Page 2 - Home Business - Fall 2018
P. 2
Mobilize Your Business!
What Today’s Savvy Entrepreneurs Need to Take Mobile to a New Level
By MyTravelBiz™ (MTB)
lthough the futuristic, technology-driven
and automated world shown in the 1960s
AAmerican animated sitcom Th e Jetsons
may have seemed light years away at the time,
many of its revolutionary products and process-
es have come to fruition. From what seemed like
FEATURE these “space age” devices and conveniences are
whimsical inventions like hovercraft s, to auto-
mated appliances and elaborate talking robots,
part of today’s world.
As technology continues to evolve and change, we
as global citizens have increasingly more ways to
connect, shop, eat, live and work in virtual and
mobile-connected ways. Consequently, the va- Research is the fi rst step toward starting any mobile business.
riety and sheer number of mobile business op-
for Inc.com, even small businesses can eff ec- boomer crowds within the age niche.
portunities out there have given rise to a new
tively compete with large companies by target-
crop of savvy global entrepreneurs. Other specifi c niche areas to consider are lifestyle,
ing a niche market. educational level, values, occupation, interests
Just perform a quick search online and you’ll fi nd
“Targeting a specifi c market does not mean that or hobbies, religious beliefs, and ethnicity, just
everything from pet grooming and dog walking
you are excluding people who do not fi t your to name a few, depending on the product and/
services, to residential and commercial cleaning,
criteria,” wrote Porta. “Rather, target market- or service you have to off er.
catering and food trucks, professional organiz-
ing allows you to focus your marketing dollars
ing, personal shopping and moving services all If you already have an established mobile busi-
and brand message on a specifi c market that is
off ered by, and available to, people on the go. ness, use your analytics reporting to identify
more likely to buy from you than other mar-
If you’ve already opened a mobile-based busi- kets. Th is is a much more aff ordable, effi cient, your customer demographics. Th is will give you
ness, or are thinking about starting one, the fu- and eff ective way to reach potential clients and insights into the gender, age, geographic loca-
ture success of your enterprise must be skillfully generate business.” tion, and more about your customers, which
linked to technology in order to meet the de- could help identify others that may want what
you have to off er.
mands of the “I want it yesterday” world we live in.
“ If your mobile And don’t forget to look at what, to date, sells
Th e only limit is your imagination.
Before Posting Your Digital “Signage” — business is operated best. Are they the least expensive or most
expensive items or services? Does there appear
Research, Research, Research! to be a specifi c time of year that certain items
Just like the oft repeated real estate industry ad- internationally, you sell or that customers come to you for service?
age, “Location, Location, Location”, “Research, Considerations like these may also provide in-
Research, Research” is the fi rst step in starting may be required to sights into your target market.
any mobile business. Before letting people know document it in more
about you, you need to know about them by creat- Following these steps to carefully research and
ing a clearly defi ned target audience to whom you than one foreign city identify your target market will go a long way in
will be marketing your product and/or services. helping you speak to those potential customers,
Although “I want everyone to know about my or country. ” while also maximizing your overall outreach ef-
forts, marketing dollars, and of course, the all-im-
company” may seem like the best goal for brand portant Return on Investment (ROI).
awareness, it is not a good strategy for defi ning
Take the example of a women’s apparel line.
your target market. In fact, even if you narrow Get Your Mobile Up and Runnin’
Your obvious customers are going to be wom-
down your target market to, for example, stay- Even though you will be working on the road,
en, but there are several kinds of women that
at-home mothers, students or amateur athletes, there are several “stationary details” linked to a
you can target — based on age, income level,
these targets are not specifi c enough. You have to physical address or some other mailing address.
sizes off ered, location in the world (which may
carefully and specifi cally identify a niche market(s)
be tied to the weather), and so forth. And with- Assuming you have already established your
— an important factor that will play a signifi cant
in each of those, you can funnel it down even company name and type (i.e. Inc., LLC, S Corp,
role in the success or failure of your business.
further to identify other more specifi c targets/ LTD, DBA, etc.) and identifi cation or other refer-
In Defi ning your Target Market, by Mandy Porta target markets, like the 18-to-35 and/or baby ence number for government tax purposes (we
Continued on page 12
®
10 Home Business Fall 2018 www.homebusinessmag.com
8/30/18 7:05 PM
10-44_HBM_FALL2018.indd 10
10-44_HBM_FALL2018.indd 10 8/30/18 7:05 PM