Improve your niche marketing strategy to stay ahead of the game.

A niche marketing strategy is one that targets a specific subset of a market and is not a strategy that is ideal for every business. However, if you have determined that a niche marketing strategy is right for your business, here are some things for you to consider to distinguish yourself from the rest.

Knowing and serving your customer

In a niche market, it is not only enough to just know your customers’ demographics but also their beliefs, behaviours and desires. In doing so, you can better cater to their needs in your products or services and add more value to what you are selling. Customer service is especially essential for online businesses as there are no physical spaces to produce an in-store experience. Serving your customer digitally can involve the customisation of a product or service, promptly responding to queries, or packaging the product in a way that aligns with your brand.

Storytelling

An emotional connection with a product or service can influence a customer’s purchasing decision – storytelling is one of the most powerful methods to draw an audience in. Changing the ‘About Us’ section to ‘Our Story’ on a niche family business website may be effective, but it’s just as important for the story to reflect the brand. Some business stories are told through their employees’ or customers’ testimonials and successes. Niche retail businesses may tell the story of their product’s symbolism, unique features, designer, artist, or maker.

Be selective with your advertising platforms

Using social media is one way to gain visibility and to have a digital presence, but social media channels are often saturated with competitors and other distractions. Depending on your product or service, some customers may prefer to visit industry-related websites or use a search engine directly, rather than clicking on an advertisement on Facebook. Other customers would prefer to trust their friends and to gain knowledge through word of mouth. These businesses may gift an item to a circle they want visibility in. Ensure your marketing channels are cost-effective for your business.

Small businesses with cash flow problems put themselves at risk of failing or suffering financial hardship.

Cash flow provides a business with stability so they are able to pay employees, avoid loan defaults and pay the overheads necessary to keep their business up and running. Follow these tips to boost your cash flow so you can secure your business’ future.

Perform a business health check

Preparing financial statements will give you an objective insight into the health of your business. Identifying if you have a cash flow problem is the first step to coming up with solutions. Looking into the following reports will allow you to see if your cash flow is up to scratch.

• A balance sheet will tell you what your business is worth on any given day. The value of your business is calculated by subtracting your liabilities from your assets.

• Profit loss statements reveal if your income is meeting your expense requirements. If your profit is dipping below your expenses it is time for a change.

• Cash flow reports reveal the money that is going in and out of your business over a set period and identify peak and off-peak periods

Use a business budget

After analysing your cash flow situation, determine if your cash flow is cyclical? Creating a yearly budget is not only imperative to receive financing in future, but will also help you identify the best months in which to save to cover the quieter months. Where applicable, business owners can consider flexible rostering, whereby employing casuals and using a flexible roster can help you cut back on hours when you need to improve your cash flow in quiet periods.

When you have identified your quieter periods of the year, try to find additional revenue streams for when cash is low. Is there a product or service that could be introduced? Work with your team for new ideas to cover low cash months.

Get on top of your accounts receivable

Allowing late repayments jeopardises your cash flow and can put you in a tight financial spot. Avoid being out of pocket by implementing some of these credit policies:

• Collect debts on time

• Offer an early bird discount to incentivise early repayments

• Set credit limits and payment terms

• Make credit applications and carry out credit checks on all new customers

• Penalise late payments with interest

• Consider cutting down on inventory

• Request upfront payment or a non-refundable deposit where viable, especially when dealing with large orders