Women's Small Business Start-Up Kit, The by Peri Pakroo

Author:Peri Pakroo [Peri Pakroo, J.D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781413325249
Publisher: Nolo
Published: 2018-03-18T16:00:00+00:00

Specifically, two concepts have become critical elements of successful branding in the digital age: authenticity and transparency.

• Authenticity is crucial because today’s customers are incredibly media savvy and can smell insincerity a mile away. Hollow marketing appeals just don’t fly anymore. You can barely even get consumers to notice you at all in a world with way too much information floating around. Businesses that engender trust and loyalty have the best chance of breaking through in a very crowded marketplace.

• Transparency is essential because customers can so easily share and obtain information online. In today’s connected world, you can’t be inconsistent with pricing, or ignore customer complaints, or pretend a product flaw doesn’t exist. Instant or near-instant access to data allows consumers to educate themselves—about price, about features, options, your business history, everything. Open businesses help build trust. Opaque businesses are quick to generate bad buzz in an increasingly social-media driven world.

So how can you build authenticity and transparency into your business? By building your business as a “whole business.” Start with your core values, or the collective core values of your partners if you have them, and make sure these values inform every aspect and system of your business. Formalize your values by putting them in writing in your business plan, and regularly revisit them—especially if you have partners—to make sure everyone is on the same page.

For example, if you are starting a business making handbags, wallets, and similar accessories, and you and your partners strongly believe in building strong local economies, don’t just assume that pushing the “buy local” message in your marketing and PR materials is enough. Start by clarifying with your partners what “buy local” means to you, and in what specific ways you’ll reflect this value in your business. For example, establish targets for what portion of materials and supplies you’ll buy locally, and what qualifies as “local”: Within ten miles of your city? Statewide? What about materials that you can’t source locally, like zippers or certain hardware? Will you hire a local Web developer for your website, or someone from out-of-state?

Most of your customers will understand that your business won’t be able to be 100% local with its vendors and suppliers, but you need to think in advance about what buying practices you’ll put in place and how you’ll respond to any critics. What you want to avoid is putting yourself out there as a champion of local business, but without a ready answer when someone points out some aspect of your business that’s at odds with your professed values. Putting careful thought into your values and defining them specifically for different aspects of your business operations will pay off with a business that operates with consistency and is perceived as authentic to your customers.

Use your well-defined values as a foundation as you develop all the various systems that make your business tick. All aspects of your business should be coordinated and cohesive—from the definition of your products/services, to your business operations, to your

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