Time for a change in your business?

During Covid, many enterprising entrepreneurs explored different directions for their businesses or contemplated brand new business ideas.

Now with hyper inflation around us, and less money in our pockets, it could be a good idea to launch a new idea or make some big changes to your business...

Evaluate your new business idea:?

You could have a smart business idea but without the right preparation it remains just that; an idea. For your idea to blossom into a business opportunity you should consider the following:

A truly good idea is one that addresses an existing problem and solves it.?

Does your idea fill a gap in the market or address an unresolved problem within a particular market?

?Once you have a solution to an existing issue, focus on exploring a niche in the market. The niche will be to your particular expertise and strengths and how to differentiate from competitors. Next; build the MVP (minimum viable product). Building a ‘tester product’, which has room for improvement before putting your final idea on the market, provides you the feedback necessary to see whether the product is liked, and how it could be improved. The next step would be to determine the channels you will use to market your solution.?

Let us assume that you have taken your idea out of the idea stage and have found an existing gap in the market and you have evaluated the market appeal and determined that your product or service is viable. A common pitfall is to quickly dismiss your idea when it does not seem to “sell” and blame the market .“There is no market for it”, is a common refrain. What might be happening, is that your product is fine but you need to figure out how to get people to understand and want your product or service.

Pivoting and improving your existing business:

If you are not looking at a new venture but want to improve your existing business and come out stronger despite the downturn in the market, look to “pivoting” your business.

Pivoting sounds like a new term because it is a term that has been floating around so much during the COVID pandemic but all it really means is to change direction, restructure or change a fundamental part of it.?

You might not need change the complete direction of your business, but creating a different route to get to your goal will make all the difference.

Online purchasing is one such route and is a trend that surged during COVID and the increase in E-commerce is an upward trend, so if you have a physical store but no online selling tool, that is definitely something you could consider exploring.

Another thing to look at is your brand appeal and message, and how your product or service solves your clients' problems. Does the messaging and wording you use in your marketing need updating to appeal to your ideal client? Get creative with how you can make customers still feel invested in your brand and engaged with your content from a distance.

Bear in mind that from the beginning of COVID and now too when when money is scarce, people are less interested to be sold to. All the global brands know this, and they have been concentrating on humorous, positive and supportive type of messages.

The best form of marketing is always when you create goodwill. People buy into brands that they feel an affinity to and by displaying and expressing that you genuinely care about your clients, and people in general, people are more likely to remember your actions and? patronise your company or products.

What do you think? Is it a good time for change in your business?