From our many interactions with entrepreneurs and founders of budding start-ups, we’ve often heard them say how they find the first day of taking their business to the market nothing short of a monolith; while it could be the easiest day of their entire entrepreneurial journey. Most new entrepreneurs we’ve met are driven by passion. They have decided to work on something they love doing and make it into a business. With them, the problem is not the product because it has already been built! The challenge is the next step! How to tell the world about it and get it to sell?

START COMMUNICATING

Let us share the story of a lady who had done her graduation in fashion designing and was designing some uber-cool dresses for her children. She wanted to grow it into a business model but didn’t know what to do next. She had over thought about it and sought professional help to be guided into the market. However, all she needed was to start sharing her work on social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook, Whatsapp). What could be more interesting for a customer than to see those dresses on a child for real? But in her head, it was a mammoth task because her expectations were too high!

What entrepreneurs need to understand is that Day 1 is just for announcing to the world that you’re here and it should be just that. You will not get 1000 likes on the first day you tell someone about your brand.

Another interesting discussion point we’ve often come across is how to sell ‘service’. Products are still easier to talk about. However, when it comes to service provided, one can only take the other person at their word. Or better still, at their clients’ words. To an educationist in Jaipur looking to expand her tutorials beyond the usual classes, we suggested boasting of the improvements in her children. She had genuine real content every day. Instead of spending lacs on improving her classroom décor, setting up website etc., she needed to spend only a few thousand to promote the content she created.

An important lesson learnt here – brands are not built by the money you put on the table but the value you bring to the table.

BRAND POSITIONING – DE-CLUTTER, DE-CROWD

Recently we’ve interacted with a couple of entrepreneurs who come from a position of passion and love for what they do. Business or not, they have been and are going to do it anyway! But as soon as you’re in the market, there will be hundreds following suite. There is then no way to ensure sale unless you find a UVP – Unique Value Proposition. In layman’s terms – ‘Why you (or the brand)’?

In order to establish yourself unique from your competitors all you need is a fresh and different perspective to look at things from.

For instance, we met a girl who was dedicated to the cause of protecting animals and really wanted to do something in this domain. However, her biggest fear and rightly so, was that she’ll be taken as just another animal NGO struggling to keep it together. Now, instead of asking others to help the animals directly, we suggested she become an animal videographer or a coach who could tell the world how to help stray animals, what to do with them and how to handle them. This would enable her to approach people without sounding like an NGO.

And if you haven’t figured out your UVP yet, all you have to do is chat up with a communications expert who will probe and push and ask the right questions to get you thinking new ways to solve the problem you’re otherwise trying to solve.

TO SUM IT UP:

• Start communicating regularly with your prospective clients
• Try and have a modern positioning of your brand
• Have patience, let it reach to the right people and then boost it and escalate it.

Loved the article? Thinking of speaking to a communications expert? Drop us a line at https://codesignlabs.com/project-enquiry

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