Push Through
Every couple of days on FB you see someone post something along the lines of “No one ever supports local-small businesses” It’s true most of the public leans towards buying from established sellers over small businesses and there are many reasons why.
Very few people are around at the beginning of a fad. Damon John was selling FUBU out of a van he also used as a taxi. He was selling FUBU for years before anyone paid attention, he even went out of business twice before It took off. Everyone wants to ride the wave but doesn’t want to wait through the storm.
First let’s look at the three words “No one Supports.” It seems that when someone creates a business, they expect everyone to come out and give them a pat on the back, retweet their post, and become a loyal customer. This is not how the world works though.
You created a business good for you. People aren’t against you, you just haven’t presented them with a product that’s life changing enough to get them fired up. In reality how many times does Walmart tweet something and you retweet it, Not often right? You do know Walmart has everything at a low price and you go there faithfully. Walmart took the time to build their brand and now its burned into our minds, if you want things at the lowest price go to Walmart. Chic Fila has done an excellent marketing campaign offering excellent customer service. You don’t go to Chic Fila because they have the greatest chicken sandwich in the world you just know you are getting excellent customer service.
You have to find what your business has to offer people and execute that. It’s not logical to expect your friends to support your nail store when all your friends are construction workers. It just doesn’t make sense to ask them to support a product they don’t use.
Now lets take a deeper look into those words again “No one supports”
Before you go pointing fingers are you supporting everyone? You want everyone to blindly support you, but you don’t so the same. Why don’t you support that rapper’s mixtape or music video on your timeline? Or the new diner opened by the one guy from high school? All you have to do is repost their link, or listen to their album going to bed or on the way to work. Why don’t you? Maybe you’re not into rap or maybe you just don’t think it’s a good product, BOTH ARE OKAY!
Consumers even if they are family have a right to choose where they spend their hard-earned money. If you work 40 hrs a week you won’t just throw it away because someone decided to play business. They need a product that matches the dollar they are paying for it. Business owners, the way you feel about that rapper is the way people feel about your business. Not everyone likes your idea or thinks that you’re capable of pulling it off. That’s okay use this as motivation.
No one is required to support you unfortunately. It be great if we actually supported each the way the Atlanta economy supports its own local business’ and artist. Unless you are in Atlanta you can’t rely on that. Find your customers, build your brand, and execute. Amazon, Google, and Disney were all started in a garage or yard barn. This means at the beginning they all were trying to perfect their product and learn their consumer base, otherwise they would have rented a local building and just started making millions. It took each of these companies 5 years of work before they even saw even a sliver of success. You have to find your audience, perfect your product, and execute your sales plan.
You must do everything to build your brand and focus on your customers. Hire a marketing or brand consultant, get a social media specialist to run a campaign, or take out a FB Ad. There are book for entrepreneurs, there are networks and associations you can join, last but not least THERE IS YOUTUBE!
Do whatever you need to do to build your empire. Friends will come once you’ve organically created your buzz and when they do you charge them Full Price!
Be Blessed and Keep Pushing,