Business Marketing & Finance Resources

If you are looking to market your solutions or services to a youthful consumer market, educational campuses offer a stellar opportunity to do just that. There are several reasons that promo solutions are effectively distributed on school campuses. First, schools provide a highly targeted demographic that allows you to reach masses of the same age group in one fell swoop. Second, schools are generally willing to aid you with the distribution process, since you are supplying their students with free devices. Third, the solutions you distribute on school campuses are likely to garner repeat exposures for your corporation brand as they are used and circulated on a daily basis.

Targeted Demographic

You cannot do better than to distribute your merchandises on a school campus where virtually everyone is right around the same age. School campuses tend to be breeding grounds for trends and fads, which means that you should be able to distribute ‘hot’ promo solutions that are likely to connect with the majority of individuals on campus.

While being of the same age group does not ensure thinking alike, there are certain basic social groups that tend to develop on school campuses. This helps marketers to target their marketing products to each of these specific on-campus demographic groups.

Easy Distribution

If you are willing to supply students with free supplies and educational tools, the school staff is likely to lend an enthusiastic hand in distributing your objects. This can save your corporation an enormous amount of manpower, as you will not have to expend any money on hiring men and women to distribute your promo rewards to the masses.

If you simply make a key contact with the principal or a key administrator on a school campus, they can delegate the distribution of your advertising gear via the teachers of each individual classroom. All you will have to do is ship the objects to the campus and the rest will likely be taken care of by the school staff themselves. This poses an ideal scenario for corporation owners that are looking to maximize their total Return on Investment (ROI).

Repeat Exposures

If you distribute gear such as advertising pens, printed notebooks and emblazoned USB zip drives on school campuses, the students that receive them are likely to use them for school related tasks for the duration of the merchandises’ lifespans. This amounts to a large number of repeat exposures for your organization brand. Each time one of your recipients uses one of your marketing goods or shares them with a friend on campus, they stand to be re-impressed with your branding information, which very often results in swift customer conversions.

Let’s look at a list of 20 tips or recommendations should be taken before starting a restaurant:

1. Set the style of the restaurant

Before creating a restaurant, we must be clear what the type of restaurant you are going to open, and what the style or concept that we will give.

We must be clear if, for example, let’s open a restaurant, gourmet fine dining, family style, one fast food, etc..

But more importantly, we must determine what the style or concept that we will give, which should be in accordance with our personality and our tastes, while influenced by others, and trying to be a distinctive style or concept that does not exist in other restaurants.

2. Market research

Like any business, before opening a restaurant we investigate well the market, trying to know what the preferences and tastes of consumers, and making sure that we will have enough demand for our restaurant a success.

One way of doing this is conducting surveys to people traveling through the area where we open the restaurant, where they were consulted about their preferences or tastes, if you would go to a new restaurant of the kind that we create, and how much would be willing to spend on each visit.

3. Determine the target audience

Within the market research that will, an important point is to clearly define what our target audience, i.e. what the type of consumer that we’re going to direct.

Thus, we can analyze their characteristics, and our business focus and strategies we will use in this type of consumer, for example, we assess their people in a hurry to eat, or enjoy taking your time, if they are willing to travel some distance to go to a nice restaurant if they are willing to pay a good price for a good meal, etc.

4. Start with a small menu

If we first started in the restaurant business, you should start with a small menu so that, thereby, to specialize in a few dishes, and to reduce our operating costs.

And later, as it begins to grow business, increase the variety of our dishes.

5. Visit the competition

Before opening a restaurant; we visit all the restaurants in the competition there.

This will enable us, first, to observe their strengths and weaknesses, so that we can compete effectively with them.

On the other hand, we can observe their successes and mistakes and thereby learn from them.

And on the other hand, we can observe the preferences, tastes and habits of consumers, and our restaurant guide accordingly.

6. Work on competition

If this is our first experience on opening a restaurant, keep in mind that a restaurant is a business which requires hard work and discipline.

A recommendation to this situation is to find a job in a restaurant so that thereby not only familiar with the operation of the business, but also to be clear on what we’re going to spend.

7. Avoid low prices

When trying to determine the price of our products, we should not hesitate if you want to put a somewhat higher price.

In the case of food, people are willing to pay well, if the dishes are tasty, well presented, has a total hygiene, and to offer quality customer service.

Never mind that there are restaurants that use the same inputs, and have prices well below ours, consumers will always choose us if we have these factors.

8. Good location

A determining factor in the success of a restaurant is its location, we should take our time well when choosing a location.

We can choose a central location where we have the advantage of being in the light of a growing number of consumers, but the disadvantages of high local costs, and having to deal with increased competition.

If we choose a place not so central, we have the advantages of low costs in the rental or purchase of premises, and less competition nearby, but the disadvantage that we are not the view of consumers, even if our publicity is good, and have a good product, it will not be problem.

9. Ample space

In addition to the dining space in which our customers should feel comfortable and at ease, we must not forget that the restaurant should have cooked a good space, where the cooks and kitchen staff to perform efficiently and without risk for accidents, and where with a good space to store supplies.

10. Parking

Similarly, when choosing the location of the premises of our restaurant, we should not forget that it must have sufficient parking and the number of customers that we calculate; we will visit in their vehicles.

Poor business practices are actions or decisions taken by companies that go against the ethics and morals, and in some cases, contrary to legal norms.

Let us see what are the most common of these bad practices, as entrepreneurs or business people should avoid:

Deceptive practices

Deceptive practices involving misleading prices, for example, when you point the price of an asset, but do not mention several of the additional costs are included.

Other deceptive practices may be false liquidations, in which promises lower prices when in fact only lower prices of a few products.

Other deceptive practices occur when conducting sales promotions, but it does not specify what the requirements to participate in the promotion.

Pressure selling

This is when the sellers of a company to sell its products as of place, manipulate, pressure and virtually require consumers to purchase.

For example, when constantly insist that the consumer purchases a product, or make use of lies to convince the purchase, for example, when they point out that the product has a special offer that the product is nearly depleted, there are several buyers behind the product, etc.

Poor quality products

Occurs when firms use inputs or raw materials of poor quality or design products with certain defects, which cannot be detected at first sight for the consumer, but that he does use the product, just realize the poor quality thereof.

Products harmful to health

Occurs when firms use inputs or ingredients in their products, which could be harmful to health, for example, in the case of toys made of materials or substances toxic to children, or foods made with ingredients that could be harmful to health.

Discrimination

It occurs when a business workers, discriminating against some customers belonging to a social class different from the usual customers of the company, or give the appearance of having little money, which customers are given a different treatment .

Sell customer information

When the information companies collect customers, sell them to other companies or third parties without the customer finds out, affecting their right to privacy.

False information

When companies provide false information, for example, through its advertising, which has certain characteristics that indicate a product that actually are not true.

Promises Unfulfilled

When companies make promises or agreements with customers who fail to comply, for example, when offering to deliver a product or perform a service for a specific date, knowing that they cannot deliver the goods with that date.

Production processes that damage the environment

When companies use elements in their processes that can cause pollution to the environment, and do not take measures to prevent or mitigate pollution forecasting.

Tax evasion

When companies make use of illegal practices to avoid paying taxes.

Unsolicited advertising

When companies systematically sent unsolicited to customers or consumers, for example, through emails.

Employee abuse

When companies take the needs of their own employees for having a job, to reduce wages, make them work longer hours than stipulated, make them work under bad working conditions, etc.

Scams

When companies cheat their customers, is given from the great scams, to little tricks, such as providing a certain amount in the package contents of a product, when in fact the package does not become completely filled.

Bribes

When companies make bribes, for example, to obtain permits or licenses from the government.

Conclusions

Fortunately, today there are several groups or institutions responsible for ensuring that consumers are affected by these malpractices, however, many of which are still practiced and are not reported.

We as entrepreneurs or business, sooner or later we will face the possibility of making these bad practices, but depends on our values and ethics, not committing and, conversely, expose people or businesses that produce them.

Many entrepreneurs fall into the trap of not taking into account the views, comments, suggestions, criticisms or complaints from customers.

Do not know how to listen to their customers, and this often results in bad decisions, bad design strategies, inability to attract new customers and the loss of customers already own.

The importance of listening to our customers is that this will give us useful information to our business, allowing us to design more effective marketing strategies will enable us to provide personalized attention and will let us know how we can improve or what to delete from our company.

Whenever we can, we must pay attention or try to figure out or know of our clients:

* Their real needs.
* Consumer preferences.
* Tastes.
* Their customs and habits of consumption.
* What they dislike about our products or services.
* What they would like to improve.
* Why we prefer to us instead of competition, etc…

And then with this information, we can design more effective marketing strategies, including:

* Design or modify products or services in such a way that best suits your needs or tastes.
* Set prices more in line with the economy or financial situation.
* Establish sales channels that are more accessible to them.
* Design and advertising media more effectively with them.

On the other hand, we know how we can improve, change or remove in our business.

And finally, knowing the needs and particular tastes of a particular consumer, we have the possibility of designing a unique product or service for him, that is, provide personalized service.

To intentionally to obtain this information from our customers, we can:

* Do small surveys.
* Create a suggestion box.
* Make small interviews as a conversation, for example, at the time of sale or provide the service.
* Invite them to lunch or a meeting or activity.
* Call after completing the purchase, to know your impression of the use of the product.
* Take a database or statistics.

In short, we must always be attentive to the views, comments, suggestions or complaints from our customers and on the other hand, we should always try to decipher or gather information about them such as their needs, preferences, habits, etc. (E.g. through small surveys or interviews), this information will design more effective marketing strategies, we know what we need to improve or change in our business, and, finally, we will provide certain customers with personalized attention according to their tastes or preferences.

The best way to grow a business is to improve service or customer service.

It is the most effective, since it provides the best results, and the most efficient, requiring no extra cost, only creativity and dedication.

Through a good service or customer service, get satisfaction, trust and loyalty of our customers and thus achieve “loyal”, i.e. convert them into our regular customers.

But also, we will attract new customers, since customers are well served, speak well of us and recommend us and resulting in increased sales and therefore higher growth of our business.

Have a good customer service means providing a friendly, complying with the deals and promises, providing a fast, providing a personalized, etc.

For the good customer service to be effective, it must be present in all aspects of the business where there is interaction with the client, and should be practiced by all workers.

In order to provide good customer service, we must first know our clients, and analyze their characteristics as well, for example, needs, tastes and preferences.

For this we ask for their suggestions and opinions about our products or services, make small informal interviews, or keep track of your spending habits.

And then offer a service or care according to these characteristics may in some cases, to offer personalized service, for example, knowing the preferences of a customer, we offer an exclusive product for him.