But don’t worry, there are several helpful resources available to you and here are at least three effective tips for you to consider:

1. Vendor Financing 

Vendor Financing can be utilized much the barter system… an old method of exchange. 

This system has been used for centuries and long before money was invented. People exchanged services and goods for other services and goods in return. The value of bartering especially for vendor financing can be negotiated providing the vendor has the essentials you need to work on your new product. Example, engineering, prototypes, tooling, packaging, and manufacturing. In this scenario, a vendor of your choosing may let you utilize their services in exchange for: 

(1) a mutual understanding that you’ll repay them under specific repayment terms, 

(2) they can get equity in your product line or company, or 

(3) they get credit and/or discounts thus allowing them to be able to purchase your products in the future. 

2. Personal Financing 

Some First-time entrepreneurs call this ‘bootstrapping’. In other words, doing it on your own meaning…using your own credit savings, cash, savings bonds, family and friends, credit cards with low interest, etc. In fact, I’ve had some clients provide their own personal financing in many cases from a few thousand dollars if that. It all depends on exactly what is needed to get to a MVP, minimum viable product. 

Even more, to pique the interest of potential investors at this early stage, they may have to show some amount of progress and traction with their product in the marketplace, which will only be possible through self-funding. Using a part of your own funds, considering microloans, or asking your friends and family to pitch can be useful so you can ‘get market traction’ thus create interest early on the journey. 

Note: Payback options and terms must be considered when reaching out to friends and family. 

3. Crowdfunding 

With crowdfunding websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, many startups have been able to launch their new products without having to reach out to other funding sources. Utilizing Crowdfunding resources can help you pique interest with your target market with the hopes of receiving funds from people who’d like to contribute to the making of the product successful in exchange for specific perks or services. 

In fact, some startup entrepreneurs have experienced significant success utilizing Crowdfuning. For example, the now-famous Oculus Virtual Reality Headset was initially introduced on Kickstarter. People loved the idea so much that the campaign amassed a total of $2.4 million, comfortably surpassing its goal of $250,000! 

4. Purchase Order Financing 

This is a unique option when you have customer orders yet you lack the cash flow to complete a customer order. You can either work directly with your vendor or consider purchase order financing companies that will pay the suppliers up front to manufacture the requisite goods. Such companies then collect the payment from you, the customer, and then deduct their own fees (usually around 5%) before handing over the rest to you. 

5. Product pre-sales

Product pre-sales purchasing behaviors are always changing and customers are now getting comfortable with paying upfront for products and services they’d like to receive in the future. As a startup entrepreneur, you can use this behavioral shift to your benefit by funding your initial needs and operations through product pre-sales! 

Although this is an innovative way to gauge the market and to check whether people are really interested in your product before its launch, your marketing campaign should be exceptional to build anticipation around the pre-sales event. 

***

These are just a few of the many creative financing options for you to consider on your new product journey.

Have an amazing product idea that you feel has great potential in the marketplace? 

Do you have questions and need clarification about funding your idea? Take advantage today for a complimentary Funding Strategy Call.

Set up a call with bestselling author, Innovation – Entrepreneurship catalyst, and Business Coach – Jacqui Obeng!

The post Tips on how To Raise Funds For Your Product Launch appeared first on BASE.

The key is to understand their needs, anticipate their problems they might face, and offer product benefits in a way that will appeal to the target market buyer. These actions will ultimately lead to a viable product that has all the benefits to be a hit in the market. 

Knowing your target market buyer needs from the beginning will help you to save up on your two most valuable resources: time and money. However, this practice is getting even more challenging as people’s tastes are changing frequently. 

Customers are now more empowered because of social media and yet, at the same time, may become less loyal to older brands. They are more likely to ditch a market veteran and choose a newbie brand if the former does not take into account their changing needs and their demands. 

So, to surge ahead of your competitors in the marketplace, you need to keep up with your target audience, knowing what they want even before they start expressing their need, challenge or current frustrations!

Here are several tips on how to understand what the average customer wants:

Build detailed customer personas

If you are looking to create a likable product or develop promotional campaigns that resonate with customers, build an extremely comprehensive buyer persona. 

Go beyond the conventional demographics such as age, gender, profession, and region, so that you can customize your product idea to satisfy specific needs or to complement particular behaviors and habits of your target audience. Dig into their aspirations, their attitudes, their hobbies, the activities they normally indulge in, and their lifestyles in general. 

Focus on their buying habits 

A lot of factors influence an average customer’s buying decisions. For instance, a particular age group might be more attuned to a specific product after seeing billboard ads featuring their favorite celebrities. Or there might be others for whom customer testimonials are important. And then, of course, there are the millennial and Gen Z generations that turn to YouTube influencers and latest trends. 

In addition to these pertinent questions, another external influence that informs buying decisions is your messaging and branding. In other words…is it actually relevant to the average customer you’re targeting?

Also, conduct research on how often and where your target audience goes shopping. Does the average customer get things home-delivered instead of walking into a physical store? How much do they spend on a shopping trip? Are they more likely to go shopping alone or with a friend? Leverage this information to build a product that’s ready for the market! 

Check on competitors 

Study the products that are already in the market in the niche you are interested in. Are they actually solving the problems completely or is there room for improvement? Do they need additional features to make the lives of customers easier? This is where you can jump in with an improved product. Spot the needs that the competing company is unable to solve and use it to your benefit. 

We hope that these tips will help you to pinpoint lucrative opportunities and pave the path with product ideas and marketing campaigns that will amaze your target audience! 

Join a complimentary strategy call with profound Business Coach Jacqui Obeng today.

The post Understand Your Customers Better – Here is how! appeared first on BASE.

The bottom line is..

If you really don’t know the real needs of your target market…

how can you expect to sell-to and then prosper-from your target market? Todays consumers are smart and savvy. What’s key for you as a new product developer is adopting your initial target market research strategy to complement the way today’s consumers research, shop, and buy?

Your Target Market can be best defined as your “ideal” clients or customers that would consider buying your new product.

to meet your potential buyers where they are — you must have a deep understanding of who your buyers are, your specific market, and what influences the purchase decisions and behavior of your target audience members.  Enter: Market Research. 

Identifying your target market can be challenging if you don’t have an effective strategy. Here are a few helpful tips to consider; 

What does market research tell you? 

Market research provides insight into a wide variety of things that impact your bottom line and here are just a few…

1. Where your target audience conduct their product research
2. What seems to be trending in your product market
3. Who makes up your market and what their challenges are
4. What influences purchases and conversions among your target audience 

Here are a few more helpful target market research tips for you to consider…

Step 1: Know the market Problem, Challenge or Frustration do You Want to Solve with your New Product

The secret to knowing your target audience is to identify how your product can help people to eliminate a certain issue, problem, frustration or challenge from their life. Ask yourself, “will my new product concept help people overcome their challenges and make their lives easier?” If the answer is a big, firm yes to this question, then you have a product that can actually cause ripples! 

After you have clarified the top industry problems or challenges that your product can solve, and you’ve identified what obstacles might be in their way, start drawing up a list of people who might face such problems on a day-to-day basis.  Your target market audience will come from those individuals who have the problem or challenge that your new product can provide a solution and many benefits to. Voila! You have a rudimentary list of your target demographic! 

Step 2: Build A Customer Profile & Demographics

Identifying the typical end-users of your product will help you to build customer-focused campaigns and engage the right kind of audience. Build a customer persona by creating a list of their interests, age, gender, marital/family status, occupation, education and income level, job roles, geographical locations, socioeconomic status, related aspirations.

This data will be instrumental when designing your new product Sell Sheet, Explainer Video, content, packaging, price, social media posts, marketing and advertising messages. 

Step 3: Study The Competition 

Learn from the existing competition’s mistakes and research what they are working on to overcome them…if they are. Read about their initiatives, their market positioning, and pricing, conduct customer surveys to understand their experiences, study their social media profiles and product reviews so that you are well-equipped to provide your customers with a much better alternative.

Step 4: Identify The Type Of Market 

Who will be the potential buyers of the product? Individuals and households, companies and organizations, or wholesalers? It is important to take into account whether your product is for personal use, will be a part of another product, or is meant for use in a factory’s daily operations. This strategy will stop you from promoting your products to faceless crowds and help you to segment your target market properly. 

Step 5: Why Should Customers Buy From You? 

Are you the fastest, the cheapest, the most accessible, provide the best benefits, or the best in class in your product category? What drives them to purchase? These are opportunities that will grab your target market’s attention and give them a reason to choose your product instead of a competitor’s. 

Knowing your target audience, if they will benefit from your new product and how to reach them, can help you make better decisions when creating and selling your products. 

When you know exactly who you’re going to sell to, you can make strategic decisions to attract their attention and make more sales.

Connect with us on a complimentary strategy call and build your business strategy with BASE Strategies today.

The post How to find the Right Target Market Audience for your Business appeared first on BASE.

It’s important to know what sets you apart. The secret, according to those in the know, is to understand what attracts your customers in the first place…

• Always be visible
• Always keep ’em happy
• Stay effective at it! 

Here are some tips to attract and retain valuable clients: 

Don’t confuse a feature with a benefit

A major mistake that many budding business owners commit is trying to attract customers by enthusiastically talking about their product’s features rather than informing them of the problems it can solve for them. 

For instance, telling them that the watch you’re selling has gaskets made of Teflon won’t get them interested. But if you tell them that they can swim for hours wearing your water-resistant watch, they will definitely stop to hear more about it. 

Position your product as the best answer 

With so many other competitors, give your clients a compelling reason to place their trust in you. This is what will lead to repeat business. 

Put their needs first and focus on offering value. At the same time, connect with them and be a resource by uploading blog posts, videos, webinars, and more regarding the problems in their lives that your products can solve for them. The key is to be visible, empathetic and position yourself as an industry expert. [reference: How to get more clients?]

Utilize testimonials

Let the world know that your existing client base loves your offerings! A customer is more likely to believe the reviews of another fellow customer. So when they see that your past clients have had extremely positive experiences while interacting with your brand, they might be convinced to take your product home! 

Go the word-of-mouth marketing way 

Identify your top clients and ensure that they are happy with your offerings. These are the ones who will recommend your business to others if they are getting positive results from you. Offer discounts to them. In addition to this, create a sense of community and share user-generated content to keep the leads coming! Consistently upload on social media and make your presence felt across forums so that remember your product.

Know what the competition is doing…do yours better! 

Watch your competitor’s moves like a hawk if you want your business to succeed! If you feel that clients are not happy with their offerings, you can swoop in to offer your product as an alternative, Also, if the company has increased its pricing structure or is unable to satisfy their demands, you can position yourself well to attract them as soon as they sever ties and end partnerships. 

Finding new clients is definitely not an easy task. But by keeping these techniques in mind, you might be able to make the journey a whole lot easier! 

To learn more about building a robust target market client list, converting them to paying clients and keeping them let’s connect and collaborate! 

The post How to Attract, Convert and Keep Great Clients appeared first on BASE.

For your reference, here are a few tips to help you effectively guide your team.

Straw Man Strategy

A “straw man strategy” can be very useful, as long as people know that it has been designed to be pulled apart. When you begin a project or start looking into a problem, the straw man approach is much like brainstorming. The goal is to generate ideas/options without evaluation because the goal is to keep generating ideas. Even at this initial stage, constructive feedback and suggestions can provide vital feedback that can be used to develop the best possible solution.

For example; Suppose your revenue has been falling in the past few months and you have to come up with a better sales strategy to boost sales. Using the straw man strategy. Perhaps you can brainstorm/sketch out something like this:

1. Create a draft outline to expand current market and new markets.

2. Outline the markets that might offer good prospects, based on your initial judgment and experience.
   
3. Present your draft proposal to the team and tell them that it is a straw man – This is critical because everyone must clearly understand that your idea is the starting point and was created for the purpose of collaboration.
   
4. Analyze the proposal, find the weak points, clarify assumptions and decision-making criteria, and work on a refined proposal.
   
5. Draft a new proposal and repeat the process until a final decision is made. These subsequent proposals can be given names too: such as wood man, tin man and iron man.
   
6. In a culture that values being right, the notion of constructing a straw man may be difficult to embrace. Why spend time drafting something that, ultimately, isn’t going to be used? If you can get past this perception you will be surprised at how useful the technique can be. One of its main advantages is that it forces you to do something by taking an initial form of action.
   
7. Taking too long to deliberate the merits of an idea or hypothesis can be costly, as you risk never making a decision at all. With a straw man, you force an early, if incomplete, decision. This ensures that a final decision will be reached because doing nothing means accepting a poor plan by default.
   
   Thus, drafting a Straw Man proposal helps the Management Team, a great tool to evolve the project/proposal with the passage of time and new findings/observations and pushes the project for the vital decisions to create the desired benchmarks.
   
   
   Set the right expectations & time to nurture the organization
   
   Any activity done without clear vision and mission is considered as “purposeless”. Considering the same, the executive team must clear the vision and mission of the organization and set the right expectations among the team. 

Envisioning the Managers and Employees with expected goals and milestones of the organization, helps to maintain streamlined productivity throughout the journey. In project management, this also leads the team for an effective communication among all stakeholders.

For any startup, rightly set expectations interests the investors and leads the organization to wrap up probation period real quick. After this, a very crucial stage is to provide time to nurture the organization and teams. As they say, “Fruits can’t be made overnight!!” – the startup needs a fair time to get matured as Enterprise along with lots of nurturing efforts.. 

To bifurcate, we can assume that the first 2-3 years should be spent in building the organization and potential team focused to build meaningful services and products. For the year 3-4, the executive team should be focused on building the market for the existing products and robust revenue model for funding fuels.

Set up Key Performance Indicators (KPI)

Any activity shall be considered vague if we remove the purpose or goal out of it. Similar productivity can only be measured with completion of milestones. Such milestones can be considered as “Key Performance Indicators (KPI). A key performance indicator (KPI) is a business metric used to evaluate factors that are crucial to the success of an organization.

Whether it is project management or sales management, KPIs adds the value in analysing the gap between estimated productivity and actual productivity. Such indicators are also helpful to measure the monetary aspects of the productivity, such as budgeting, estimation and profit/loss outcomes. KPIs are applied in Business Intelligence (BI) to gauge business trends and advise tactical courses of action. Before KPIs can be identified, the following requirements must be met:

1. A predefined organizational process.
2. Clear business objectives for the process.
3. Quantitative and qualitative measurements.
4. An active approach to finding and remedying enterprise variances.

Thus, putting up KPIs in the organization helps to drive the environment more focused and productivity oriented. Be sure to take advantage of the complimentary 45 minute strategy call link to explore what can be possible for yourself and your organization!

Click here to get access to a Complimentary Entrepreneurial Leadership Training and use it to exceed your bottom line result.

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