When it comes to starting your own business, your mind can be so preoccupied with getting everything up and running that you can leave out a few components. Don’t blame yourself for forgetting something in a business plan however, it’s all part of building up your experience through customer dealings and employee management which will show you where you’re going wrong. Below are a few handy tips to remembering some essential elements of business creation.
Effective online marketing
In the modern world, technology has made starting your own company a lot simpler than it was 20 years ago. Of course you’re going to build a website and use online marketing to get your name and products out there, but how effective is your marketing? First of all, you’ll need to decide your target market. This is a staple of business, and has been drilled into us since those creative workshops back in primary school. After making your first few sales, you’ll have an idea of what the market is looking for and the spending patterns that can help you adjust marketing and the website itself to better suit your customer base. Use your brand assets to full effect by employing them in most of your marketing campaigns.
Deploy these regularly; this will often cut down the cost of marketing by reducing the amount of new ideas that have to be accommodated.
A customer service helpline
One element of a good business that can be often set aside is an accessible customer service option. By including something like an IT help desk on your website, you ensure your customers can reach you at all times, and can even increase your customer base due to the lack of a social skills barrier. Research has found that businesses will typically only hear from 4% of a dissatisfied customer base, which is an astoundingly low amount for what seems like the noisiest customers. Being able to contact an entire customer base will help build reputation and subsequently increase traffic to your business. Everyone uses the internet, and with computer based help centres your business will be available practically 24/7. It also keeps strain off call lines, helping to remove annoyance in headquarters as well.
Assigning the right people to the right job
In this fast moving market, often we assign roles just to fill them and get a business up and running. Once again this is a ‘learn on the job’ idea, but we can take steps to get a business’ smooth sailing up and running from the start. By looking at a person’s experience and natural ability we’ll always find the best person for the job. However this doesn’t mean people have to miss out. Do you have a naturally introverted person that you think would be perfect in a position of management? This is a good opportunity for them to show their off skills, and to receive training and first hand experience in flexing their muscle when it comes to leadership.
