B2B Series: Wrap Up & Bonus
About 8 weeks ago, I began a series of articles called Back 2 Basics as I began to see a gap in the market. Many entrepreneurs start a business, a practice, yet they start without the basics. The goal, over the last 8 weeks was to close that gap, covering topics that build upon each other in order to create a platform, position and grow the brand, and execute the plans that were made.
B2B Series: Execution
Execution. The test to see how the market will react to your brand, its mission, and what it stands for. Will the target market connect emotionally how you have planned? Will a community start to form on its own, empowered from the message of the brand?
B2B Series: Branding
Branding- a now well-known buzz word, but one that is not fully understood by many business owners. When a business owner hears the word “brand” or “branding” they associate that with a logo, tagline, or motto. While those are elements of expressing the brand, it is not the definition of brand. Often times, those elements do not go beneath the surface, they simply create a facade that appears to be a brand.
B2B Series: Business Plan
This is the fourth of several articles in the Back 2 Basics series covering critical concepts and topics for aspiring entrepreneurs, who want to start their own companies, should have a clear understanding. You can read the rest of the articles under the category B2B Series. The business plan. A living, breathing document that captures just [...]
B2B Series: Vision
The vision. Different from the mission statement, the vision expands upon the mission statement in slightly more detail. Still succinct and to the point, the vision offers further explanation to aid the mission statement. The vision statement takes the conceptual ideas of the entrepreneur, translates them into a simplistic form, and expands upon the mission statement.
B2B Series: Mission Statement
The mission statement. A statement that should succinctly state what the company’s purpose is for being. A statement that should capture the target market’s attention as it is aligned with their (the target markets’) needs. A statement that all employees of the company should know by heart and one that empowers them to work hard to meet the mission, both for themselves and for the company.
B2B Series: Target Market
Many people aspire to start a company, something of their own, something they can control. Often times, when these ideas for companies are pitched, there is not a whole lot of thought given to how it will actually come to market or who the market exactly is. Sound familiar? I think everyone has heard a pitch for a business or pitched an idea themselves where it becomes clear that the target market is undefined. That is OK, as it is part of the process.
Back 2 Basics (B2B): A New Series of Articles
This year, as the economy continues its slow recovery, I wanted to provide a resource that would allow aspiring entrepreneurs to get back to the basics of business. What is it that they are really building? Sure, the idea is to make money from the venture, or raise money as a non-profit, but what is it that they are really creating?
This series of articles will define the basics, the concepts and topics that entrepreneurs should have a clear understanding of as they consider the idea of creating such an organization. These articles will be posted each Wednesday for the next 6 weeks.
