The A to Z challenge and writing about woman entrepreneurs. You may read the previous posts here.
B is for Business Plan
V is for Viability
Is it possible that the value you provide to your customers is viable over a long time period? In the initial days of setting up a business, women entrepreneurs tend to be extremely enthusiastic about their work. Then as the pulls and pushes of various other aspects of the business and life in general begin to take their toll, that sense of enthusiasm begins to dwindle. The work that had cheered and excited you previously, now begins to feel like more effort than it's other.
This is a typical case of reaching burnout because you have been trying to do too much, too quickly. The long term goals for a successful business include being professional, being consistent and being unique. There is a lot of choice in the market today, no matter what your actual niche is. This means that your customers need to be treated with respect and provided the same level of value that you start out with consistently, with every single purchase they make.
Also your customers come to expect a certain quality and standard when they buy from you. If this is unavailable the next time they come back to you, there is a good chance that you will lose them forever due to being inconsistent. In addition, the same old things tend to get boring. As a business owner, you need to find something that keeps the customer interested and coming back to shop with you. This can be anything from new products or services that you offer, an add on to something that you already consider a best seller, or even contests.
The more your customers value what you provide, the easier it is for your business to become viable. Which brings us to what you need to offer your customers to keep them coming back. Very often small business owners make the mistake of assuming what their customers want, rather than speaking with them and actually ascertaining what they want. Don't make the mistake of wasting time and limited resources coming up with offers no one is interested in. Instead do your due diligence to find out what actually interests them.
The Exercise
What You Will Need: Some questions and some customers
Come up with a few ideas of offers that you think are adding value to your customer's shopping experience with you. It can be anything that gels well with your current offerings. Initially brainstorm about two dozen ideas. Then discard the ones that are not viable over time, or will cost too much in terms of resources. Then focus on the five best ones that are possible to do quickly and repeatedly.
Here are some value added suggestions for a physical product such as handmade soaps.
1. Offer limited editions soaps during the holiday season.
2. Make gift packs with the soaps and an additional skin care product. If you don't make one you can collaborate with someone who does. Both of you can offer the gift packs in your outlets.
3. Consider a subscription model. There is a monthly product delivered to the subscriber, at a slight savings than purchasing the regular soap.
4. Offer 3, 6 or 9 month soap subscriptions as gifts for their friends and family members. Include personalized birthday greeting or wishes from the client.
5. Set up a customer referralgift for those who bring in their friends and family to shop with you.
6. Have a bi-annual flash sale to clear old inventory. As well as give your customers to pick up soaps at a good discount. Although there are some schools of thought which say never offer a discount, instead add value before you increase your rates.
7. A contest with a surprise giveaway is also a good way to drum up publicity on social media.
Keep in mind your ideal customer and demographics when you make up your questionnaire. Then poll your existing customers on what they would prefer in terms of these value added services. Once you know what they would prefer, get the deal sorted out and offer it to them.
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