How My Customers Have Built Successful Businesses
Business Advice
How My Customers Have Built Successful Businesses
Currently, I’ve got around 60,000 customers across my e-commerce platforms, many of which have started businesses from their kitchen and then gone on to grow to multimillion-pound companies and today I want to tell you what these customers have done to get where they are today.
First and foremost is product. To become a successful business, you need to have a good product, it needs to be desirable and it needs to be functional. It needs to be on-trend, and it needs to be something that people want to buy. Without these attributes, you’re not going to make sales.
If we’re talking about products in terms of candles and home fragrance, desirability can mean a number of things; is the fragrance you’re using on-trend? Think about matching your fragrance collections to the season right now in winter you may want to be looking at woody and spice inspired scents. In terms of the packaging; is it recyclable? Have you thought about what high street competitors are doing to market their products differently? In terms of functionality; does it have a good hot throw? Does it have a good cold throw? And does it burn properly? If you combine all of the elements, then you have product that people are going to want to buy. In order to sell your products, it must be desirable, which means looking at all areas of your product from production to packaging.
Often, you hear people saying that you need some sort of revolutionary idea to change the world to become an entrepreneur, but that’s not the case. You don’t need to get bogged down in that sort of detail, it’s much simpler than you think. There are loads of other companies doing exactly what I was doing, but I gave desirable and functional products to the market and in turn, grew to be the largest supplier of candle and home fragrance products, and you can do the same if you put your mind to it.
Business Advice
Don’t be put off
It’s important to remember not to be put off if you think the markets saturated or you’re worried about competition, as long as you’ve got a product that people need and want, and you offer a good service, then your business should thrive.
Next up is customer service. Customer service is absolutely paramount to any successful business, in that, making sure you nail the basics will ensure that customers return to you time after time. Simple things like having your contact details somewhere easy to find on your website can be super beneficial. The reason why we do this specifically is because it increases customer confidence. If they know someone is at the other end of the phone they’re more likely to buy! You need to make sure that when customers call you answer the phone as quickly as possible. If you leave it to go to voicemail, even by accident, it’s likely that you’re may lose a sale through lack of communication and the same goes with emails. Respond to customer emails as quickly as possible. The sooner that you reply, the more likely that customer is to place an order and be happy with the outcome.
Another area to get spot on is delivery. Delivery is getting more important every single day especially with the convenience of online shopping. With the likes of large companies like Amazon doing same day and next day delivery, delivery is now become expected for all businesses big or small. It can be really difficult to compete with this sort of service so its important that you manage your customer’s expectations. If you’re unable to offer a quick shipping service for any particular reason, perhaps you’re not holding enough stock or perhaps you’re not holding any stock at all, its vital that you make sure that you communicate this to your customers, make sure it’s clearly visible how long it’s going to take for that parcel to arrive.
Business Advice
Finding Your Market
I unfortunately learned this the hard way. During the lockdown of COVID-19 our standard next day delivery services went all the way back to up to two weeks for delivery and we weren’t quick enough to let our customers know. We got quite a bit of reputational damage from this so it just goes to show how significant keeping your customer informed is. I learned the hard way so that you don’t have to.
Last and certainly not least is website. The best way I look at websites I to imagine if it’s a physical shop. Picture walking past a shop front and it looks a bit old and run down but you think, you know what I’ll give it a go. So you walk through, you get lost within the isles, the products don’t look great and you can’t find the checkout. You’re probably not going to buy anything. Well that’s exactly what happens with websites. The design of your website is just like a shopfront. If it looks a bit old and it looks a bit dated, you’re going to be a bit exploring it further. In order to appeal to your customers its important that you keep it fresh, keep it modern and keep people interested.
Following up from design is usability. Can your customer find your products? If they use the search bar is it going to bring the product up, they’re searching for? Can they find it within three clicks? If they can’t do this it’s likely they’re going to go elsewhere. With websites simplicity is key. Put yourself in your customers shoes and ensure that your experience is the experience you want them to have. Platforms like Shopify and Bigcommerce have a whole host of templates readily available, fairly cheap, and that are proven to be effective at brining customers in.
The only thing worse than a bad shop is a shop you can’t find. Which is where marketing comes in to play. Read my blog selling on social media to discover even more about promoting your business.
“When it comes to setting up your own business, there are a lot of factors to consider. Most importantly is managing your money.”
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