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Marketing is an art, very few can understand. While it works seamlessly for some, it is a nightmare to others. To survive the tough battle of attention from would be clients/customers, a startup entrepreneur needs to be king of this aspect of his business or at most, get someone to take charge on his behalf.

The success of a startup will often depend on its approach to marketing. Unfortunately the vast majority of startup founders have little to no experience or marketing or managing a marketing budget. Well it's in the planning! Make sure that you’ve got your marketing strategy in line

Many times the failure of many entrepreneurs is anchored on the fact that they pay too much attention to their products/services without much thoughts about how these would get to the end user(s). There are a huge number of private professional outfits (law, accounting and real estate firms) on the streets of Lagos who are struggling to survive. They may be loaded with the technical know-how but how these would impact their target audiences and in turn bring in the needed financial gains, is always an uphill task for them.

For a startup entrepreneur not to fall into the trap of self denial, he needs to know what he doesnt know, and take time how to study them.There are a million articles out there on brand development, launch marketing, PR, viral videos and more. Reading them all would be a start.

Often times, most startup firm fail to understand that everybody can't be your client /customer. You need yo know the basic difference between advertising and marketing. While the former is an aspect of the latter, advertising your products only gets you awareness about it. This is what some startups do on social media. They create the awareness that is not financially of benefit to the firm. Marketing your products and services offers both awareness and sales. Reaching out to the target audience/users and selling the products to them. That is what a startup needs - Sales!

Once you choose a social platform, you need to commit to it. Having an inactive presence on any of the platforms creates a bad impression. Having the last tweet date as two years back is worse than not having a Twitter handle. You need to show activity on the social platforms and website, and need to have consistency. The opposite is also true – you just can’t do too much. Don’t bombard your LinkedIn company page followers with 10 updates a day just because that will give you more number of impressions!

Some tech savvy entrepreneurs tend to forget businesses need roots to stand. They invest so much energy and resources into SEO, social media publicity, paid ads etc. Notwithstanding the gains these may bring, the failure to identify the key people that matters - the community you reside, the friends, colleagues, family and social club members who needs to be convinced by the word of mouth about what the outfit is about, may spell doom for the enterprise when the storms start to rage. These are your unpaid brand ambassadors and they would go to any length to convince other would-be clients/customers about your services. They bring in the referrals! They are the roots of any solid business. Mark Zuckerberg started out Facebook with his college friends while in Harvard University. He had a root!

People relate to other people – and this is especially true for startups, where people are
buying services from founders more than from the company. So it is important that startups include the personal branding of their founders in their social media planning and strategy. You need a face for your company.

As a startup, you don't have to copy the big brands in the industry that has the financial muscle to be on every platform, and adopt any type of marketing and awareness. You have to find out what suits your organization and your target audience. You don't want to be tweeting and posting on LinkedIn when your target clients are mostly the uneducated and aged. Be yourself. Find the right rhythm and don't expend unnecessary energy on wrong platforms.

Get on the street. Get the feedbacks about your products/services never be stiff necked about it. Accept constructive criticisms. Use it to sharpen your outputs. Meet real people and not internet reviews. Meet your early clients and talk to them!


Conclusion,
Never make the mistake of underestimating the power of compounded growth. Try as much as possible to focus on growth rate rather than absolute numbers. Then you won’t
be dismayed if the absolute numbers are small at first. If you have 30 users of your products, you only need three (3) more in a week to grow 10%. And while three users is a small number for most products, 10% a week is a great growth rate. If you keep growing at 10% a week, the absolute numbers will eventually become impressive. Grow slowly, but purposefully!


Source:
https://founders.com.ng/2017/08/04/marketing-mistake-startups-avoid/

Lalasticlala, mynd44, 1forall

For a startup enterprise, it is very much difficult to gain the services of a top notch talent, and retaining such. The bigger companies like zinox, NBC, PWC e.t.c with experience, have what it takes to convince a top talent employee simply because of the perks and rewards they provide. The startup firm can also better motivate the employees in their service by doing the little they can and not go overboard or try to be at competition with bigger and established firms.

In Sam Adeyemi's book 'Ideas Rule The World' , he expantiates on how simple thought processes drive innovations and inventions. Ideas, don't drop from heaven, they are gotten from well motivated individuals. Those who are inspired by what they do.

Don't get it wrong, in Nigeria and mostly Africa, the main driving force for most employees is the financial reward they may get at their work place. Much unlike in other climes where intellectual engagement is the magneting force for recruits. So, even if a startup can't provide the pay cheque like a multinational company, anything that would make the employees spend less of their salary (or add to it) would go a long way to motivate them.

The caution however, is to tailor the perks along the corporate culture, vision and goals of the startup firm. Otherwise, it would easily go off track and may not achieve the set goal. Here, we take a quick look at some of the ways a startup firm can apply some perks and bonuses to motivate its employees.

Incentives or Discounts
In retail outlets like Shoprite, MrPrice, Max e.t.c it is common practice to allow members of staff to buy some of the goods with a certain discount. This gives them the edge over the ordinary customer. They are even your first customers! If you own a school a certain discount should be given to teachers and other workers whose kids attend the school. It's always a win-win strategy.
There are times that just little gifts like branded umbrellas, notepads, T-shirts and pens may serve as in incentive to the employee. The rule of branding is that people are always in need of something to identify with, so you give it to them, promote your enterprise through your employees - your best bet!

Create Opportunities For Career Growth
One of the main reasons why top talents tend to opt for bigger blue chip companies is the fact that they are almost rest assured they have the chance to move up the organizational ladder. For a startup enterprise where the staff duties and obligations are not well defined, it may be hard to elevate the worker when doing such will most likely mean employing newer staff to take on roles left behind.
Nothing motivates an employee better than knowing his services and dedication will be rewarded with promotions and he can develope new skills and then channel his knowledge and energy into his specialty. According to Kyle Wong of Pixlee: "The best candidates aren't solely motivated by salary. They are often motivated by the opportunity to learn, grow and be challenged".

Access To Express Their Ideas
Communication is the powerhouse of any relationship. Same goes for the workplace environment. There should be a free flow of ideas and suggestions without unnecessary bottlenecks and bureaucracy. No one has a monopoly of good ideas and as such, the little contributions by the members of staff of a startup enterprise can feel like a part of the organization if their suggestions are either used in full or modified. The basic thing here is recognition and appreciation of such employee. It goes a long way to make them put in their best into the task at hand.

Employee Recognition
The first set of people to experience your products and services are your employees, so they deserve a form of recognition. This makes them feel important, as everybody lives being loved. A little appreciation SMS or email for meeting a set target or praises in team meetings goes a long way to spur other workers to put in their best. The surprise birthday cakes and gifts by the firm And inclusion into a bigger project as a result of fulfilling a smaller task also helps in keeping the spirits high at the workplace.

Amiable Work Environment
The worker is almost always as effective as his work tools. The major task of a startup entrepreneur is to provide good working tools for members of staff. The right softwares, furniture, restroom, to make it easier to carry out their functions.
There may also be the organization of free lunches for members of staff, a play room to unwind and meditate and also some staff vacation and trips, also helps blow off the steam from the troubles at work.

Share Excess Profits
The first step is to pay the employees their salaries when due and be fair, so they can make plans with it. Payment of bonuses and excess profits are then differentiated so they can better be appreciated when paid. For a startup enterprise, the employees know when the company is making an unusual profit, they know when their inputs are yielding results. The entrepreneur cannot hide this from them by just paying the basics, some little percentage of profits should be set aside for the staff maybe by way of commissions or bonuses, something to tell them 'thank you' for the work done. Surely, this has been proven to be a great motivation to the employees.

Conclusion
Incentives may be a little further from the company's main goal, but the real startup entrepreneur should know how to maneuver them to align with the what the company stands for. No one advertises your firm like a well motivated employee. So set aside certain measure of appreciation to well deserving members of staff, and watch them increase their productivity.

Source:

https://founders.com.ng/2017/08/18/how-to-reward-your-employee-as-a-startup/

John Momoh (OON), Founder and CEO of Channels Television. An ace broadcast journalist with a vast experience spanning close to four decades. Before founding Channels, John worked variously as News Anchor, Senior Reporter and Senior Producer for Nigeria’s National Radio and Television Stations, (Radio Nigeria and Nigerian Television Authority).
The journey into the entrepreneurial side of John Momoh is not without thorns and at some point he wanted to pull the plug. The Corporate culture at Channels Televisions today, has become the yardstick to measure up other broadcast channels and broadcasters. Here, we take a walk into the path where it all started from.

Genesis
“It’s an amazing 20 year history which has seen professionalism and enterprise fused into one, to result in what is today, the most trusted, and most successful news organisation in Nigeria. I set sail within Nigeria’s radio and television broadcasting environment some 38 years ago, to pursue a career path as a broadcast journalist. I started out as a junior and then senior reporter; news anchor; news editor; and then finally, as a key producer respectively, for Nigeria’s National Radio network of (FRCN) and the National Television Authority (NTA). Prior to that, I had a two year stint with Ogun Radio Abeokuta.
I reached a tipping point in my life and a place of absolute restlessness. And so, propelled by a strong urge and passion to create an innovative professional paradigm, I resigned from the NTA after fifteen years, without any tangible evidence of financial security.  Nonetheless, I was convinced without any doubts that an untapped “Greenfield” opportunity with specific reference to my area of speciality, was well within grasp. With great anticipation towards achieving a fulfilling, purpose-driven life, I started a production facilities company in 1993".

Challenges
Overcoming the challenges of a startup TV station was enormous for John on many fronts as he had to battle both the political and financial landscapes to survive. It was during one of the most challenging times ever, in Nigeria’s recent political history flickered with military dictatorships.
With limited capital, he applied for a licence in 1993. To launch a free-to-air news television station. With a resolute determination to succeed, the commitment of John's family, a loan from a local retail bank, and the eventual support of a few friends, and a committed core staff of fifteen people, Channels TV began test transmission two years later within the municipality of Ikeja, Lagos. But for a dogged spirit of faith and a committed wife, the sudden rush of early setbacks which was experienced then, should have completely broken his resolve to continue in the pursuit of what rapidly disintegrated into an unlikely dream. He hadto endure the wearisomeness of energy-sapping trials, uncertainty and, a stagnating period of financial insecurity. At the beginning, mainstream advertisers including multinationals and their representative advertising agencies, the mainstay of any free-to-air television station, were reluctant to come to the table. A dedicated news channel was not an attractive bet and for those investors that was approached, it was too high-risk a call.
Also, talking about the infrastructural challenge facing the company, especially the cost of powering generator sets. He said "we run a generator for the most part, so we are used to it. We have always done, ever since we started Channels. The national grid is our back-up power.
But this last time (national fuel scarcity) it was very scary. We were still running on our reserve of petrol and some people came to our aid. We were lucky because during the crisis, if you did not have petrol you had no choice but to halt or limit operations, like some broadcasters and banking institutions did. We have three operations running from this organization, all within the same building; terrestrial television, digital television and then Channels 24 consecutively. So if the petrol shortage lasted longer than it did, we would have been in deep crisis."

Stemming The Tide
The political terrain posed a big challenge to the establishment of Channels TV even in a democracy. In one instance a fake news about the President's ill health which may lead to his resignation was spread on an independent news wire. The information was broadcast by Channels TV, just like other reputable media houses did. This didn't go down well with the government which shut down the station and detained some members of staff. "I actually apologized to the former president in a letter, explaining the source of the story and that we meant no harm. He acknowledged my letter, wrote back saying he understood, and so we went back on air. This is one of the hazards of the profession and it also helped us ensure that we do the checks even much more than we were doing. We get a story and before we break it we cross check and double check and triple check. It was a learning curve for us."
"So, in spite of the early pitfalls and near collapses, we had to survive. And survive we did, bootstrapping our way to financial stability, cognisant of the self-instructed fact that there was no turning back until our mission is accomplished."

Impact
Nonetheless, from its humble origins and through sheer persistence, Channels TV has subsequently, during the course of the past twenty years, won Nine out of fourteen, of Nigeria’s Media Merit Award Trust’s coveted roll call of honour and distinction, as Nigeria’s most outstanding national broadcaster. The station was also crowned Best TV Station In Africa in 2014, by the African Achievers Award Trust.
The company achieved its best online performance yet, with the coverage of the just concluded Nigerian elections by breaking all records in online viewership in Nigeria. Channels TV has been recognized as 2013 Convergence Leader in News Media Broadcast (by the West African Know how Intelligence Unit). Rated the most RELIABLE and TRUSTED source of information in Nigeria by a Reuters and BBC Poll.

When asked about his accomplishments, he said "I haven't accomplished all that I think I should accomplish. It is a very interesting question. I'm not really afraid of anything but it may not be the whole truth to say that. What I may be afraid of is not to have fulfilled God's will for me. I think I need to be able to know what the Lord wants me to do; part of which is to use the instrument that he has given me along with the members of my staff, to impact on the human race, to provide information, to be able to improve their lives and to be more informed to make the right decisions to challenge their curiosity. And if I'm not able to succeed in that, then that is a continuing task; it’s a never-ending story."

Source:
https://founders.com.ng/2017/07/22/entrepreneurial-side-john-momoh

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