The so-called “bootstrapped” companies who look for low cost quotes, charge a bomb when it’s their turn to give a quote.

And then… they gripe that every one is quoting very less and thereby killing the market.

I believe all service providers have a right to give a price – either low or high – market scenarios not withstanding.

Every organization, especially start-ups and SMEs have this question. And its definitely a question to be asked and to be answered.

Well, as most of us know Digital Marketing is split into 2 – Organic Marketing and Inorganic Marketing. Organic is where you generate leads / sales with out any paid ads, and inorganic is where you generate leads / sales through paid channels. Note that, Content is the key in both the cases! In inorganic marketing, we can generate leads via channels like Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Affiliates, etc., You Pay – You Get.

Now, the Ten Thousand Rupees question is that – How do you generate leads / sales through organic marketing? A million dollar questioner would already know the answer. Organic Digital Marketing primarily “influences the sale“, it could either be a Sale or a No Sale – depending on the kind of (or lack of) Digital Marketing being done.

Any potential customer these days:

Digital Marketing as a whole will definitely generate sales – but if any one is looking for immediate results, then they could always opt for the inorganic / ads route; but even then organic marketing matters. Digital Marketing will need a good amount of Time, Effort and Quality to actually make any sense or give any results. And all businesses should know that there is no escaping Digital Marketing (Organic / Inorganic) and sooner they start the better.

Rule 1: Never Lose Money

Rule 2: Never forget Rule # 1

Rule 3: Be Paranoid

Rule 4: Greed is Good (Gordon Gecko!!)

Rule 5: Balance EVERYTHING

Rule 6: Screw and Get Screwed - BOTH

Rule 7: Get Inspired

Rule 8: KEEP LEARNING

Rule 9: Always Listen

Rule 10: Talk Less

Anyone who wanted to quit their jobs and start off on their own would definitely have this question, well most of them anyways. Let’s look at some pointers as to which is a better option.

If you opt for freelancing – You have to be an expert at what you do and that’s the bottom-line. You are your own boss that’s a given, and its more of a solo / single man show. And the money is limited and so is the work as you are just a single person running your own show – with a home office. Your target clientele would be startups or companies willing to work with freelancers and independent consultants. Believe it or not there are both big (sometimes) and small businesses who seek freelancers.

PROS:

1) You aren’t dependent on anyone and the responsibility completely lies on you.

2) The money is decent once you start getting clients.

3) You can work on your own terms.

4) There is no investment required.

CONS:

1) Your work is limited and you can’t take up more work and hence not make more money.

2) Scope of learning is limited as you are limited to your own expertise.

3) Most of your time is spent either on getting leads or on executing work. Balancing them both becomes difficult.

4) As a freelancer getting the payments realized becomes bit of a challenge – and most of the time you end up working “cheap”.

If you opt for starting your own company – You should have an excellent and responsible core team and that’s the bottom-line here. If you don’t have team sharing responsibilities and work delegated – then don’t bother setting up a business as its no more a single man show. Money will be good not initially though and being persistent is the key here.

PROS:

1) You have a team to deliver work and responsibility is shared.

2) More scope to take up additional work.

3) Good learning cycle and scope of growth.

4) You can concentrate on your core competencies and leave the other aspects  operational, delivery, etc for others to handle.

CONS:

1) There are dependencies and any loose ends on team performances means business is affected.

2) If not lot, but quite a bit of investment is required .

3) Higher risk as your investment is also at stake.

4) You might end up taking care of other activities like managing operations / getting clients rather than your core competency – balancing is very important here.

From personal experience, my opinion is first get onto freelancing for sometime and later-on once you get the right and like minded people go ahead and start your business.

Now that’s a question every entrepreneur, sales and a business development person wants answered.

Well, there are several ways – traditional and non-traditional ways to generate leads and business. I would like to put across 2 main points to be considered. Read on..

1) Find out the needs / requirements

Everyone has requirements. Be it an individual, entity, start-up, SME, MNC or a multi-million dollar conglomerate – EVERYONE needs something or the other. The key is to find out what their needs are and match them to our product / service offerings and contact them.

And how do we do that? Let’s take an use case – A ‘Non Tech’ start-up has posted on a job portal or LinkedIn that they are looking for a Mobile App Developer. And if your service includes Mobile App Development – you have a connect! Tell the client (them being a non tech firm) to take care of their core business and to outsource their Mobile App Dev requirement. Rest is all about how good your portfolio is, the costs, and the expertise.

Once you find out that the prospect has a requirement, it becomes a warm lead from a cold one and you will be practically pitching only to warm leads – thus saving your time and being more efficient.

2) Create requirement(s)

There’s always a better way to do things and things can always be ‘more better and efficient’. One just needs to put this across to the prospect party.

– A Website can always be bettered – suggest a CMS probably

– An offline business would do better by going online

– If you have a product, am sure there are prospects who would need that

– Any business with online presence needs Digital Marketing

– Entertainment, Education, Healthcare, Transport, Travel, Supply Chain, BFSI, IT, ITeS, eCommerce, Gaming or any other vertical (or horizontal) all of them need to scale up.

We just need to find out how they can be bettered and what value we are adding to their business – and they WILL want it and take it!

Just remember, one needs to offer a ‘Business Solution‘ and not just any solution be it technical, staffing, digital, etc..

My 2 Pence..

I have come across this question raised by an associate that I know of - who has just started off a business; and joined the ranks of the ever flourishing Startup ecosystem.

This is a very valid query - especially for all the startups out there. The questions that pop-up are:

1) Do I need a Sales Team?

Well, let's approach these questions objectively..

Do I need a Sales Team?

This is the question all startup businesses need to ask themselves. Well, the answer is YOU DO! Even though there are various online channels to generate sales & leads - a Sales Team is definitely a need; be it a Product or a Service. Every Business Needs Sales and that's about it.

When should I Hire a Sales team?

To put it simply -

If you are a Product company - you will need the sales team as soon as the product is ready. Of course, tie-ups, marketing efforts, etc., should be done much earlier at the prototype or the MVP stage.

If you are a Services company - you need a sales team right from the beginning.

Can I manage a Sales team?

Simple, if you or someone from your team is from a Sales background - only then can you manage a Sales Team. Else, hire someone who can manage the team or just outsource it.

If I hire an internal sales team - what if they don't deliver?

This question is like a hanging sword - before you realize you would have burnt cash on a non-performing Sales Team. Most new Sales Teams don't deliver immediately - and with out the right management its all gonna go south.

Should I hire an internal Sales team? or Outsource the whole shindig?

And, the answer(s) to the question is -

Outsourcing your Sales to an external firm is always a better choice - as it saves your time, money & most importantly ensures business is running!

So..

You have started a business - Do you know how to run it?

Yes? Read Ahead. No? Read Ahead. Don't care what I say? Read Ahead...

Don't Hire!

As a start-up biz, you won't get good talent readily available. Even if you pay big.. you just lose money.. No one wants to join a start-up as an employee..(unless you are funded, etc., etc., coz ppl looking for a job are smart)

Just wait (for the right guys) and don't bleed..

Get Customers!

Oh wow! What a revelation you say?

Oh yeah, you can do all the spend, all the $hit to start a biz.. rather than conceptualizing, planning & what not, aim to have customers from Day1.. not Day 2 nor Month 2.. Day 1 is the key..

If you can't get customers from day 1, then you are losing money from Day 1 remember that! which is not a good business plan or strategy or whatever the F@#k u want to call it..

Get Things Done!

Remove Dependency.

Just go get things done. If you depend on anyone, forget it. Don't depend, if you have to depend.. well, just get it done.

Manage Time

Well.. you got it.

You save time, you save money.

Time spent = Money spent.

Time Managed is Money Earned.

In the end..

Don't Doubt!

If you doubt, think, think, and think.. either you close down your business or fix it.. the earlier the better..

If delayed.. it means close your startup before its too late..

Yours Pessimistically..

BTW, I never did run a "successful" business..

Cheers! Slainte! Salut!

Nowadays it seems common practice for the the so called experienced folks to criticize younger (read inexperienced) minds who come up with new ideas and businesses.. They term them ‘upstarts’, ‘noobs’, ‘bandwagon riders’, ‘flashes in the pan’, ‘dreamers’, and what not..

These critics have exposure in established / streamlined organizations with pretty fat paychecks, with limited accountability.

..and something I read somewhere comes to mind – Startups have their own problems, and people with experience in established organizations wouldn’t understand these problems, and they need to unlearn and relearn things.

SALES – for most startups and SMEs is the last and least important. Which is where they go wrong- investing in a sales team or a sales person is a risk according to most companies; but isn’t it the same with any employee or any other department?

Everyone has to perform and deliver and their “efforts” need to be paid for and incentives / commissions are an add-on. Sales is the main piece of the company machine that ensures that the company is running smooth- and it has its own growth cycle in an organization – right from market understanding, product / service Vs. market demand, research, lead generation to customer mapping, SWOT, competitor analysis, networking & more.. Sales is a continuous process and there are no deadlines because there cannot be a set timeline for sales.

A 9AM-6PM work time may not be as effective as say 3PM – 9PM or for that matter a 12 hour work day may not be of any use and sometimes you might close a deal or get a 7 digit+ lead in just 3 hours.

Sales ought to be a long-term investment (as how one invests in Tech, HR, Design, Media, etc) and organizations need to understand the value of Sales, rather than just hiring and firing teams or at worse not having a sales team itself.

These days the terms – Growth Hacking / Growth Marketing are used by all the big (and small) marketing punters..

I guess Growth Hacking / Marketing is continuous Guerrilla Marketing (?)