Posts Tagged ‘entrepreneur’

Yesterday we received an e-mail from someone who wrote, “I am looking for assistance in developing and marketing a video concept. I have the idea, but I am clueless on where to start.”

Also yesterday we met with a prospective new client who is planning to bring a new service to the Charleston, SC area. When asked to define the service and what the user would get in return for the fee, the prospective client had some but not all of the user benefits worked out. They had not completed their pricing structure and did not have a solid understanding of their costs as related to delivering the service.

What both of these people have in common is a good idea that may be highly marketable. What they need is research to learn about their prospective buyers, the market and how they will make money and manage their business.

If you are an entrepreneur who wants to offer a new product or service, starting with an idea is great, but then do your homework.

Define your target market. Who is your target customer? And as I was told many years ago, “The world is NOT your customer.” Your customer is some subset of people with unique characteristics. What do they need/want in their lives? Where do they live, what is their educational background? What drives them? How much do they earn? How often do they purchase goods or services in the segment that you want to enter?

Write a buyer profile that will help focus your thinking for your customer. Learn what your potential customers have to say about similar products and services. Read blog comments and user reviews in blogs or in the evaluation/comment sections of online stores. Get into your buyers’ head and know what makes them part with their hard earned dollars.

If you know that you will have more than one type of customer, segment your customers and create a buyer profile for each segment.

Undertake an environmental scan of what others (with similar good and services) are offering in your marketing region (both geographically and if you will be a web based only product, then on the web.) Learn as much as you can about their products, pricing and the benefits to the user.

Use your insights to guide you in further conceptualizing your service or product. You need a unique selling proposition (USP) which will distinguish you from your competition and which will resonate most clearly to your target market.

Begin to think like your target customer. If they don’t want what you’re selling, it does not matter what you say or how you say it, they won’t buy. Clearly define the benefits to your user. Will this make their lives easier, cheaper, faster, more simple? How? That is your key USP. Just because you think your idea is a good one is not a reason to go into business.

And speaking of business, create a business plan. This is your road map to guide you in the development of your product/service. This process is made easier if you undertake it with support and assistance. There are many who are available to do this including SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) who offer their services in many communities. Some people may find a business coach helpful. Don’t overlook The Small Business Administration (SBA) Business Information Center which is co-located with SCORE. Another small business resource is the The Frank Roddy SC Small Business Development Center of SC with centers around the state.

Develop a management plan. Who will keep your books? What systems will you use? How will you bill? Collect monies? Where will you be located? Will you need employees? Who will sell your products? Do you need to be web only or do you need a bricks and mortar location?

Begin with an idea, but then do the work to test your idea, create a plan so you know where to go with your idea and create a structure that will give you the support you need to build a business. And if you need help when you’ve undertaken these steps and are ready to bring your product to market, call me.

In a letter to South Carolina’s Governor Mark Sanford, I noted our state is hostage to an old style system. Today, the Governor is presenting to a panel the ideas that I shared with him in the following letter.

Dear Governor Sanford:

As a professional, I’ve been laid off twice; the first time in July 2001 and the second time in February 2008.

Each of these times I applied for unemployment compensation from the SC Employment Security Commission. While not much compensation, it is something to tide one over. However, after a few months the first time and a few weeks the second time on unemployment, I discovered that starting one’s own business is not compatible with the unemployment system. I found that to remain honest and within the system, I had to report money that I would not receive for weeks. I became fed up with the system which does not support entrepreneurial growth and left the system.

In each instance, I was successful at my enterprises. I am lucky that I have the education and drive to make a success. Are others equally equipped?

South Carolina needs to support the growth of small businesses and entrepreneurs (which are the majority types of business in our state) with a modified system and unemployment compensation or small business initiative loans, like Kiva loans to family groups in the third world.

Due to the economy, we don’t have extra resources to build new programs, but perhaps there is a better way to structure the SC Employment Security Office so that those who have a drive to be small business owners are nurtured in that path. Now, that I am aware, there is nothing in that direction. Upon the occasions that I visited the Employment Security Offices, I saw people who were in need of real counseling direction. Our legacy of paternalism and entitlement hobble us just as much as our history of poor educational results. Can there be a joining of the The Frank L. Roddey Small Business Development Center of South Carolina with the employment security system?

I do not recall any materials that were provided to me from South Carolina Employment Security Commission that gave me any understanding of resources or ways to learn about having my own business. No one at the Employment Security Commission that I am aware of is doing anything to support the awareness that one’s one enterprise can grow during these times of opportunity. Each newly unemployed person has skills, knowledge and abilities. Each person has the ability to earn for themselves, but unless they understand how to move forward, they won’t find their way.

My husband who is from New York state points to many bad things about that state, but he tells me that they understand how to work with laid off workers who wish to go back to school, start a business or define their own path. I believe South Carolina’s history as a textile mill / manufacturing state is hobbling us as we emerge into the new economy of services.

I would be delighted to volunteer my time to assist in any panels, advisory groups or others who are brainstorming ways to make our system better.

Thank you for taking time to review these thoughts. I deeply appreciate your fiscal conservatism and support your leadership in that regard.

Back in the early 1990s when I was the Executive Director of the Charleston Area Arts Council, you were very kind to write detailed letters in response to my letters requesting increased federal funding for the arts. You may not remember those letters, but your points hit home.

These days, I now am a fiscal conservative but a believer in helping people find a way. I believe we can empower people with information, Kiva style small loans in lieu of unemployment compensation and direction to help them start a small business, return to school or in other regards, “get a life.”

I don’t mean to denigrate those who depend on the current unemployment compensation system but there is a new way and we must find it! And I am willing to be a part of making it happen!

Candle in the Wind photo image courtesy of dhruvaraj’s flickr photo stream on flickr’s creative commons site.