Lesson 4: Kick-off
How to kick-start the business. Pre-requisites: what you have to make sure is in place and what you'll need when the orders start coming in.
Introduction
Ok, you're ready to get going but how do you get going? How do you get those first few customers to buy from you and launch you on the road to success. There are lots of stories out there about businesses which opened up and didn't get any customers. They worked very hard too but something just wasn't right. Well, that's not going to happen to you because you've done your homework. Hard work isn't enough - the work has to be done the right way with the proper target and then you'll get the results you wanted.
For a new small business, the key is to identify groups of potential customers before you get going. These groups are your target markets and, if you chose them carefully by imagining yourself in their place and evaluating your plans from their perspective, then you'll get business from them. If you go further and orient your product or service so that it fits well into some of these target markets you're even further ahead. If you then design the public face of your business to appeal to these groups, all you've got left to do is get their attention.
That's what we've done so far in these lessons and the next step is to get noticed - you've got to make some noise, get some attention, and what better occasion than the launch of a new business. First a quick check whether everything is OK and then your launch.
Your launch will not get you a lot of orders - what it will do is get you noticed and in touch with some of the right people. Your aim is to start with a bang and then follow up. Customers will not come knocking at your door, at least not at first. You'll have to go and look for them. When you start looking, you'll have to keep track of them. And when they become customers, you'll need to track what they've ordered, how often they order, how quickly they pay and how profitable their business is.
Then, after you got your feet wet, you'll want to confirm or adjust your plans and you'll want to evaluate how you did. It will work and it will be exciting and fun. Let's get down to the details.
