Page 22 - iNET magazine.June.2021
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Start Up Success
by Michele Malo
You were based on offerings in the industry, within your
brave and competitive set.
decided to
leave your 3) Research, network, research. Attend industry
current occupation or invest in a new opportunity. conferences, research competitive websites,
When it comes down to it, the financial burden can locations, and products. Start subscribing to industry
be daunting. You must be comfortable with being publications, so you can stay ahead of trends and
uncomfortable especially when owning your own learn from adjacent industry’s best practices.
business. Below are some steps to get you jump 4) Begin to determine your company´s top competitors
started and not running back to the comfort zone of (4-6 competitors).
your past.
Set up a dashboard of comparisons; choose different
Where should you start? variables, price, product quality, exposure, brand
1) Building your personal brand, the first thing you reputation, etc. Setting up a dashboard allows you
need to understand especially when starting out, to compare your offerings to theirs and keep track of
customers and clients buy you, not your product or changes in the industry, so you can be the disruptor
service—you. and not get disrupted. You can use this data to
uncover white space for innovation, additional revenue
What do you stand for, what makes you different from streams both active and passive, then go to market.
anyone one else, what makes clients say, “I need you
in my life?” What is your realm of genius? Think of 5)Ok I think we have finally made it and now it’s time to
the one thing that you can do in your sleep, this your let the world know your business is ready to take the
unique selling proposition. Build all of your messaging marketplace by storm. Take all the upfront work you
with this expertise and authenticity in mind. have done and start thinking about how your target
audience would search for your product or service.
2) Now, it is time for some competitive analysis. It is What problem are you solving, pain you are taking
important to understand where you stack up against away and what are people Googling?
the competition and do a swot analysis.
Now your business is at the official start line and
What is a SWOT analysis? ready to accelerate forward, you will be turning those
passions into profits in no time.
S – Strengths, this is an internal deep dive into your
business. This is where you identify your strongest Michele Malo delivers an appetite for sanity to
points of differentiation you can offer the marketplace. entrepreneurs and corporate go-getters needing to
W – Weaknesses, this is also an internal look make a change in their lives and businesses. As a
into the areas you need to work on and where your coach, she creates strategies in personal branding,
competition may have an advantage. marketing, career and business acumen for her
O – Opportunities, we are going external to see clients. As a speaker she motivates audiences all
where there may be untapped white space or over the world, and as an author she empowers
where your unique selling proposition gives you an others to confidently live a life without regrets.
advantage on your competition. Michele fuels an appetite for success through
her Success Menu Programs, that opens up their
T – Threats, this is external and a deep analysis of
where your business can be threatened or vulnerable mindset with the idea, “If the rug gets pulled out
from under you buy a new rug.”
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