Let’s paint a very simple scenario that works every time.

Imagine having about 6,000 targeted WhatsApp contacts on your phone and half the contacts are checking your WhatsApp status daily. Imagine you have an amazing offer, and only 1% is buying from you.

This is not a rocket science, it’s just a simple method people are using to rake in some cool sales for their products.

What’sApp Marketing is by far a very profitable method of Growth Hacking Sales, and in this guide, i will be showing you how you can implement this method too.

HOW TO DO IT

Run a 1k daily targeted Facebook advertisement, and direct it to your WhatsApp.

Make sure you are giving out an irresistible offer.

You will see a lot of prospective customers flooding your WhatsApp daily. 

Please have the energy to keep saving those contacts on your phone so you can keep pushing out content to them on your WhatsApp.

With this strategy, you will keep making sales and also keep building your audience, and as such, you will become an authority in what you do.

Look, this is a powerful, simple Growth Hacking strategy that works 100000%.

WHAT YOU SHOULD NOT EVEN TRY.

I see some so-called gurus out there telling people to join several WhatsApp groups and scoop or scrape all the phone numbers and save them using some tools.

As someone who wants to build engagement and authority in your niche, that is not a smart thing to do. 

I tried it a few weeks back, and I ended up getting people selling Expertnaire on my WhatsApp status. 

Implication:

• When you scrape people’s numbers and send them messages, no one will take you seriously.
• You are doing what others are doing and as such, you are saving people’s number who are doing exactly what you are doing.
• You won’t be seen as an authority in your niche

Do it the right way, and you will surely get result.

This is Growth Hacking, and it works every single time.

𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐬.

With more people dreaming of being entrepreneurs, the ticket to success may not be in having the next killer idea or disruptive concept, but in having stronger financial management than the next guy in line.

How to handle your finances should be the first question you should ask yourself when planning to launch a startup.

Here are five tips to help you avoid some common financial mistakes other entrepreneurs make:

1. CREATE A BUDGET

Budgeting is the process of creating a plan to spend your money. Creating a budget allows you to determine in advance whether you will have enough money to do the things you need to do or would like to do.

Budgeting does more than making room for upcoming expenses; it also ensures that unexpected ones don’t prove disastrous.

2. MIXING PERSONAL AND BUSINESS FINANCES

One thing you should never do in your business is to combine personal and business finances.

While nothing may seem wrong with using business funds to just get a couple of basic personal needs, mixing business transactions with personal ones is a sure way to lose control of your finances.

When business and personal expenses are charged to the same account, it becomes impossible to maintain an accurate budget. Even though you are your own boss, still think of yourself as an employee, and while you can’t surely use business funds as an employee, then don’t do that with your own business.

3. LIMIT YOUR FIXED EXPENSES IN THE BEGINNING

In the early stages of a startup, keeping your expenses low is the key to longevity. Operate thin so you can allocate the majority of your capital to growth.

Too many startups focus on the wrong things, thereby incurring certain unnecessary expenses. They forget that generating revenue should be their top priority.

4. TRACK AND MONITOR ALL EXPENSES

With a new startup, there are going to be expenses coming at you from every direction, and with this, it may be very difficult for you to track all the expenses. But make sure you track all your expenses; this will help create a financial plan (budget), and help you avoid unnecessary expenses another time.

5. DEBT REDUCTION

Debts can be problematic for entrepreneurs. This is especially true if they’ve taken on debt in pursuit of starting the business. You’ll be paying interest on your debts, consistently, so if you aren’t able to reduce them early on, you might become the victim of compound interest and end up owing far more than you originally borrowed.

If possible, try bootstrapping your startup, try as much as possible to avoid loans or borrowings. As an entrepreneur, one of your biggest priorities should be to get your debts under control.

Around the world, both professional and personal Internet users rely heavily on email. While it may be one of the oldest tools known to the Internet, it’s not showing any signs of becoming outdated any time soon.

Email marketing is an age-old strategy that still effectively helps businesses convert their prospects as well as engage with their customers. If used logically, it can offer a massive return on investment (ROI).

Without further ado, here are 5 tips for writing high-converting Emails that can boost your business:

1. WRITE A KILLER SUBJECT LINE

If you want to write a high-converting Email, the first place to start is the subject line. There’s no single factor more important to an email’s open rate than its subject line.

The subject line can be the difference between recipients opening your email, deleting it or, reporting it as spam.

A good subject line should compel subscribers to open the email based on a feeling of curiosity, excitement, or anticipation.

2. CAPTURE ATTENTION WITHIN TWO SENTENCES

Almost everyone now is busy. Everyone has different things they need to do, hence they make sure any other thing not aligned with their tasks should be worth it.

This is why you shouldn’t take too much of your recipient’s time, if not, he’ll just “trash” your mail. This is why it’s so important to grab their attention within the first two sentences. You should give the recipient a reason to keep reading your email.

3. KEEP YOUR PARAGRAPHS SHORT

Most people open emails on their mobile phones which have smaller screens compared to PCs, so let your paragraphs be short. If a paragraph is already taking like 7-10 lines, it discourages the recipient from reading it.

Don’t overwhelm your recipient. Lots of white space makes an email look digestible and easily scannable. Paragraphs should be kept to just one or two sentences.

4. LET YOUR OFFER BE SIMPLE

Aside from the subject line, the CTA is the most important part of your email marketing campaign, because that’s what’ll get subscribers to convert, by taking the action you’d like them to take.

But try to stick to the rule of one CTA per email. If you present multiple offers, you’ll add an unnecessary layer of confusion and friction, which will suppress conversions across the board.

You can use the same CTA at multiple points in an email, but let it still be a particular action. Don’t put different offers into a single email.

5. HAVE AN EXCELLENT FINISHING

Only a small percentage of recipients will make it to the end of your email. However, the ones who do are most likely to convert. Thus, it’s imperative that you finish strong.

A strong ending to an email should compel someone to act. It should evoke curiosity, drive FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out), or attach a high sense of urgency or scarcity to the offer.

Money is the bloodline of any business. Acquisition of funds that can help you to build your startup is an immense challenge, especially if you do not know where to start.

There are various options for securing capital for your startup. Here are 6 ways through which you can raise capital for your startup:

1. BOOTSTRAPPING YOUR STARTUP

The process of utilizing personal saved up funds or funding from friends and family is known as bootstrapping or self -funding. This way of raising capital is the most common among startups’ early stages. Founders or team members put their money together for their startup.

Funding your own startup is one way of telling your potential investors, how serious you are about this venture. Putting your money in the project shows that you are willingly taking the risk of putting the money that you have worked hard for at stake, supporting your idea with the faith you have in your company.

READ: Pros and Cons of Bootstrapping Your Startup

2. CROWDFUNDING

When an entrepreneur is involved in crowdfunding, the person generally utilizes the Internet to solicit funding for a specific business idea. Crowdfunding platforms are basically set up for individuals to pitch their business ideas to a community of investors or people willing to support their ideas.

How it basically works is that an individual makes a business pitch on the crowdfunding platform, he shares his business model and its potential for growth. If his idea is bought by the crowdfunders on the platform, they’ll make a pledge to support his business model publicly and donate funds respectively.

READ: 5 Best Crowdfunding Sites to Fund Your Business Ideas in Nigeria

3. ANGEL INVESTMENT

Angel investors are individuals with surplus cash and a keen interest to invest in upcoming startups. They also work in groups of networks to collectively screen the proposals before investing. They can also offer mentoring or advice alongside capital.

Knowing this, angel investors can be a good source of capital for your startup. First, you must have a solid business plan put together and a great pitch ready. You have to capture their attention with enthusiasm and promising data points about your startup’s current situation and future potential.

4. APPLYING FOR LOAN

Another way to get your startup financed is a business loan from the bank. It is one way of keeping the initial control of the startup in your own hand. Taking a loan for startups might be healthy but only to those who have full confidence that the business will prosper in the first run without difficulties.

But while considering a loan, check the interest rates and also if you have collateral to give. Crosscheck with all the facts, whether you are able to comply with all the terms of the loan.

5. CHECK INTO GOVERNMENT FUNDING/GRANTS

The government can offer a reasonable amount of funding opportunities for newly-established businesses. As you’d expect, the government generally funds viable business plans with good future projections. As such, grant applications have to be persuasive enough to acquire this funding.

6. SOURCE CAPITAL BY WINNING CONTESTS

Another amazing way to source for capital is through engaging in competitions or contests that require entrepreneurs to showcase or pitch their business plan against other competitors vying for the same funding for their businesses.

As a contestant, you are required to present a comprehensive and detailed business plan if you are looking to win over investor confidence.

CONCLUSION

There are several ways of raising capital for your new startup. All you need to do is choose one that is best for you and your type of business. Begin with going through all the options that are beneficial to you and your startup, then slowly cut down to the best options that will reach your goals.

Crowdfunding sites also known as fundraising sites are websites that enable people to raise money for their projects or businesses from a large number of people who find such projects or businesses interesting.

Crowdfunding is becoming an increasingly popular way for entrepreneurs to fund their business ideas.

When an entrepreneur is involved in crowdfunding, the person generally utilizes the Internet to solicit funding for a specific business idea.

Here are the top crowdfunding sites to get funding for your ideas in Nigeria:

1. KICKSTARTER

Kickstarter is arguably the most popular crowdfunding site.

It is important to note that Kickstarter runs an all or nothing system. This means if at the end of the fundraising, you do not get the amount needed to start the project, you will not get any of the money, it will be returned to the supporters. But if you meet the amount needed, then you get it.

Kickstarter charges a fee of 5% which excludes payment processing.

2. INDIEGOGO

Indiegogo is a very popular crowdfunding website similar to Kickstarter but with notable differences. This platform helps businesses, creative people, NGOs, and others raise funds to support their projects.

One amazing option in Indiegogo is the opportunity to choose a fixed or flexible funding goal. The fixed funding is like Kickstarter’s all or nothing: if you do not raise the amount of money needed to start the project at the end of fundraising, you get nothing. But the flexible funding option allows you to get the fund whether you meet your goal or not.

Indiegogo charges a fee of 5% which excludes payment processing.

3. NAIJAFUND

NaijaFund is a crowdfunding platform that empowers everyone and enables people to raise funds for anything including business. NaijaFund removes the physical barriers traditionally associated with receiving financial support from the people in our lives or those that wish to support it.

The platform allows users to connect their account with social media networks where they can easily ask for funds from friends, family, friends of friends, community leaders, pastors, and others.

While it’s free to create and share your online fundraising campaign, NaijaFund will deduct a 10% fee from each donation that you receive.

4. CROWDFUNDER

Crowdfunder is an equity crowdfunding site that provides funds for high growth ventures. The platform has a network of over 130,000 entrepreneurs and investors. In addition to that, Crowdfunder educates thousands of entrepreneurs to grow high-impact ventures.

5. IMEELA

If you are an entrepreneur or startup with an innovative idea but in need of funding, Imeela can help you create a great crowdfunding campaign to help get your ideas off the ground. Besides that, they also provide strategies that will help you kickstart your business.

CONCLUSION

Crowdfunding sites are a good way to raise money for your ideas. If you have a good idea and no funds, instead of giving up, you can actually do something about it by using these platforms to raise funds.

Bootstrapping is the term used in startup financing to describe a situation where the owner of business chooses to use his personal savings to fund his business rather than seeking external financing and continuing to fuel growth internally from cash flow produced by the business.

Bootstrapping a startup business can work if you’re passionate and willing to put in the hustle. For those that can pull it off, it may bring even more rewards. Though, that doesn’t mean there aren’t any downsides.

Let’s see the pros and cons of launching a startup via bootstrapping.

PROS

1. YOU ARE YOUR OWN BOSS

This is one of the greatest pros of bootstrapping. Self-funding your startup means you only answer to yourself. You are free to do as you wish with the direction of your startup.

You’re free because when you fund your startup through venture capitalists or angel investors, they have a say. They also have their own goals and interests in funding your startup and will often put parameters on how you conduct business.

2. YOU BECOME MORE PRUDENT

Bootstrapping doesn’t allow extravagance. Because the money isn’t enough, you learn to spend wisely and efficiently.  You evaluate every decision to buy before making any purchase. You seek if there are better alternatives or if a particular expense can be avoided completely.

3. INNOVATION

Most inventions come from the need, specifically the needs of individuals. When all of your savings and the mortgage you took on your house so that you can launch your startup are on the line, the drive and pressure will force you to either innovate or invent or fail. There are no other choices.

4. YOU SAVE TIME

Before you finally meet a venture capitalist that will agree to invest in your startup, you must have expended a lot of time. The time used in creating and presenting slideshows could be used to focus on your business.

When you bootstrap, your energy, and focus are concentrated on how to get customers and how to satisfy them.

CONS

1. SLOW GROWTH

Without sufficient capital, your growth may be slow.

Bootstrapping your startup most likely means you’re operating with limited resources and very little, if any, staff to help you.

You can invest in resources once the money starts coming in, but this will be slow, and you’ll have to adjust your overall projections.

2. LACK OF NETWORKING

Venture capitalists and investors are usually very well connected.

When you bootstrap your startup, you may miss out on valuable networking connections. You may miss out on partnership opportunities that can open up new markets for you or increase your visibility.

In addition, investors are often full of advice and support. So, you might miss out on their expert wisdom as well.

3. COMPETITION

With fewer resources at your disposal, you may not be able to compete effectively with your competitors. Competitors may be able to spend big on an advertisement, which can enable them to gain a larger market share.

Because they have the money to buy goods in large quantities, they may be privileged to buy goods at cheaper prices from their suppliers. This may afford them to sell at cheaper prices to consumers, prices which will be difficult for you to match.

CONCLUSION

Is bootstrapping your startup worth it? You’ll have to weigh the pros and cons.

Many bootstrapped startups are highly successful. Why?

These startups are forced to be careful, resourceful and accountable to themselves. They are often highly focused on one profitable product. They work to build customer loyalty while maintaining a strict budget. They have loads of patience and know how to scale up their hiring, production and marketing efforts when they have the funds.

Yet, bootstrapping isn’t for everyone. Whichever way you decide to go – bootstrapping or investors, you’ll find advantages and disadvantages.

The key is weighing them carefully before moving on. It’s up to you to decide which strategy works best with your overall goals.

Advertising has but one purpose: to sell. Whether a promotion for a new product, a landing page for a special offer, or attention-grabbing product descriptions for an e-commerce site, effective advertising eventually leads to sales.

Nobody can actually guarantee that an ad is going to be effective. The only way to know for sure is to test it. But there are several elements that you can incorporate into your ad or sales letter to give it a better chance of being a winner.

Here are some elements you can incorporate to develop effective advertising campaigns:

#1  SMART AD PLACEMENT

The first step in positioning your ad for success is increasing its chance of being seen by your target market.

Find out where majority of your target market are, are they on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Newsprints, TVs, etc. Until you know this information, you cannot make smart choices about ad placement and you’ll likely end up wasting a lot of your hard-earned money on an ad that didn’t even get seen by your target market.

#2  A CLEAR OBJECTIVE

You’ll never get what you want if you don’t know what you want. This is true in your advertising efforts. You must have a specific objective for your ad if you want people to act. Is it to contact you on WhatsApp, come to your office, or visit your website?

An ad copy should have a clear objective right from the start. Without a defined objective and clear direction, no piece of ad copy will succeed in its intended purpose.

#3  COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Why should your prospect do business with you over any of your competitors? Even those that have lower prices!

Often your competitive advantage is the biggest benefit you can offer your prospects so consider including it in your headline, bulleted copy, or your guarantee.

If you don’t have a competitive advantage, then you better get one. Not having a competitive advantage with which to show value, results in competing solely on price, and that’s a losing proposition (unless you have a significant cost advantage).

READ: How to Achieve Competitive Advantage in your Business

#4  COMPELLING HEADLINE

Your headline is the most important part of all the technical aspects of your ad. Most people always have much thing to do online these days, so you have to get your headlines right, let your headline be so catchy so as to pique their interests into checking out your ad.

Readers satisfy their interests by scanning headlines. If your headline doesn’t grab attention, your ad will never be read, let alone noticed.

#5  SELL THE BENEFITS

Your prospects don’t care about you or your business. They only care about how you, and what you offer, can benefit them. Ultimately people only want two things – to gain pleasure and to avoid pain.

Tell people how your offer will help them either gain pleasure or avoid pain by expressing them in the form of benefits. Don’t confuse this with listing the features of your product or service. Instead, tell them how the features will benefit them instead.

#6  MAKE IT RISK-FREE

Consumers are naturally skeptical. With all the scams, rip-offs, and untruthful ads consumers have experienced, who knows what to believe anymore? You must make your ad credible and risk-free.

There are 3 ways to provide a risk-free offer:

• Use testimonials
• Offer a strong guarantee
• Include facts and statistics

Each of these ways will build credibility and reduce the risk prospects naturally feel when contemplating an offer. But make sure you are being honest and truthful.

#7  CALL TO ACTION (CTA)

When someone tells you that they don’t like being told what to do, don’t believe it. People do want to be told what to do. In fact, people need to be told what to do and when to do it.

Phrases such as, “call now”, “come in today”, “sign up right now” trigger emotional response mechanisms that get your prospects to take action on an offer that secretly you want to take advantage of anyway. Make your CTA explicit and clear, so your prospect knows exactly what to do.

#8  URGENCY

Humans are naturally lazy and like to procrastinate. Without a real or perceived sense of urgency your prospects will drag their feet. To compel your prospect to act immediately you must inject a feeling of “scarcity”.

For instance, placing a deadline on your offer makes your prospect feel as though they have to take advantage of your offer before they lose the opportunity. You could do this by repealing a discount offer or a special bonus offer within a specified period of time.

Another maneuver is to limit the quantity available so that people will feel the need to take advantage of your offer before your product runs out. This is why you see offers stating, “while supplies last”, “only 45 left”.

CONCLUSION

Although, none of these elements alone can guarantee a successful ad, the combination of these elements will increase the potential for your ad to be a solid winner.

READ: 4 Reasons Why People Advertise

Referrals, otherwise known as getting someone you know to give you warm leads to new prospects, are valuable for entrepreneurs in all niches.

Research shows that a salesperson is 4 times more likely to close a sale to a referred lead as opposed to a cold lead, 92 percent of consumers trust referrals from people they know, 77 percent of consumers are more likely to buy a new product after learning about it from a friend or family member.

Now, you can see how important you need to get those referrals rolling in.

Fortunately, there are ways you can easily get referrals if you can just leverage on it. They are:

EXISTING CUSTOMERS

Your own customers are the easiest referral source. In fact, if you treat them right, they may well go out and do some selling for you. But don’t just wait for your customers to do all the work for you, always ask them for referrals.

It’s a good idea anyway to check in with your customers a few weeks or months after the sale. You can then ask them how they’re enjoying the product, find out if they have any questions, and then kindly tell them to help you refer to others.

NEW CUSTOMERS

Just after closing a sale with someone is the best time to get referrals from them because they’re excited about their new purchase. Some entrepreneurs are nervous about asking for referrals at this point because they just want to get out of there in case the prospect changes their mind. Hit them up for a referral right away, while their energy and excitement are at the peak.

PROSPECTS YOU COULDN’T CLOSE

If you pitch to a prospect and they turn you down, don’t just let them go immediately. Try getting a referral or two, and you’ll have changed a loss into a win.

A lot of sales fall through not because the prospect dislikes you or your product, but because they just aren’t a good fit. In that case, it’s the perfect opportunity to find out if they know someone who is a good fit. Don’t assume the prospect doesn’t like you and your product. You have nothing to lose by asking.

ANYONE ELSE

Anyone you meet under any circumstances can give you a referral. Ask everyone, your mechanic, plumber, neighbor, even the person standing behind you in the supermarket checkout. You’ll be amazed at how many leads will drop into your lap as a result of a brief conversation. Just like I said earlier, you have absolutely nothing to lose.

NOTE: You can only get referrals if your product or service is top-notch and premium. Nobody will want to refer someone to you if you deliver substandard products. People are even more likely to unconsciously refer you if your product or service is quality.

The success of your business depends on your sales skills. Everything from your profits to the effectiveness of your marketing relies on your ability to sell. But most entrepreneurs have a strong dislike for anything that involves having to sell, even though they still have to get involved. It’s this fear of selling that even discourages most people from going into entrepreneurship.

This fear of selling may be due to being naturally shy or lacking self-confidence. Or perhaps you never learned how to speak about your business in a way that compels people to buy from you.

Regardless of the reason, if you run a business or work for yourself you’ll find it much easier to be successful if you sharpen your sales skills and get comfortable in this role.

Here are some steps you can take to turn your fears into success and overcome your fear of selling:

GET CLEAR ON YOUR MARKET POSITIONING

How do prospects view your business? What makes you different or unique? Who’s your ideal client? What problem does your product or service solve? Once you are able to clearly project the benefits of your product or service to your ideal customers, it will be easy for them to realize that they should buy from you rather than from your competitor.

SPECIFY WHAT EXACTLY YOU ARE AFRAID OF

It may not even be the sale you are afraid of. This is why it’s imperative for you to know the exact reasons behind your fear, and seek solutions to deal with them

For instance, the reason behind a fear may be because of a problem with the product or service. It’s hard to convince people to buy if you are worried about what you are selling. If this is the case, fix the problems. Make your product or service be the best.

Other times, a fear can stem from an emotional issue, such as fear of success or fear of failure. Often, we get in our own way with negative self-talk or beliefs that sabotage our efforts. If so, get in touch with these feelings and implement strategies to deal with them.

EXAMINE THE STYLES OF THOSE WHO DO IT WITH SMOOTHLY

We’ve all met them, people who don’t seem to be selling at all, but know just the right things to say to get people interested in their offering. They don’t employ any of the selling behaviors that turn people off. Study them. Analyze what they’re doing. Then adapt it to suit your situation.

UNDERSTAND THAT SELLING IS A GAME OF NUMBERS, AND NOT EVERY SALE GETS CLOSED

Not every prospect is a qualified buyer and that’s normal. It’s just a normal part of the sales process. Try thinking of it as selecting the customers that would benefit most from your offering. Naturally, in order to select the best, you’ll have to reject those that don’t fit.

It’s close to impossible to pitch to 100 people and expect all to buy your product. Even the best salespeople don’t close all sales.

LEARN TO LOOK AT REJECTION AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN MORE

Instead of getting discouraged by a rejection, use the opportunity to learn from the experience instead.

What went right? What went wrong? How can I approach it differently next time?

DON’T TAKE IT PERSONALLY

There are lots of reasons people say “no”. Many of these reasons have nothing to do with you. It may be that they don’t really need what you’re offering at that time, or they are busy and preoccupied with other things.

IDENTIFY COMMON OBJECTIONS, AND TACKLE THEM

You can turn more prospects into paying customers by thinking about logical comebacks to common objections.

Is your prospect is focused on price? Then focus on value and return on investment (ROI). This way you meet their concerns head-on, instead of avoiding them.

BOOST YOUR SELF-CONFIDENCE AND MOTIVATION

Think about all of the wonderful results your product or service has gotten for your customers. Don’t confuse your selling abilities with the value customers get from buying from you. Remind yourself often about the positive benefits your customers receive. If you’re not sure, ask them what they like best about doing business with you.

SET REALISTIC GOALS

Although setting goals is important, try not to set the bar too high that you won’t be able to reach it. This only leads to discouragement.

Instead, start by setting a realistic goal. Then, break it down into all of the steps you will need to take to get there. Get real about the time, energy, money, and any other resources you’ll need to have in place in order to achieve it. Next, add a timeline and benchmarks to measure progress.

CONSIDER PRACTICING FIRST

Practicing really helps. A great way to do this is to try out your presentation in a comfortable setting first.

You can do this by contacting people in your industry you feel comfortable with to listen to your presentation and take note of their constructive feedback. This will allow you to work on the faults, which in turn will make you gain confidence.

CELEBRATE YOUR WINS

Congratulate yourself whenever you make a good presentation or feel you’ve improved, even if you haven’t closed a deal yet. It doesn’t help if you keep being hard on yourself if all doesn’t go well. Focus on the positives, and you’ll find it easier to be successful.

A competitive advantage is an attribute that allows a business to outperform its competitors. It is simply a factor that distinguishes your business from others and makes customers more likely to choose your product over the competition. This allows a business to achieve superior margins compared to its competition and generates value for the company.

A competitive advantage must be difficult, if not impossible, to duplicate. If it is something that can easily be copied, it is not considered a competitive advantage.

There are two (2) main strategies for sustaining a competitive advantage over rival businesses and their products or services. These strategies are:

1. COST LEADERSHIP STRATEGY

This means being the lowest-cost producer in the market. The lowest-cost producer is able to compete effectively on price, by offering its products at a lower price than rival products. He is able to sell his products more cheaply than his competitors and still make profit.

Businesses that operate this strategy have excellent systems of cost control and continually plan for further cost reductions.

It’s difficult for new start-ups or small businesses to adopt this strategy. Large businesses are easily able to adopt this strategy because they can benefit from economies of scale that smaller businesses are unable to achieve.

This means that large businesses are able to produce in larger quantities, thereby spreading their fixed costs over a large output, which in turn leads to a lower cost than what small businesses incur.

2. PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGY

This means making a product different from your competitor’s product such that customers are ready and willing to pay a higher price for your product, because they value its different features.

This strategy has to do with the concept of Unique Selling Point (USP). What’s that thing your product offer, which gains an advantage over your competitor’s product? What extra thing can you offer that will make customers to willingly pay a higher price for your product/service?

Businesses pursuing this strategy need to offer products and services that are perceived as better or more suitable than those of your competitors. To deliver these products and services usually require investment and innovation.

CONCLUSION

Since it’s difficult for most small businesses to adopt the cost leadership strategy, then it’s better to go for the second strategy to gain a competitive advantage. This doesn’t mean you should ignore cost. Try as much as possible to control and reduce your costs, so that you can offer more value.

Even when faced with stiff competition, having a competitive advantage provides you with greater opportunities to gain more market share. More importantly, the stronger your competitive advantage, the greater your ability to sustain a position of strength in the market no matter its conditions or level of competition.

With more people having access to technology than ever before, it’s become easy to work from anywhere and market products and services to global audiences at a very low cost.

This, together with a failing economy, has left a lot of people with money worries and feelings of insecurity and has also created a strong desire in many people to take control of their future by starting a side-hustle from home.

Here are some reasons to consider starting a business from home:

CONTROL OVER YOUR SCHEDULE

Being in charge of your day is one of the biggest benefits of working from home. You can set and customize your work hours to meet the needs of your life.

Conversely, this freedom can also bring with it distracting temptations and the risk of procrastinating on work-related tasks. You’ll want to make sure you have the right entrepreneurial traits and a good daily organizational plan to handle this new responsibility, coupled with a conducive working environment.  

LESS TRANSPORT

Working outside the home not only takes a lot of time but also chunks up a large part of your income in terms of job-related transport expenses. Cutting down on daily transport would put some of that money back in your pocket.

CONTROL OVER YOUR WORK ATTIRE

No more suits and ties, No more corporate wears. You can wear whatever you want. If you’re most comfortable and inspired in your club jersey, you can wear it every day if you want.

NO BOSS

A home business is ideal for someone who doesn’t like to be told what to do. You can do the work in the way you feel is best. Also, if you are working at home, you don’t need to get to be queried for being late. There’s no having to ask for time off. There’s no one looking over your shoulder to make sure you’re working.

Starting and managing a business is no small feat, but its rewards can be huge. Everyone wishes to set up a business but only a few people end up starting a business, and even fewer people end up running successful businesses.

Many aspiring entrepreneurs have great ideas for startups, but having an idea is one thing, executing the idea is another thing. So, here are some key lessons to know about entrepreneurship before starting your own business.

1. ENTREPRENEURSHIP CAN CONSUME YOUR LIFE

In the first few years of starting a business, it demands more attention and care; over time, however, the business’s foundation becomes stronger.

Remember, nothing worthwhile comes easy, and you will have to sacrifice a lot of your free time so that you can give your startup the attention it needs to thrive.

2. THE FIRST FEW YEARS ARE ESPECIALLY CHALLENGING

According to the data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 20% of new businesses fail during the first two years of operation, and roughly half of all businesses don’t survive past the fifth year. These statistics are a reflection of how difficult it is to start a successful company.

Building a strong team is one vital step to reduce the chances of failure. Your team should have a broad range and wealth of experience. There will always be someone out there who knows something you don’t.

3. THERE WILL BE TIMES YOU WILL DOUBT YOURSELF

Doubt is a normal human emotion, especially if you’ve been working on your startup for a while without seeing much success. One way to overcome self-doubt is by analyzing what you’ve done right and what you can do better.

You can always be better and do better. Doubting yourself too much will hinder your efficiency. That’s why confidence is an important mannerism for any entrepreneur to possess. Radiating confidence instills confidence in everyone around you.

4. FAILURE IS A PART OF THE PROCESS

Every successful entrepreneur has gone through countless failures and learned from them as they’ve grown.

People tend to focus on others’ successes and overlook their failures. Remember, the lessons learned from failure equip entrepreneurs with the necessary skills to manage their startups better in the future.

Starting a business is a highly rewarding, exciting, and challenging thing to do. You get to be your own boss, make decisions, set your bearings, and pursue the opportunities you are interested in. It’s even better if you are working from home, you can work in your nightwear and work anytime you want.

But despite these thrills and excitement that come with starting a business, not everyone still desires to follow the path of entrepreneurship.

Here are 8 reasons why people don’t start their own businesses:

1. FEAR OF FAILURE

Despite the excitement of starting a business, it’s actually a big risk. Sometimes, it will work out, while at other times, it doesn’t.

It’s this fear of failure that hinders people from starting a business. This fear may have resulted from having experienced past failures in their lives, and do not want to replicate that feeling with the risk of failure in starting a business. The fear may also be caused by self-doubts.

READ: Mistakes to Avoid When Starting a Business

2. LACK OF CAPITAL

The people that fall into this category have little or no money to start a business. They also don’t know how to source for capital to start a business.

They have no significant savings, no rich families or friends to borrow from and poor credits that won’t pass a bank’s lending criteria.

Even if they desire to start a business, the lack of capital is a huge stumbling to them.

3. LACK OF EXPOSURE

These sets of people have never been exposed to entrepreneurship, so they’ve never considered starting a business as an option.

Everyone they know has worked, is working for someone else and so they’ve been programmed to think that being an employee is the only path for them.

4. DON’T WANT THE STRESS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Apart from the risk associated with starting a business, the stress is also massive. Starting and managing a business means you have to understand the market, develop the right products that will address that will address the needs of your target market, and possess the skills to run the business.

All these activities can be so challenging and stressful, especially if things are not going well.

5. PASSION FOR THEIR CURRENT JOB

They found a passion for their work in their jobs. They love their current jobs, and there’s nothing in the world they want to do but work in their current jobs. They already feel that the corporate world gives them the challenging, exciting environment that they crave.

There’s no reason to resign and start a business because they have already found the perfect job for themselves.

6. LACK OF IDEAS

Even if they are open to the idea of starting a business, they don’t just know what business to start. This is a huge stumbling block to many; people tend to find it hard to decide what business to start.

There are simply too many existing businesses to choose from that they don’t know which one will work for them, or they may want to create something totally new, but have no idea what to create.

READ: 5 Ways to Find the Right Startup Idea

7. FEAR OF SELLING

Unfortunately, there are many people who don’t know how to sell. They fear rejection; they are intimidated by the whole process of selling, especially during negotiations. They don’t think they have the gift excellent salesmen are supposed to have.

8. NEED THE JOB SECURITY

Starting a business can be a roller coaster ride; it’s full of ups and downs. There are days of surplus, while there can be days when cashflow is exceedingly tight.

There are people who cannot live with the downs and ups of running a business, and instead prefer the security and stability of a job and a regular paycheck.

CONCLUSION

Starting a business is actually fun, and just in case you are still thinking of starting a business but you aren’t fully convinced yet, you should read this article on reasons to start your own business.

READ: How to Overcome the Fear of Selling

Beginning and managing a business is difficult, no matter who you are or what your business is. At the end of the day, there’s no doubt that you’ll make some mistakes as you go about the process of starting your business, and there’s nothing wrong with that (especially if you can learn from them).

According to the data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 20% of new businesses fail during the first two years of operation, and roughly half of all businesses don’t survive past the fifth year.

Here are 10 mistakes that could wreak havoc on your startup:

1   FAILING TO PLAN

The saying goes: “When you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail”. One of the most common small business mistakes is failing to plan, especially when first starting your business. Without a business plan to guide your startup and growth, you’ll struggle to make decisions, get loans, or bring investors on board.

2  SKIPPING MARKET RESEARCH

I see increasing numbers of people starting businesses without bothering to do any of this, and then being heartbroken when their new business, which they’ve invested so much time and money in, collapses.

Test your products and service first before you start a business. If you don’t, you have no idea if people are even going to want to buy them.

3  IGNORING THE COMPETITION

Ignoring the competition is another potentially fatal business mistake.

If you’re selling your products for #10 apiece and Emma down the street is selling his for #7 apiece, how many products are you going to sell? Absolutely none (except you are offering something your competitor isn’t).

Another aspect of competition you need to understand is market saturation. For instance, if you want to open a laundry business, there may not be any “room” left in your local area to do so because of the number of laundry businesses that already exist; the market is already saturated with this kind of business.

4  NOT INVESTING IN MARKETING

Far too many small businesses are reluctant to spend any money on marketing, let alone a significant amount.

Create a marketing plan, set up some marketing campaigns, and keep doing it if you want your business to be successful.

If you still doubt the importance of marketing, then read this article on Why Marketing Is So Important.

5  NOT BOTHERING WITH ANY ONLINE MARKETING

Try as much as possible to make sure your business is online. You may or may not need a website, but your business needs to be able to be found by and promoted to the ever increasing number of people who use the web to find the products and services they want.

If you’re not going to do anything else, establish some sort of home base for your business online. Actively marketing your business online is even better and will give it a far better chance of reaching your customers.

6  TRYING TO DO EVERYTHING YOURSELF

Running a business, even if it’s a one-person business, involves so many different tasks that no one person can do them all well. Even if you have all the skills to do an outstanding job at whatever you set our hands to, you are still constrained by time.

Learn how to delegate, hire and outsource to make the most of your skills and benefit from outside expertise.

7  DON’T UNDERVALUE YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE

Don’t price too high, but don’t price too low just to gain market share. As long as your product or service is premium and quality, people will surely patronize it at the right price.

Many entrepreneurs start with the best of intentions and give things away for free, or do free things for charity, community or visibility. Be very careful with this, because you don’t want to be known as a source of freebies.

8  DON’T LAUNCH TOO QUICKLY

One of the biggest mistakes startups make is launching before they are ready.

Once you have launched into the public and you start getting clients, ensure that your systems and processes are in place, such as payment terms and process, contracts, communications, whilst still being able to maintain your marketing strategy.

The back-end processes need to be watertight before you start taking on clients; if they aren’t, these are the cracks that will show and you appear unprofessional.

9  IMPLEMENT A PROPER BOOKKEEPING PROCESS

Many startup founders begin without a bookkeeping process in place. Great bookkeeping habits help you make smarter business decisions, keep a check on your business’s financial status and steer away problems before they become unmanageable.

Good bookkeeping practices also ensure that you’re on top of issues like tax and insurance payments that can get otherwise great businesses into trouble.

10  NEGLECTING THE VOICE OF YOUR CUSTOMER

Respect your customers and think of them as your friends. They are your friends because they are the ones who believe in your product enough to use it – and even more than that, your customers will tell you exactly how to design and market your product in a way that appeals to them.

This is huge, and so many entrepreneurs overlook the fact that you are building something to better someone else. At the same time, just because your product fits the needs of one group doesn’t mean that it will suit the rest of your customers. Learning how to qualify feedback is essential.

CONCLUSION

If starting a business is in your future, understand that starting a business is a process, not an event.

If you take the time to make your research and avoid the business mistakes discussed, you’ll hugely increase the likelihood of your new business succeeding.

If you are operating a startup or a new entrepreneurial project and you are struggling to scale it, having a powerful content marketing strategy is a must.

Creating and distributing good content helps to drive traffic, leads, sales, as well as increase brand awareness. The premise behind it is very simple. You write engaging content that your audience loves, this directs them to your website/online store and they become loyal fans/customers.

If you’re an entrepreneur looking to stand out using content marketing, you’ve come to the right place.

Let’s get started.

#1  CREATE VALUABLE CONTENT

Customers like anything that’s useful to them. They are not interested in reading endless social media posts or filling out online surveys in return for a discount they might never use. They would much rather read content that educates and informs them.

Focus on creating content that offers great value. It can either be educative, informative or entertaining.

It’s always important to get your customer to like and trust your brand, and if you are always too salesy with your posts, they won’t really “feel” you.

#2  USE PREMIUM IMAGES AND VIDEOS IN YOUR CONTENT

Images and videos can help hold readers’ attention and help convey your message.

Use high resolution product images, or embed a beneficial video for users to view. Any type of multimedia addition to your content will help users stay interested and increase your overall content quality.

#3  STEAL THE SPOTLIGHT ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc are undoubtedly the most powerful digital marketing platforms out there. Having an observable presence on each of these social platforms and sharing new marketing content is an excellent opportunity for your startup to enter the global market.

Publishing posts, boosting engagement, monitoring audiences – social media management can easily become an overwhelming aspect of your job. However, there are many social media management tools out there that can ease up this aspect for you.

You can read our article on 10 mobile tools to help you create a great brand to help you with this.

#4  PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO GOOGLE

Your content marketing strategy won’t work if you defy Google’s guidelines. It is important that you invest in SEO to make sure that any content you produce finds an audience. There is little point writing a fabulous content if Google buries it on page 1,111.

Pay close attention to keywords and invest in good quality content. Keep an eye on Google guidelines, and if they release any new updates to their search algorithms, be aware that you may need to make changes to your strategy.

#5  INCLUDE A CALL TO ACTION

Some businesses create a thorough content marketing strategy but likely let many potential clients/customers pass by because they forget to include calls to action (CTAs). Include easy ways to communicate with your organization in your material, whether it’s by Email, WhatsApp or visiting your Website through external publications.

Make sure your CTAs are generously sprinkled throughout your content, but not enough to annoy and deter any marketing message.

CONCLUSION

Content marketing is trending and it doesn’t seem to go away anytime soon. If you are looking for ways to improve your startup’s reputation, you should focus on improving your startup blog and other social media profiles.

Create and promote content that appeals to the right audience. Content marketing is a great way to grow your startup

Marketing is one of the most important things a business can do. How you market your business determines if the enterprise will be successful or not.

Marketing is a tool used to create and maintain demand, relevance, reputation, competition, and more. Without it, your business is likely to close down due to lack of sales.

Take a look at some of the key reasons why having a solid marketing strategy is important for any type of business.

#1  MARKETING HELPS TO BOOSTS SALES

There is absolutely no way people will know about your products or services if you don’t market it.

Marketing utilizes different ways to promote your products or services. Once a product has been advertised, it’s already on the radar and this increases your chances of selling it.

Customers may want to try your products or services and this will trigger a purchase decision.

When customers are happy about your products or services, they become your brand ambassadors without your knowledge. They will spread the word and your sales will start to increase.

#2  MARKETING HELPS TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS

Marketing is an important strategy to ensure the growth of your business. While your current customers should always be your main priority, marketing efforts can help you expand this base. Little efforts like social media posts and email campaigns can not only engage existing consumers but spread the word to new potential customers.

In essence, marketing secures your business’s future through new and old customer engagement.

#3  MARKETING HELPS TO BUILD YOUR BRAND

Brand reputation is what makes or breaks a brand.

In order for your product or services to exist you should aim to have a good reputation on the market through use of effective marketing mediums.

When your brand is affiliated with a certain standard you will see increased sales and business expansion.

#4  MARKETING HELPS TO ENGAGE YOUR CUSTOMERS

Engaging your customers with relevant information about the company and what’s new is crucial. It makes them feel like they’re in-the-know. Marketing helps with this aspect.

Your audience wants to form a relationship with your brand, and marketing can be used to do just that.

#5 MARKETING HELPS YOUR BUSINESS TO MAINTAIN RELEVANCE

Most businesses assume that they will always remain the client’s favorite brand because up to now the client has never complained. This is the wrong mindset. You need to find ways to remain at the top of the client’s mind.

Every relationship needs to be maintained. Marketing helps your business to maintain a good relationship with customers by making you remain relevant. Retaining present customers is also as important as gaining new customers.

CONCLUSION

Your competitors are actively marketing their products; this is more reason why you really need to take marketing serious.

The only way to gain a competitive advantage over your competition is aggressive marketing.

If you’re offering a product or service that is new to the market, you need to be more aggressive and strategic.

Just so you know, you shouldn’t confuse Branding and Marketing, there is a clear difference between them. Want to know the difference? Check out this article on The Differences between Branding and Marketing.

Starting a business isn’t for everyone. While some people are hungry to start a business and lead it to success, there are others that starting or running a business seems scary and intimidating to them.

Starting a small business is a big step for anyone to take, because it may require leaving the comfort and security of a regular job for a more uncertain financial future.

Nevertheless, there are still many benefits that come with being an entrepreneur and having your own business. Below are 15 reasons why I feel you should start your own business:

#1 FLEXIBILITY

Being an entrepreneur, you get to work your own hours. It will be easy for you to free up time in your schedule to attend to other important daily activities.

#2 CREATE A LEGACY

Starting a business means you’ll have something to pass on to your kids.

#3 PERSONAL FULFILLMENT

Nothing offers the kind of personal fulfillment that can be found in owning a business. When people decide to use their talents to start a business, they often find personal fulfillment because their abilities now serve a purpose.

#4 PURSUE YOUR PASSION

You get to do what makes you happy.

#5 WORK FROM ANYWHERE

Having your own business means that you can work wherever you want. You can choose to work from home without anyone questioning your choice.

#6 LEARN TO EMBRACE FAILURE

I personally believe there is nothing like “failure” in entrepreneurship. Even if something doesn’t work out, the experiences, skills and lessons gotten from it are always invaluable.

#7 CHANGE THE WORLD

Even if this seems like a lofty ambition, but having a business is one sure way to change the world.

#8 SENSE OF PRIDE

This increases your self-worth, and lets you take credit when you achieve something worthwhile.

#9 LEARN NEW SKILLS

This isn’t the corporate world, that some sets of skills are needed to be employed. If you have your own business, you can pick up the entrepreneurial skills you need as you go.

#10 JOB CREATION

If you start a business, you might one day need to hire employees. When that time comes, you’ll have created an opportunity for someone else.

#11 NEW EXPERIENCES

Every business owner works through a different set of experiences, and those experiences are often chances that never would’ve manifested had the person been too scared to start their business.

#12 FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE

No one else is signing your paycheck, and you don’t need to always be waiting till month end to receive your salary.

#13 AVOID THE HASSLES OF JOB SEEKING

By starting your own business, you don’t have to go through all the stresses that job seekers go through. Instead, your stress is channeled into building your business, and that one will give you a sense of entitlement.

#14 JOB SECURITY

The stress of climbing the corporate ladder is real. You never know whether you’ll be promoted or whether you may be handed a query letter or even a sack letter. When you start your own business, you know you’re investing in your future and in your own job security.

#15 YOU CAN BE CREATIVE

Rather than following the formula of those who came before you, you’re looking at a chance to develop an idea that nobody else ever has. Each day as an entrepreneur allows you to find new ways to solve problems.

The beauty of entrepreneurship is that it lets have that freedom to make your own decisions and control your own destiny in a way that conventional jobs do not.

Knowing that each day brings new challenges, exciting opportunities, and a chance to engage your passion is reason enough to start your own company. Knowing that you’ve decided to take control of your own future is empowering.

What are you still waiting for?

The time is NOW!

Have you ever at any time wondered if there is actually any difference between Branding and Marketing? If so, then that makes two of us.

There is a lot of confusion and complicacies between these two terminologies. Many people tend to wrongly use these two words interchangeably.

In this post, I’ll try to provide clarify and simplify these words so as for you to be able to grasp their meanings and know what each really means.

BRANDING

• This is who you are.
• This is how you want people to feel when they think about your business.
• This is how you want customers to think about your business.
• It is what comes to mind when someone hears your business name.
• It is how you keep your current clients.

MARKETING

• This is how you build awareness of your brand.
• This refers to the tools and processes you utilize to deliver the message of your brand.
• This is how you attract new clients.

Branding is at the core of your marketing strategy, and hence, it must come first.

It is essential to clearly define what your brand is before you begin to devise your marketing strategies.

Advertising is simply how you encourage consumers to buy your products, services or ideas.

Having said this, people have different reasons for which they advertise.

I’m going to discuss four reasons why people advertise their businesses, but before I begin, you should note one thing.

These reasons have been extracted from Akin Alabi’s Small Business Big Money book. If you haven’t read this book yet, then it’s high time you read it.

The book has what it takes to turn your business into a cash minting venture, hence why we added it to our list of 13 Great Entrepreneurial Books.

Now, let’s look at these four reasons why people advertise below:

1. TO GET RESULTS: SALES, PROSPECTS, CONTACTS ETC.

With this, when you place an advert, be it on TV or in the papers, you are expecting instant response.

Let’s assume you are in the seminar business and you put up a seminar and then spend money promoting it.

You will want people to respond to your advert. You will want them to pick up their phones to ask for more details. You will want them to send you emails signifying their interests. You will want them to pay for the seminar.

This is called direct response advertising.

2. TO CREATE VISIBILITY AND BUILD A BRAND

This means you want people to always have you in mind so when they need a product like yours they come to you.

For instance, if Samsung pays Chelsea millions of pounds so they can have their names on Chelsea’s shirts, Samsung is not expecting people that watch Chelsea to go right out to the shopping malls to buy Samsung electronics.

What they are doing is staying put in your mind so that when you need electronics, you will think about them. And this is because they can afford it.

The problem with this type of advertising is that it’s not good if you have a small advertising budget, you will go broke before seeing results.

3. BECAUSE EVERYONE ADVERTISES SO THEY HAVE TO

Inasmuch as you may be thinking if people actually advertise because of this reason, trust me they do.

Some people don’t even have an idea why they are advertising. Or should I say they have no advertising goal. They started their business and heard (or have always heard) that it is normal to advertise so they take out money to spend on the most enticing advertising medium.

4. TO FEEL REALLY COOL WITH THEMSELVES

This is unarguably the silliest group of all. They say things like;

“Did you see that ad on DSTV? That is our ad”

“Make sure you buy The Punch Newspaper tomorrow. You will see our nice ad on page 14”

“Don’t you think our ad is really really cool?”

Having talked about the four reasons why people advertise, the advice is that;

As a small business owner, go for the first reason. When you begin to make money, add the second.

Never ever try advertising just because others are doing it or you want to feel cool with yourself. Never!

READ: Elements of Effective Advertisement

You’ve got a business idea but what are the next steps? The Founders has compiled a launchpad guide to help you put the foundations in place for business success

So you’ve stumbled across a business idea that you’re sure will make you millions, but you have no idea how to turn that dream into a tangible reality.

Starting a business is like climbing a mountain; it may look daunting from the bottom, but focus on taking it one step at a time and you will soon reach your goal.

1. Market research

Make sure your business idea is actually viable, and refine it if necessary. This article on business idea validation is a good starting point – ask yourself the tough questions before you begin to avoid pitfalls later on.

2. Examine the different business structures

Decide if you want to go solo ( Solopreneur ) or you want to get other people involved. This is very crucial. Where you need to go alone, do not involve others, and where you need to partner with others, do not go alone. Ensure this is well taking care of from the beginning.

3. Create a business plan

You wouldn’t build a house without a blueprint, so don’t start a business without a plan. A professional, well-thought out business plan will not only provide your start-up with a clear direction and contingencies in the case of unexpected events, but it can also be vital in securing investment.

4. Choose a name for your business

Everyone knows the importance of choosing a business name. An effective, memorable business name can be the difference between failure and success and should reflect the type of business you wish to be.

One of the mistakes to avoid at all costs is creating confusion with competitors, which can lead to lost sales and legal action. Avoid common branding mistakes by learning from some cautionary tales, and learn what to do if your chosen name is unavailable.

5. Design a logo

A logo is often the first thing prospective customers see and is therefore crucial in making the right impression. If you’re new to starting a business, you could get a professional designer to get you an awesome logo for your business, or you could even do it yourself use a free online design tool called Canva

6. Register a domain name and build a website

After you start out in business, customers will want to investigate more about you on the web, so make sure you get in early and register a domain name and then build a professional website for your business.

7. Get your finances in order

Get your capital and funding setup before starting. You need to be certain of how to fund your business, where the funds will be coming from.

You need to determine if you will be able to fund the business for the next 3 to 6 months non stop before the business starts generating revenue.

The Founders