Team Reformli
We’ve all dreamed of it!
What would I do if I escaped the rat race? What would I do with my free time? What car would I buy? Where would I travel? What would I do with my newfound freedom?
Most of you reading this have probably come to the conclusion that in order to live out your dreams you need to build some sort of business that will continue to print money while you sleep!
Well, today the team at Reformli is going to give you some real business advice that you can use to finally start building your business and make sure it is a success. However, before we start, here’s a disclaimer:
If you want to learn how to start a dropshipping store or an SMMA, please leave now. This blog is about the fundamentals of business and how to create something different from your competition.
Disclaimer over.
So, let’s get into it!
Meet Sammy!
Sammy is a 23-year-old man who wants his freedom back.
He wakes up at 7 every day and goes to the same unfulfilling job. Yes, it pays the bills, but deep down he doesn’t want to be there. He would much rather be building his own legacy and living life on his own terms.
He believes there is more to life than a 9-5 job and slaving away at his corporate job. He knows it, but he just needs a plan and a way out!
Now his mind starts to think. It goes into overdrive, analyzing everything: What can I do to make more money? What shall I sell? How will I pay my bills?
He thinks he should start a business, but then the doubt starts to kick in. He remembers that all his friends’ businesses have failed or they are not making nearly enough money to leave their day jobs.
He knows it might not work, but he decides to give it a shot anyway!
You might be a Sammy, but worry not, that’s what Reformli’s team is here for!
This next part of the blog is designed to highlight three business fundamentals you must ensure when starting your business to make sure it doesn’t fail.
Number 1: The Value You Provide
Sales success comes down to one basic thing that you need to understand when creating something: you either need to 1. Find a problem and fix it or 2. Find a demand and fill it.
Before even starting your business, you need to take a deep look into the area you are looking to get into and ask yourself: Is there a big enough demand for what I am trying to fix? Will it provide real value to my users’ lives? Ask yourself: Do people actually want what I have to offer? Are they struggling to find it elsewhere? If the problem is not important enough or the demand not large enough, you run the risk of creating something that no one wants or has very limited value. And that’s not a boat you would like to find yourself in!
Once you have ticked off the value box and developed your idea, you can move on to our next point, which is…
Number 2: Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
You need to make sure that the product or service you are looking to offer has a unique selling point. There has to be something different about your brand that will make potential customers choose you instead of your competitors. Otherwise, you are giving customers no reason to choose you instead of the already established brands. We see it all the time: people creating clothing lines that are no different from each other. Of course, they are not going to succeed. For every customer, there are hundreds of brands to already choose from.
When thinking of a USP, it can be anything from “my product is faster” to “better quality.” Remember, this USP is going to be your main marketing point, so make sure it is tangible and validated, or your brand will struggle to gain traction.
Got it! OK, so how do I develop a USP?
What we suggest doing is creating a SWOT analysis of your closest competitor and seeing what they are missing in their product offering. What are they not doing that could benefit your customers? This will be the starting point for you to start building on your ideas.
Number 3: Barriers to Entry
This is a tricky one because it results in you having to think outside the box of conventional business ideas. If anyone can start the same business as you with minimal startup capital, then how are you going to ensure that your business stays on top? Low barriers to entry equal high levels of competition, and as a result, people start undercutting each other’s prices to attract customers. You don’t want to be part of this battle!
What you need to do is consider a couple of things when starting your ideas:
• How easy is it to copy my idea?
• Does my business require specialist knowledge?
• How much money does someone need to invest to get started?
What we recommend is having at least three different barriers to entry to ensure that when your business does get started, you will have a sufficient moat that you can focus on developing your business’s core offerings instead of protecting them!