Posts

Showing posts from January, 2020

Marketing your startup to build confidence, not sales

A startup business only grows when there’s an investment in the business, but as a founder, how do you invest when cashflow is still unpredictable? This is the catch 22 that many business owners face. The obvious answer is to grow sales and then use the additional cash to build the business, but interestingly, this is often not the best option. More sales equal more operational challenges, especially on the back of existing capacity constraints in growing businesses. Simply boosting sales can kill the company. So what’s the answer? How do you invest in the business when money is scarce and additional sales unwanted? The answer lies in betting on market demand, rather than sales. There is a comfort to be found in knowing that your services are in demand, even if there are no sales. Demand is what makes the phone ring and therein lies the confidence that you can invest in your company. Never mind sales; healthy demand allows you to live in the future. But how do you raise

The challenge lies in building a brand

The holy grail of doing business is building a brand. No matter the industry or the type of business you are running, ultimately, every entrepreneur wants a brand. This is a universal desire whatever the personality of the owner. From the most analytical engineering types to the exact number or creative types - all entrepreneurs want a brand. This desire is especially interesting if you consider the constant debate around sales versus marketing. Strong opinions persist in favour of each, yet everyone seems in agreement about one thing: the power of owning a brand. But brand-building is not easy. It requires counter-intuitive thinking that does not come easy to the business owner pressed for cash and looking for the shortest route to selling the company. It is this combination of difficultness and desirability that makes building a brand, in my opinion, the top challenge for entrepreneurs in the coming year. Building a brand requires a disciplined approach to design, messaging,

A clear vision to be the best and compete globally

Aggressive, clean-cut business objectives. That's what the CEO of a successful medium-sized company recently shared with me about the business he leads. It's impressive when someone makes deliberate bets on the future based on a strong sense of where things are and where it's heading. Statements such as: "This is where we are now. This is where the world is going. This is our customer. This is our competitor. This is our key advantage. This is what needs to happen over the coming months to get from here, to here." This leader had strong views on these topics and clearly articulated them, not in a boastful way, but in a monotone, calm way. It was impressive. Probably the most exciting thing is just how determined they were to compete internationally, but basing themselves in South Africa because they see it as part of their competitive edge. It was a refreshing change from the typical negativity. The experience made me realise the opportunity for South Africa