In my 10 years in business, I’ve come across a few small business owners who started their SMMEs not knowing what they wanted to offer to their targeted consumers. However, it does not end there; some do not even know their strength or speciality. Young, aspirant business owners need to figure this out before going into business.
The danger of getting into business not being sure what you offer and what your speciality is, is that you will want to copy everything that everyone else is doing. There is nothing wrong with checking what other people are doing and what the market needs, but it’s important to stick to what you know you can deliver. All of us have different gifts and talents. It’s important to nurture and focus on what you decide is your core business because it helps you grow. At school, I studied PR, and because of my 23-years’ experience in it – I decided to start a business that provides this speciality to my potential clients. This is because I am confident about what I can provide to clients with this speciality that I have horned in over two decades.
Because Marketing, PR and Communications are interlinked, it’s easy for people outside of our profession to assume that these are the same and that if you are in PR or Marketing, you should be able to do both. However, these are two different specialities, and it’s important to know what yours is when you decide to start a business. Because Marketing, Brand, Eventing, Advertising or even Graphic Designing are not my areas of expertise, I usually am frank with clients. I tell them upfront that these are not my specialities and because I know people who are good at these – I’d rather refer those to them instead of wanting to take the work just to make money. Taking work in a specialised area that you don’t understand can compromise you because it’s highly possible that you will not be able to deliver according to the clients’ needs. The failure to deliver will be caused by the fact that it was never your area of speciality in the first place.
I’ve also said before that even though there were industries that were popular to SMMEs in the past, such as construction or mining, where many business opportunities or tenders were available – I was never interested in pursuing them. This is because construction/mining needs a background in either civil engineering or quantity surveying to be able to understand its intricacies. Because I’m a content person and a writer at heart, engineering is miles apart from what I can deliver to clients. The other danger of chopping, changing, and copying other people is that you kill your credibility with clients, especially when you don’t deliver or if you provide sub-standard work.
Sticking to what I know for all these years has helped me grow and master my craft. Every time we finish a client’s project, we do an analysis report of how we’ve performed. In the report, we look at highlights and challenges that we might have faced during the project and then develop some recommendations/solutions for future projects. By doing this, we can evaluate any shortcomings to find solutions and not repeat the same mistakes in the following campaign. I wouldn’t be able to focus on my growth in my speciality if I was looking at what everyone else was doing and then chasing what other businesses were offering. The other mistake that I see being made is seeing other companies doing well and then assuming that you will succeed just the same if you copy them.
It’s unfortunately not the case; you need to remember that the person that you are trying to compete with has probably been in that business for a long time. They, therefore, would have grown the business from the ground up, made some mistakes along the way, and failed a few times but learnt the tricks of their trade. You might copy them because they are in their winning season, but you would not know what they went through during their losing seasons and how this helped them grow. There is no greater teacher than failure – it forces one to evaluate their position and come up with ways to navigate so they don’t go through the same thing. This growth phase helps most businesses craft their secret formulas in business, unfortunately, as a copycat – you will not know these secrets, and you won’t have that hustler’s God-given gift.
So, my parting shot to aspirant SMME – please figure out your strengths and stick to what you know to help you stay focused. This will go a long way in helping you grow and in building your credibility with clients. Also, this will give clients assurance that they are in good hands – that you don’t only know what you’re doing but can also deliver on your promises.
Miranda Lusiba is the Founding Director of Strangé Consulting – a boutique PR Agency specialising in Communications, Freelance Writing: Content Development and Storytelling, Media Relations, Reputation Management and Media Training. #smallbusinessadvice #womeninbusiness
