Start up – the gestation

Getting a business going really has a lot to do with customers – what they want, what they expect; and how you can deliver more than that. MARCIA GRIFFIN

By Marcia Griffin

I am often approached by people who want to start a business and reflect that there is nothing like real life experiences to really educate others on how to do it.

At the base of our new business, griffin+row, are the many lessons that my business partner Yvonne Row and I have learnt from our customers over the years.

I had had years of talking to women about their skincare needs – on a direct selling basis. And there is nothing as direct as meeting with women in their homes and talking with them about their needs.

Equally Yvonne Row, who has had a retail business in organic food for 12 years, listened to her clients.

Now, this does not mean that you need to spend a long time listening to customers before you start a business. Smart, focused research could lead you to your starting point very quickly.

The questions you should be asking are:

• Who is your target market?
• What is the benefit of the product/service you are contemplating?
• What will your customers pay for this product/service?
• Can your business idea be profitable?
• How will you promote the product to your target market?
• How will you distribute the product to your target market?
• What resources/money do you need to achieve the above?
• Will you enjoy it?
• Do you really deeply believe in what you are about to do?
• What are the forces driving change in your chosen industry?
• Could you sell this business in 10 years?

In our start up discussions we needed to answer all of the above positively – and to do that we needed to really understand the changes happening in the market. Was the trend to natural, no harmful chemicals sustainable? Was this a growth area in the market?

And most importantly, was it a big enough market?

Plus did we have the will and fortitude to do something different, to breakthrough with a quality product at a very accessible price? What would be our distribution system?

Big questions that took a long time to answer.

The journey has just begun…

To read more Marcia Griffin blogs, click here.

High Heeled Success is Marcia Griffin’s latest book, and is a frank account of building a business from a solitary sales person to a multi-million dollar business with 4700 sales consultants around Australia and New Zealand. It recounts successes and failures along the way and was written to inspire entrepreneurs, particularly women, to triumph in business.

Marcia’s latest venture is skin care company griffin+row.