When was the last time you had a proper look at your competitors?
Competition is healthy! Keeping up to date with industry trends will help you focus and ensure you are always one step ahead of the pack.
Create a simple list of pros and cons for your industry and see how you stack up against the competition.
Top tip: try to be brutally honest about areas in which your business needs to improve. Your ego won’t like it, but your customers will.
It’s all about feelings
How does a brand make you feel? Happy, motivated, guilty? These can all be great things if they suit your brand story however, beware of the ‘meh’ factor of indifference.
Customers who feel this way when they engage with your product or service will more than likely be confused and disinterested about your messaging and therefore, will stick to what they already know. You might be successful at selling, but you haven’t built brand loyalty and will find it hard to grow beyond an average price point. But this can be fixed!
Top tip: strip back your key messaging so you can identify how you want your customers to feel about your business.
2019 is coming!
What? It’s only the beginning of 2018 and you’re talking about next year already?
Yep! Planning is key, so you can be proactive rather than reactive. This will shape your business by identifying opportunities, increasing motivation and ultimately if done well, contribute positively to your bottom line.
Top tip: build a calendar of events that you KNOW happen every year. Christmas, Valentine’s Day, end of the financial year.
Display it in a prominent place in your workplace (out of view of your customers!) and use it as the starting point for you and your team to plan your activity. This will help you avoid the panic on 13 February when your boss says ‘just get something out, I don’t care what’ for Valentine’s day.
