Company's Gestation Period

"Successful businesspeople are, first and foremost, salespeople. If you cannot sell, do not, we repeat, do not start your own company."¹

→ Selling Is Problem Solving

The analysis of market potential separates the inventors from entrepreneurs.

→ Venture Financing Funnel

Many good products are never successfully commercialized because their inventors don't stop to understand the market or assemble the management team necessary to capitalize on the opportunity.

The first thing to do is to research all competitors for the product or service and ask the right questions:

• "Why would someone switch to buy from me?"

→ Virtuoso Marketing

→ Empathetic Marketing

→ Focus on Emotional Drivers

• "If there's already a similar product or service in the market, why would someone leave a product or service that they're comfortable with for my product or service that they don't know anything about?

• Is my product or service better, or is my idea cheaper or of higher quality? Can I convince enough customers of this to stay in business?

Starting-Up

A venture's first strategic marketing focus should not be end-user customers or, in fact, the commercial marketplace at all. Especially for launch-stage companies, the first critical marketing issue is not cozying up to end-user customers. The first critical issue is being able to market the venture opportunity to appropriate sources of funding for the company itself. The most appropriate initial funding source may be employees, family and friends, third-party angel investors, a venture capital fund, a corporate partner, a licensee, or some combination of these.

→ Revenue Model

Growing Company

"Comfort, complacency and confidence – the "Cs" – spell disaster for an entrepreneurial company¹".

Collison’s Axiom of Selling: "‘Selling’ isn’t happening when your company is talking; ‘selling’ happens when your targeted prospect is talking."  Marketing isn't advertising.  Selling isn't the same as marketing.  And advertising isn't selling.  But no matter what your company does, it needs them all – at least in one form or another.

Mature Company

→ Customer Success 360

→ Surprise To Win: 3 Strategies

You should always be insecure about your markets, your products and markets, your competition, your legal environment and yourself. There are no final answers to these questions. You should ask them every day. Develop market intelligence and get prepared to adapt quickly to market changes. Build rapport with your customers – if customers are served by someone they feel instinctively comfortable with, then they will choose to come back.

References:

1. MoneyHunt, Miles Spencer and Cliff Ennico