Episode 12When to Change Direction
Business is unpredictable these days, and sometimes you need a change of direction. The average person will change careers 6 times in their life, so this week’s episode discusses when and how to change directions. We delve into how to effectively market while in unfamiliar circumstances and the appropriate steps to ensure your businesses success.
Case study
A corporate lawyer turned entrepreneur, Prue Gilbert started Grace Papers, a company helping parents navigate having a family and a career. Prue new exactly when to change direction as she found not only a connection to the cause of discrimination, but identified it as a clear gap within the market. Her unique skillset as a former lawyer allowed her effectively market her business even with little marketing experience.
Case Study Key Takeouts
- Coming from a background with little marketing experience, Prue Gilbert had three things that helped her business become successful; she had a connection to a purpose bigger than her and an issue that needed fighting for, she identified a clear problem impacting both businesses and individuals, in not only their home lives but also their economic stability and finally, her unique skill set from her legal background enabled her to market her business effectively through negotiating and persuasive skills.
- Grace Papers was tested before it came about, and the risk factors of Prue’s transition were minimised as she had two clients lined up for her new business before she even left being a lawyer and leveraged her network of people that have helped her in the past. This gave her business credibility and backing from senior leaders and advocators.
- Grace Papers needed a new client base in order to become successful, and some of the strategies used to gain new customers includes picking up the phone, relationships building and network marketing. The relationships built around Grace Papers created a supporting platform for the business to launch from, and these trusting relationships are still some of the most important marketing strategies implemented by Grace Papers.
- Grace Papers used free media exposure to significantly help grow their business as a way of testing their idea before investing large sums of money. They also used it to educate people about their stance on gender equity, and education is one of the most important things to Grace Papers.
- Their next step to success is going global.
Marketing Panel
Yvette Timmins
Founder and CEO
Bloom College
Zia Word
Co-Founder
Chozun
Prue Gilbert
CEO
Grace Papers
Panel Key Takeouts
- Know and understand your audience; their likes and their dislikes. This is critical in any business but especially in a start-up.
- Find the right experts you can trust and build your knowledge. The more you know, the more you can grow in your business.
- Test your change of direction before implementing it. Your most valuable assets are your customers so reach out to them and make sure that what you are planning to do is valuable to them.
- Be more “EQ” than “IQ” i.e. create an emotional connection in understanding your clients and use that drive and passion to stay connected with your client base.
How can I test my new ecommerce strategy without investing a heap of money on an ecommerce store?
- Start with one of the free websites you can build e.g. wix.com and you do it yourself, you know what your customers like.
- Promote it on Facebook and Instagram, put your time into it to make it what your vision is for the business.
- Go to platforms people already are using and test on those platforms.
- Have a look at what the competitors are doing and analyse it, and start to see where you can enter the conversation.
- Email marketing has high rates of engagement, this is something all new businesses should consider.
How can I test my new ecommerce strategy without investing a heap of money on an ecommerce store?
- Ask your current group, customers and target market what they’re after and a problem they face and consider how to address it.
- If no current consumers or market, do research, surveys, run workshops with your audience, test your content that you’ve researched.
Caller Key Takeouts
“How can I test my new ecommerce strategy on a small scale without investing a huge amount of money?” – Anne Wine
- Start with one of the free websites you can build e.g wix or shopify and do it yourself as you know what your customers like more than anyway. Promote that to Facebook and Instagram to test it out.
Ann Wine
Clash Sportswear
“If my initial idea doesn’t take off, what are the best ways to find out what else to offer? – Greg Weiss
- Ask your current audience or target consumers. Keep it short and simple and just ask them what they are after and what their issues are which you can offer a solution for.
Greg Weiss
CareerSupport 365