It is a well-known fact that opening up a business is a risky venture that could cause you hundreds upon hundreds of headaches. If you just started a business, you will have a lot of questions to ask like How is the market doing? What is contract management? Who is your target demographic? These are just some of the questions that you desperately need to answer if you ever want your organization to take off from the ground.
Many business owners believe that managing a startup is like traversing rough seas with a storm up ahead. You’re constantly rocked back and forth by waves of problems and there’s honestly no discernable dry land in sight. Likewise, there is a lot of competition to fend off with startups.
One unfortunate statistic according to Forbes is that 90% of business startups fail. There are hundreds of reasons as to why most startups don’t make it past the first year. You do not need to have a master’s degree in Business Management to craftily steer your business into a success.
Here are some of the most common questions that business owners often ask.
Question: How Important Is A Business Plan?
Answer:
Yes and No. First of all, your business plan will give you a sense of direction. Should there be any tough business decision that you are faced with, your business plan will help you decide which avenue to take. Your business plan should have both short-term and long-term goals which would give you a route to follow.
On the other hand, it is possible that you deviate away from your business plan. A business that doesn’t adjust to the market will have a hard time to survive. Know that when it comes to business, you don’t get to decide the market activity, the market dictates what you do.
Question: Who Is My Target Demographic?
Answer:
You need to know who your customers are so you can properly target them with effective marketing strategies. Even the biggest companies spend a considerable amount of resources on market research. Not only will you be able to find out who your customers are and what they really need but also give you important information such as competitor analysis and insights on their marketing strategies.
Question: What Is Contract Management?
Answer:
Contract management is the business procedure for managing your company’s contracts. This covers all of the steps of the contract lifecycle from contract creation, negotiation, execution, and analysis. It is vital that you quickly iron out your Standard Operating Procedures and have everyone work in an organized system. This will ensure that productivity and efficiency are guaranteed.
Your contracts are valuable assets that you need to protect and take care of. As legally-binding documents detailing the relationship between two or more parties, it is important that you have full visibility of your contract performance to determine which agreements to renew and which to let go of.
Question: How Do I Grow My Customer Base?
Answer:
There are a lot of marketing strategies that you can try depending on who your target market is. If you are targeting younger generations, you can try out social media marketing. After all, social media platforms have become the main form of communication of almost everyone on the planet with an internet connection. It has become common for companies to have a thriving online presence to entice people to try out their brand.
On the other hand, older generations find it easier to be interested in email marketing strategies that go straight directly to their inbox. You can give out discounts and incentives and even set up a loyalty program. Consider this as an investment in a bright future.
Question: Should I Make A Website?
Answer:
Yes. The common man is now connected online almost 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, a far cry from 10 or even five years ago. It cannot be helped though as the Internet provides means for communication, navigation, and even answering simple questions like where to eat or how to fix something.
With this in mind, it has become necessary to establish not only a website but an active online presence. Aside from the creation of a website, you should also invest resources in publishing blog posts to your customers and to your industry as well as any testimonials from your previous clients. All of this help with boosting your credibility and help convince your audience to stay with your brand.
Question: How Do I Know If I’m Ready To Scale?
Answer:
One of the most common mistakes of startup owners is that they scale too fast and too soon. Give your startup a few years before deciding to scale your business. This will give you some technical experience on how to deal with certain challenges and guarantee that you already have a solid customer base to depend on. At the same time, scaling will cost you a lot of resources, resources that you may not be able to afford to lose in the early state.
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