Making the decision to work for yourself is exciting (and maybe a little bit scary). After settling on your business idea, you’ll likely jump straight into the organisation of your business, whether that is ordering stock, designing your product or creating a package for the services you’ll provide.
What propels your venture from a business idea into a real business? Customers.
Know your customer
The temptation to make everyone your target customer isn’t always the most effective thing for your business. If you target everyone, only a small percentage of your target market will find your product or service relevant. Ideally, you want to sell to people who you know are likely to want or need what you’ve got on offer.
But how can you know your customers before you’ve had any?
Firstly, you need to analyse your product or service to identify the benefits to your customer. Is a service that will make life easier for a busy person? Is it a luxury product for someone who has lots of free time? Is it something that will make someone more successful?
Once you’ve identified the benefits you’ll bring to your customer, you can start to identify their demographics, the type of work they might do, or what their family situation is. Then you’ll have an idea of the type of person you need to approach.
Start with your existing network
The best place to look for your first customer is within your existing network. If your personal social media pages are already followed by your ideal customer, then utilise that and advertise freely.
However, if the majority of your current followers aren’t likely to need or want your offering, then think twice before posting to a mass audience. You don’t want to end up being muted by your friends! In this case, be more selective, and approach people individually with a personalised message of why you feel they should consider being your customer.
Find out where your customers hang out
If you’ve found a customer within your existing network, it’ll be easy to find out where they hang out, and therefore where you’ll find other people like them. This is where your marketing efforts should be directed.
Don’t forget to think about both online and offline channels so that you can target people when they’re most likely to want your offer.
Be open about the age of your business
When you’re in the development phase of your business, it is totally fine to approach people to ask them questions about how your product or service could benefit them and whether they would be interested in your product or service.
When having these conversations, you should look for opportunities to sell the benefits of what you do, but keep it as a soft sell and friendly in tone.
You can even involve people in the development of your product or service. Offer them a chance to receive a beta version of your product or service, or offer them a discount for taking part in the early stages of your business.
When you involve your customers in this way, they can feel more invested in your new business and are likely to help spread the word when you’re ready to fully launch your final product or service.
Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there
The only way that you’re going to find paying customers is to talk often about what you do. If you see an opportunity, grab it!
If the time comes to advertise to a wider audience using paid advertising, we highly recommend getting professional advice first. Once you begin investing, you want to ensure you are getting a return on your investment, which means you want to be very specific about your target audience. You don’t want to spend money showing your ads to people who will never buy them.
If you would like help and support with marketing your business, take a look at these support options.
