The Best Part-Time Businesses

First of all, you will need to decide what sort of business you wish to establish. There are many types of business - these include franchising, freelancing, online, social enterprising; all of which carry their own pros and cons.

Hopefully our guides to some of these types of business will help you pin down exactly what sort of venture is best suited to you.

Getting this right is important, as you need to play to your strengths and set up the type of business that makes the best use of the skills and knowledge you already have.

This means you have the best chance of making your business a success.

Once you have made this decision, you then need to think about how you are going to structure your business.

There are a handful of ways that you can choose from to structure your new business through Companies House. These include a sole trader, forming a partnership, or either a private limited company or partnership.

It’s wise not to set out as a public limited company, as this will involve you raising significant funds through the stock exchange.

These are the most common methods of structure that are chosen, but there are other options available such as Community Interest Companies and cooperatives should you wish to explore them.

We recommend you start out with the simplest structure your type of business will allow.

For example, if you are setting up an online business, you may want to register as a sole trader, and then move to a different structure as your business scales up and you need to start employing people etc.

In fact, a majority of new businesses are originally set up as a sole trader – people find it simple, cost-effective and keeps bureaucracy to a minimum.

You do not need to notify Companies House, pay them any fees or deal with any other aspects of incorporating a company such as filling out registration forms and submitting accounts.

The only thing you need to do is inform HMRC that are going to be self-employed.

This allows you to get your business off the ground as quickly as possible, and you can immediately start laying the groundwork.

This includes designing and printing your business cards, setting up your website and advertising yourself to potential clients.

It’s important you register as self-employed as soon as possible; otherwise you could incur fines from the HMRC.

There are 3 ways to do this: online, calling the Newly Self-Employed Hotline or by filling out form CWF1.

The main advantages of being a sole trader are that you get to keep all the profits for yourself (after tax has been deducted) and you can make all the decisions without having to consult or convince your colleagues one way or the other.

You will also find the accounting side of your business is simpler than if you were running a partnership or private limited company.

One of the main disadvantages to running a business on your own is that you are personally liable for any debts you incur. This would not be the case if you set up through Companies House.

You should also bear in mind that you will have to pay 40% tax on your income as soon as it reaches £35,000 or more. This will then rise to 50% when your income exceeds £150,000.

As your business grows, the risks of being a sole trader become more pronounced.

You could end up putting your home and other possessions on the line if you have to borrow substantial amounts of money to expand the business.

If you are sued, you could go bankrupt and lose everything – therefore, it may be sensible to switch to a safer and more stable business structure as soon as your venture has taken off.

If you are unsure which route to take when you set up, an accountant should be able to advise you well.

However, should you choose to start as a sole trader it is very easy to switch to a limited company later.

Although this may seem like one of the easier steps to setting up your business, it’s actually quite difficult.

Think about it – the first thing a potential customer will hear or see about you is your company name.

This is before they find out about your product or service, or any other information about you as a business.

Ever hear the expression 'you never get a second chance to make a first impression'?

Your company name is the very first step to earning the respect of your clients and other associates, whether they work for you or are buying from you.

It also marks you out from your competitors.

Therefore, it’s important to get this right from the start in order to save you from further hassle down the line.

The name you choose will also affect how you develop your brand, another crucial ingredient in the recipe for business success.

You need to come up with a name and a logo that will be memorable, so you stand out from the crowd of competitors.

Make sure they are original, recognisable, and easy to remember. Try to make sure it reflects the type of business you are in so it is informative to potential clients, too.

However, it’s also important that you actually like the brand you create – remember, you will have to say it every day in the foreseeable future, as well as be surrounded by it on stationary and on your website.

It’s best to take some time to experiment with different ideas rather than just go with the first thing you can think of.

Putting together a business plan is vital if your business is to succeed. However, before you do this you need to make sure your business has a chance of working.

First of all, you need to find out if there is a market for your product or service – will customers be willing to pay for what you are offering them? If they are, is the gap in the market big enough for you to make enough money and therefore make your new business to be a success?

In order to determine this, you will have to spend a considerable amount of time undertaking market research.

If your findings are positive, you will then have to think about how you are going to reach your target market in terms of pricing and PR. It’s important you pick the right strategies in order to achieve this.

To help you do this, analyse your potential customers. How do they behave? What type of customers are they? Where do most of them shop? How much disposable income do they have and how often might they be expected to buy your goods or services?

Make sure that the amount you are charging for your product or service is affordable to your customers, but also high enough to cover the cost and make a profit.

Your business could be doomed before it has even started if you do not carry out enough market research. Even if you have a wonderful idea, your business will not take off if you do not invest enough time in planning and researching.

Execution is key, and you are unlikely to succeed if you do not gather sufficient information from the outset.

How do I conduct my market research?

It’s a good idea to gather both primary and secondary data. Primary information is that which you collect yourself, whereas secondary is data already collected and published.

You can gather most of this research yourself for free, and take the form of either quantitative or qualitative data.

Once you have done this, you may find you have to change your original plan to suit the needs of your customers. It’s important to consider all your findings, rather than just proceed with what you feel is the best plan.

Collect as much information as you can so you have a clear and reliable picture of your market, and fully understand its needs. This way you will have a better idea of how to meet them and therefore your business being a success.

How do I know if my business idea is viable?

First of all, you need to find out if your business idea is original or not. If it isn’t, and is just building on an existing concept, you must ask yourself whether there is room for you in the market.

It is not impossible to eventually become a market leader in your niche.

One way to test your business plan is to carry out a SWOT analysis. If you have not heard of this term before, the acronym stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

This will allow you to see the good sides of your idea, and where the weaknesses and/or disadvantages might lie.

If you feel your idea could be easily copied by someone else, protect your brand and product with a trademark and a patent.

Investigate all the different avenues you can exploit for a revenue stream. These include selling advertising space, customer subscriptions, pay-per-click advertising, and product/service commissions from other companies.

This will increase your chances of making a profit from the outset.

What is a business plan and how do I produce one?

When you are putting together your plan, there are certain elements you need to include.

You will have to decide how you are going to develop your business, when you are going to develop it, and how you will manage the finances.

Here is a list of sections you should include in your business plan:

Executive summary – this is a general overview of the business you wish to set up. It’s important you spend time thinking about how you will write this, especially if you intend to raise money from investors. They will lend quite a bit of weight to this, and thus judge your business plan accordingly.

Brief description of the business opportunity – this explains who you are exactly, what you are selling, why and who you hope to sell to.

Marketing and sales strategy – here you should explain why you think people will want to buy what you are offering, and how you plan to sell it to them.

Management team and staff – this includes your credentials and the staff you plan to recruit to help you run your business.

How you will operate – this should detail the premises you intend to work from, any production facilities required and your IT systems.

Finances – here you need to explain how everything laid out in the previous sections will eventually result in a profit.

One of the most important rules to remember when designing your logo is to keep it simple.

Many of the biggest brands in the world such as Apple, Nike, BP, FedEx, Virgin and Coca Cola all have a simple logo that people instantly recognise.

The more complicated the logo, the less likely people are to recognise who you are – something you don’t want when you really need to be noticed!

To make your logo stand out, you may wish to use vibrant and/or contrasting colours, although this should not be the only factor that makes it recognisable.

Your logo will not always be printed in colour, e.g. in newspapers, so it must have other features in order for it to be effective.

Of course, the final design depends to some extent on your personal preferences and the nature of your business, but the concept itself should override the colour scheme.

First you need to decide whether the logo is something you have the skills to be able to do yourself.

We’re not talking about messing around with clip art here – it needs to look professional so it makes your company seem professional.

A bodge job will only make you look like an amateur, so if you know you won’t be able to do a great job of it yourself, hire a design company to do it for you.

Try looking for several small, local firms who should give you a reasonable quote. Compare their prices, and check out their portfolios of previous work.

You may find you like one better than the others, even if they are slightly more expensive.

Make use of your contacts here - do you know anyone in the design industry who could get a logo done for you at a cheaper rate than normal? Do you know anyone who knows someone else that works in a design company?

If your budget can stretch to getting a professionally designed logo, then it will be well worth it in the long run.

There are many things to think about when designing your new business logo.

Try out different font types for your company name – it should reflect what you are selling and blend in nicely with the rest of the logo design.

For example, if you are selling Art supplies, you may wish to choose a scribbled, handwritten font such as that used by Paperchase (make sure it is legible though!).

Don’t go overboard with colours either – the more you have, the more it will cost you to print. One or two should be sufficient. Again, consider the colour schemes used by well-known brands – many use no more than two colours, and many of these only use one.

You need to plan ahead too, and think about the future – will your logo look outdated in 10 or 20 years time? You want something that will always be fresh and timeless.

Allow for differences in scale – will your logo still be clear to people if it is printed fairly small on business cards or in a magazine?

Can people still read your company name? There’s no point designing a logo where the name of the company isn’t clear – people aren’t going to bother trying to read it or make it out. Think - if people don't know who you are, how will they contact you?

Look at some of the logos for famous brands known throughout the world – what makes them so recognisable?

A good exercise that you can do is to look up all of your competitors and put their logos into a single file.

Make notes on what you do and don’t like about them, and use them when coming up with your own design.

Once you have something in place, compare it to your competitor’s logos – does yours stand out from all the others?

Overall, you need to create something unique, simple, flexible and memorable – unfortunately, this isn’t going to happen overnight.

Spend as much time as you can on getting the logo design right – ask family, friends and associates for their opinion, and keep re-designing it until you are happy it meets all of the aforementioned criteria.

Try putting your logo out of sight for a week or two - if you look at it again afterwards and still like it, then run with it.

Make sure you test it out first in different formats, e.g. business card, letterhead, website, brochure, etc. before you start printing anything.

Does it look ok on everything you are going to use it for?

If you can create a logo that makes a visual impact and conveys your brand well, the chances are you will make a lasting impression and get ahead of the competition.

A business card is a small yet important facet of your business. It tells people who you are, and the way in which you do this will impact on how others see you as both a person and a company.

Some people tend to get carried away and end up with a cluttered business card that has illegible fonts and/or a garish colour scheme.

The trick to creating that perfect and professional business card is to keep things clean and simple.

An uncluttered business card allows people to instantly see who you are, what you do and how they can contact you.

It also tells people that you are a professional and care about how you appear to others.

Make sure all your contact details – address, phone number, fax, email address – are all clearly visible on your card. None of them should be covered up with your logo or unclear due to the background colour, etc.

Again, like your logo design, keep the number of colours and font types to a minimum to stop your card from looking too fussy.

You are not trying to create a work of art – you are just telling people about yourself. A snazzy business card is useless if it doesn’t convey all your important contact information to potential clients.

Keep the size of your business card to no larger than that of a credit card, otherwise people are unlikely to be able to fit it in their wallet - this means people will lose it more easily.

If you want a business card that’s a little more interesting than the bog-standard ones you normally see, then try adding a texture or pale pattern to the background. For example, a tile pattern if you are a tiler, or a floral flourish if you are a florist.

These little touches may help people remember your card and therefore your business, which already gives you a competitive advantage!

If you feel you are not up to designing a business card yourself, then it’s advisable to ask a design company to do it for you.

There are also lots of websites out there that will design and print business cards for you at an all-inclusive price.

You may find this is a cheaper option than going through a design company.

Test out any mock ups on your family and friends – do they have any suggestions as to how it could be improved?

Make sure you are completely satisfied with the final design before you send off to get 50 or 100 to be printed – it will save you time and money in the future!

A website is a vital marketing tool for your business – many people use the internet now to find the products or services they are looking for.

Therefore it’s an extremely valuable contact point for you and your potential online customers.

If they are looking for what you are offering, and they can find you easily through a search engine such as Google, your business will be on the path to success.

It’s important you choose a good domain name – this is basically your internet address, or URL, where your website can be found at, e.g. studential.com.

As well as describing the nature of your business, your website adds to your brand identity and allows you to sell over the internet.

This means customers get access to information about your products or services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. A website allows you to sell whenever, wherever, allowing you to trade continually.

If you have a domain name in mind but find the .com and .co.uk have already been taken, don’t worry – you can play around with it to find a similar alternative that isn’t taken.

For example, joebloggsfloristry.com could be changed to jblogsfloristry.com or jbfloristry.com.

Letters, numbers and hyphens can all be used to vary your domain name and distinguish yourself from your competitors.

Although the example above makes it obvious what the business is about, you don’t necessarily have to choose a domain name that reflects the nature of your business.

Apple has created a world-famous identity through their Apple logo and website, despite having nothing to do with selling fruit!

Think carefully before deciding on a domain name – jot down all your ideas and look at each one in turn. Is it memorable? It should be something people can easily recall.

How does it look when you put it on your stationary, e.g. business cards and letterheads?

Make it shorter rather than longer, and make sure it’s in line with the brand you have already started establishing.

Remember there are millions of websites on the internet these days, so a short, simple and snappy URL makes more sense than a long-winded one.

If you choose a domain name that is the same as your company name or brand, then this will make it easier for people to find you on the internet.

In addition to your website domain name, think about your email address. A lot of business is conducted over the internet by email, so keep your email address simple and memorable too.

When you have come up with a suitable domain name, you need to thinking about the ending.

Many business owners will tell you that .com and .co.uk are the most desirable, with .com being the best.

However, this doesn’t mean you have to choose one of these. There are other options available such as .net, .org and .info. It depends on the nature of your business and whether you are a national or international company, or both.

With more and more websites being registered every day, .com is becoming less desirable as businesses use their knowledge and creativity to search for new alternatives.

We would still recommend that you register the .com version if possible though, even if you only normally use the .co.uk version.

This will help protect your brand name and stop competitors bagging a similar website to yours. You want to keep competitors away from your territory at all times.

Whatever domain suffixes you decide to go with, try to make sure they at least include .co.uk so that you can be identified as a British brand.

You can check to see whether a particular domain name is available by going to easily.co.uk, although there are many other domain search websites out there you can use.

Registering your domain

Once you have chosen the exact domain name you want, and you know it is not already taken, you will then need to register it. This can be done through websites such as godaddy.com and nic.co.uk.

Nominet (nic.c.o.uk) advises individual business owners and companies to register their domain through an ISP. This is because many internet service providers (ISPs) are members of Nominet.

As soon as you have registered with an internet service provider, they will pass your application to be checked securely by Nominet.

It is recommended that you shop around for the best deal for you, as fees, contract terms and levels of service vary wildly between different providers.

Does each provider offer something else besides the basic domain registration? This might include a free home page template, email addresses and other useful tools.

Check through their terms and conditions carefully, and see if they allow you to move to another ISP if you are unhappy with their services for some reason.

If you choose not to register with an ISP, there are hundreds of companies who offer domain registration facilities.

If your budget will stretch, it’s best to splash out a bit more money and go with a reputable provider that you can count on.

The cheapest option doesn’t always mean the best, and this is certainly the case with domain registration.

Paying out a bit more now could save you money and hassle in the future.

When you have selected a company to register your domain with, the process is fairly painless and short-lived.

After you have paid the fee to secure your domain (expect this to range from anything to free of charge, up to £200), a template of your domain name will be sent off to the network information centre (NIC).

If your registration is accepted, the company you registered with will set up a domain name system entry.

This basically means they will set your name up with a serve that will collect and store registered domains so that you can be found and accessed on the internet.

This can take between 24 hours and several days depending on who you registered with.

As soon as this is done, your business is up and running online!

If you liked this article you may wish to check out Constructing A Winning Website to help kick-start your online trading.

As mentioned in our other guides on Designing an Outstanding Logo and Perfecting a Professional Business Card, we recommend you hire a design company to come up with a decent website homepage and sub-page template.

An amateur-looking website will put off potential customers as they will not take you seriously as a professional.

It’s likely they will perceive you as a less than reputable business, and avoid ordering any goods or services from you. This in turn means they will not recommend you to other people.

Looking professional is therefore vital from the outset in order to keep your business reputation intact.

Splurging on expert advice on the design and build is certainly worth it if you are able to make your budget stretch.

If not, it’s a good idea to wait until you have built up enough funds to spend on hiring a professional.

Unfortunately, website design is more expensive than most people realise – a homepage design alone is likely to set you back at least £500 if carried out by a reputable company.

Having said this, there are professional designers out there who are freelancers and will do the job for less, especially if they are trying to get themselves established.

There are also the technical costs involved such as getting the new website design live on the internet, implementing a content management system, plus any general support and maintenance expenses.

Depending on exactly how much work is undertaken, the final bill could reach up to £1,000 including VAT. We recommend shopping around as the best way to go

How to find a web designer

First of all, always look at their portfolios to check you like their work before approaching them.

Look carefully at their previous work – are their designs user-friendly? Do the pages look easy to navigate? Do the designs convey the brands well? Are the products and services communicated well?

Another way of gauging design effectiveness is to look at the designer’s own website. Does their website really sell them to you?

You can also try browsing the web for any websites in general that you like the design of, and pick out 5 or 6 that you feel market themselves particularly well.

Usually the website will credit the designer so that you can find them and get in touch. If not, try contacting the business directly and ask them who designed their website.

Once you know who’s behind the design, take a look at their portfolio to see whether you like their other work too, then ask them for a quote.

Another way of finding a web designer is to use your contacts. Networking can be a good way of throwing up professionals you are looking for. Do you know anyone in the web design industry? Or know someone who knows someone else?

Try family, friends, work colleagues and any other associates who might be able to help.

LinkedIn is worth trawling if you have a registered account there.

It's more likely you will have success with a personal recommendation (if you can get one) and it could also result in a reduction on the normal rate, so it's worth asking practically everyone you know.

A third avenue you could explore is to search UK web designer directories. There are quite a few you can look through, and some of the largest ones include:

Web Design Directory UK

UK Web Design Association

Webdesigner.co.uk

Freeindex.co.uk

Putting the design together

To help your designer produce the design you want, you need to provide them with as detailed a brief as possible.

This means sitting down and typing out exactly what you require. For example - colour palette, fonts, location of navigation bar, where you want images/text, information you want people to see and how the page should look as a whole.

There are some basic things to keep in mind when briefing your web designer.

Make sure your company name and logo are clearly visible. As soon as people land on your webpage, you want them to instantly see who you are.

The colour scheme should be in keeping with your logo and brand - stick to either 2 or 3 colours so the page doesn’t become overbearing and a headache to look at.

If your logo is yellow and orange for example, use the same shades of these colours on your website to ensure consistency.

Use a maximum of 2 fonts – don’t go overboard or your website will look messy and unprofessional. Your visitors may also have problems reading or finding the information they want.

The navigation bar should ideally be close to the top of the webpage. This way, users can automatically see what information is available on your website.

Some websites choose to have their navigation bar on either the left or right hand side of the page instead, but horizontally across the page near the top is probably better.

People aren’t going to bother searching far for what you have to offer, and if they have to scroll down the page to see what’s at the bottom of your navigation menu, the chances are this content won’t get much traffic.

Consider your revenue streams – think about pay-per-click and other forms of advertising.

You will need room somewhere on your website (preferably at the top and at the sides) to place Google adverts, direct adverts or any other ads you wish to place there.

To make it easier for your visitors to find what they are looking for, make sure you include a search box somewhere obvious on the homepage. Most websites have them either just above or below the navigation bar.

Think about using social media to promote your website and business too.

Many websites these days have buttons on the homepage that users can click on to follow a company on Twitter and/or 'like' them on Facebook.

Social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook can be extremely useful for marketing your goods or services, helping you to reach a wider audience than you would normally be able to.

Keep your site updated regularly so visitors can see what you have been up to in terms of improving and expanding the company.

A good way of making this clear is to have a dedicated page to company news, linked to from the homepage.

Most businesses will have a box on the homepage of their website where people can view a snippet of the latest news story, which they can then click on to read the news story in full detail.

Overall, your website should be simple, uncluttered and easy for potential customers to navigate.

Remember - if people can't find what they are looking for, they will look elsewhere, so avoid scaring your customers away to your competitors.

Also, make sure the website design has all the features that you need as a business owner, such as the ability to add more content easily and areas for social media buttons, Twitter feed, company news feed, and anything else required to market your brand effectively.

Technical support

Once you are happy with your choice of web designer, and have got an initial mock up of your webpage, you should also think about technical support for your website.

Things will not always run smoothly after your design has gone live, and if you’re not happy with dealing this aspect of the website yourself, then you need to consider getting a professional company to help you out.

Most web design companies offer technical support for websites they design, but if they don’t, or you are hiring a freelancer designer, then you will have to do some more shopping around.

There are certain things you should look for in a company that provide website technical support. These include:

Who exactly is providing the support: is it the company themselves or a third party?
Can you get support over the phone?
How long will it take them to respond to your questions?
Is the support system based in the UK or abroad?
Will they upgrade your web content management system for free?
Make sure that whoever is designing your website and providing your technical support is open to communication.

If they don’t seem great at answering emails or phone calls, then this is probably a sign that they are going to be difficult to work with.

If this is the case, politely tell them you are no longer interested and look elsewhere.

Whatever route you choose, it’s important you have back-up in place, preferably before your website goes live or shortly afterwards.

The last thing you want is to lose visitors and therefore trade because your website has crashed and there is no one on hand to get the problem fixed as quickly as possible.

Control your business finances

With the best idea in the world, the most eye catching brand name, memorable logo and professional looking website, your business will fall flat if you fail to properly plan your finances.

Getting this right is absolutely crucial in the success of your business.

There are two main elements to finances within any organisation - on the one hand you have management accounting, which will be the most important to you in the first instance, and the other is financial accounting, which you will need to prepare for as it concerns the practical side of your company’s finances.

Planning your finances

Management accounting is crucial even before the first day you start your business, and you will have elements of this already included in your business plan.

Loosely, management accounts covers projected finances, so this includes financial planning, financial control and budgeting and forecasting.

In the first instance you need to plan. As you will have outlined in your business plan, you need to establish what both the start up and ongoing costs of your business will be.

This will include all manner of things, including (but not limited to) stock, rent, website and ongoing technical support, wages. This is essentially budgeting.

You then need to work out what you think your sales will be, which is called forecasting. From that you will be able to work out what your profit (or loss) will be and whether you need to invest more capital or take out a loan, for example.

This is an ongoing task and not just something you need to do at the outset of your business.

Though you may, for example, project 6 months or longer within your business plan, it is essential that you keep on top of this in order to control your outgoings and incomings.

It is likely that you will incorporate management accounts as part of your role at least once a month.

Ongoing accounting

It is also likely, and indeed advisable, to enlist external help for your accounts, not least for your financial accounts.

You will be legally required to have your annual accounts ‘signed off’ by a qualified accountant, so it is well worth establishing a working relationship with one early on.

Financial accounts works in the opposite way to management accounts in that it is, to put it at its simplest, tracking actual outgoings and incomings.

How much of this you do yourself and how much you outsource to an accountant will depend on your resources and knowledge, though it is worth familiarising yourself with some elements and doing at least some of it in-house.

For this you may want to set up manual spreadsheets, or even invest in some accounting software.

Sage is a good example of such software, and is easy to use.

Dependent on the budget of your business you may also want to consider hiring an accounts assistant to work directly for you on the basic ledger functions.

Ledger equates to record, and so you will need processes for raising, sending and tracking invoices, as well as a system to receive and pay invoices (sales and purchase ledger respectively), as well as managing cashflow, bank accounts, transfers and reconciling all of these transactions and balances.

If much of this sounds alien, then enlist an accountant sooner rather than later, as they will be able to give you advice on this and also management accounts.

How do I find a reputable accountant?

All accountants need to be qualified in order to sign off your yearly accounts, and so for this you need a Chartered Accountant.

They will be qualified in ACA, ACCA or, occasionally CIMA. The first two are qualifications in financial accounting, and the latter management accounting.

Chartered Accountants deal primarily with financial accounting, although may advise with your management accounts too. Certainly they will know all aspects of it.

For a cheaper alternative, you may wish to hire a non-qualified accountant (sometimes called a Bookkeeper) throughout the year and to only go through a qualified accountant at the end of your tax year.

It is worth considering though that a qualified accountant will also help with your tax returns, and advice on how you might be able to save money.

As with all things it’s possible to find accountants through a Google search, though it is well worth asking around for personal recommendations.

Either way, do ask for customer testimonials when hiring either a bookkeeper or qualified accountant.

Credit management

Once you have established what your projected finances will be, and have put the processes in place to manage these, you now need to consider how you will manage customers and suppliers.

Good credit management is essential for good cash flow.

Firstly, consider vetting all potential customers to ascertain their proposed risk to your business.

Next you need to decide what your payment terms are. Following this, you need to be prepared to follow up and chase outstanding monies owed.

All businesses, new and old, have this process, so make sure that you are comfortable with doing this.

Form a magic marketing strategy

Developing a successful marketing strategy is essential for any business.

In the absence of a marketing strategy, your business will be unable to reach out to its customers with its goods or services.

The focus of your marketing strategy should be to communicate the advantages of your products and services and the way in which they can meet the needs of your customers.

Once you have determined this, you can begin to develop a long and lucrative relationship with your customers.

Your marketing strategy must be flexible to enable you to respond to changes in your customer’s perceptions and demands.

Your strategy should also aid you in identifying new markets that you may be able to target.

Key Elements of Successful Marketing Strategies

Your potential customers will fall into certain groups or segments, determined by their requirements.

You can identify these groups and their requirements through conducting market research. This gives you the chance to address your requirements more successfully in comparison to your competitors.

You can then begin to produce a marketing strategy that utilises your business’ strengths and matches them to the requirements of the customers you wish to target.

For example, if your chosen group of customers is seeking quality products, your marketing activities should be aimed at drawing attention to the quality of your business’ products or services.

Once you have coined a marketing strategy, it is essential to determine the marketing activities that you will need to engage in to ensure that your target market is aware of the products or services that you offer and the way in which they are able to meet their needs.

You should aim to put the majority of your efforts into attracting the customers that will provide you with the most profits.

There are countless ways in which you can do this, including advertising, Internet activity, exhibitions, point of sale strategies and public relations initiatives.

You should try to limit marketing activities to include only those methods that you consider will be the most effective.

This will help you to avoid dividing up your budget too thinly.

Product Portfolios and Marketing Strategy Incorporation

Managing your products’ life cycles is an essential part of your marketing strategy.

When you remain aware of precisely where your product is within its life cycle, you will be able to market your product in a way that will maximise its sales.

Your marketing strategy must be tailored to each product or service that your business offers.

It should also consider the stage your product or service is at in its life cycle. It is a wise idea to ensure that you have new products or services to offer as interest in your other products or services decline.

That way, at least one product or service in your range will be benefiting from a sales peak.

Alternatively, you could take steps to alter a current product to produce a new version.

As your business will be small to start off with, it is essential for you to remember that you do not necessarily have to be the market leader from the outset.

However, you should always remain focused on what makes your business different to - and superior to - your competitors.

Evaluating a Marketing Strategy for Effectiveness

Once you have decided on your marketing strategy, it is essential to monitor and evaluate it for effectiveness.

This will not only aid you in determining the way in which your marketing strategy is working but will inform you of the best way to proceed with your future marketing strategies.

One simple way to determine whether your marketing strategy is working efficiently is to ask new customers about the way in which they learned of your business.

You may wish to consider approaching a trusted third party to provide you with feedback on your marketing strategy.

They may be able to identify any weaknesses that you have failed to see. If you find that certain elements of your marketing strategy have not worked as you thought that they would, do not be afraid to change these elements.

Writing a Marketing Plan

Once you have coined the perfect marketing strategy, you should draw up a plan that details the way in which you will execute your strategy and evaluate its successes.

Your marketing plan must set out your aims, actions, budget, key dates, resources and effective marketing programmes.

The plan must be regularly reviewed and, where necessary, updated to enable you to respond to changes in your customer’s requirements and attitudes as well as in the economic climate.

Helpful Tips

When focusing on your market, avoid making assumptions with regards to your customers’ desires.
Never ignore your competition or try to compete with them based on pricing alone and do not rely on too few customers to provide you with the profit that you desire.
Ensure that the growth that you wish to achieve is realistic – do not aim to seek significant growth in your business over a short time period.
Remain aware of the products and services that you offer and always strive to innovate and improve.

Launching Your Business

Launching a business is an exciting time in your career and it’s easy to get ahead of yourself and overlook some important things in the rush to open the doors to customers.

You may have an amazing idea, but without proper planning and foresight it may not live up to your expectations.

Before starting to advertise the launch of your business, make sure you have a solid business plan in place.

Ask yourself whether you have taken the results of your market research into account and whether you have made all the right changes and tweaks to your products or services to ensure that they will be at their best and most efficient when they first become available.

You may find it useful to revisit your business plan and make sure it still provides a realistic account of your enterprise’s prospects of success.

Has the general demand for your product changed in any way since the initial research was conducted?

Did the price of any materials used in production change, and if yes, how does it affect your profit margin?

A number of checks at this stage in your business’ development could save you a lot of pain later on when you are already trading and don’t have much room for alterations.

Once the structural aspects are out of the way, it’s important to spend plenty of time thinking about marketing your business.

This should amount to more than a few emails and press releases.

Refer back to your market research to ensure you promote your product by basing your campaign on solid evidence of the wants and needs of your potential customers.

After you are happy with the marketing strategy, it’s time to look back once more to the image of your company.

If there’s anything you think could be improved about your website design, logo, or business cards, now it’s the time to do it.

Everything should be in perfect condition when your business goes live and customers get the chance to explore your website.

Going through a short period of testing, especially if your enterprise relies heavily on its online aspects, could make the difference between a successful launch and a disaster - nobody wants to deal with technical difficulties during their first few days.

Inspect the graphic design elements on your promotional materials and business cards too.

You need a memorable logo and a name you fully support right from the start. If something needs changing, now it’s the time to do it.

Re-branding an established business could prove to be difficult in the future.

When everything has been thoroughly revised, it’s time to focus all your attention to promoting your impending launch.

Rushing through this process could mean less attention for your brand and may lead to a not very glowing start, so it’s important you reserve plenty of time for creating a buzz around your business before the big day.

If this seems like a daunting task, you may want to consider hiring a PR team. You only get one shot at a launch after all.

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