BUSINESS CONSULTANCY
Starting Out
Starting your own business is a very exciting time. Founders usually have that brilliant idea, a lot of passion and enthusiasm but little experience of how to make it a reality or at least a successful one. The passion and the hard graft is important - no question about that. What's needed for the enthusiast, is a guiding hand to help with the planning and then to make the planning work.
Business Planning
We take the approach for Start-ups that the 'Business Plan' is not a hard and fast document that spells out how the business should be formed and run from the beginning onwards. That's the old school way. That business plan is usually out of date or no longer the approach needed, almost as soon as it's printed. Instead, we focus on planning that is lean and quickly adaptable as you get going.
It's typically a collection of slides that are high-level, to the point, easily adaptable and relevant in the now but still provides good guidance and reference. This agile approach means that you can adapt as things develop. The business planning stage is highly collaborative. We brainstorm everything, work ideas, create the approach to your market and understand your customers.
Here are some of the things we will cover:
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Agile approach - how it works for you
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Lean planning - build a business plan in days
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The big idea
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What do you need eg: premises, people, equipment?
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Identify your target market
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Identify your target clients
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Create the offering and pricing for profit
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What is the value to clients - the proposition
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How to reach clients
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How to engage clients
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Competition
- Cost estimates
- Funding
- Revenue estimates
Build Awareness and Attract New Clients
One of the most critical things in starting up is to have a clear idea who your customers are going to be.
We will create a profile of your ideal customer - who they are, where they are, what they do, what do they like and how we can make their lives easier. Everything we build to attract these customers will have this profile in mind whether its your website, advertising, social posts and more. You need to have the target clear in all your messaging consistently. You will be able to get going with this straight away but it's something that needs to be adapted as you discover what works and what doesn't, so it's an evolving process.
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Your look and feel eg: Logo, design
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Your website - make it a selling tool
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Use of Social Media
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GOOGLE Ads
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GOOGLE Analytics
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Non-digital channels eg: events, networking
Getting beyond the first client
Most start-ups get going with a single customer. This enables you to test ideas, make your first revenue and gives you encouragement that your business could fly. Many however, struggle to find the next one and this is one of the main hurdles you will need to overcome. Our approach is that if you found one client, find another just like it and sell them the same solution - it worked once and will again and again. You have already done the hard work in building your solution or service so you do not have to do all that again, just tailor it for the new client and so on...
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Others that look like me - industry, geography
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Craft an offering around the first client
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Create a Reference or Case Study
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Ask for a Testimonial
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Use on website and in social media
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Create collateral to use at shows or to send via emails
