Business guide
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| how business start |
"Every businessman knows that a healthy business isn't
just about growth. It's about being well-rounded business ideas, and
growing your culture and your systems as strongly as
you grow your revenue," said Jason Feifer, editor in
chief of business Magazine. "That's why we're
excited to celebrate these companies with our fifth
annual Entrepreneur360™ ranking. The companies that
make the success, or list have pushed boundaries with their
innovative ideas fostered strong company cultures,
impacted their communities for the better,
strengthened their brand, and grown impressively as a
result."
BUSINESS STUDIES
- Awareness
- Consideration
- Retention
- Advocacy
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Companies which understand that wowing customers
at each step of their journey is consequential will
always be ahead of its competitors. A customer’s
the journey starts from the point of awareness to loyalty.
Your communication strategy at each of these points
should be different and you should map their entire
journey. Customer journey involves your customer’s
interaction with you at every touchpoint through
different channels and devices. The main stages of a
customer’s journey is awareness, consideration,
the decision, retention, and advocacy.
Awareness
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| how business start |
This is the first stage of the journey where customers
realize that they have a pain point, but they are not
ready to make a purchase yet. As a business, your goal
is to create awareness of your product. Your customer
is at the top of the funnel in this stage. Creating
content that attracts leads is your business plan. Types of
awareness stage content that you can create is the blog
posts, videos, infographics, and lead magnets, among
others. At this stage, customers don’t know who you
are. Get your audience to know your brand, products
and the value that they create. Create buyer persons
through existing customer data, research and
competitor client lists. Write evergreen content and
invest in storytelling to connect with your audience.
Consideration
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| how business start |
Here, the customer is in the middle of the sales funnel
and is seriously evaluating the options. Your goal at this
the stage is to make the customer consider your product
over others. This is the opportune time for you to show
your prospective customer why you are a good fit over
your competitors. At this stage, take help of an expert
guides, webinars, live interactions, whitepapers and
comparison reports with competitors. Decision
At this stage, the customer has already narrowed down
her options. This is at the bottom of the funnel where
they transform from a lead to a customer. Your
customer is well informed at this stage right now about
the different solutions that are on offer for them.
Nothing speaks about your offerings and service like
reviews from current customers do. Customer reviews
are crucial at this stage. Customers want to see your
previous success, case studies, and video testimonials
are the best ways to do it. Offer free trials to prospects
at this stage.
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| how business start |
It is unarguably one of the most important stages in the
customer journey. It is far easier to retain an existing
customer than it is to get a new one. Businesses need
to spend their energy on keeping their existing
customers happy and satisfied. It is imperative that you
have a customer retention strategy in place. What helps
at this stage are follow-up calls, regular surveys to get
feedback from customers, testimonials from
customers, the dedicated helpline for paying customers
and Product manuals and how-to guides.
Advocacy
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Not every customer will turn into an advocate for you.
But some of them will do given that you create enough
opportunities for them to fall in love with your brand.
They will not only promote your brand but will defend it
as well. There are organic steps which you can follow
to create a league of followers who will be your brand
advocates. At this stage, give your advocates referral codes or
affiliate links, reward them with discounts, offer free
consultations and give them exclusive access to
products or features before others.
-Keep in mind-
Even though every buyer’s journey is unique, it can be
bracketed into different stages. The steps that I have
outlined here will help you create your own buyer’s
journey. Having a set process like these in place helps
you create consistent content, measure its
the corresponding effect and keep improving.
With all that said, understanding who your customer is,
their motivations, behaviors, needs, and intent will
help you achieve incredible traction at each phase of
the customer journey.
I leave you with a popular stat to ponder over. Almost
70% of the customer’s buying journey is done before
they reach out to your sales team. Keep that in mind
next time when you see that your KPIs are not being
met. Discuss Your Passion, Not the Money
Sitting across the table, an entrepreneur wonders how
she should begin the ‘pitch’. Speaking at Franchise
India’s StartUp Summit 2019, founder and managing
partner of Rockstud Capital Abhishek Agarwal said,
“Entrepreneurs should not discuss money but the
the passion they hold for their company.” According to him,
entrepreneurs should know that their priority must be
consumers and not funds. “If you are able to sell your
dream and know how to get customers, funders will
come to you,” he added.
- Keeping Fundamentals Strong
Entrepreneurs wonder what an investor looks for or
evaluates while scanning the term sheet of any
company. Well, the answer is strong fundamentals.
Vikas Sarda, the chief financial officer of Unitus Capital,
said, “If the fundamentals of a company are strong then
it is easier for an investor to show interest in the
entrepreneur as well as his business model.”
- Finding a Gap
business planning is all about finding a gap and bring in
an innovation to bridge that gap. “Funders are ready to
put money if a start-up has identified a gap and has a
plan to fill it,” says Sachin Jaiswal, CEO, and co-founder
of Niki.ai. Another way to understand this is to look at
the market winners in the food tech and transport tech
space.
Cab aggregators Uber and Ola and food tech unicorns
Zomato and Swiggy understood that need and are
thriving today by offering ‘convenience’.
- Not a Fancy Email
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| how business start |
An entrepreneur doesn’t need to write a fancy email in
order to get the attention of an investor. In fact,
investors always have a paucity of time and therefore
catching the attention of the investor in the first two
lines of the email could prove to be a winner for an
entrepreneur, said Dhanu Das, founder of Alpha Capital.
Das also added that the timing of the start-up is very
important apart from the idea. Every professional is
noob in the beginning. Start your business today because
for being successful its never be late.
noob in the beginning. Start your business today because
for being successful its never be late.
work on your dreamsotherwise, someone hires you to complete their dreams.
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