Instead of looking for funding, build an audience

One of the critical functions of a business owner is being aware of certain trends in the industry in which you operate in order to be in a position to take advantage of any opportunities that may arise.

In other words, it is a matter of learning what works and what doesn’t work and this is what is relevant to the current market trends.

Understanding the market is the basic and most important skill that every business owner should possess.

It is also the difference between a business continuing to operate or closing down.

This is something that I’ve said before in my talks and previous articles, and I will say it again: the missing element when creating a business for many business owners or prospective business owners is building an audience or a market for your product or service.

This is what is currently defining most, if not all markets today, irrespective of the industry or market one is operating in, unless you are constantly paying attention to building a network of potential clients, then you are only setting yourself up for failure. Let me break it down for you so that you can fully understand.

There are many definitions of what networking is, and my definition of networking is simply building relationships. It is not only about building new relationships, but also about nurturing and maintaining existing relationships. It is said that “your network is equal to your net worth” and if you understand this saying, then you will know exactly what I’m talking about.

Once you understand this concept, I can assure you that you are on track to understanding what works in business today.

This should be the goal for all your marketing and the rest will not be difficult to figure out and that is the details:

• Yes you have to figure out what your customer needs are.

• Yes you have to device means of reaching out to your potential customers.

• Yes you have to find ways in terms of how to better connect with them.

It’s a question of testing and seeing which tactics work better for your industry and use them, and if you can’t or find it to be a challenge, then you need to get in touch with the likes of myself in order to assist you with finding your feet in the market.

There should be a connection between your products or services and your targeted audience. This is not something new, but something which has been in existence for a number of years, but only a few have awakened to this way of building a business.

Kholofelo Pholafudi is the author of The Psychology, Science and Art of Turning Contacts into Connections