• Innovative Strategies That Create More Profits

Author: harborcapitalgroupinc

How To Turn Your Website Into A Selling Machine

Posted on by harborcapitalgroupinc

Unless you are an eCommerce company, entrepreneurs want their website to make the company look “professional.” That’s great, but websites are the number one selling tool that most companies have, so they should be used by everyone to sell its products and services. It can both look “professional” and sell our products and services.

For starters, you need to look at your website’s structure to make sure you have structured a persuasive story. Following is a website structure that will guide you to a successful website.

According to Yoast, Site structure refers to how you organize your website’s content. A website often consists of content on a variety of related topics. The site structure deals with how this content is grouped, linked, and presented to the visitor. If you structure your website well, it will benefit from this structure; users will find their way more easily, and Google can better index your website.

Layout each section on paper first, so you don’t have to make any changes later during and after development. There are nine sections in this discussion. Colors and images are fine, and you need to use them, but it’s words that sell.

Don MIllier, author and CEO of storybrand.com, has a simple, straightforward way to look at your website, making sense and is easy to use. Look at your website and compare it to this list,

1 Header

First impressions are important. The first 10 seconds the customer lands on your page are the most critical. They decide to stay or leave. Others say 20 seconds is what you have or the first 100 words.

Don’t be cute or clever. Be simple, clear. You need to answer three questions; first, what do you offer? How will it make the customer’s life better? What do they need to do to buy it? This is where you get your CTA.

Don’t be passive-aggressive aggressive with CTA. like “learn more.” The customer needs something to accept or reject. You can even have two CTA‘s in the header. Images are good and happy people are hard to beat.  But, if you sell cakes, show great cakes.

2 The Problem or Situation

This is the failure section. Stories love tension. Most stories start with a character who wants something. Then challenges are placed between the character and what the character wants. The closing of the distance makes the story work—a positive scene, followed by a negative scene.

What is the cost of not doing business with you? What is not having a clear, powerful messaging costing you? How many customers can’t hear your offer in the sea of marketing noise? Your lack of clarity may already be costing you a great deal?.

If there are no stakes in the story, there is no story. How about the pains of losing to competition, not reaching potential, confusion, lost business, missed opportunities, wasted time.

But a little bit of this goes a long way. Maybe show a box with a logo and a sentence or so telling about some pains.  Maybe underneath the box, three columns with some points that you want to make.

4 Value proposition

It is a good idea to put this section after stakes position after negotiation; stories love the contrast. Contrasting scenes work well. What value will the customer receive if they do business with you? Tell customers everything they get:  can they save money, save time, reduce risk, get quality, simplify their life.

Be specific. The visual. Maybe a box again with 123 and the different points that you want to make. It would be best if you had a headline on top of the visual; otherwise, people won’t read it.

5 The guide

Provide an incredible return on their investment. Focus on the customer,  Lose sleep over your customer’s success.

The Guide is an empathetic and authoritative person to help the customer get where he wants to be. He understands their challenge and helps people achieve it.

A couple of ways to show this are testimonials, logos of companies you’ve worked with. A simple statistic, many people you’ve helped tons of people for example

Don’t overdo authority. Make sure you don’t use too much authority and not enough empathy. Three testimonials will show both. Keep testimonials short and to the point.

The same is true for overcoming objections, involving problems, solving problems, adding value. Keep testimonials short; statistics is another way. Show the years you’ve been in business, awards you’ve received, and clients you have served.

5 The Plan

This tells customers the path they need to take to buy the product or service. It may not be obvious to them how to do it. Use three steps. Keep the plan visibly simple.

6 The Explanatory paragraph

Most people don’t stay on the website because there are too many useless words at the top. With this structure, they are already hooked by the time they get here.

This is where the SEO comes from. This explanatory paragraph needs to follow the story outline. One, identify who your customer wants to become, two identify what they want, three, define the problem setting them back, four, position you as their guide, five, share a plan they can use to solve the problem, which includes your product—six calls to action.

Another option. Overcome your client’s objections. List the top five reasons or excuses why they don’t want to work with you. Craft a sentence or two to overcome each objection. Note you can do both of these on the same page.

7  Videos

Videos are becoming very popular. Many sites have them now, and you will need to look at them as a quick way to get your message across quickly and with impact. A

8 Price choices

If you have several price options, you will want to put them after giving them enough information that visitors could make a buying decision.

9  Other Information

All of the above information may not be enough for everyone. Some will want to know more. Here is where this information goes. Those very interested will continue to read on, but most will have exited by this point. They could come back another time, however.  Also, some people will have questions, and this is the place to answer those questions in either narrative format or even a list of questions and answers.

Conclusion

You want a professional-looking site, but you also need a website that delivers a sales message. This structure will help you get both. You don’t have to go one through nine; you can vary the order depending on your message. However, you need to start with a problem and the solution to get the visitor to spend any time looking at your story.\

Does your website have a readable structure? What improvement could you make?

Which Is More Important: The Product Or Market?

Posted on by harborcapitalgroupinc

 The question of which is more important, product or market, is an ongoing question, and the answer depends on who to talk to. It’s a question every entrepreneur has to address before and during the development of a startup.

Author Tren Griffin at 2sig.com (Andreessen Horowitz et al.) put together some great “answers” from people who would know.

Why markets matter more than anything else. (Investment approach).

“Give me a giant market, always.” You find a great market, and you build multiple companies in that market—author Dan Valentine.

Looking at all three parts: people, market, and innovative products. All three are required for success. Note, you can’t change a market, but you can change your product. “By Andy Radcliffe

Founders have to choose a market long before they know whether they will reach a product-market fit. Chris Dixon.

What is product-market fit?

It’s a verified Value Proposition. Customers buy your product and like it so much, they tell others, giving you organic sales.

“To reach delighted customers isn’t just product-market fit, but product-market scale” Casey Winters.

“getting the product right means finding product-market fit. It does not mean learning the product or launching the product. It means getting to the point where the market excepts your product and wants more of it. Fred Wilson

When you are not at product-market fit, focus on getting to market-product fit. Change whatever you need to do. Forget everything else until you get product-market fit.

Marc Andreessen argues that any startup’s life can be divided into two parts: Before product-market fit and after a product-market fit.

How do you reach product-market fit?

You can reach product-market fit serendipity, but the process to get to serendipity is incredibly consistent. Andy Radcliffe First, you need to define and test your value hypothesis. Once proved, move on to your growth hypothesis.

“ in the early days of a product, don’t focus on making it so robust. Find product-market fit first, then harden“ Jeff Lawson.

Product market fit is not a magic elixir. It signifies an important milestone that is necessary but not sufficient for success. Once you have product-market fit, you must still find a sustainable growth model and create a moat against competitors.

Until you get product-market fit, you want to live as long as possible and iterate as quickly as possible. Sam Altman.

How can you tell whether you do or don’t have a product-market fit?

You have product-market fit if you have organic sales, media attention, cash building up, etc. Sales without advertising require huge word-of-mouth, which requires delighted customers.

A problem for entrepreneurs is  “they don’t have actually have a product-market fit when they think they do. Alex Schultz.

Is first to market critical?

“ first to market seldom matters. “ “First to product-market fit is usually the long-term winner. “  Once a company has achieved product-market fit, it is challenging to dislodge it, even with a better or less expensive product“ Andy Rachleff.

Note: Neither Apple, Google, and others were first to market.

What are some product-market myths?

  1. Product-market fit is always a discrete, big bang event.

  2. It’s plenty obvious when you have product-market fit.

  3. Once you achieve a product-market fit, you can’t lose it.

  4. Once you have product-market fit, you don’t have to sweat the competition.

  5. Markets and competition are always changing. Constant adoption is therefore required to retain product-market fit. Ben Horowitz.

 What problems are caused when you only think you have product-market fit?

One of the most common ways startups fail is premature scaling. This means spending money on growth before achieving product-market fit. Sales from the early adopters are not the mainstream market. Startups need 2 to 3 times longer to validate their market than most founders expect. Steve Blank

Conclusion

Product-market fit is a critical goal for every startup. While the definition appears simple, the ability to get there, know when you have it, and how to exploit it is complex. Where are you at in this journey to product-market fit? Before, on the way,  or After?

How To Validate The Problem And The Pricing Of Your Idea

Posted on by harborcapitalgroupinc

Entrepreneurs are almost always sure they have a product or service idea that will sell like hotcakes. But just to be safe, they tell their Mom the idea and ask what she thinks. Guess what? She thinks it’s a great idea. She may not be sure, but she doesn’t want to hurt your feelings or dampen your enthusiasm.

But if you are not convinced yet, ask a few more people. Most people start with people they know. They tell them their idea, their vision, and ask what they think. Do they think it’s a good idea? Do they think people will buy the product or service? Not surprisingly, these people also agree with your Mom. It is or it could be a good idea, and they think people will buy the product or service.

Great. Now you have some facts to back up your hypothesis. But you are still not 100 percent sure, so you find some people in your targeted market to interview. You repeat the process. Tell them your product idea and ask if they think it’s a good idea? And if they think people buy the product? Again, you get a positive response.

Now you are confident and ready to start developing the business. But, there is only one problem, you don’t have real facts upon which to build your business. The “facts” you have are only “opinions” from people who don’t want to hurt your feelings or dampen your enthusiasm. Just like your Mom, people want to be nice. Besides, they are not committed to buying it, so there is no downside for them.

Stop Using False Facts

If you start your business using these false facts, your chances of succeeding are not great.

But, there is an answer. Rob Fitzpatrick, author, and entrepreneur, started several businesses that failed using that kind of customer research. He finally realized what the problem was.

Most people do these interviews incorrectly. You have to know how to talk to customers in the right way to get real information. You can’t show them the product idea first and then ask questions. If you do, here are some problems he found:

  • We spend too much time collecting data that’s too unreliable for important decisions.
  • Sometimes we don’t realize the data we are collecting is worthless (even misleading)
  • Not all data is good data — and asking customers what they think of your idea almost always leads to bad data
  • We assume customer feedback is scientific and whatever they tell us is scientific and counts as learning. But, it’s easy to bias the people we are talking to. In fact, once you tell them you have an idea, they are already biased beyond repair because they don’t want to crush your dreams,

If people tell you your idea is bad, that’s not good data either. Why? People are bad at predicting both 1 which ideas are good and 2, what they, as customers, are going to do, buy, use in the future,

Even VCs are looked at as the best predictors, are wrong more than they are right. If they are worse than a coin toss, how seriously can you take anyone’s opinion?

Potential Customers are not responsible for showing us the truth, It’s our responsibility to find the truth, We do this by asking good questions. Good questions give us actionable insights because we never asked about our idea. In these conversations, only talk about their problems, how they impacted their lives, and how they solved them.

They will tell you the truth when they talk about themselves and past or current problems. Identifying and validating “the problem” is what you want. Your job is to determine if they have the problem you are trying to solve, and if that problem is painful enough, they are willing to pay money to solve it. Everyone has problems they know about but have a workaround or are not painful enough to fix them.

To Get The Information You Want, Ask Important Questions

Ask scary questions you have been unintentionally shrinking from. You can tell when it’s an important question when the answer could change or disprove your business. Don’t get stuck on the small things. Look at the big picture first. When you have the big picture, you can drill down on specific items.

Also, learn to love bad news. If you have $75k to start the business and you spend $3k finding out your idea isn’t going to work. That’s good news. You can’t build a business on lukewarm responses.

Don’t challenge anyone; you are there to listen

When you challenge the customer. “No, I don’t think you get it” They will say your idea is great if you are annoying enough. You can’t learn anything unless you are willing to shut up and listen, The More You talk, the worse you are doing,

Following are some of Rob Fitzpatrick’s examples of good and bad questions.

Do you think it is a good idea?

Bad question. Only the market can tell you if your idea is good or bad. Everything else is just an opinion and opinions are worthless.

Would you buy a product that did X?

Bad question. You are asking for opinions and hypothetical from overly optimistic people who want to make you happy. The answer is always yes which makes it worthless. If its about the future, it is probably worthless.

How much would you pay for Y?

Bad question. The number makes it feel scientific and true but people will lie to you if they think it’s what you want to hear.

What would your dream product do?

OK question. if you ask and follow up. Generally, people know what their problems are but don’t know how to solve them.

Why do you bother?

Good question. It gets you from a perceived problem to the real one. It helps you get to why and helps you understand their goals.

What are the implications of that?

Good question. It distinguishes between “I will pay to solve that problem” and “that’s annoying but I can deal with it”. Some problems don’t actually matter.

Talk me through the last time that happened?

Good question. Learning through their actions instead of their opinions. This provides insight and answers lots of questions like how they spend their days, what tools they use, who they talk to, constraints on their day. Now does your product fit into their day and life? What other products or software and tools does your product need to integrate with? Finding out about how someone does a task will show you where the problems and inefficiencies really are, not where the customer thinks they are.

What else have you tried?

Good question. What are they using now? How much does it cost and what do they love about it or hate about it? How much would those solutions be worth and how traumatic would it be for them to switch to a new solution? Note: People stop lying when you ask for money.

How are you dealing with it now?

Good question. This gives you a price anchor. It’s rare for someone to tell you precisely what they will pay you, they will often show you what it’s worth.

Where does the money come from?

Good question, This is a must ask in B2B businesses. Who has to approve, who has the budget, who influences the purchase.

Who else should I talk to?

Good question. End every conversation with this question. Is there anything else I should have asked? People want to help you. Give them an excuse to do so.

Conclusion

Your first job is to identify and validate a real problem that people will pay to solve. You don’t need compliments; you need real facts. Focus on the data you need to make your decision and avoid bad data.

Generally, people do not want to hurt your feelings and tell you what you want to hear. Find targeted people and have a casual conversation. During that conversation, ask good questions.

Do not tell the person you are interviewing about your idea. You are there to listen, not talk. Your job is to find out the problem. The next step is to find the solution prospects are willing to pay money to solve.

At this time, you are trying to identify and validate the problem. Keep having meetings until you stop hearing new stuff. Later, you will have additional conversations with them or others about your product.

This is the end of part one. Part two covers getting information on the product itself and the necessity of getting a commitment of some kind,

How Your “About” Page Helps You Increase Revenues

Posted on by harborcapitalgroupinc

Your “About” page is the second most important page on your website because it shows why you are qualified to do the work you have promised. Once visitors see what you do on your home page, they jump to your about page to see what you are all about. It also sets the tone and authority level for the rest of your website.

 This critical page is necessary for content conversion and then increases revenues because it is the beginning of building trust with your prospects. 

Because your About Page is important, it has to reflect your personality and the way you see things.

The following basic elements are a guide for the content you need to include. Many of the suggestions are from an article in Inc magazine written by Jeff Haden. Another good reference is Hubspot. 

Your about page could be about “Us” (your team or company) or about “Me” a single person, or about “your brand.” Stay consistent; first person (I, or we), second person (you), or third person (he/she/they) throughout your story.

Also, if you want to connect with people, be transparent and honest. If not, they will sense it as they go through your story and dismiss you if they feel you are not being truthful.

Most people find it hard to write about themselves, so ask people you know how they would describe you and what you offer.

Start your story by stating your goal right away, Let them know where you stand and why what you offer is important to them. 

Start with your keyword in the headline

Your headline should include your keyword. You can have a subhead that states the problem, solution, result, and benefit. For example, you could use “About” or Your Name and then have a subhead that contains your core story.

The important thing is that you have to make your point early. By the time they get to the bottom half of the page, many people drop off. Also, your about page can also help you with your Google ranking and organic traffic, so having it SEO optimized is also important.  Neil Patel has lots of examples of how to use your About page.

Move to what the customers need

Generally, people go to your About page because there is some interest or problem they want to solve. For example, reach product-market fit, find new customers, or increase revenues. So, address that problem and show them how you can help solve their problem better than anyone else.

Your About page may say it’s about you and it is. But, what the readers want to know is if you can solve their problem and deliver the results they want. Start with your core story (strategy) and tell them what you do and what they can expect, Be specific, but brief.

Tell them what kind of customers you have

Tell them who your customers are, so they can determine if they fit the way you do business or not. You can also mention who your customers are. For some, those names or companies will be important in their decision.

Also, give them facts not fluff. Don’t tell them how outstanding you are, give them facts, and let them judge for themselves. If you don’t have facts, don’t make them up. Talk about your vision why you do what you do and what you hope to accomplish. If they agree, they may want to come along. Like Simon Sinek says, people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.

To Get Conversions and increases in revenues, you need a CTA

You also need a Call to Action (CTA) on your page. For example, what do you want them to do once they have read your page? Do you want them to sign up for your blog, get your lead magnet, watch a video? 

Don’t try to be something you are not

The page has to be condensed around your story. However, don’t write a long, boring, detailed history of your life. 

Often, smaller companies pretend to be bigger than they are. If you are passionate about what you do, they will see it and feel it. Focus instead on how you can help them. For example, because you are smaller, you can give them more attention, get things done faster, and possibly save them money.

 Tell them where you started your journey and some important milestones you achieved along the way. Provide some background about you and what led you to this business. You can tell them about the challenges you faced and why you do what you do today. 

Use real photos. 

Real people in real places. Don’t use stock photos as everyone can spot stock photos, and they take away from your authenticity. You can also use infographics. They can tell a powerful story in a short amount of space. And color helps.

Keep testimonials short and to the point

Have testimonials that make a specific point. Distill them down to just a few sentences. Also, make sure they speak to your story. Also, testimonials can be used to answer anticipated objections in a positive and believable way.

Certifications and awards are important 

If you are in a profession where certifications are required and important, use them. Important awards are also important. But you can easily overdo them. If you have a lot of awards and think they are important, have a special awards page. Remember, this section is about giving you credibility, not glorifying you. 

Your About page must load quickly

Studies have shown that for every second it takes to load your page, There is a 7 percent decrease in conversion rates.

 Always stay in beta

Don’t write this page and forget it. As things change, keep coming back and improving this page. Keep making it more persuasive. You will be able to and it’s very important.  

Some additional questions you should ask yourself

What makes Us different?

How did you evolve to what you are/do today? And how can that help your clients?

Conclusion

Most people do not realize how important the About page can be and therefore put little effort into it. But, it is the second most read page on your site and it needs to be very persuasive in order to start to build a relationship with your prospects. Take the time to prepare and optimize this page and it will help you convert prospects and increase your revenues and profits.

Some additional questions you should ask yourself

What makes Us different?

How did you evolve to what you are/do today? And how can that help your clients?

If you have any questions about this information or about me, send me a message Here

How Your “About” Page Increases Revenues

Posted on by harborcapitalgroupinc

How Your “About” Page Increases Revenues

 

Your “About” page is the second most important page on your website because it helps you increase revenues.

Once visitors see what you do on your home page, they jump to your about page to see what you are all about.

It also sets the tone and authority level for the rest of your website.

 This critical page is necessary for content conversion and then increases revenues because it is the beginning of building trust with your prospects. 

Because your About Page is important, it has to reflect your personality and the way you see things.

The following basic elements are a guide for the content you need to include.

Many of the suggestions are from an article in Inc magazine written by Jeff Haden. Another good reference is Hubspot. 

Your about page could be about “Us” (your team or company) or about “Me” a single person, or about “your brand.”

Stay consistent; first person (I, or we), second person (you), or third person (he/she/they) throughout your story.

 

Also, if you want to connect with people, be transparent and honest.

If not, they will sense it as they go through your story and dismiss you if they feel you are not being truthful.

Most people find it hard to write about themselves, so ask people you know how they would describe you and what you offer.

Start your story by stating your goal right away, Let them know where you stand and why what you offer is important to them. 

Start with your keyword in the headline

Your headline should include your keyword.

You can have a subhead that states the problem, solution, result, and benefit.

For example, you could use “About” or Your Name and then have a subhead that contains your core story.

The important thing is that you have to make your point early.

By the time they get to the bottom half of the page, many people drop off.

Also, your about page can also help you with your Google ranking and organic traffic,

so having it SEO optimized is also important.  Neil Patel has lots of examples of how to use your About page.

Move to what the customers need

Generally, people go to your About page because there is some interest or problem they want to solve.

For example, reach product-market fit, find new customers, or increase revenues.

So, address that problem and show them how you can help solve their problem better than anyone else.

Your About page may say it’s about you and it is.

But, what the readers want to know is if you can solve their problem and deliver the results they want.

Start with your core story (strategy) and tell them what you do and what they can expect, Be specific, but brief.

Tell them what kind of customers you have

Tell them who your customers are, so they can determine if they fit the way you do business or not.

You can also mention who your customers are. For some, those names or companies will be important in their decision.

Also, give them facts not fluff.

Don’t tell them how outstanding you are, give them facts, and let them judge for themselves.

If you don’t have facts, don’t make them up.

Talk about your vision and why you do what you do and what you hope to accomplish.

If they agree, they may want to come along. Like Simon Sinek says, people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.

To Get Conversions and increases in revenues, you need a CTA

You also need a Call to Action (CTA) on your page.

For example, what do you want them to do once they have read your page?

Do you want them to sign up for your blog, get your lead magnet, or watch a video? 

Don’t try to be something you are not

The page has to be condensed around your story. However, don’t write a long, boring, detailed history of your life. 

Often, smaller companies pretend to be bigger than they are.

If you are passionate about what you do, they will see it and feel it.

Focus instead on how you can help them.

For example, because you are smaller, you can give them more attention, get things done faster, and possibly save them money.

 Tell them where you started your journey and some important milestones you achieved along the way.

Provide some background about you and what led you to this business. You can tell them about the challenges you faced and why you do what you do today. 

Use real photos. 

Real people in real places.

Don’t use stock photos as everyone can spot stock photos, and they take away from your authenticity.

You can also use infographics. They can tell a powerful story in a short amount of space. And color helps.

Keep testimonials short and to the point

Have testimonials that make a specific point.

Distill them down to just a few sentences.  Also, make sure they speak to your story.

Also, testimonials can be used to answer anticipated objections in a positive and believable way.

Certifications and awards are important 

If you are in a profession where certifications are required and important, use them.

Important awards are also important. But you can easily overdo them.

If you have a lot of awards and think they are important, have a special awards page.

Remember, this section is about giving you credibility, not glorifying you. 

Your About page must load quickly

Studies have shown that for every second it takes to load your page, There is a 7 percent decrease in conversion rates.

 Always stay in beta

Don’t write this page and forget it. As things change, keep coming back and improving this page. It is that important. 

Conclusion

Most people do not realize how important the About page can be and therefore put little effort into it.

But, it is the second most read page on your site and is very important in starting to build a relationship with your prospects.

Take the time to prepare and optimize this page and it will help you convert prospects and increase revenues.

Don’t miss out on future blog posts about how to create innovative strategies that drive sales.

Also, remember that your story is your strategy and marketing is how you tell your story.

  Jump on this link to get on our free blog mailing list.

  If you have a question or comment, please get in touch with me. I would love to hear from you.

 

How To Be One Of The Few Successful Startups

Posted on by harborcapitalgroupinc

How To Be One Of The Few Successful Startups

Most startups don’t achieve the successful startup goals needed to continue in business. Why?

The main reasons given are they couldn’t find product-market fit, couldn’t generate enough revenues and ran out of money.

But, It doesn’t have to be like that. No one can guarantee a successful startup,

but if you follow the strategies used by successful startups, your chances of success are 9X better.

Now, You Can Build A Successful Business On A Startup’s Budget

Where to start

You think you have a great product or service idea but you need to make sure. So, you ask a couple of friends.

They all tell you, “yea, it looks like a great idea to me”.

There are no consequences for their answer and they don’t want to hurt your feeling, so they agree.

You now have some opinions, but no facts. To get facts, talk to people in you’re targeted audience. But, don’t tell them what your product is.

Instead ask them, during the conversation, if they are having n(the problem you want to solve) and ask them if they also have that problem.

If the answer is yes, ask them how they handle the problem and how big of a problem is it.

Better information. Better decisions.

Create your strategy

This means defining your objective. Not your goal, but a specific, reachable and measurable objective.

You will then be able to diagnose the problem and create an insight into how to solve the problem.

Then, decide what your company will do and will not do.

This is difficult because you do not have the resources to do everything. And ts hard to say no, we will not do that.\

Once that is done, you need to prepare a coherent plan on how to execute your strategy.

 Your strategy is your story.

Keep refining your strategy (core story) into your value proposition:

what you do, how you do it, what the results are, and how the customer benefits.

Get your story now to one or two lines.

Your strategy is your story, marketing is how you tell your story.

Embed your story into a marketing and sales messaging program designed to sell.

Your story will enable you to get away from just facts and features. For example, stop selling just grass seed and start selling greener lawns.

And if your product is technical, use simple language, analogies, and metaphors to sell your product.

A good example is when Steve Jobs introduced the iPod which held 5 Gigabits of storage.

No one could relate to 5 gigabits, so he held up the iPod and said you can put 1,000 songs in your pocket. That, they understood.

Use your story/strategy to become investment-ready

Successful startups also start immediately to use their story to become “investment-ready.”

The first question investors ask is “What’s your story?”

Because your story is your strategy, you will be prepared to tell investors

what your company does, why they do it, why customers buy from you,

and why this company represents an opportunity these investors will not want to miss.

Equally important, because you have done your homework and facts to back up your story, you will be able to answer their questions.

Answering their questions is critical. That is where they will go into depth with their questions and judge you and your idea.

Conclusion

Are you ready to learn the secrets of successful startups?

If you would like to learn more about the secrets of how successful startups are developed.

How you can develop your strategy, reach product-market fit quickly, create a business model that supports your story,

turn your marketing into a sales machine, and get investment-ready, grab a look at our website. You will be happy you did.

We have three options starting at only $39 per month, for three employees, including free email questions and with no contract. Cancel any time.

 

Why Business Stories Drive Success

Posted on by harborcapitalgroupinc

Why Business Stories Drive Success

 

Why don’t more entrepreneurs use stories to explain their business?

The reasons may be they don’t understand how powerful stories are and defining, and crafting a story takes time.

Another misconception is that stories are what the marketing department does. True.

 

But your story needs to start long before there is a marketing department.

If it doesn’t, you could be trying to wordsmith your sales communications later for short-term tactical gains because you don’t have a competitive advantage. Why?

Most companies have competitors and everyone is selling the same product at the same price with the same service.

Here is what Ben Horowitz, venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz says:

“The mistake people make is thinking the story is just about marketing, No. The story is the strategy. If you make your story better, you make your strategy better.”

The story is the engine that drives successful companies.

And with today’s technology, you can tell your story, many times for free, to individuals anywhere in the world.

That makes stories more important than ever.

Benefits Of A Story-Based Strategy 

Business stories drive success and will help you build and grow your company and your brand.

According to Kevin Smith the world’s most valuable, innovative, and fastest-growing companies,

regardless of age, industry, or size – know the story behind the brand. (Airbnb, Apple, Facebook, Tesla, etc.) delivers success.

Simon Sinek, author of the book “Start With Why” described the value of your story another way.

He stated that “people don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it, And what you do simply proves what you believe”.

The following are some benefits you will get from a well-crafted story

Stories help you develop and sell your idea

1. Stories simplify big ideas in a way that sticks in one’s mind.

2. Data can persuade people, but data doesn’t inspire them to act.

3. Stories help you attract and keep talent

4. Stories help you transfer your beliefs to your audience

5. Stories help you keep all employees on the same page and focused on the same mission

6. Stories give your company a short- and long-term advantage over competitors

7. Facts are important, but stories connect and motivate people

8. People remember stories but not many facts.

 

Stories help you build a brand

1. Stories will build a foundation of trust, but a customers’ personal experience will cement that trust into something that lasts,

2. Buyers often look to the story to justify the purchase 3.

3. Stories can raise the value and therefore the price you are able to charge. If you can’t get a higher price for your brand, you need a better story.

Stories help you market your brand to potential customers

1.  Stories when done right can significantly boost lead generation by many times normal.

2. Stories grow your sales pipeline

3. Stories shorten your sales cycle and increase your  sales ratio

4. Stories make it easier for your ideal customer to recognize your value

5. Stories Improve the quality of your sales forecast because they attract better-qualified prospects.

Conclusion

If you are looking to use business stories to drive success and take your company to the next level, stories are a great way to accomplish that objective.

More information on stories is available on our advisor platform.

Also, see our blog,” Five Quick, Effective Ways To Tell Your Business Story”

Jim Zitek/ Harbor Capital Group

We empower entrepreneurs with the information, insights, and conviction they need to turn their ideas into a successful business.

How Do You Know When It’s The Right Time To Scale?

Posted on by harborcapitalgroupinc

Is It The Right Time To Scale?

The goal of every executive is that moment when you have product-market fit and you are ready to scale the business,

But understanding when that moment has arrived is difficult.

May companies jump the gun and begin to scale the product or the company too quickly and end up just burning cash.

Net; getting the timing right is critical.

If you have discovered a pathway to repeatable revenues, and you are beginning to get or have organic revenues (proving product-market fit), or have revenues

and are convinced you are ready to scale.

In general, you are correct about product-market fit, But these early sales are most likely from innovators and early adopters.

These early adopters represent about 16 percent of your targeted market.

And, are the easiest market to reach. They are looking for and want to be first with new products. 

Introducing a new product in a new market

You still have one or two obstacles to get over before you are ready to scale. 

If you are introducing a new product in a new market, according to Steve Blank, professor, author, and entrepreneur, www.steveblank.com

you do not have a ready market. You have to create this new market. So, as you run out of early adopters, you will have to educate buyers who are unfamiliar with you,

your product, and its benefits. That will take time, effort, and money to accomplish.

 

Therefore, after that early revenue peak, you will get new revenues, but revenues will likely begin slowing down rather than speeding up

until you have the mainstream market educated. You have to cross the chasm, the gap between the early adopters and the early mainstream market.

This chasm is well documented in the book by Geoffrey Moore, “Crossing The Chasm”, author and consultant.

How long this “education phase” takes depends on the product or service type and how technical or complex the product is.

So timing is critical because marketing costs from scaling up are rising, and revenues are not.

A lot of companies have been caught in this trap.

Introducing a new product into an existing market

If you are introducing a new product into an existing market, your goal is to take sales away from your competitors.

Therefore, the market exists. Therefore, you should be able to keep revenues growing incrementally with your better value proposition or lower cost. 

However, you still have to cross the chasm from early adopters to mainstream customers,

and they are more skeptical of your product or service and you than the early adopters.

It still takes time to educate and convince current users of a competitive product or service and switch over to your solution.

Therefore, you need to keep your revenue scaling more in sync with your revenue growth.  Unless, of course, money is no object.

Scaling operations is also very difficult. We will tackle that problem/opportunity in another blog post.  

Conclusion

Timing for a new product in a new market or an existing product in an existing market is a sensitive issue.

It depends on your development stage, type of market, and resources.

If you know someone with a timing issue, pass this on.

You might also be interested in our blog post, Transform Your Competitive Market Into An Uncontested Market.

You might also be interested in checking our website Harbor Capital Group,  The Proven Secrets Of Successful Startups.

Jim Zitek       

Innovation Strategies That Create More Profits 

 How To Break Free From A Competitive Market

Posted on by harborcapitalgroupinc

 How To Break Free From A Competitive Market

Many companies today face a very competitive market and are looking for a way to break out.

When every competitor focuses on short-term tactics (i.e., special sales, drawing for a prize, etc.),

the solution only lasts until one of the competitors comes up with a new tactic. Then, you have to dream up another short-term tactic.

This kind of competition is self-destructive. Each competitor is destroying their margins.

This kind of self-destructive competition is one of the problems W. Chen Kim and Ranee Mauborgo take on with their book, “Blue Ocean Strategy.”

Their strategy is to create new demand by eliminating costs for features customers don’t value

and using that money to add features and benefits they do value. This allows you to add value at no additional cost.

Stop Benchmarketing The Competition

Too many companies focus their strategic thinking on the competition, which puts the competition, not the customer, at the core of their strategy.

Stop benchmarking the competition and responding to their strategic moves because it means you look more like the competition.

Instead, put your strategic focus on the buyer and innovate new ways to deliver more value.

Note: just because a  competitor is doing something, doesn’t mean it’s of value to buyers.

For example, if your company is experiencing:

1. Margins shrinking

2. Competition is growing more intense

3. Competition driving commoditization

4. Rising costs

One way to reimagine your market is to take the features each competitor competes on for the X-axis,

and the value the customer puts on that feature on the Y-axis.

Then draw a horizontal line for each competitor, and you will see the differences between competitors.

You should be able to add value at no additional cost.

A quick example would be Cirque du Soleil.

They combined traditional circus acts with modern acrobatics and then put then the performance in a theatre,

which increased value, the price of the tickets, and significantly improved margins.

Focus On The Buyer

Put your strategic focus on the buyer and innovate new ways to deliver more value.

Note: just because a  competitor is doing something, doesn’t mean it is of value to buyers.

In summary, you have to re-think or re-frame how you approach the market.

Then compare and contrast your offering with what competitors are offering (your x- and y-axis analysis).

Then introduce the first product to a market with lots of pain -they will be more eager to buy.

Then, finally, you expand your product offering to the bigger market and build revenues.

Think about these questions:

1. Which features of your product or service could you eliminate because the buyer does not value them?

2. How much would this reduce your costs?

3. What products or services could you add with those savings that would have value to the customer?

4. Which market segment can you enter to establish your base?

Conclusion

If you are looking for ways to break free from competitors, examine what your competitors are doing.

Which elements (features, functions, benefits) of their offer due the customers find of value

and which elements contribute little value. Each of the elements has a cost.

If you eliminate the elements that have little value, you can use those funds to add to or create new benefits that customers want.

Again think of what Cirque du Soleil was able to do.

If you know someone struggling in an overly competitive market, tell them about this post.  Maybe it will help.

You might also be interested in our blog post, How Do You Know When It’s The Right Time To Scale?

You might also be interested in checking our website Harbor Capital Group,  The Proven Secrets Of Successful Startups.

Jim Zitek 

 

 

Storytelling In Businesses Is An Effective Sales Tool

Posted on by harborcapitalgroupinc

Why don’t more entrepreneurs use stories to explain their businesses?

The reason maybe they don’t understand the important benefits of storytelling in business

or how compelling stories are. But, defining and crafting a story takes time. Another misconception

is that stories are what the marketing department does.

True. But every employee should be able to tell the company’s story.

But your story needs to start long before there is a marketing department.

If it doesn’t, you could be trying to wordsmith your sales communications later for short-term

tactical gains because you don’t have a competitive advantage. Why?

Most companies have competitors, and everyone may be selling a similar product

at the same price with the same service.

Here is what Ben Horowitz, at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, says:

“The mistake people make is thinking the story is just about marketing, No.

The story is the strategy. If you make your story better, you make your strategy better.”

The story is the engine that drives successful companies. And with today’s technology,

you can tell your story, many times for free, to individuals anywhere in the world.

That makes stories more important than ever.

 

Benefits Of A Storytelling Strategy

 

Stories will help you build and grow your company and your brand.

According to Kevin Smith, the world’s most valuable, innovative, and fastest-growing companies

know the story behind the brand regardless of age, industry, or size. (Airbnb, Apple, Facebook, Tesla, etc.) delivers success.

 

Or Simon Sinek, author of “Start With Why,” put it another way,

“Remember, people don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it, And what you do simply proves what you believe.”

 

The following are some of the benefits you will get from a well-crafted story.

 

Stories help you develop and sell your idea. 

Stories simplify big ideas in a way that sticks in one’s mind.

Data can persuade people, but data doesn’t inspire them to act.

Stories help you attract and keep talent and then improve efficiency by keeping everyone on the same page.

Stories help you transfer your beliefs to your audience.

Stories help you keep all employees on the same page and focused on the same mission.

Stories give your company a short- and long-term advantage over competitors.

Facts are essential, but sories connect and motivate people.

People remember stories but not many facts.

 

Stories help you build a brand.

 

Stories  will build a foundation of trust, but a customer’s personal experience will cement

that trust into something that lasts,

Buyers often look to the story to justify the purchase.

Stories can raise the value and, therefore, the price you can charge.

You need a better story if you can’t get a higher price for your brand.

 

Stories help you market your brand to potential customers.

When done right, stories can significantly boost lead generation by many times normal.

Stories grow your sales pipeline — stories make it easier for your ideal customer to recognize your value.

Stories shorten your sales cycle and increase the sale ratio

Stories build your sales pipeline — stories make it easier for your ideal customer to understand your value

Stories Improve the quality of your sales forecast because they attract better-qualified prospects

 

If you are looking to take your startup to the next level, stories are a great way to accomplish that.

Jim Zitek 

 Innovative strategies that create more profits