Another "starting in a recession" advice thread

[Coppock]

Hi guys, I'm writing an article with simple advice on starting up a business during the oh-so-glorious recession...

I has a few ideas on what to put but i wanted to see what everyone elses advice was as well. Don't worry - you'll all receive a mention for the chosen advice!

The advice I had came to me at 4 this morning (typical) - so if its a bit fuzzy I apologise now! I'll put 3 down to get started

1. Be proactive
Being proactive and remaining positive is essential during a recession. You need to have undying determination to succeed. Your success relies on you and your decisions so take responsibility for them, if something doesnt work then don't keep doing it but don't give up either - find a way to make it work! Once you make it work, fine tune it to make it better! Positivity is infectious especially when the rest of the world is being negative, if you stand up and shine with positivity then you will attract all the other successful and positive people. Get out there and make a difference!

2. Don't shy away from branding
You might not have much of a budget for hiring a design agency, but that's no excuse to even think about advertising yourself and your business with a clipart logo! There are plenty of low cost designers out there ready to design logos from just £30, alternatively go to your local college or university to see what their tops students come up with!

3. Don't shy away from FREE offers
A lot of us see the word "FREE" and immediately think negative phrases such as "nothing in life is free" or "you get what you pay for". Don't be put off by free offers, there's a lot of businesses out there at the moment offering rediculous incentives to win over the competition. We recently set up FREE 0845 numbers, they have lots of features and didn't cost us a penny - "HOW?", the company makes 1.5p per minute on all calls we receive without any extra cost to the caller.

4. Get a website
Its amazing how many businesses don't have websites yet! A growing number of people shy away from companies without websites, its a great place to promote your business and services and should be regarded as one of your top business essentials! If you think a website will cost you thousands and carry massive ongoing costs to update then you're wrong. You can learn to make a high quality professional site in just one day on our training courses for just £89. (4.5 - plug your business wherever you can as per the example).

5. Target specific markets
Sometimes its easy to think "my business is aimed at everyone", but you really need to target specific audiences to gain maximum impact. A generic flyer offering a generic service for the general public won't have as much impact as a flyer that "hits the nail on the head" with the "perfect" service for the "ideal" customer.


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I'm not sure about number 4.5 - cant decide if its too cheesy...

as i say - ive been up all night, they need to be looked at by a copywriter and if you have any improvements to the above please list them!

any more advice everyone?

Thanks
Jen

 

[directmarketingadvice]

Market research. The most important phase of creating any business:

Is there a market there? (i.e. people spending money)

How big is it?

Is the size of the market going to contract significantly if the economy gets worse?

Who is fighting for the market?

What are their strengths and weaknesses?

What can you offer that other people can't/aren't?

How much will it cost you to get in front of your prospects?

What's your allowable cost per sale/per enquiry?

And, finally: based on all of the above, how much money can you realistically make from this business?

(and, on the flipside, how much could you lose?)

Steve

 

[telemax]

Hi Jen

Only thing I'd add, is that that all these things should be done in the good times also. Not just recessions!!

 

[Ader]

What about doing the numbers - i.e. forecasts - and writing up a business plan - Both will help focus you on objectives give you something to aim for and achieve.

 

[Alison Jones]

HI

We had signed the paperwork lease etc a week or so before they announced the start of the recession.

My advise is if you want an easier lifestyle open your business when the recession is over especially if you are retail to general public rather then business to business.

We are retail goods and service to general public. There was no going back for us as all signed. Would say it has been doubly hard for us because shortly after we had signed lease they knocked down supermarket and shopping centre to rebuild shopping centre and large supermarket in the town we are in so not many people visiting as before when there were many because they could have a nice walk by river and canal, do their food shopping, go to the market and other shops in one hit (without a supermarket they are going to other nearby towns), they had been saying they were going to do this for the last 10 years so we did not really believe it would happen.

We have survived 8 months now and that is because we were happy to diversify, have special offers on to get peoples attention and the most craziest promotion that has worked is by stating normal price (we are an internet cafe hourly rate £3 we have poster saying 20 minutes for £1 so no special price and that has got the most peoples attention, possibly because people were afraid to ask for only 20 minutes (we are in train station building) so people killing time before their train.

Alison