Company Registration at CIPC, SARS, COID, CUSTOMS, CIDB & More
Get Compliant from Anywhere, Easy and Fast!
Company Registration at CIPC, SARS, COID, CUSTOMS, CIDB & More
Get Compliant from Anywhere, Easy and Fast!
This is Step 7/12 of our series “How to Start a Business in SA Successfully?”
In this 12-step-series we discuss the 12 Core Elements of How to Start a Business in South Africa. We cover all the big questions… how to market your business? get Leads? keep control as I grow?
Last week we covered how to build a professional business website. If you missed it, simply click here to catch-up now.
In an interview style discussion, Brend will lead us through these start-up success steps. Brend is SA’s leading start-up success consultant.
To watch the Video Interview, simply click on the video below:
You can also read through the interview content below – question by question.
“After your online presence is in place and you’ve already built a website, you have a Facebook page; you have your Instagram page set up and you’ve got everything set up according to where your target market’s attention is at.
What you want to do, is start building a sustainable brand. Firstly, by getting content out there that is relevant to your target market.
Once you have the credibility, you must ask, ‘What type of business am I busy with here?’
If it’s an entertainment business, you want to do Facebook advertising. When I go on Facebook, I’m in a social mindset. It makes sense to see a restaurant or live performance add on Facebook, because I’m in a social mindset.
If you are selling a professional service, then LinkedIn is the place to go. People who use LinkedIn are more professional, and it’s going to help you to get directly to the market you are targeting.
Then you get something like Google search-based advertising. You must have done your research by now, so you must know whether people are looking for the service or product in Google or not. If they are, then Google AdWords is the way to go.
Always have your Google Maps listed, because when some people search for your product or service, they add the keyword ‘near me’, and if your company has a Google Business Profile, it will appear on Google Maps.
Those are just some simple tips on how to get your advertising up and running.
Lastly, when it comes to advertising and marketing, you must pay. There is no such thing as free advertising, it doesn’t exist. Advertising and marketing are the essential seeds that you’re sewing into your business. If a farmer doesn’t plant any seeds, should he be upset when there’s no harvest coming out? He shouldn’t be. It’s logical, but entrepreneurs think ‘I don’t want to pay for advertising’. Make peace with it, pay for marketing and advertising, and get your brand out there.“
“Firstly, make sure you have a website for your Spaza shop to really make sure you are different from the other Spaza shops.
Secondly, make sure that you have my Facebook page and Google Business profile setup. When you setup Google Business, your shop will be listed on Google Maps. So, when someone is searching for ‘Spaza shop in my area’, then your Spaza shop will show up in the radius.
Then you need to ask yourself where the community’s attention is at. If the community’s attention is on Facebook, then you are going to start doing advertising on Facebook. Also make sure you have a website setup and linked to your Facebook for when people click on ads.
I will take it a step further. I will run crazy specials that will make people’s eyes fall out. I will sell bread for R1 and then people will think they’ve got to see this. So, this way I’m bringing feet to my store by selling bread for R1, but then add a markup on some of the other products they can buy.
The key thing to remember is, it might be a bit of a loss within the first month or two; but I’m willing to write it off as a marketing expense, because the customers will keep on coming back to my store. And within 5 years, those clients will have generated me a lot of profit.“
“Again, you must ask yourself where your target market’s attention is at.
Let’s use the example of the Spaza shop again.
A lot of them do face-to-face marketing because people want to trust you. So, what I would suggest is that you think about flyers and brochures that you can hand out in a radius of approximately 5km.
Hand out flyers at people’s doorsteps, at taxi ranks, give your business cards to vendors, etc.
If you have a different type of business that is not a Spaza shop, you can also do cold calling. If you can get a couple of numbers through a legitimate source, but just be aware of the POPI Act.
Then lastly, you can apply for tenders and contracts as well.“
If you want to get more customers for your business, you need to advertise your business effectively.
In our next Session (Step #8), we will cover more aspects on: How to Start Making Sales. See you there!
Start your journey to a become a successful entrepreneur in South Africa by Signing up for our FREE Online Startup Workshop. In this workshop we’ll train you how to apply this information above and much more. Best of all – it is FREE!
If you are already a trading business and need funding or support to grow, our IMCSA Accredited Business Coaches are ready to assist. We train you how to apply this information above to your business and much more.
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