Better Business – Sussex
So you want to start a business in Sussex as I write this in July 2010Government Funding and Help is becoming harder to find.
Chamber of Commerce is doing what it can (LINK) however with the levels of funding looking to reduce even further in the coming years there is a real danger that in the medium term you will not get the level of advice or support you have come to expect. Certainly firms like ourselves (Richard Smith) will take up some of the slack for Start Up Businesses, however in the main help from local government is likely to be lacking for sometime yet.
On a positive note, many of the government led organisations have been getting so wrapped up in red tape the quality of advice has been falling in recent years.
Help and support. What do I need to know?
We could go on for hours in this section, realistically if you have an idea you think will work, call me happy to walk through the options with you. However the first thing you should do is Market Research, don’t ask your friends and family, they are not going to be your target market are they!
Type of business – Products or Services have you defined this yet? It could of course be both. What is the nature of your proposed market place? Expanding or collapsing? Improving profits or reducing? A little work done now will improve your chances of success.
Methods of marketing
Is there a correct way possible, however a s imple test to see if anyone wants your product, place it on Ebay for sale. If you sell one there is a market!
Next question is, do you want to compete with every other seller on Ebay? If not what are you going to do to differentiate yourself from the competition. There are hundreds of me too businesses out there in East and West Sussex, question is do you want to be just like them.
The Internet has really taken over from a lot of marketing but before you go and spend some hard saved money on a website, stop. You do not need to spend anything in order to test the market. Indeed some of the best websites in the world do not look that great (think Amazon, or Google, plain and simple really does work). It need not cost a fortune and of course, it is called the I N F O R M A T I ON superhighway for a reason. Information is what your potential customers want.
Do not think for one minute that just providing information will do it for you initially, however it’s a great start and the search engines just love the content.
Conventional marketing can take on many forms and the subject cannot be dealt with in few paragraphs. I recommend Dee Blicks book on the subject.Better Business – Sussex
So you want to start a business in Sussex.
Government Funding and Help is becoming harder to find.
Chamber of Commerce is doing what it can (LINK) however with the levels of funding looking to reduce even further in the coming years there is a real danger that in the medium term you will not get the level of advice or support you have come to expect. Certainly firms like ourselves (Richard Smith) will take up some of the slack for Start Up Businesses, however in the main help from local government is likely to be lacking for sometime yet.
On a positive note, many of the government led organisations have been getting so wrapped up in red tape the quality of advice has been falling in recent years.
Help and support. What do I need to know?
We could go on for hours in this section, realistically if you have an idea you think will work, call me happy to walk through the options with you. However the first thing you should do is Market Research, don’t ask your friends and family, they are not going to be your target market are they!
Type of business – Products or Services have you defined this yet? It could of course be both. What is the nature of your proposed market place? Expanding or collapsing? Improving profits or reducing? A little work done now will improve your chances of success.
Methods of marketing
Is there a correct way. Simple test to see if anyone wants your product, place it on Ebay for sale. If you sell one there is a market!
Next question is, do you want to compete with every other seller on Ebay? If not what are you going to do to differentiate yourself from the competition. There are hundreds of me too businesses out there in East and West Sussex, question is do you want to be just like them.
The Internet has really taken over from a lot of marketing but before you go and spend some hard saved money on a website, stop. You do not need to spend anything in order to test the market. Indeed some of the best websites in the world do not look that great (think Amazon, or Google, plain and simple really does work). It need not cost a fortune and of course, it is called the I N F O R M A T I ON superhighway for a reason. Information is what your potential customers want.
Do not think for one minute that just providing information will do it for you initially, however it’s a great start and the search engines just love the content.
Conventional marketing can take on many forms and the subject cannot be dealt with in few paragraphs. I recommend Dee Blicks book on the subject. Dee is local and very well respected in small business circles. Dee would be the first to agree that marketing is a vast subject, however her book takes you by the hand and will at least give you a positive start in the right direction.
Pricing this is one key to your success long term. No matter how good your product or service it is no good if you cannot make it pay. Really think about your pricing and how you plan your future pricing. Not enough and the Poor House will call you soon. Too much and your customers will look to purchase elsewhere. Unless of course you get your marketing right (I have mentioned that before).
Staff and Premises – as a start up why would you want staff and or premises. Initially you can do it all can’t you? By using the internet it is now possible to employ armies of Freelance workers, all outsource in order to make your business fly whilst you are not there. Importantly if you are in the business of making Local Cheese, then of course you will need staff and premises. However if you are making Widgets or providing Widget solutions you will be surprised what you can outsource.
Funding I always finDee is local and very well respected in small business circles. Dee would be the first to agree that marketing is a vast subject, however her book takes you by the hand and will at least give you a positive start in the right direction.d this topic most interesting. New and Small firms are always telling me they need more funding for this or that, and yes of course some do. However with a little creative thinking it is possible to do a lot with not a lot.
This is not meant to be an exhaustive list of options in relation to your new business, but will give you an idea – a bit more than back of the ‘fag packet’ type stuff (does anyone still smoke?)
Richard Smith is an Internet Business Marketing Expert based in West Sussex and is happy to provide you with some guidance in relation to your business start up.
Please leave a comment below if you have a question. I do read them.
Pricing this is one key to your success long term. No matter how good your product or service it is no good if you cannot make it pay. Really think about your pricing and how you plan your future pricing. Not enough and the Poor House will call you soon. Too much and your customers will look to purchase elsewhere. Unless of course you get your marketing right (I have mentioned that before).
Staff and Premises – as a start up why would you want staff and or premises. Initially you can do it all can’t you? By using the internet it is now possible to employ armies of Freelance workers, all outsource in order to make your business fly whilst you are not there. Importantly if you are in the business of making Local Cheese, then of course you will need staff and premises. However if you are making Widgets or providing Widget solutions you will be surprised what you can outsource.
Funding I always find this topic most interesting. New and Small firms are always telling me they need more funding for this or that, and yes of course some do. However with a little creative thinking it is possible to do a lot with not a lot.
This is not meant to be an exhaustive list of options in relation to your new business, but will give you an idea – a bit more than back of the ‘fag packet’ type stuff (does anyone still smoke?)
Before you any further, please leave a comment below. Ask me a question about your Business Start Up in Sussex and I will do my best to answer it in confidence for you.
Richard Smith is an Internet Business Marketing Expert based in West Sussex and is happy to provide you with some guidance in relation to your business start up.
Please leave a comment below if you have a question. I do read them.