Your Market

There are several ways to grow your self and your business.  I’ve seen both individuals and businesses exploring new markets (or companies) outside of where they are currently operating.  Oftentimes, the business has yet to saturate the market they are currently in or, in the case of the individual, they are not exploring opportunities that reside within their current company.  Before developing a completely new market, consider the following tips to continue on your business development journey.

Tip 1:  Current products/services.  Unless you’ve been in the market a long time, most likely there are those that may not know you exist.  For example, perhaps your product/service is targeted to women between 25 – 35 years of age, living in a certain geographic location.  Ask your current customers where they heard about you, document the answers, see if there is a trend and then go after that trend.  Most likely there is still a lot of business out there for you – work a little harder to find it.

Tip 2:  Current company.  Looking for career advancement within your own company can be a rewarding way to develop.  Talk to people in other departments that hold jobs you may be interested in.  Talk to people in other areas that you are unfamiliar with, you might not know what you might be interested in.  Ask what skills and training they have that you could acquire.  Volunteer for projects that get you out of your comfort zone.  Take advantage of your human resources/training department for advice.

Tip 3:  New products/services.  Ask your current customers what else they need.  Tweaking your current product or service can be a cost effective way to “add” a new product offering.  It could be as simple as offering what you have in a new way.  For example, if you sell your products from a storefront, perhaps you can sell through the internet.  Consider an instructional video on how to get the most out of your products – you can deliver it through YouTube.  Package your products using the three level approach – the basics (lowest price), premium (middle price), prestige (highest price) – having options can drive your sales and give your customers a choice.

Tip 4:  New skills.  Take a class or training program to enhance your skills.  Make sure it is something that interests you, which may or may not lead to another position.  I once had an employee embark on a program learning about workflow inside organizations.  When he finished the program, he proposed using this new found knowledge within our company.  We gave him the go-ahead to put his skills to work as a short term experiment.  This turned into a new position of Workflow Director through which he became one of our most valuable employees along with a promotion and raise.

Tip 5:  Complaints.  Track and examine complaints.  Complaints can be the greatest source for product improvement available.  Addressing those complaints by changing your product, delivery or pricing structure can also put you ahead of the competition.  For example, think about the last time you hired a contractor, what were your concerns?  What if the contractor showed up when they said they would, came in on or under budget and completed the work ahead of schedule?  So easy to do and business would explode for the contractor.

What have you discovered in your own market or company?  What tips do you have to share?  Have you gotten all the business you can from your current market?  Have you looked for all the opportunities within your current organization?  Leave your comments below.

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