TRAINING MODULE 1

TITLE: STARTING YOUR BUSINESS

Table of Content

 Defining your enterprise

 Identifying problems and opportunities
 Understanding the competitive landscape and the business environment
 Marketing fundamentals and principles
 Marketing in digital age
 Becoming a successful startup

Overview

 A lack of basic understanding of business principles before commencement is a major cause of business failure
 “Starting Your Business” module is a beginner’s or foundational pack prepared to assist the entrepreneur to
understand the fundamental issues in starting a business and the major areas of attention and concentration by the
entrepreneur to ensure a successful start-up and perhaps sustainability of the business.

Objectives

At the end of the training, participants would be able to:

i. Define enterprise as part of the preparations of starting a business;

ii. Identify challenges confronting any business as well as the opportunities embedded in the business;
iii. Understand the competitive landscape, including the business environment and how to cope with varying
factors;
iv. Understand the fundamentals and principles of marketing various digital marketing channels to improve sales
and bottom lines.
v. Learn how to conduct market research and intelligence and avoid small business mistakes that could collapse a
business.

CONTENT

Definition of Entrepreneurship

This is the process involved towards the creation of new product or service that offers value, through the commitment
of time, effort, finance, social & psychological resources, and obtaining rewards in the forms of monetary, satisfaction or
independence.

The above definition highlights four aspects of entrepreneurship as thus:

Aspect 1 – Creating Process

The creation must add value to the entrepreneur as well as the target audience or market for which it is developed.

Aspect 2 – Time and Effort

Entrepreneurship requires an investment of time and effort. Time & Effort are two of your most valuable assets in
entrepreneurship and by targeting them in the right way, you can help your business to grow without stressing yourself
financially.

Aspect 3 – Reward

Can come in form of

  Independence (most important)
 Personal satisfaction (profits or gain)

Aspect 4 – Risk

The ability to take risks. Business owners must decide to act even in the face of uncertainties. Actions required to create
value, new products, new services and new ventures, take time and efforts and the failure is unknowable, hence action
is inherently uncertain.

Actions are required to Create:

 New Ventures
 New Products
 New Services

It takes time and effort to make these happen. Hence, action is inherently uncertain.

STARTING BUSINESS TIPS

i. Identify your talents;

ii. Consult with colleagues, mentors, friends or family;
iii. Research and more research;
iv. Analyze your financial situation;
v. Know yourself;
vi. Keep records;
vii. Discuss lifetime change;
viii. Find all necessary resource;
ix. Knowledge-economy and attitude

1.0. GENERATING BUSINESS IDEAS

Let’s examine a few scenarios in idea generation capable of provoking some good thoughts for entrepreneurship.

1. Broaden Your Perspectives

- Take note of what works and special notes of experiences you have with products and services. Seek out new
experiences, new experiences generate ideas and ideas are the main drivers of entrepreneurship.
2. Pick Up on New Market Trends
The world around us is changing every second, so an entrepreneur should tap into how works and home
lifestyles are changing, as they come with needs and fresh opportunities.
3. Research New Markets, Niches and Opportunities
In business, appropriating someone else’s idea is usually called “best practice sharing” or “bench marketing”.
Business people do this all the time, copying an idea but trying to make that idea better. You can find an idea
that has worked in another country and transfer it home. An example is UBER Taxi, which was founded in the
USA but is now the business model for taxis in many continents.

2.0. IDENTIFYING PROBLEMS AND OPPORTUNITIES

Recognizing and overcoming the common pitfalls associated with growth is essential if your business is to continue to
grow and thrive. You need to ensure that the step you take today do not themselves create additional problems for the
future. As a business grows, different problems and opportunities demand different solutions.

Common Challenges in New Businesses

  Keeping Up with the Market
Market research is not something you do as a one-off when you launch your business. Business conditions
change continually, so your market research should be continuous as well. Otherwise, you run the risk of making
business decisions based on out-of-date information, which can lead to business failure.
 Planning
The plan you made a year ago may not be necessarily right for you now. Market conditions continually change,
so you need to revisit and update your business plan regularly.
 Information Sources
Published information can provide useful insight into market conditions and trends. As a growing business, your
own experience can be even more valuable. You should be able to build up an in depth picture of what
customers want, how they behave, and which of your marketing approaches work best.
 Cash Flow and Financial Statement
Good cash flow control is important for any business. For a growing business, it is crucial.
 Problem Solving
New businesses often run into perpetual crisis mode. Every day brings new challenges that urgently need
resolving and management spends most of the time trouble-shooting.
 Skills and Attitudes
The abilities that can help you lunch a business are not the same as those you need to help it grow. The chances
are that you will need the training to learn the skills and attitude required by someone who is leading growth.
 Welcome Change
Complacency can be a major threat to a growing business. If you will continue to be successful, simply because
you have been in the past is very unwise. Regularly reviewing and updating your business plan can help remind
you of the changing market conditions and the need to respond to them.
 The Right System
All businesses produce and rely on large volumes of information – financial records, interaction with customer
and other businesses contacts, employee details regulatory requirements, and so on. It is too much to keep
track of - let alone use effectively – without putting the right systems in place. Seize the opportunity.

3.0. UNDERSTANDING THE COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE AND BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

Do you know that…

1. Every business is affected by the competition and the environment in which it operates, therefore,
understanding the firm’s competitive and environment is an important step in the planning process.
2. Developing a comprehensive awareness of broad-based environmental forces will help the entrepreneur
identify any external factors that could potentially impact the future of your organization.

The 3Ws

There are a few questions that will help you to analyze your competitors.

You should treasure your competitors because they help you stay on your toes at all times.

WHO are your competitors?

Anyone or organization that can satisfy your customer now or in the future

WHAT do the competitors want?

What competitors want depends on their business objectives which could be short term or long term profit goals.

WHAT can competitors do?

They will consistently try to offer better customer service, product quality, and marketing.
The Competitive Landscape

Economic Forces:
Economic projections are important in entrepreneurship, as they affect your business, your industry, your supplier, and
your customers. Consider the impact of economic conditions over the period due to corona virus pandemic. Businesses
are battling with lost revenue and disrupted supply chains as factories shutdowns and quarantine measures spread
across the globe, restricting movement and commerce.

Government Factor

An entrepreneur should be on top of changes in government policies and regulation, legal developments that can affect
their business. An exam is that a certain government recently increased import and export tax, as well as other taxes
from 5% to 7.5%. these charges can occur at federal, state and local government levels. If similar occurrences are
witnessed in your country, how would you be able to keep your business running without consequences?

Technological Forces

Failure to monitor and address the various technological innovations may adversely affect a firm’s competitive edge,
particularly competing firms use technical improvements.

Demographic Force

These are trends in the population characteristics such as age, ethnic makeup, education, family and gender distribution.
The changes in demographic factors can leave a significant impact on an emerging business, particularly if they indicate
developing trends. Changes can affect demand for a company’s product and labour – for a company’s ability to hire
employees.

Global Forces

Changes in the global environment offer tremendous opportunities and potential threats for businesses. The importance
of accessing global markets has been more emphasized as a result of the development of satellite communication,
cheaper and faster modes of transportation, the privatization of several overseas businesses, and economic alliances
among countries.

4.0. MARKETING FUNDAMENTALS AND PRINCIPLES

Marketing Concept

There are four marketing concepts that companies utilize in their marketing objectives. All of these aims to achieve
profits and objectives but the forces and means to do so are different. They will typically follow one of these four major
concepts:

i. Product Concept: This management orientation says that if you build a quality product and set a reasonable
price, very little marketing effort is needed to sell it. The product generates the demand…”Build it, and they will
come”.
ii. Selling Concept: This management orientation says that consumers will not normally buy enough of a product
unless it is aggressively promoted to them.
iii. Marketing Concept: This management orientation says the major purpose of an organization is to identify
consumer needs and then adapt the organization in a way that will satisfy the customer’s need more effectively
and efficiently than the competition.
iv. Societal Concept: This management orientation focuses on satisfying consumer’s needs and demonstrating long-
run concern for societal welfare in order to achieve company objectives and attend to its responsibilities for
society. The idea is to find a balance between social welfare, consumer needs, and company profits.
Marketing Mix

There are four marketing mix variables that are associated with the product. This must be taken into consideration when
making any decision regarding marketing activities. These are often known as the 4Ps of marketing. They are…

i. Products – This variable describes all factors relating to the actual product visible to the consumer. These may
include things such as quality, features, options, style, packaging, brand, size, labels, variety, and warranties.
ii. Promotion – Promotion is all efforts by a company to make publicize a product and make the consumer aware of
it. Effects might include advertising, personal selling, sales, public relations, or internet activities.
iii. Price – The price variable includes not only the least price, but all other pricing factors associated with a product.
These may include discount allowances, payment options and periods, and credit terms.
iv. Place – Place deals with all distribution locations aspects of the product. How and what are the products
available to the consumers. These may include assortments, channels, coverage areas, locations and inventories.

Marketing Functions

The Marketing Management

The marketing process performs certain activities as the goods and services move from the producer to the consumer.

All these activities or jobs are not performed by a single firm, but by different organizations that constitute the entire
market chain.

Major Activities of Marketing Management

i. Selling
ii. Buying and Assembling Transportation
iii. Storage
iv. Standardization and grading Financing
v. Risk Taking
vi. Market Information.

5.0 CONCEPT OF MARKETING MIX (SEGMENT, PENETRATION & POSITIONING)

Today, Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning (STP) is a familiar strategic approach in Modern Marketing models in
practice. The STP model is used for creating a marketing communication plan.