Financial Freedom Series – Build Your Own Business (Part 6)
According to the latest data in South Africa, many are battling to make ends meet. Even those with jobs are not earning enough to cover their living expenses.
If you are battling to find work or are in a cash flow crisis, why not consider BUILDING YOUR OWN BUSINESS?
Over the last few weeks, we have looked at…
- How to find the right business fit
- How to develop the right skills and knowledge
- How to set up a business plan
- Know who your potential clients are
Your BUSINESS PLAN will improve your chances of success and help you formulate a strategy for achieving your goals while giving you clarity, focus, and confidence.
You also need to IDENTIFY YOUR TARGET MARKET. Many think it will make money if they have the right business idea, but this is often not the case. You need to ensure your business is brought to the right target audience. Without the right audience, you will battle to build your business and make money.
“Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.” (Proverbs 21:5)
Can you use your qualifications, skills, experience, and unique gifts and talents to set up a business that provides a service? You could start small and work from home to cut costs.
Why not consider becoming an entrepreneur and starting a business or side hustle?
May God open doors of opportunity, give you wisdom, and take you on an adventure as you build your business. May God bless your business.
Please do not do it alone. Ask God for guidance. He wants to lead you.
“But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth.” (Deuteronomy 8:18)
You may be on the brink of a new business opportunity that will allow you to add value to others while earning an income doing what you love.
Who knows, you may even be able to provide a few job opportunities to others through your business venture in the future.
Today, we will look at how to market your business effectively.
Focus on knowing your potential client.
Who will benefit from your business?
Who will be prepared to pay for your product or service?
Sometimes, people blindly advertise their product to the wrong audience, and even though the product and service are exceptional, they do not make any sales.
Who is your target audience?
- Where can you add value?
- Who can you approach that can benefit from your offer of your product or service?
- What do they look like?
- Who will benefit from your service or product?
- What is their age?
- What is their gender?
- What is their income band?
- Where do they live?
- What are the compelling reasons why they need your product or service?
- How can you encourage them to buy your product and services?
Once you know your target market, you can begin marketing your business.
Marketing your business effectively
The aim of marketing your business is to generate leads. Your leads are potential clients you can contact or who will contact you, people and companies who will benefit from your services and possibly buy your product or subscribe to your service.
Today, we will look at six ways you can market your business effectively…
- REACH OUT TO PEOPLE YOU KNOW
Who of your friends, family, and social network will benefit from your product or service?
Who do you already know that you can reach out to?
Who are people who know you or are familiar with your work?
Last week, I suggested that you look at your circle of influence.
Create a list of 100 people in your circle of influence…
- Family,
- Friends,
- Old work colleagues,
- Members in your Church group,
- People in your sports club or hobby group.
Who can you approach that can benefit from your offer of your product or service?
Reaching out to people you know is the easiest way to grow your business.
These are your HOT leads.
Tapping into your existing relationships and network is the cheapest way to generate leads. Furthermore, it is much easier to provide a service or sell a product to someone you know and trust than to market your business to a stranger.
Whether you call or message the potential client, email them, or invite them to a presentation, you must let people in your circle of influence who fit into your target market know what you can offer them.
- REFERRALS
Can you contact your circle of influence and clients who have used your products and services and ask them if they know of people in their circle of influence who could benefit from your product or service?
You will be surprised at how willing people are to refer you to their friends and acquaintances if you provide a good product or service or can save their friends money.
Referrals are usually more willing to do business with you if you have been recommended by someone they know.
If you don’t ask, you won’t get it, so ask people you know for referrals to which your product or service can add value.
Whatever you sell, ensure you provide a high level of service to your valued clients. This will put you in good stead and lead to greater business referrals.
- UPSELL
If you already have a client base using your product or services, can you extend your range by offering additional value propositions?
It is easier to upsell an existing client than to attract new customers.
Can you turn a one-off sale into a regular client?
Can you possibly add a service contract to your product offering?
This may help you build a regular income stream.
Always aim to go the extra mile. Add the personal touch. Show you care. This can lead to a win-win scenario (where your client receives good services and you earn extra income), which will lead to greater business success.
- REACH OUT TO PEOPLE YOU DON’T KNOW
You can also reach out to people you don’t know, but make sure that the people you target could or would use your product.
You need a clear and intentional strategy to reach out to the right audience.
Reaching out to strangers is usually more difficult as you must win them over and build trust in your product and service.
COLD leads will take more time, and your closing ratio will usually be lower than that of HOT leads, but if you set up the right strategy, it can be effective.
So, how can you market your business to strangers?
It is important to try to identify a group of people who will fit into your target audience, and then you need to contact them.
You could send emails or direct messages to people or cold-call people you do not know who have never used your product or service.
- BUILD AN ONLINE PRESENCE
Build an online presence. Share your expertise and your value add.
Set up a website.
Write a regular blog.
Create reels and videos showing how you can solve people’s problems.
Post regular content on your products and services so people can see what you offer and learn what you do.
Social media is an inexpensive way to get your brand out there. It will help you build credibility and, over time, lead to prospective clients contacting you to benefit from your services and product offering.
- ADVERTISE
Paid advertising will allow you to reach the masses. While this can bring in prospective clients, it will need a fair amount of capital outlay.
You can use platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Google, and YouTube to advertise. If you advertise, you take a focused approach and try to advertise within your niche or reach people within your vicinity.
Online advertising aims to attract potential clients and lead them to your website, where your landing page will encourage them to consider your business proposition.
Next week, we will examine HOW TO BUILD YOUR BRAND…
In the weeks to follow, we will look at…
- Lessons from those who have made it
- How to increase your sales
- Building a network
- Manage your cash flow well
Above all, keep God at the center.
- God is interested in you. He wants to see you excel. He also wants to walk the journey with you.
- Yes, work hard, but also consult God.
- Be honest and run your business with integrity.
- Ask God for wisdom.
- Trust in Him.
- God can lead you in the right direction and open up doors of opportunity.
Work hard:
“Hard work brings profit, but mere talk leads to poverty.” (Proverbs 10:23)
Run your business with integrity:
“The LORD detests dishonest scales but delights in an accurate weight.” (Proverbs 11:1)
Wisdom:
“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.” (James 1:5-8)
Trust in the Lord:
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” (Proverbs 3:5)
Commit your plans to God:
“Commit your work to the Lord and then your plans will succeed.” (Proverbs 16:3)
“Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.” (Psalm 37:5)
Put God first:
Jesus said, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)
Next week, we will continue to INSPIRE you and give you PRACTICAL TOOLS and INSIGHT to help you BUILD YOUR OWN BUSINESS to attain FINANCIAL FREEDOM while HONORING GOD.
