For most people, a solid business idea is enough for them to think that the rest of their journey is a calm, straight road. Contrary to the idealists belief, the road to a successful business is long and winding with multiple stops designed to throw you off the path. Luckily however, there are a few structural integrities that, if implemented correctly, can help to ensure a successful and prosperous business.

Do Your Research

Without conducting thorough research, your business may end as quickly as it started. So crucial in determining the future of your business – understanding your customers, competitors and the market could be your key to truly succeeding. Have you got a real understanding of your audience? Who will buy your product or service? What do they want, need and expect? Research can help you map out the full profile of your ideal customer, gaining priceless insights such as their gender, age and location, all necessary in helping you develop an effectively tailored marketing campaign.

If your competitors have conducted more research than you have, the likely outcome is that they’ll be far ahead of you in the game – taking away your customers and winning in the marketplace. Research can help you find weaknesses in your competitors strategies, allowing you to grow from them and surpass your competition all together. Similarly, you can also discover what performed best for your competition and utilize this information when modelling your own strategy.

Set Your Goals

A reason in which goals are so important is that they give you purpose and direction. Without direction, no matter how good your business may be, it is unfortunately destined to suffer. The best type of goal to set is a S.M.A.R.T. goal. Unfamiliar with the term?

• Specific: Make sure your goal is clear and well set out. Instead of “make X amount of money” set a goal like “obtain a business coach to show me the right tools to increase my revenue”.
• Measurable: If you have no measurable criteria, you will not be able to determine your progress. Instead of “gain new customers”, set a goal like “aim for 3 new customers per week”.
• Achievable: Make sure the goal you set is achievable for you. Do you have the correct resources and capabilities to achieve your goal? If not, what are you missing?
• Relevant: Smaller goals should always amount to your overall target. Don’t pick goals that guide you in the wrong direction.
• Timely: Ensure your goal is time bound with a start and end date. A goal that is not time-constrained lacks urgency and motivation. Instead of “I’ll do this someday”, set a goal like “I will achieve this in the next 30 days”.

By setting yourself S.M.A.R.T goals, you are clearly setting out  your business’ motivations and focuses, providing yourself with a concise target to aim for.

The Customer Is Always Right

A lot of business owners underestimate the importance of listening to their customers – a method destined for failure. Listening to your customers is a fantastic way to gather important information relevant to your business and understanding how they really feel and your product or service. By measuring customer satisfaction, you can ascertain whether you meet, fall short of or surpass your customer expectations.

Remember, a happy customer may also be a retained customer. In the same breath however, an unhappy customer may begin exploring your competitors so it is vital to make the effort in understanding your customers needs and desires.

No matter how impressive your product may be, your audience will always be able to find a loophole, issue or problem. But please, do not think of this negatively! Instead, see your audience as a tool to help you constantly develop on your product; personal beta testers if you will. You may learn priceless and surprising information about your product that you never even knew!

Bio – The Good Marketer is a Marketing Agency in London which drives more traffic, generates conversions and increases sales for Small-To-Medium Sized Businesses.