As part of Ingressive Capital’s online series in conjunction with Sparkng “The Soaring Series,” we had Ezinne Nwazulu join us to discuss Business Development Strategies For Startup. Ezinne is a Business Development Expert and Managing Director of 234Finance.
PROCESSES FOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT?
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Identify a problem or opportunity.
Come up with a solution which I will call Idea Creation.
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Identify your target market – age bracket, demographics, gender, lifestyle Do your research to understand the feasibility of what you are offering and understudy your competition – business processes, product or service range, pricing etc. This will give you better insights about how your business can disrupt the market and really set itself apart from what Is currently existing. Innovation is key.
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Identification of Marketing Channels. – how do you intend to get the word out there about your business? Digital marketing is a no brainer Identification of your Resource Needed to push product or service – initial startup capital required to start, talent, assets (physical and digital assets) Testing idea on a small scale or build an MVP (or service).
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Getting Feedback. – Improve and tweak based on feedback. In today’s business world, data is king. It is paramount to understand what products/services are getting the most traction and focus on them. processes and products/services based on feedback Scaling Up. – when demand exceeds supply is a good indicator for scaling.
WAYS OF IDENTIFYING A NEW MARKET TO ENTER?
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Define the market – who is your ideal customer? Demographics, location and identify their common interests or needs is a great way to define them. This involves the use of demographics and psychographics. Demographics will help identify the number of potential customers you can reach with your product/service while psychographics shows you the market opportunities. E.g. someone making healthy toddler food will need demographics to know the number of toddlers in a particular location while psychographics will shed light on the number of parents who care about their toddlers having healthy food.
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Perform Market Analysis – You will need to conduct research to understand the market you are going into. Do you currently have a competition? What will you offer that is different? What problem are you trying to solve? You can get people to fill out surveys with incentives for participation. These can be conducted manually or digitally Why people buy stuff and whether they need it? Where they make purchases and how was it conducted? This helps to analyse purchasing decisions in terms of customer psychology and how you can position your products/services. You can also purchase custom reports on your industry or sector.
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Assess Internal Capabilities – What infrastructure do you already have in place to run your business efficiently? What are your core competencies and who can you collaborate with that will make your business processes seamless? It’s important for business owners to be brutally honest with themselves and avoid biting more than they can chew to ensure ultimate customer satisfaction.
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Prioritize and Select Markets – Once you have assessed your internal capabilities, it will give you a clearer picture of the customers you should be reaching out to in this initial stage. These customers will eventually be your brand ambassadors if they are served well. Remember, don’t bite more than you can chew.
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Develop Market Entry Options – At this stage, you should be considering scaling up and expanding into new markets. It is important to have a strategy for breaking into new markets and identify key players that will help you reach new markets. At this stage, your business must be buoyant enough to absorb the investments needed to expand. For expansion, you should have a business plan or roadmap document that guides you in executing expansion plans.
IMPORTANT FACTORS FOR EVALUATING BUSINESS DEAL (What should be in your pitch deck)?
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Market Analysis – Give a brief analysis of the sector the business falls in, showing that it is a viable business.
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Business Opportunity – What opportunities allow you to generate income as a business owner?
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Target Market – Describe your target market in detail.
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Competitive Advantage – What sets your business apart from competition?
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Product (or Service) Description and Functionality – Give a brief description of your product or service and how it works.
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Traction – What specific milestones has your business achieved so far?
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Startup Cost – Break down how much you have invested in your business so far.
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Social Impact – Describe how your business impacts your community.
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Innovation – What makes your business innovative?
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Business Model – Describe your business model.
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Team – Share images of your team members, their roles and work experience.
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Customer Base – How many customers/users does your business currently have?
STRATEGIES FOR GROWING A BUSINESS?
There is no specific strategy for growing a business because growth means different things to different businesses. For some people, it means more customers; for others, it means opening more outlets. These tips, however, will help all business owners regardless of what they are selling.
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Define your success – what does success mean to you? Identify your definition of success and break it down into simple milestones.
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Set timelines for your goals/milestones.
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Make sure you are delivering value and that your customers are satisfied.
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Simplify the process as best as you can.
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Listen to feedback and improve.
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Stay on top of trends and see how you can innovative.
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Stay relevant.
BEST TIME FOR A BUSINESS TO PIVOT?
The best time for a business to pivot is now, if you have a new idea on the back burner, bring it forward now; whatever works now will work under any other circumstance with a little bit of innovation. BEST TIME
TO INVEST IN MARKETING?
Investment in marketing should always be a constant thing for every business. The budget will vary based on your business goals. For instance, if you are trying to campaign for people to try out your new product/service, the marketing budget will be higher than if you are just trying to build brand awareness with your audience.
HOW BUSINESSES CAN REACH NEW CUSTOMERS
Businesses can reach new customers by offering their existing customers incentives whenever they refer new customers. Another way is by using digital platforms like social media ads and Google ads to advertise to people who already have the intent of purchasing products or services similar to what you are offering.
HOW BUSINESSES CAN TURN CUSTOMERS INTO BRAND AMBASSADORS?
Businesses can make their customers brand ambassadors by offering them incentives and freebies to talk about their brand with their network/audience.
MARKETING TECHNIQUES THAT WILL GIVE THE BEST RESULTS?
Digital Marketing mostly – influencer, video, social media and email marketing, as well as display ads.
HOW TO GIVE BRICK AND MORTAR FEELING ON ONLINE CHANNELS?
Seamless sales processes. Alternative payment channels. Personalized communication. Great and constant customer service experience.
This episode with Ezinne Nwazulu was insightful and had so much tips for startup founders, make sure to share with entrepreneurs you know.
