Growing your business

© 2011 YCHANGE International LLC. All rights reserved

Growing Your Business


Introductions

Jim Smith Business Advisor and Instructor @

MHCC, SBDC Experience (503) 922-0784 [email protected]

Slide 2

7 Steps To Grow Your Business

1. Your Favorite Customer2. The Message or Value Proposition 3. Communicating The Message4. Your Competition5. Your Cash Flow 6. The Planning Process7. Your Network

Slide 3© 2011 YCHANGE International LLC. All rights reserved

The spoken and unspoken customer PAIN and what they value most are understood in part by the answers to a particular set of questions.

Step 1 – Your Favorite Customer


What do these CUSTOMERS need?

What is their pain?

Do they even know their needs?

Do they really understand their pain?

What does your Competition offer them?

What can YOU offer these customers?

What do they THINK YOU offer them?

How do they describe your offerings?

Understanding Your Customers


Geographic Variables

Potential customers are in the following kind of marketplace:

Local State Regional, or National International


Demographic Variables

Potential Customers are identified by criteria such as: Age

Race Religion

Gender Family size

Occupation Income Level

Education level Marital status


Psychographic Variables

Lifestyle: conservative, exciting, trendy, economical

Social class: lower, middle, upper

Opinion: easily led or opinionated

Activities and interests: sports, physical fitness, shopping, books

Attitudes and beliefs: environmentalist, security conscious.


Behavioristic Variables

Products and services are purchased for a variety of reasons:

Brand

Loyalty Cost Frequency of purchase

Amount of purchase Time of Year

Time involved in purchasing decision Where customer purchases the product


Linguistic Variables

Products and services are described by a variety of words and phrases

Keywords

Key phrasesMisspellingsGeographic dependencies


Who is the favorite customerWhat is their painHow do they describe it in their words

Your Customer Segment

© 2011 YCHANGE International LLC. All rights reserved Slide 11

Listen to your customers Learn to think inside their box Learn their language Learn to walk in their shoes

Step 2 - The Marketing Message

Using what you learned about your customers and the language they use to describe your offerings….how you describe what you do to them.


It Explains Your Business

Who you are targeting? What they are looking for? What you are offering? Why it is so very special? How it is unlike others?

Step 3 - Communicate The Message

Via The Different Media

Classical Media

Digital/Electronic Media


Media


Broadcast Print Conversation Mail PR Web Sites Social Media

Slide 15

The Web’s Impact on Customers.

Communication habits are changing Most of your future customers will be

coming from a digital generation iPhone & iPad Instant Messaging Web searching Social Media & Networking Digital Readers & Meters


…Just a location

You have to make it into a destination.

A Website Is…

Your Customers Use It – not to find you – But To Check You Out!


Content

The most important part of your site Speak to your target market/visitor’s true

need You need to listen to them to understand

the language You write differently for the Web than you

do for anything else Establish credibility


Social Media Social media use rising: More than 500 million people on Facebook

and more than 1 billion Twitter updates per week or 140 million per day, 460,000 new accounts sign up daily. More than 71% of businesses plan on increasing their use of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and blogs in 2011

Small businesses are dominant players: Small businesses are cashing in quickly on social media. The increase in use over the past year is up from 12% to 24 %.

Mass consumer adoption of social media: 93% of social media users say your company should have a social media presence. 56% of users feel both more closely connected with and better served by companies when they can interact with them in a social media environment

Social media drives search engine optimization: improving search engine rankings


To listen to your customers

Social Media Tools

RSSBlogsFacebookTwitterLinkedInYouTubeYelp, FoursquareSocialMentionTwubs


http://twitter.com/ychange

http://delicious.com/ychange

http://www.reddit.com/user/ychange/

http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=175#/pages/YCHANGE-International/132564833556?ref=ts

http://www.linkedin.com/in/ychange

http://technorati.com/blogs/www.ychange.com/ychangeblog

http://youtube.com/user/ynotychange

http://friendfeed.com/ychange

http://digg.com/users/ychange

http://ychange.stumbleupon.com/public/

http://ychange.newsvine.com/

http://ychange.com/ychangeblog/feed

RSS


http://www.google.com/reader/view/?utm_campaign=en&utm_source=en-ha-ww-ww-sk&utm_medium=ha&utm_term=reader#overview-page


Why blog?

The hub of your social media marketing. You become the expert. Connect to a wider audience. Grow your brand. Gives you material to distribute. SEO.


Facebook

More than 500M active users. 100M in US Each has on average 130 friends Fastest growing demographic is 35+ Clients are there. They’ll spread the word. You have friends on Facebook to start a network. Integrates easily with other social media platforms You can advertise on Facebook


What is Twitter?

Microblogging platform composed entirely of 140 character answers to 1 simple question:

“What are you doing?” or rather, “What are you interested in right now?”

HootSuite Tweetdeck



Hootsuite

Slide 25

http://hootsuite.com/dashboard

LinkedIn World’s largest professional network with

over 60 million members

Draw up a professional profile or resume

Make professional connections: employers, consultants, group members, etc

Collaborate, post/distribute jobs listings


To listen to your customers

Social Media Tools

RSSBlogsFacebookTwitterLinkedInYouTubeYelp, FoursquareSocialMentionTwubs




http://www.reddit.com/user/ychange/

http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=175#/pages/YCHANGE-International/132564833556?ref=ts




http://friendfeed.com/ychange

http://digg.com/users/ychange


http://ychange.newsvine.com/


RE-THINKING “social” Networking

By 2010, Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers using Social Networking Technologies

96% have joined a social network 1 out of 8 couples married last year met online Radio 50 million users = 38 years facebook reached 100 million in 9 months! facebook “country,” fourth largest in the world Twitter – 75 million visitors in January Twitter – 50 million tweets per day




http://www.facebook.com/ychange






Word of Mouth has become World of Mouth25% search results (Top 20 brands) linked to user-generated content

34% of bloggers post opinions about products & brands

Do you know what they are saying about you or your competitors?

RE-THINKING “social” Networking


Step 4 – Your Competition

Who is in YOUR market? What do they offer? How different? What is unique? Why do people use them? What do they communicate?

Copies of brochures, Web, Ads, etc.


What To Look For

Battles chosen Comparisons made Claims made Areas ignored

Keep your friends close and your competitors closer.


Step 5 – The Planning Process

PlanPrepare for the future

Recordmeasure the results

Evaluateexplain variances from the plan

Analyze

compare results to the plan Resultssomething happens

Actimplement the plan

1

6

5

4

3

2


The Plan Parts

Financial Analysis

The Company Products and Services Market Analysis Competition Business Strategy and Implementation Operations Organization

Supporting Documentation

Executive Summary

Marketing

OperationsFinancials


Step 6 – Cash Flow the Secret…

Did you know? Managing Cash

Flow is the most important financial process you have to master…

And, it’s NOT that difficult!


Cash Flow defined…

1. Cash Flow is the flow of cash INTO and OUT OF a business over a selected time period

2. Cash Flow is: Positive when cash receipts exceed cash

payments – YOU CAN PAY YOUR BILLS! Negative when cash payments exceed cash

receipts – YOU HAVE TO BORROW TO PAY BILLS


Cash Flow Rules

Rule Nº 1: Cash is the most important resource you have… More cash is better than less cash Collect Cash now is better than later Pay out Cash later is better than now

Rule Nº 2: Focus on Cash Flow rather than

Operating Statement (P&L) profits


Cash Flow - Stop the Bleeding

Review top 5 company expenditures Monitor all employees expenses Which service offerings generate

revenue Extended payment terms from suppliers Purchasing via company credit card.

This may give you 15-25 days of extended terms


Cash Flow – Stop the Bleeding

If practical, use early pay discounts Consider a twice monthly pay schedule Reduce employees hours versus layoff. Consider using contract labor (know IRS rules) Short focused office meetings early in the day Secure line of credit for unforeseen expenses


Step 7 - Advisory Board

4 Reasons Networking Potential Industry Trends Business Advice Emotional Support


Advisory Boards - Who

Business Customers Small Business Peers Consultants – SBDC/SCORE Suppliers Banker – CPA Insurance Brokers Lawyers

In the counsel of many there is wisdom.Slide 40© 2011 YCHANGE International LLC. All rights reserved

3/20/7

Final Thoughts Jim Smith (503) 922-0784 [email protected] www.ychange.com www.twitter.com/ychange/ www.facebook.com/ychange/


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