Who wants what you have? Let's find out...

Find out who wants what you have to offer and figure out how to market to them.

In business school, one of the first concepts learned is “supply and demand."

Before we give them what they want, ask yourself a few questions.

What are you offering customers that they need or want to buy? As a business owner, many people have a passion for the product or service they provide to consumers.

Why should they want to buy what you have?

Why should they want to buy it from YOU?

What do you have to offer that other people don’t have?

These are questions every business owner should ask themselves and answer. If you don’t know the answer to these questions, this is where research comes in. In our internet age, a plethora of information is available on line. However, I also believe in “nose to the grindstone” research –survey your perspective customers, do some market research, find out what the competition is doing, has done or failed to do and take advantage of offering your product or service instead of theirs.

Before I began as a business consultant, I was an Avon Representative. I got into the business because I wanted to make some extra money “on the side." However, I faced the challenge of other cosmetic and independent sales competition. I was stumped and a bit discouraged when reps from my competitors were seemingly promoting their products to “my” customers. Then a friend made me realize that just because we provide similar products doesn’t mean they have to buy from others. In addition to offering great products, I had to answer the “why should they buy it from ME” question. By answering that question, I developed “creative marketing” for my merchandise. I created gift baskets filled with Avon products. Anybody can offer you an Avon book, but how many people can take a line of products and create a gift basket? After factoring in the cost of packaging and presentation, I created themed, tailor made products for my customers.

In essence, I found out who wanted what I had and figured out one way to market it to them.