For the last 25 years, Carswell Gould has been helping businesses grow and succeed through marketing and communications. A big part of what we do is working with startups and innovators to turn good ideas into good businesses and there’s pretty much only one rule that we stick to – ‘Is the idea truly a good idea?’. If it is, marketing can help to take it to great levels.
I’m Ed Gould, Creative Director at Carswell Gould and I wanted to share five tips with you that I think are relevant if you’re an innovator looking to grow your business.
Tip one: Get the right people around you.
It might be your idea, but it really pays to form a team that shares your passion and can help get you to the next stage. We routinely work with clients that need help and support with introducing the right people into the mix, it could be legal, accountancy or any number of incubators that could help you take your idea forward. Having the right people around you means you have a shoulder to cry on, people to celebrate with and friends that can share the success of your business.
Tip two: Plan in detail, then break the plan, and plan again.
Although this tip is not very concise, what I mean is that you have to set up a roadmap early on for your business and where it’s going. How are you going to take your idea from here to a market leader? It’s important that you work with partners that can help you build that road map, but it’s also important that they and you, realise that things are going to change. Something that we think really works is sitting down with someone every three months and objectively reviewing everything you’re doing and whether it’s going great. This just puts a check in place and lets your business and your ideas evolve with how the market is reacting to it. So, don’t be afraid to take on board criticism, it will make for a better business.
Tip three: Spend time, money and effort on marketing.
Now, of course you think I’m going to say that as a marketing person, but I only say it because it’s true. There’s no point in having a brilliant idea and then not telling anybody about it. So, whatever you do and however you do it, a large portion of your funding should go towards the promotion of your idea. It’s all to do with that road map and understanding where you’re going but it’s vital that the right funding is in place. Poorly funded ideas can result in failure, so think about who your investors are and then make sure that they share your view that a large portion of that fund should be spent on promotion, branding and the activation of this product or service.
Tip four: ‘Don’t wag the dog’s tail.’
You know what you’re good at, and we know what we’re good at. If you can come together with partners and you let them do what they’re best at, you’ll get more out of it. So, when you think of the people which you’re working with, including your legal team, advisory services, financial team and marketing team, work with people that you trust and ensure that you let them do their best work for you.
Tip five: The last tip is the simplest… get on with it!
An idea is just an idea until you actually turn it into something. Now, we’ve talked about how it could take time, partnership and investment. But, there’s one thing that you can do today that will make a difference, it’s begin. One way of looking at it is writing down the five things that you need to do to get your idea off the ground, pick one of them and just do it.
Please get in touch if you would like more information and we will be happy to help.
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