02/09/2021
"Please Support MY Business "
"Please Support Black Business "
"Strangers will support your business more than friends and family "
Many of us have heard these statements many a times. Sometimes we even feel like we owe those who post such statements. In most cases those who post such statements believe that they are "marketing and promoting " their businesses.
The statement "Start your own business " is used casually in social media. Many took it to heart and indeed started their business. The only thing they had was capital. Once they are in business, they then realised that starting a business and running a business are two different things. No wonder many start resorting to statements like the ones above.
Running a business needs one to possess certain skills. One may not be an expert, but it is critical to have the basics in :
1. Human Relations: Communication, Negotiation, Conflict Management, Leadership etc.
2. Financial Management.
3. Risk Management.
4. Problem Solving
5. Marketing
6. And many others.
In business one deals with people in different capacities ; e.g. customers, suppliers, employees, partners etc. One needs to have some basic understanding of the legislations and by-laws that governs their industry.
A few important questions to be asked before one think of starting a business :
1. What problem/s do I want to solve?
2. Which needs/wants/desires do I want to satisfy?
3. What knowledge, skills, attitudes and habits are necessary in order to run the kind of business I want to venture into?
4. How much do I know about the industry?
5. Who are role players in the industry?
6. Who are the potential customers /clients for my intended business?
In most cases the above statements are made by people who run businesses, yet they have no marketing strategy. They assume that just because we are friends therefore I have an obligation to support their business. The truth of the matter is that it is neither my relationship or my race that makes me someone's customer /client. It is my needs/wants/desires and problems that makes me a customer /client. Whoever has the product/s and/or service that satisfy my needs/wants /desires or solve my problem will have me as a customer/client.
"Please support MY business ." This statement reveals something that many of us know, but might not be will to accept. People in general are selfish. Hence the emphasis on "MY BUSINESS ." Now armed with this information, why not change the focus from you to the potential customers /clients? Why not focus on resolving their problems and/or satisfying their needs/wants/desires. Instead of telling/asking them to support your business, why not tell them about how your product/s and/or services will solve their problems or satisfy their needs/wants/desires?
Your are more likely to get customers /client by focusing on their needs/wants /desires and problems than by just asking them to support your business just because you are black.
The three statements above are more likely to get you likes and sympathy on social media than they will get you customers/clients. Your business does not needs likes and sympathy, but it needs clients and customers.
Businesses exist to either solve a problem or to satisfy needs/wants /desires. Making money is the product of doing the above.
