Developing a Promotional Campaign

OK - here is a real challenge to your business understanding and skills! Develop a promotional campaign for Xterics Resources. Your job is to plan out the promotional campaign that will ignite public interest in what is a new and unique service, and persuade them to leave their current veterinary practice to use the services of Xterics resources. To launch a successful promotion campaign a number of stages will normally be followed through. Outlined below is what each stage entails:

Stage 1: What are the objectives of the campaign?

A campaign brief will be issued outlining the objectives of the campaign. These should relate to what are called SMART targets - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time related. This ensures that there is a focus to the campaign and that all involved know exactly what they are supposed to be doing and where they are going.

Stage 2: Who is the campaign aimed at?

This will involve identifying who the target market is going to be and this, in turn, may be related to the market segment/s that the business is focusing on. A market segment is a group of people with similar characteristics that may influence spending on the business's products. A market segment might be related to gender, age grouping, occupation, leisure pursuit, lifestyle, house type and so on. This will help to ensure that the campaign gets to the people who are most likely to benefit from it and buy the product/service concerned.

Stage 3: What is the message?

A promotional campaign is designed to try to make customers more aware of a product, brand or service. Getting the right message across is therefore important and as such making sure the message is clear and unambiguous is vital. The message may determine the type of promotional media used - TV, radio, internet and so on.

Stage 4: What is the budget?

Most promotional campaigns will have to work within a pre-determined budget. This will give planners some idea of what they have available to spend and thus will determine the type of promotional media used. The budget might be linked to the expected returns on the project or the amount of investment being put in in the first place.

Stage 5: What mix will be used?

The marketing mix refers to the relative importance of price, product, promotion and place in the marketing function. For some products and services, price might be the crucial factor in determining the success of the product in other cases the product/service itself may be more important. The promotional campaign therefore must ensure that it focuses on what the important elements of the mix are.

Stage 6: What is the time frame?

When the campaign is scheduled to run, for how long and the long term plans need to be considered. In some cases, a campaign might initially run for four weeks and then be 'rested' to return after a few months - possibly in a different format. The launch of a new business such as business opportunity website www.instantbuy-ng.com might be a time of fevered activity and then subsequent campaigns might be needed as specific events take place.

Stage 7: How is the campaign evaluated?

Assessing how the campaign has gone in relation to its objectives will be essential in informing the future direction of subsequent campaigns and learning from the experiences gained. There may be a number of things that happened during the development of the campaign that will need to be addressed by the team and which will help them to not only plan new campaigns more effectively but will also help in the ongoing campaign - remember the time frame in stage 6!

I hope you learnt from new from this post.

To your success!

Felix Smith Aigbonohan 
www.instantbuy-ng.com

The One Attribute Present in All Successful New Ventures

What is needed to successfully start a new business? Most people think it's all about the initial idea or the founding team. And while those don’t hurt, few great companies grew simply because of those elements.

There is one attribute, however, that is present in all successful new ventures and the entrepreneurs who launch them: need for achievement.

Need for achievement is a preference for challenge coupled with an acceptance of personal responsibility for outcomes. A personal drive for accomplishment evidences one’s need for achievement. We may call it drive. We may call it hunger. We may call it being a self-starter, or being self-motivated. All of those would be accurate as we think about need for achievement in this context. 

How could it be that one trait has such an impact on success? Let’s think about it.

1. It breaks down doors.

Starting a business is a venture into uncertainty. Predicting obstacles the startup will face and what the winning idea or strategy will be from the start is impossible. An investor needs to know whether or not the founding team has the tenacity to stick to its vision through all the ups and downs, and if they will learn from them.

2. It fuels hard work.

Starting a business may seem impossible at first. But those who win are not just those with the most power or money, but rather those who are willing to work the hardest and care the most. When faced with likely failure, the only ones left are those who care too much to g. ive up. Success is the result of continued hard work in the face of what may seem to be incredible obstacles.

3. It demonstrates innovation.

Investors are not looking to invest primarily in a big idea or strategy as much as in the character of the entrepreneur. Starting a business is a venture into uncertainty. Predicting obstacles the startup will face and what the winning idea or strategy will be from the start is impossible. An investor needs to know whether or not the founding team has the tenacity to stick to its vision through all the ups and downs, and if they will learn from them. Need for achievement can lead to innovation and new, successful ideas. If entrepreneurs are too stubborn to give up, they will be forced to learn from their mistakes, adapt and advance in order to succeed.

​4. It harnesses natural abilities.

Grit, tenacity and resilience are increasingly becoming part of our criteria for talent, and are often valued more than traditional predictors of success like academic performance.

Talent and intelligence are not enough. Need for achievement is needed to focus and develop talents, and continually apply them to reach goals.

Dr. James V. Green leads the education activities of Mtech as the Director of Entrepreneurship Education at the University of Maryland. Dr. Green's research interests include entrepreneurship education and the psychology of entrepreneurship. Prior to academia, Dr. Green's startup experiences included WaveCrest Laboratories, an innovative start-up in next-generation electric and hybrid-electric propulsion and drive systems (acquired by Magna International, NYSE: MGA), and Cyveillance, a software start-up and world leader in cyber intelligence and intelligence-led physical and cybersecurity (acquired by QinetiQ, LSE: QQ.L).

Part 2: Reasons Why Your Business Will Probably Fail in Nigeria

This is a continuation of the last article I wrote on 'Reasons why your business may properly fail in Nigeria.' Please take your time and fo through this other 5 reasons.

6. All you have is an idea of what the business entails
I can’t understand why you have chosen to delve into something you don’t know all that is required, the unfortunate thing about Nigeria is, there is no useful data on the internet you can research on to make up your knowledge on the business

7. You think being an entrepreneur will afford you more leisure time
Most start up owners have this misconception that owning a business will afford you more leisure time, well you are in for a surprise. Your start up business will require 24 hours of your time and brain space.

8. All you have is one grand strategy for success
The danger about having just one strategy for success is you are not prepared for the worst, risk are synonymous with businesses, if you don’t have several strategies, including existing strategies, you will drive your business off the cliff

8. Poor networks
You don’t have connections (knowing the right people) and most painfully you don’t have the paraphernalia of office to attract these networks, truth is, you will have to do 10 times more to get any connection.

9. Insufficient Knowledge of your Industry

You probably got your business idea from a friend or you read it from an article that the industry is viable. You do not have any knowledge or experience whatsoever in that sector, then you decided to put your money into such venture. That’s business suicide and one main reason why small businesses fail in Nigeria

10. Lack of Entrepreneurial Skills

When asked most entrepreneurs will accredit their lack of success in business to insufficient capital, bad infrastructure or even the devil for the religious folks but we don’t seems to realize that running a successful business requires you to have skills that are different from your expertise. Even professionals, like medical doctors and Lawyers whom might want to run a private practice also need these entrepreneurial skills also.

Please take time to review all the 10 reason stated in both part1 and 2.

To your success!

Felix Smith Aigbonohan.

A Business Development Consultant & Facilitator

The CEO, Xterics Resources® | Razor Edge Coaching

Part 1: Reasons Why Your Business Will Probably Fail in Nigeria

1. You are not passionate about anything
You will need genuine passion and commitment when the business is not performing, if you are going in for quick cash, prepare to rush out the same door you have entered through. 

2. Your business model is not appropriate for the Nigerian market
Most of the books that teach how to write business plans are developed for the western world. You need a good understanding of the Nigerian business climate for you to have any chance of success

3. You believe your product is good enough to attract your target market
As an entrepreneur, it is important to believe in the value that your product will offer, but please note, if this value is not well packaged, your potential customers will not be attracted to it. Everyone knows perception sells in Nigeria.

4. You think marketing is all about printing fliers and creating a website
Most people who start up businesses are skilled in a field, but lack the in-depth knowledge of marketing, remember this, if you the owner of the business cannot sell the product, your marketers who are less passionate won’t close those sales.

5. You have start-up capital, but don’t have running cost
Most times, people have capital to startup businesses and develop a plan that once clients start paying, the money will be used as running cost. Well, research has shown that SME’s in Nigeria fold up because they run out of cash

To your success!

Felix Smith Aigbonohan.

A Business Development Consultant & Facilitator

The CEO, Xterics Resources® | Razor Edge Coaching

Financial Management for Entrepreneurs

 

Introduction

One of the most important parts of running a business is record keeping. A high proportion of small businesses fail, and frequently it is caused by poor record keeping. You need to learn to keep good records and as your business grows, hire someone to do it for you. This training module focuses on the basic records that you need to keep in order to be able to generate proper books of accounts. This is not meant to make you an accounting expert, but to help you

·         Keep all your accounting records easily and effectively

·         Understand financial statements

·         Price your products and services appropriately

·         Manage your cash flow effectively

What you need in your business are documents called financial statements, which will tell you so much about how you're doing that it will amaze and excite you. Your goal is accurate financial statements.  Properly kept books will help you make sound financial decisions... rather than waiting for the bank statement to see if you have any money... or having "surprises" at the end of the year when your accountant prepares your books.

Why keep good records?

·         Price your product accurately.

·         Know if you're making or losing money - in general and on specific products

·         Know your cash flow - short and long term.

·         To make business decisions

·         Work with bankers and investors

·         Tax Purposes

·         Basic Record Keeping

Record Keeping

Proper record keeping is difficult and almost impossible without these three (3) Key Success Factors:

·         Open a bank account for your business

·    Place yourself on a salary. You are different from your business. Business sales is company money, no business owner’s money

·         Be committed to doing your books  and your business right

Look out for the next article of practical case studies of how do to a proper book keeping.

To your success!

Felix Smith Aigbonohan.

A Business Development Consultant & Facilitaor

The CEO, Xterics Resources® | Razor Edge Coaching