Starting a business “de jure” is not difficult. We decided on the type of services, chose the organizational and legal form, registered, received documents and a seal - and what next? For a firm to operate de facto, it needs a strategic development program.
Brand - goal or development strategy?
Every entrepreneur wants his company to become a full-fledged brand. Therefore, many start a company by ordering the creation of a brand book and conducting a powerful advertising campaign. On the one hand, this is correct, because no one will know about you without advertising. And it is better to implement a corporate identity from the very first day of working with partners or clients. On the other hand, the goal of creating a brand will be impracticable if such aspects as competitiveness and work with the internal and external public of the company are not taken into account when developing a strategy.
A brand is fame, respect and demand. Agree, all these are good goals and a significant reward for the work done. But in order to do the same path that the world's leading corporations (Coca-Cola, Sony, Mikrosoft, etc.) went through, a clear plan is needed. How do you create it?
Development strategy: the devil is in the details
How many years are you going to be in this business? Where do you start? How will you expand the scope of services? What funds are you going to invest and when do you plan to make a profit? Where will you take orders, how will you sell your products?
The development of a development strategy must take into account the answers to these questions, and to a million others. Everything must be foreseen. But it is incredibly difficult to do this in the first days of work - after all, you do not yet know what "surprises" tomorrow is in store for you.
Therefore, to begin with, create a so-called "master" development plan. Indicate the stages in the life of your company. Write in the plan: from which partners to buy, how to deliver, store and account for the goods, how to recruit staff and teach them how to sell (by the way, it will not be superfluous to order a coach for your new team), where, when and how to open the first store, what advertising support to choose (and whether you need an online store in addition to advertising in the mass media) - and what to do next. Make market research a separate point - you need to do this constantly, because competitors are not asleep, and the market is undergoing changes.
Various actions and events should become important points of the plan. These can be presentations organized for partners, suppliers and investors. Days of discounts, sales and gifts that can attract additional customers to you. Make a plan for working with the team of your company - it will include meetings, reporting days, training, corporate events.
Set realistic goals for yourself and set dates and ways to achieve them. Constantly look for new ways and new options for presenting your goods - let this work become one of the most important points in your development strategy. Try to think about every detail and every little thing (like the same Coca-Cola, which changed the shape of bottles several times, produced drinks for different target groups, experimented with additives, etc.). Conduct research (do customer surveys, analyze sales results) according to the schedule you have developed. And constantly supplement your general strategy, bringing it in line with the information received and the accumulated experience. Then the start of your business will be successful and you will be able to grow your own brand!
