What We Have Achieved
I found the workshops, presented by VFM business advisors to be really useful and cover the major topics necessary in this stage of my business career. The content was delivered in small understandable pieces, with plenty of time for Q&A. Steve in particular stood out as knowledgeable and someone who's advice you could trust. The way he drew on his real life experiences to contextualise issues helped with my understanding and made for interesting listening.
My ideas about the business have changed drastically as a result of this experience. At the first workshop I was preparing to sell safety equipment, but after group discussions and one to one meetings with the supportive team at Old Broadcasting House, I now find myself embarking on an exciting joint venture with ELHFA.
The workshops have helped me to cement my ideas, and given me the direction and drive to take the first steps. Completing all of the exercises discussed during the workshops along the way, complemented by an extensive consultancy project for ELHFA, has now provided me with the basic tools and a ‘road map’ to get going.
I have achieved the following:
Elevator Pitch – defining TEDA concisely
Defined USPs of products, and TEDA to form our company proposition
Decided on Limited company status - with day to day operations under my jurisdiction
Named the company – The Ethnic Diet Association
Understood Terms of Business requirements – and begun to compose drafts
Realised how to maintain control – through holding the casting vote with 51% share
Gained insight on intellectual property
issues - discussed potential patent for VTAs
Understanding of book-keeping and basic
records – Cash Book, Bank Reconciliations, Petty Cash, and Invoicing
Gained insight on year end accounts – when they are due, and what they must include
Learnt about my responsibilities as a director
Completed analysis of the marketing environment, buyer behaviour and competitors
Completed a PEST analysis for TEDA
Performed a competitive sweep for TEDA
Segmented the market through Porters 5 Forces
Learnt about generic marketing strategies – including differentiation and marketing management
Created a marketing mix for TEDA – product, price, place, promotion
Gathered prospecting data – and learnt where to source this information
Created a direct mailer for TEDA – and learnt about the correct approach
Prepared a cold calling script – including qualification questions and objection handling
Identified features and benefits
Learnt how to close a deal
Gained a basic understanding of how to apply NLP and its various advantages
Realised the importance of networking - how it is a life skill, and gained some practice
Learnt where to network and about online resources
How to market yourself as ‘brand you’
It’s easy to see that I’ve learnt an awful lot during the incubator workshops, more than ever I’m feeling prepared and confident about being self employed and following my dream.
If you’re interested in business or perhaps thinking of going to uni, and still looking for that killer course then I would recommend doing BA Hons Business Creation and Enterprise, as it is more hands on than many courses and a great starting point for your business. Everyone here has been really helpful and a pleasure to work with.
I hope this blog has been interesting and given you some helpful hints – if not then check out my post with my 12 top tips for business start-ups!
Showing posts with label marketing yourself. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marketing yourself. Show all posts
Saturday, 18 April 2009
Post 12: Networking
“Your professional network of trusted contacts gives you an advantage in your career, and is one of your most valuable assets” http://press.linkedin.com/about
Having gained some really useful business insights from the workshops so far, and met some interesting people, our final workshop looked at Networking and how to market yourself – after all, it’s not what you know in business, it’s who you know!
Anyone can be an effective networker, but it helps to be outgoing and able to build that all important rapport. It’s said that effective networkers aren’t born, but created through practice - opportunities for this are everywhere. For example meeting someone new at a bar or chatting to the person next to you on the train.
Networking should be viewed as a life skill, and it’s a process which takes time and dedication to build strong, meaningful and profitable relationships – for the long-term.
Before getting stuck into some live practice, try asking yourself these questions:
Why are you networking? –
When trying to grow a small business, reasons may include: gaining support for a major project, finding funding, or searching for a new partner/company director with specialist skills. Networking is also a great way of meeting with other local businesses to form joint ventures or referral networks.
While networking on behalf of TEDA, it will be for many of the above reasons and specifically to enable meetings with key decision makers in local governments who may buy the product, and also attempting to construct the TEDA brand through word of mouth.
What’s your personal/professional goal? –
It is important to bear in mind not only your goal in networking, but also what the recipient’s goal may be, always go in with the attitude “what can I do for others, how can I be of help”. Going in with this attitude will create a ‘win-win’ situation as people are much more likely to respond to you.
While networking for TEDA recipients may need to meet educational objectives around diet for ethnic groups, and in helping to service their need I may be able to achieve my goal of making ‘the right connections’ while building the brand.
What are your strengths to help you market yourself? –
Never network from a position of weakness, always from a position of strength. Try to keep in the back of your mind something of value you have to offer (personally and for your company), or you could risk being seen as an annoyance. Knowing your strengths will also help you to feel confident, and market your offering successfully.
While speaking to companies who require products like TEDA’s to meet the objective of their organisation (schools, hospitals), then it puts TEDA in a position of strength as it has a valuable commodity in its unique VTAs.
What Events? –
Networking events are all around you, once you start to look for them you will be surprised at how many you find – take a look at http://www.ukinventure.com/, a site that I became a member of after the incubation workshops. Remember to keep focussed and attend events where you have something to offer the other delegates, or where there are likely to be ‘like-minded people’. Try searching for events through Business Link and the Chamber of Commerce.
The internet offers new capabilities for networking, in terms of finding networking events, and in its own right becoming a networking forum through sites such as www.LinkedIn.com. This site has over 38 million members in over 200 countries, with a new member joining approximately every second. This includes executives from all of the Fortune 500 companies, and can be used for:
• Recruitment
• Sharing ideas
• Finding industry experts
• Sharing industry news
Given our target audience, events where Primary Care Trust, councils, schools, and other members of the trade in the wider VTA market (other distributors), are involved. This is a very specific search criteria, however, I have already attended a number at Old Broadcasting House in Leeds covering topics such as ‘obesity and the NHS’, and ‘Social Enterprise in Leeds’. Maybe it’s beginners luck, or from learning the lessons of the workshops, but I met some valuable contacts with whom I still have ongoing contact.
How will you know when you’ve been successful? –
This is obviously specific to your goals, but for TEDA we are looking to develop an extensive contact list of decision makers within our target audience, along with manufacturers and other distributors. This will allow us to build our sales channels and gain credibility through association with influential organisations such as the NHS.
Marketing Yourself
When marketing yourself it is important to be aware of your USPs, in order to create ‘brand you’. Networking can be used to market ‘brand you’, and the company you represent. The key is to let people know what you have to offer in a professional manner, so that people buy into your company brand, but also ‘brand you’ as “people buy from people”. This again relates to the lessons learnt from NLP.
All of the considerations raised above from the workshop are reiterated in an excellent website for networking tips under the ‘laws of networking’:
http://www.aim.com.au/publications/bkchapters/influence_ch5.html
1) The law of abundance - There are plenty of opportunities for everyone.
2) The law of reciprocity - What you give out comes back tenfold.
3) The law of giving without expectation - You do something for someone not to get something back, but because you want to help them achieve their goal.
Conclusion
Hunt & Morgan (1994) have identified the importance of fostering successful relationships, internally and externally, and the link to strategic advantage. The workshop discussed the specific importance of networking and marketing yourself when part of a small business as a cost effective tool for sales generation and reducing business costs.
I thought it was an interesting event and have enjoyed practicing since, with some great outcomes. I would recommend that you practice networking in everyday scenarios before translating into a business setting e.g next time you are on a bus or train, try and learn 3 things about the person sat near you to build your confidence.
Recommended links:
• http://www.aim.com.au/publications/bkchapters/influence_ch5.html
• www.businesslink.gov.uk
• www.britishchambers.org.uk
• www.Linkedin.com
Having gained some really useful business insights from the workshops so far, and met some interesting people, our final workshop looked at Networking and how to market yourself – after all, it’s not what you know in business, it’s who you know!
Anyone can be an effective networker, but it helps to be outgoing and able to build that all important rapport. It’s said that effective networkers aren’t born, but created through practice - opportunities for this are everywhere. For example meeting someone new at a bar or chatting to the person next to you on the train.
Networking should be viewed as a life skill, and it’s a process which takes time and dedication to build strong, meaningful and profitable relationships – for the long-term.
Before getting stuck into some live practice, try asking yourself these questions:
Why are you networking? –
When trying to grow a small business, reasons may include: gaining support for a major project, finding funding, or searching for a new partner/company director with specialist skills. Networking is also a great way of meeting with other local businesses to form joint ventures or referral networks.
While networking on behalf of TEDA, it will be for many of the above reasons and specifically to enable meetings with key decision makers in local governments who may buy the product, and also attempting to construct the TEDA brand through word of mouth.
What’s your personal/professional goal? –
It is important to bear in mind not only your goal in networking, but also what the recipient’s goal may be, always go in with the attitude “what can I do for others, how can I be of help”. Going in with this attitude will create a ‘win-win’ situation as people are much more likely to respond to you.
While networking for TEDA recipients may need to meet educational objectives around diet for ethnic groups, and in helping to service their need I may be able to achieve my goal of making ‘the right connections’ while building the brand.
What are your strengths to help you market yourself? –
Never network from a position of weakness, always from a position of strength. Try to keep in the back of your mind something of value you have to offer (personally and for your company), or you could risk being seen as an annoyance. Knowing your strengths will also help you to feel confident, and market your offering successfully.
While speaking to companies who require products like TEDA’s to meet the objective of their organisation (schools, hospitals), then it puts TEDA in a position of strength as it has a valuable commodity in its unique VTAs.
What Events? –
Networking events are all around you, once you start to look for them you will be surprised at how many you find – take a look at http://www.ukinventure.com/, a site that I became a member of after the incubation workshops. Remember to keep focussed and attend events where you have something to offer the other delegates, or where there are likely to be ‘like-minded people’. Try searching for events through Business Link and the Chamber of Commerce.
The internet offers new capabilities for networking, in terms of finding networking events, and in its own right becoming a networking forum through sites such as www.LinkedIn.com. This site has over 38 million members in over 200 countries, with a new member joining approximately every second. This includes executives from all of the Fortune 500 companies, and can be used for:
• Recruitment
• Sharing ideas
• Finding industry experts
• Sharing industry news
Given our target audience, events where Primary Care Trust, councils, schools, and other members of the trade in the wider VTA market (other distributors), are involved. This is a very specific search criteria, however, I have already attended a number at Old Broadcasting House in Leeds covering topics such as ‘obesity and the NHS’, and ‘Social Enterprise in Leeds’. Maybe it’s beginners luck, or from learning the lessons of the workshops, but I met some valuable contacts with whom I still have ongoing contact.
How will you know when you’ve been successful? –
This is obviously specific to your goals, but for TEDA we are looking to develop an extensive contact list of decision makers within our target audience, along with manufacturers and other distributors. This will allow us to build our sales channels and gain credibility through association with influential organisations such as the NHS.
Marketing Yourself
When marketing yourself it is important to be aware of your USPs, in order to create ‘brand you’. Networking can be used to market ‘brand you’, and the company you represent. The key is to let people know what you have to offer in a professional manner, so that people buy into your company brand, but also ‘brand you’ as “people buy from people”. This again relates to the lessons learnt from NLP.
All of the considerations raised above from the workshop are reiterated in an excellent website for networking tips under the ‘laws of networking’:
http://www.aim.com.au/publications/bkchapters/influence_ch5.html
1) The law of abundance - There are plenty of opportunities for everyone.
2) The law of reciprocity - What you give out comes back tenfold.
3) The law of giving without expectation - You do something for someone not to get something back, but because you want to help them achieve their goal.
Conclusion
Hunt & Morgan (1994) have identified the importance of fostering successful relationships, internally and externally, and the link to strategic advantage. The workshop discussed the specific importance of networking and marketing yourself when part of a small business as a cost effective tool for sales generation and reducing business costs.
I thought it was an interesting event and have enjoyed practicing since, with some great outcomes. I would recommend that you practice networking in everyday scenarios before translating into a business setting e.g next time you are on a bus or train, try and learn 3 things about the person sat near you to build your confidence.
Recommended links:
• http://www.aim.com.au/publications/bkchapters/influence_ch5.html
• www.businesslink.gov.uk
• www.britishchambers.org.uk
• www.Linkedin.com
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