small business is what matters.

For some months now, I have taken time to study resources on small business and the marketing tools and strategies available to them (without really having to deep your hands too far into the savings). I have applied these principles to my consulting work and it’s working!

CUSTOMISED BULK SMS MARKETING WILL WORK FOR YOU TOO…
Bulk SMS is one of the most effective, yet cheap marketing tool available to a business. Though the use of direct mail and other forms of direct marketing are still in use, SMS marketing has taken the centre stage. Companies now make use of this strategy to inform, educate, advice and promote their products and services to target audience, customers or clients.
A well drafted and targeted SMS campaign is able to bring you new businesses, clients, or repeated calls from prospects.

USEFUL TIPS WHEN SENDING A CUSTOMISED BULK SMS…

A targeted list of recipients’ number can be more effective than mass marketing. However, you may find new prospects from your mass marketing effort.

Make sure you use a sender ID known by your audience, or at least be consistent in the case of a first time. Your sender ID is the name that appears above the message when a recipient receives your message. Your sender ID may be the name of your business or web site, but it must not be more than 11 characters (including space).

Avoid ambiguity. Be direct when drafting your ad copy.

Make your 160 character message worth reading by always giving the reader useful information.

The ad should promise the reader some benefit that will accrue from accepting the ad’s premises.

The ad should be persuasive enough to make the reader call you.

Put a contact information in the body of the message; for example, your phone or e-mail address.

What action do you want from your audience? Is it to call, email, or just visit your site? Or probably you just want to give an information.

Don’t merge several ads in one campaign. Make sure to send different messages for different products or services.

Don’t bombard your recipients with a lot of sales messages, otherwise they will lose interest in whatever you have to say.

Friday, January 2, 2009

USE A NEWSLETTER TO HELP CUSTOMERS REMEMBER YOU

Studies show that the average consumer must be exposed to a product six to eight times before making decisions to buy. Publishing a newsletter as part of your marketing campaign can increase the potential profit from existing customers becoming long-term buyers.
If you want to keep customers, a newsletter is a must. The frequency of your publication will really be determined by your area of expertise. A weekly or monthly newsletter allows you to put your business name in front of your customers repeatedly. And your topics will be determined by your area of expertise.
A newsletter, whether in print or via email, is a timeless way to keep customers informed, and thus build a solid customer base. Your customers will appreciate useful information and begin to look forward to receiving your publication.
Follow these five tips to create an effective newsletter for your business:
1. Offer valuable, rich content
2. Be consistent in frequency
3. Develop a central theme for your newsletter
4. Be brief
5. Have a call to action.

In the production and final copy of your business newsletter, you need skill and common sense. Consult a good copywriter if you need to. Be careful not to jam-pack your newsletter with sales pitches as this will bore your potential and existing customers, and you as well stand the chance of losing credibility on what you might have to say.

HOW TO GET MORE CLIENTS WITH YOUR BUSINESS CARD

As a business person, your business card should be your number source of leads. The business card tells prospective customers/ clients you are a professional who takes business seriously. Nothing beats a business card for a quick, effective promotion.

The business card must feature your legal name and that of your business, contact address, daytime telephone number, email, web site and a description of your business, preferably, at the back of the card.
Business cards are increasingly getting sophisticated in quality, design and technology. Recently, I read of a business card with built-in microchip, which can be accessed on the computer to get more details about the business.

However, it baffles me when I receive business cards from "great" business people, then after a while can’t remember the kind of business they do. Having a description of your products/services on your card saves you the time of having a prospect to find you from his pack of business cards, or be thrown into the waste paper basket.
Now that it’s time to make one for your business or NGO, make it worth-keeping. The following tips will help you. Read on…

1. Hire a creative graphics designer.
2. Request for samples of business cards.
3. Go for quality instead of quantity.
4. Make sure your card contains only relevant information.
5. Re-read and edit the information for errors and omissions.
6.Check phone number and other contact details for accuracy.
7.Avoid ambiguity, especially when describing your products/services
8.Multi-coloured cards can be horrible if colours are not well chosen.

These days, a whole lot of impression comes from the quality of the business card you hand over to someone. Once prospective clients are convinced that your business card is of high quality, they are likely to believe you will give them unmatched products/ services.

Lastly, don’t forget to take your business card everywhere you go – seminars, schools, churches, offices, homes, parks, meetings – everywhere!

Friday, December 12, 2008

HOW TO NAME YOUR BUSINESS WITH SENSE

There are no established rules for choosing a name for your business. The
following points, however, may serve as a guide when you need to christen
one.

1. You need to understand the business activity you are involved in. Get a
clearer picture of what you want to achieve, offer or sell. This also involves
having the "guts" or conviction that what you want to venture into is right
for you.

2. You need inspiration in choosing a name that is "meant" for you. Business
names are not "spur of the moment" creations. An understanding of your
business activity is the gateway to choosing the most suitable name, but
inspiration gives you the best idea. Organize a brainstorming session with
your colleages, friends and family. In some cases, ideas for a name come
after a deep sleep or times of being alone - meditating.

3. Have a Thesaurus or at least, a dictionary as guide. List words that have a
relationship with your proposed business activity. Compare and contrast the
words you have chosen to find the ones with the perfect match. Single words
are increasingly difficult to use as business names; therefore, you may have
to try word combination. But be careful when doing this and don't dismiss
any idea that comes your way.

4. Take note of possible meanings, emotional connotations, and spellings.
Marty Blalock noted that products have failed overseas sometimes simply
because a name may take unanticipated meanings in translation. Example is
the Olympic copier "Roto" in Chile (roto in Spanish means "broken"); the
Chevy Nova in Puerto Rico (no va means "doesn't go"); the Randan in Japan
(randan means "idiot"). Naming a product and a business is communication at its simplest
level.

5. Welcome an opportunity for criticism. Be open to criticism, especially
when it is a constructive one. At times, people you least expected have better
ideas that would make you stand out. Don't crucify anyone for not "buying"
your idea of a name. Instead, ask for his or her opinion then add it to your
list.

6. You can't authenticate the availability of your new name until the name
registry says so. Business naming procedures differ from country to country.
So you need an understanding of how the one in your locality works. Seeking
the expertise of professionals is advisable.

7. Goodluck!

Friday, November 28, 2008

TOP 10 MISTAKES ENTREPRENEURS MAKE WHEN CHOOSING A BUSINESS NAME

In this rapidly growing economy, it is commonplace to see businesses in every nooks and crannies of the world. Sole proprietorship is having the highest number of registration. From the home-based entrepreneur to the shop owner, and then the small office consultant, people are taking advantage of the freedom enjoyed in becoming their own boss.
Billions of corporate monies are invested yearly in starting new businesses. A visit to the Lagos office of the nation’s registrar of business names, Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Lagos buttresses this fact.

While it is true that anybody can start up a business of their own, many entrepreneurs have fallen short of the leveraging that accrues from this experience. This, to a large extent, has to do with the disadvantaged names worn by these businesses.

A business does not actually begin by formulating a business plan or opening a bank account. It starts from choosing a name. There’s more to business names than just identity. The right name is an advertising tool. If the name doesn’t describe the nature of your business, potential clients may not realize that you offer something they need.
Let’s take a look at the top 10 mistakes to avoid when choosing a business name:

1. NOT KNOWING WHAT KIND BUSINESS YOU ARE IN. It is surprising that some entrepreneurs choose a name with little or no indication of what type of work the organization actually does. Including a descriptive word in your business name can be useful when marketing your products or company. This may be made possible if you have identified what differentiates you from competitors. Take the following examples:
Adenix and Sons
One Love Enterprises
Just You Shop
Can you tell me what any of these companies do? No! They’re relying on customers already knowing who they are (a tricky proposition for new businesses).

2. USING A NAME THAT IS TOO LONG, DIFFICULT TO REMEMBER, SPELL OR PRONOUNCE. A good name is something that can be mentioned on radio or over the phone without explanation. For example, which of these is easy to remember, " Cee Bayjo Systems Company," and "Loud Media Company"? People will make a quick decision based on their first impression of your business name. Put the name through a spelling test and ask others to spell it. So, choosing a name such as "Lolitoesy" is not a good one.

3. NOT SPENDING QUALITY TIME BRAINSTORMING. Business names are not "spur of the moment" creations. It is the result of possibly long days and nights of brainstorming, digging the Thesaurus for synonyms and antonyms, interrelated words and words that have some kind of relationship with the proposed business activity. The big companies even hire expensive consultants to help them choose the right name for their businesses or products.

4. PROMOTING A NAME WITHOUT TESTING AND CHECKING ITS AVAILABILITY. Once you have chosen a few names, test them out on friends and family, potential clients and everyone you know. Ask them what kind of service they feel you provide and feeling they get about the name. You’ll be surprised at how honestly they give you suggestions. Then you can proceed to check availability at the name registry nearest to you after being convinced it’s best. Don’t waste money on letter heads and complimentary cards trying out a business name already chosen by someone else.

5. CHOOSING WORDS WITH NEGATIVE OR NEUTRAL CONNOTATION. A word’s connotation can be positive, negative or neutral, depending on the emotional associations that people generally make. If you are starting a transport business for instance, you don’t want it to have a weak sounding or negative name, such as "Willow Twig Trucking" or "Kitten Transport". You want a business name that conveys strength and reliability. A choice such as "Stone Creek Transport" would be much better. Remember: Words are powerful.

6. NAMING A BUSINESS AFTER THE FOUNDER OR ANY OTHER PERSON. It is a common tendency for a business to be named after the original founder. This approach can make customers expect the personal attention and care of the owner. Using your name, followed by the type of service works well if you have an already established reputation in your specialty. But, if you are planning to one day sell your company, a company-owner named business is less attractive.

7. NOT CONSIDERING THE FUTURE. Robert Dilenschneider wrote about a public relations person who broadened her services from just writing to media relations and had to change the name of her business from Miller’s Writing Services to Miller’s Communications. Aside brainstorming for ideas, you need foresight in choosing a name. Even if you are operating a highly-niched product, select names that would represent a broader category of your product line.

8. FAILURE TO GET THE RIGHT DOMAIN NAME FOR YOUR BUSINESS. If your business activity is almost 100% online or will do better having an online presence, you may need to consider starting your search by getting a suitable domain name for your website first. In the modern world of the internet, where people automatically turn to the web for information, it pays to have a domain name that reflects your site or business.

9. NOT AVOIDING LAWSUIT. Be unique. The best you can be trying to be someone else is second best. Avoid being a copycat. Using a name similar or identical to that of another business can get you into problems including legal issues. If you call your line of equestrian apparel "Polo Sporting Designs", the holder of the trademark "Polo" - the giant Ralph Lauren - may slap you with a lawsuit.

10. NOT CONSULTING A BUSINESS NAMING EXPERT. While the services of lawyers, chartered accountants and chartered secretaries can be invaluable in the registration of a business name and company, these categories of professionals might not understand the selling and marketing principles that copywriters can use to your advantage. A good copywriter is always looking for ways to help you communicate more effectively to more people.

Send an e-mail to Ayokunle at loudmediacompany@gmail.com for free advice or review of your new or existing business name.