Hunting sales whales
"It may be best not to go for the home-run account right
away," suggests Michelle Fish of Integra Staffing, "because you might
not be ready for the size and scope of their business, and you might not get
another chance at them if you blow it. Sometimes it's better to get your feet
wet with smaller accounts."
Sales personnel
Prepare to wear many hats, at least for the short term. Rather
than hire a salesperson right off the bat, Fish took on all the sales
responsibilities herself. "Hiring for sales is hit or miss," she
says. "And anyway, nobody's going to do sales better in the beginning than
you."
Outside consultants
Look to a mentor for strategic guidance and nuts-and-bolts
practical advice. Be strategic when enlisting pros with high hourly rates, such
as attorneys and accountants. Pay them now for help incorporating the business,
reviewing partnership agreements and ensuring you have a viable accounting
system in place upon launch, but wait to enlist them for less pressing matters.
A high-end website
Unless it's e-commerce-reliant, start with a no-frills website.
You can roll out major improvements, such as regularly refreshed content,
multimedia, a mobile-friendly design and other bells and whistles
Outside marketing, advertising and PR
Rely on grassroots and guerrilla tactics to start. "We said
no to a lot of marketing opportunities that we thought would be cool but didn't
make sense from an ROI standpoint," says Nick Friedman of College Hunks
Hauling Junk. "Sure, it would have been nice to have prime-time TV and
radio ads right away … but that would have sent us way over our marketing
budget."
New products/services
Focus on your strongest offering first. You can add others once
your existing product or service provides a strong, sustainable revenue stream
and enough cash reserves to invest in new offerings.
No comments:
Post a Comment