Why do Most Start-ups Fail? Find out Here

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If you want to make sure that your start-up has the highest chance of success, then you need to make sure that you have a solid plan and that you also take the time to avoid some of the top mistakes that most entrepreneurs make. If you want to find out more, look below.

A Poor Market

A poor market is one of the biggest reasons why a lot of companies fail. It may be that you don’t have a compelling value proposition or that you don’t have a compelling reason to make your buyer purchase your product. Good sales reps will often tell you that if you want to make a lot of sales, you need to have a product that people need to have, as opposed to one that they want. If you want to make sure that this is the case with your product, then you need to take your time when planning out your business idea. You need to make sure that you have analyzed your competition, and that you have an edge. If you do not have this edge, then everything will work against you.

StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article | Why do Most Start-ups Fail? Find out Here

Model Failure

Another mistake that a lot of entrepreneurs make is that they are far too optimistic about how easy it is going to be for them to acquire new customers. They assume that if they make an interesting website or service, that customers will come beating on their door. This may happen with your first few customers, but after that, you may find that it is a constant uphill battle to get more. You have to make sure that you are acquiring customers for less money than the sales you’re making. If you want to do this, then you have to make sure that you work out the true cost of customer acquisition. This is the best way for you to come out on top.

Bad Management

Next up, bad management. If you have a poor management team then they may have a weak product. They may end up making a product that nobody wants to buy because there wasn’t enough time spent on the research and development stage. They may also be very poor at execution, and this can lead to products not getting made properly, or on time at all. This will trickle down your business and it will make it much harder for you to generate a good income.

Running out Of Cash

When you start a business, you have to make sure that you plan out your expenses. It may be that you need Metrology Parts or that you need to invest in a commercial space. Either way, you have to make sure that your expenses are never more than the income you have coming in. Many start-ups don’t plan out their expenses as well as they could, and this can lead to major issues. Take the time to plan out every single thing you need to buy, and then work out a profit plan to get your business to where it needs to be.

The Five Pillars of Modern Marketing Success

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StrategyDriven, Business Management, SMS marketing, Email Marketing, Marketing Campaigns,Marketing is everywhere in modern life, and understanding it is crucial to entrepreneurial success. Everything you purchase has been advertised to you through strategic marketing, from the food you eat, to the furniture in your home, to your car, to the software you use daily!

When you start a business and are trying to find the right marketing strategy to take it to the next level, it can be difficult to know where to begin. There’s so much saturation online these days when it comes to marketing advice, how do you know who to trust?

In this post, you’ll learn the five pillars of modern marketing success – no bias, no pitch, just straight-up advice from experts. These are also known as the Five P’s – product, place, price, promotion and people.

By learning these Five P’s and applying them to your business strategy, you’ll have a clear idea of how to proceed with your marketing campaigns in the future.

Let’s get going!

Pillar #1: Product.

Of course, the primary feature of a great marketing strategy is the product. Without an amazing product, the remaining pillars are all holding up a concept that simply won’t be strong enough against your competitors. Even with amazing promotion and prices, a weak product will not stand the test of the modern sales climate.

Whatever your product or service may be, it needs to be watertight. That means that you must invest solidly in the manufacturing, sourcing and researching stages before your final product is ready to hit the shelves. Rushing the product creation stage is a mistake that so many new entrepreneurs make, and it comes back to bite them down the line.

Not only is having a great product important for your customers, it is also important for your company and your team. Having an incredible product that everyone believes in 100% will help rally your troops when times inevitably get tough. Believe in the product with all your heart, and the other pillars of marketing will serve to support this with strength and integrity.

Pillar #2: Place.

During the coronavirus pandemic, the concept of “place” has been, well, displaced. Whether you want your company to be local to your community or an online sensation that ships worldwide, you need to decide on the appropriate place in which to market it. Using the wrong platforms will hit the wrong customers, thereby making you miss out on key opportunities to expand your customer base and build a solid foundation.

When considering where to market your product, it is crucial to think about who you want to market the product towards. If your customer demographic is Gen-Z and Millennials, your product or service needs to be purchasable online, and marketed via social media and email marketing in an extremely effective way. On the other hand, if your product or service is designed to catch the attention of older generations or local people, making it available in a physical store and supporting it with great customer service is a must.

Pillar #3: Price

The price of your product or service is dependent on a huge number of external factors at play. These include:

  • Inflation or reduction of prices across your industry as a whole.
  • The coronavirus pandemic’s effect on pricing.
  • The location in which you are offering these services or products (for example, a massage therapist appointment in a metropolitan city will be priced more highly than one in a more rural area).
  • The quality of the product you are producing. If you are producing a mass produced product for little money, there should be a low price to reflect it – as opposed to a more elite product that costs more.
  • The reputation of your business. A new business might not be able to price as highly as similar competitors, because they will need to pull clients away from those competitors with lower pricing.

Pillar #4: Promotion

So you’ve got an awesome product, the right price point and the perfect place to sell it. What’s next? The next stage of your perfect marketing strategy is promotion. In order for people to know your product or service even exists, you need to promote it in the right place, in order to reach your customer demographic easily.

Nowadays, targeted ads and personalized marketing are the way forward. Email and retail SMS marketing are on the rise, as customers are searching for a more personal, unique experience from their retailers. They want the retailer to anticipate their needs and meet them. Getting a one-up on email and SMS marketing is one of the first things you should do as a new business.

Social media marketing is also an essential in this day and age, as we move into an age of social media being the go-to platform for shopping and socialization. Promoting your products using promotion ads, hashtags, giveaways and influencer gifting is a great way to make your business relevant in today’s world.

Pillar #5: People

The people who make up your business are of paramount importance when it comes to creating a successful marketing strategy. Without people who are experienced, hardworking and positive in the workplace, you might find that your brilliant ideas slip through your fingers.

Nobody achieves entrepreneurial success, even if the ideas and concepts come from their own brain. You need a team of dedicated individuals around you who have their finger on the pulse of modern day marketing, in order to achieve the success you dream of. Don’t underestimate how people can make or break your marketing strategy when push comes to shove!

It’s also worth noting how vital high-quality marketing materials are throughout this process. The most fundamental aspect of this is your website; it should be as high-quality as possible. Doing so will ensure customers find your site attractive, which makes them more likely to convert. Working with a web design agency can ensure you accomplish this.

Final thoughts…

The five pillars of modern marketing success are absolutely essential for any entrepreneur to learn. Marketing is becoming more and more intricate and complex, and in order to stay relevant and keep pushing to new heights you need to put huge investments of time, money and energy into your marketing campaigns.

Use this comprehensive guide to get you started if you are an entrepreneur looking to better your marketing skills!

Leadership Development Programs Can Help You Succeed

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StrategyDriven Professional Development Article |Leadership Development |Leadership Development Programs Can Help You SucceedThere are all types of options to consider, when it comes to advancing your goals. But one of the most important things you’ll need to do is learn how to be a good leader. Not only does that help you focus on your future, and move forward, but it can also give you opportunities to lead others who can work with you for a stronger future. Whether that’s going to be for your personal goals, or for your business, being able to rally people and lead them can be a very helpful skill to have. Here’s what to know about it.

Programs Can Help You Learn to Lead

When you want to learn new skills that help take you into the future, there are several ways to do that. You can study on your own, of course. You can also find a mentor, or a leader you can shadow. Both of those can be helpful, but a good program that will provide you with leadership information may be the very best way to go. Choosing the right leadership development programs means you can advance your goals more easily. That will help you learn everything you need to one, all in one place.

Developing Your Skills is Vital

Truly being a leader is about much more than just getting people to follow what you have to say. Good leaders work with others, and aren’t just sitting back, while others do all the work. If you want to develop your skills as a leader, leadership development programs are what to consider. They can help you focus on all the little details, and the kinds of skills you want to develop. Then you’ll be able to confidently lead people, and allow them to make their own choices and set their own goals while they follow your lead.

It’s a great feeling to have the skills that can get you to a better future. When you look for leadership development programs, also consider how you want to bring other people along on your leadership journey. Good, strong leaders have the skills to help and encourage others, even while they’re developing their own skills, as well. That way, everyone involved benefits from what that leader is offering to the world. You could find yourself in that position, with the right leadership development programs as a guide.

Good Leaders Change the World

A true leader is someone that people want to follow. They see that leader as having something very valuable, and they want to make sure they’re finding ways to be a part of it. With quality leadership development programs at your disposal, you can choose the one that helps you change the world. Not only will you improve things for yourself, but you’ll be able to encourage changes in others that will have a ripple effect. Those ripples will move out into the world, and cause change on a wider scale.

Choosing the Right Program Matters

Choosing from available leadership development programs is an important first step. While they all have the same basic ideas at their core, you want to get one that’s going to give you what you really need for success. That may look different from what works for someone else, simply because everyone is different in what really resonates with them. You can find a great focus for a leadership program by considering what speaks to you and the kind of leader you want to be, as you plan for your future.

Don’t Settle for Less Than a Great Future

There’s a great future out there for you, and the right choice of leadership development programs can help you get there faster and with more confidence. Whether you’re already leading people and need to work on how you’re doing that, or you aren’t yet leading people and want to get started, leadership development programs are great ways to get the information you need, so you can get moving. There’s no reason to settle for anything less than what really matters to you, when it comes to leadership goals.

Consider the Skills You Want to Encourage

The skills you already have, as well as the skills you want to learn, both need to be encouraged and developed if you’re going to be a successful leader. You’ll want to focus on those skills, and cultivate them through the right leadership program. That can help send you down the path of true leadership, and also give you more skills and abilities to encourage yourself, too. Not only can you help others with your new skills and mindset, but you can focus on the qualities that will increase what you can do in the workplace and in your personal life. The right leadership development programs can make a significant difference for all you want to do.

Get Control of Your Company’s Spending With Procurement Options

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Finances Article |Procurement |Get Control of Your Company's Spending With Procurement OptionsTaking control of the spending your company is doing may not be easy, but it’s extremely important. Companies that are spending too much often find that they’re not successful in keeping costs reasonable. That can lead to overruns that really cut into their bottom line. It may also lead them to charge more for their products, which could drive away customers. In more extreme cases, bad spending habits could even drive a company out of business. But you have the opportunity to avoid those kinds of issues. Here’s how.

Make Sure You’re Working With Quality Sources

The sources you’re getting your products from are important. Not every company has quality sources, and companies that aren’t getting the right sources may find that they’re not providing what they need to their employees or their customers. As your company focuses on its procurement needs, you can change that, and make your company more successful. Understanding what you really need to purchase, where to get it, when it’s needed, and other factors all go into procurement decisions.

These decisions shouldn’t be taken lightly, by any company. Making a bad decision can quickly end up costing your company more than you expect, even if the product or item doesn’t seem to be that central to your business. Small things like office supplies, for example, can really add up if the quality is bad, people keep taking them, or you’re paying too much for them because you’re buying for convenience and not value. Taking a look at all your company’s procurement decisions is the place to start.

Don’t Settle for Less Than the Best Terms

It’s not just about price when it comes to procurement. It’s also about the terms you’re getting. That can really affect the value, especially if you’re paying high rates of interest or the shipping costs are too expensive. There may be other ways to get what you need, so it’s vital to shop around for better terms. If you aren’t shopping around, you’re probably spending too much. Over time, even small amounts of extra expense can add up for a business and cause serious problems. Proper procurement helps to avoid those types of issues, but it may not be able to eliminate them completely.

Make Sure You Know What Customers Want

Understanding what your customers want is a big part of proper procurement. You could be getting the best deal on everything you’re buying, but if you’re not giving customers what they’re looking for, that really isn’t going to matter.

It’s unfortunate, but many companies ignore what customers really want, in favor of what the company thinks those customers want. Those two things are often not the same, and both the company and the customers lose out in these types of situations. Procurement solutions that help you work with customers and give them what they want are very important.

Look for Ways to Save Without Losing Value

Savings should be part of your procurement strategy and solution, but you also don’t want to get so focused on spending less money that you lose out on value. Getting good value matters, since your employees need it and so do your customers. Focusing on a strong level of value, and then finding solutions that are based on that value at the lowest total cost is one of the best ways to source items your company needs. It takes some time to research and do this, but it’s definitely worth the effort for your company.

Talk to Your Employees About the Products

Asking your employees about the products you have can really give you some insight into whether those products are good quality or not. Employees are the ones who work with these products all day, and they probably have a lot of insight. Especially for employees who’ve been there a long time, the knowledge of your products is probably pretty high. Rather than just hope those employees are happy, your procurement strategy may be improved by working with them and asking about issues and concerns. If there are significant problems, making procurement changes may help to solve them.

Choose a Solution to Keep You on Track

Because not every company understands how to handle procurement correctly, it may be important to find a solution that’s going to keep your company on track. There are options for help and support, including software that can guide you and help your company make the best decisions. While it may not be right for everyone, it’s a valuable way to help most companies continue to move forward. No matter what kind of solution you choose for procurement issues, making sure you’re giving customers what they want and need should be the main focus of anything your company has to offer.

The Lowdown on Influencer Marketing and How You Might Use It for Your Restaurant

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StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article |Influencer Marketing|The Lowdown on Influencer Marketing and How You Might Use It for Your RestaurantAs the owner or manager of a restaurant, it’s natural that you’re flat out looking at many of your business’s everyday operational components. However, to achieve tremendous growth and turn your restaurant into the powerhouse you hope it to be, it’s vital to market the brand and its wares. One option to consider is influencer marketing.

Many hospitality entrepreneurs haven’t gone down this path yet, but it can be an innovative and often lucrative marketing tactic to test out. It’s time to learn the basics of influencer marketing and how you might utilize it in your venture.

Understanding Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing refers to situations where people, influencers with an extensive profile and the ability to affect how a brand gets viewed, promote and sell products or services. The idea of businesses partnering with well-known names and faces isn’t new, as it’s something that’s been around for decades. However, today’s influencer term relates to those who have a large following on social media and use this audience to market wares online.

Organizations can pay influencers for their voice in different ways. For example, this can be done with monetary payments or with free products, discounts, or other incentives. The benefit for businesses in using influencers is that their followers trust these people. In turn, influencer recommendations and other content get taken seriously, and people are more likely to make a purchase or complete some other call-to-action.

Consumers place much less trust in traditional advertising campaigns now and often don’t pay much attention to it at all. Trusted brand advocates can help cut through the noise, though, as their content is seen, by their followers at least, to come from a place of authority.

Types of Influencer Marketing

If you’re interested in using influencer marketing for your restaurant, it’s crucial to understand the different ways you might go about this. You can work with influencers by making them long-term brand ambassadors who promote your business, dishes, and dining experience on their social media pages, website, and related avenues. This activity is generally done for a set period, and you’ll want to ensure that the influencer you choose can’t plug any of your competitors while they’re an ambassador for your firm.

When you want to see more direct results, where customers make bookings and dining right away with you, consider creating incentives. Influencers can use them for marketing your latest menu items or deals and get consumers to head into your restaurant. Influencers get rewarded for the referrals they send your way.

You could, for instance, have influencers mention a limited-time coupon or discount code consumers don’t want to miss out on. Influencers make money through affiliate links here, earning a percentage or dollar amount every time someone clicks through to your restaurant’s social media page or website or makes a booking online, etc.

Many restaurants also find they achieve solid results from running competitions and giveaways that influencers promote. If you want to get the word out more about your business and engage consumers, consider having an influencer send a special text message to their database via a mobile marketing platform for restaurants or a sponsored blog post online.

You could also have an influencer attend an event at your restaurant or hire them to take over your social media pages for a period to boost traffic to your website and premises. Find influencers you feel are a good fit for your brand and chat with them about ideas they might have for marketing strategies, too.

Tips for Top Results with Influencer Marketing

To get the most out of influencer marketing, refrain from picking people to work with until you’re clear about your business goals and what you want the promotions to achieve. Then, don’t just go with any influencer you can get to respond. Choose the right person or people with high numbers of engaged followers in your specific niche.

Locate influencers who are likely to have a genuine interest in what you offer and how you do it. For instance, a vegan restaurant would search for influencers who already live a vegan lifestyle and possess animal-friendly values. Put together a shortlist of people you’re interested in working with. Then, try to build a relationship with them before contacting them and asking them to get involved with your restaurant.

Authentic connections help you test if the fit is correct and increases the likelihood that people will respond to your approaches. When pitching, look for ways to show how the partnership can add value to the influencer’s life and projects, not just tick boxes for you.

With so much competition these days in the hospitality arena, anything you can do to make your restaurant stand out for the right reasons is helpful. Approach influencer marketing with a clear strategy to boost your chances of success.