Download - Starting and running a business
Starting and running your own businessHosted By Chris Leadley & Rick Smith – Forbes Burton
About us – Rick SmithQualified engineerWorked in motorsport managing racing teams for 12 yearsBankrupt in 2005Has worked in insolvency ever since – helping individuals & business ownersCurrently mentors prospering companies that specialise in different industriesExpert in personal & business developmentBusiness Coach & Entrepreneur
About us – Chris Leadley Studied Marketing & Media at University Worked in the marketing department for a large international company
Made redundant from company buyout Worked for Rick in his motor repair shop Built 4 businesses from scratch with Rick Developed Marketing Strategy Skills Google and HubSpot certified Marketing Consultant
What we’ve done so far…
Established companies in a
variety of different industries including:Property, IT Services, Corporate & Personal
Insolvency and Financial Services
Worked with national and international
companies
Turned around and recovered a variety of Small Businesses
The 3 things you need:
1 – Products & Services
2 – Solid Foundations &
Brand3 – Build
Customer Base
1 - Products & Services
Your Products and ServiceIncrease Value For
Customers• What is it?• How will it
help your customers
• How else can you add value?
Maximise Sales
• Subscriptions
• Repeat buying
• Product upsells or ‘higher level’
Maximum Leverage
• Create once use many
• Sell to many at once
Low Price• Music
downloads / Apps
Mid Price• Phones/Tablets
High Price• Laptops/PCs
About Your Products
• Prompt• Reliable• Efficient
Excellent Service
• Answer Their Needs• Always Follow Up• Treat Them How You Want To Be Treated
Customer Focused
• Customer Feels Appreciated• Will Spread The Word & Refer• Will Buy From You Again!
Adds Value To
Product/Service
Have Great Customer Service
2 - Strong Foundations & Brand
Have a Solid Business Idea About You
• Think about what motivates you in life – what do you enjoy doing
• Realistic List of Goals
• Do You Have What It Takes?
Your Business Idea
• Is it realistic and viable?
• Can you explain your idea in one sentence?
• How will people benefit from your idea?
Your Business Goals
• Short, Mid, Long Term e.g.
• Be enough to pay overheads, Expand and grow, Exit strategy
Business FundamentalsThe Legal• HMRC/Taxes• Business
Type/Registration• Insurances
The Financial• Accountant/Banking• KNOW YOUR FIGURES• Cash flow – Profit &
Loss
Staff & Systems• Trained• Customer Focused• Documented
Processes
Strong Positioning• How do you want yourself
and your business to appear to customers?
• Will you be positioning at the bottom, middle or top of your market?
• Have Clear Consistent Branding
Your Brandin
g & Positioni
ng
3 – Building Your Customer Base
SEO• Organically Build Ranking• Optimised Website• Best Results Start Local
Social Media• Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn/
Others• Build Targeted Loyal
Followers And Buyers• Real Time Customer
Engagement and Feedback
Pay Per Click• Google/Bing/Facebook -
Trackable• Instant Traffic And Leads • Needs To Be Managed
Properly or You’ll Lose Money
Online Marketing
• Local Awareness Marketing• Needs To Be Direct Response• Track And Measure Performance ConstantlyLeaflets• Good Public Relations• Use As Educational/Info MarketingPress• Word Of Mouth Referrals• Strong Business Connections• Know Like And Trust
Networking
Offline Marketing
Consistency• Set & Forget• Use Same
Branding And Message Across Marketing
• 17 Times Seen Before Customer Buys
Outsourcing• Frees Up Your
Time• Cheaper/
Flexible• Expertise &
Professional
Software• Track All
Marketing Activities
• Automates Emails Depending On Customer Actions
• Plan In Advance For Best Results
Automate Your Marketing
Your Turn…Split into groups of 5Think of a Company NameThink of a Product you can sellThink of the Positioning (who would buy it and why)What would the Price be (low, medium or high)?
How would you Promote it?Best group of the day will win Amazon vouchers for each member!