A friend of mine based in Durban inboxed me asking for advice. She said her prices for her business are below those of her competitors and she was considering increasing them during the month of January 20017.
My response- good intentions but bad timing! Most people expect prices to fall during the first months of the year. The hastag is Pricesmustfall! The best thing she should be doing is to find innovative ways to maintain her loyal customers and attract new ones.
January period is characterised with cash flow challenges for most people-we would have spend most if not all of our monies during the festive season. The spending power is definitely low and will peak up around March or even April.
So below are a few tips to help your business to break through the dry 2 to 3 months.
Communication: By now you already know who your key customers are. We expect you to have given them a few gifts or discounts during the festive season period. Continue to network and communicate during this period. Phone them, send texts and advise them of new products or your plans for the year.
Discounts-Discounts-Discounts: Now is the time to lower your prices, even a slight discount can do the trick. If you are in Zimbabwe then you may have seen adverts of discounts by leading Hotels Groups.
Research time: There is no better time to research and improve your business than now. Business is very low and with a few customers coming your way what should you spend your time doing? Spend it wisely-research on what is trending, review past year operations, review your communication channels, review your competitors, What made them excel last year? What can you learn from them? This is the research and planning period. This is the time to create your website or improve it. It is also time to review your Facebook Pages, Twitter and other Social Media options.
Networking & Strategic Alliances: Do not just enter 2017 without a Networking and Strategic Alliances Plan. You will achieve more in business if you work with others. Find out about business associations in your area, find out about national business associations and plan to join. Find out the advantages of joining them …is it information? Is it going to be markets? Are you going to benefit in terms of funding? Look at strategic alliances as a better way to network and unlock business opportunities in 2017.
So wishing you the best of luck in 2017. We will tackle Pricing in detail next week.
