It’s safe to say that the past couple of years have been more than challenging for most. We’ve had to satisfy ourselves with the most basic of things. So many plans, hopes and aspirations went up in smoke when we were well and truly grounded.
Business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs have always been at the mercy of macroeconomic factors but when COVID-19 hit, lockdowns reduced revenues of existing firms and cash flow turned negative for companies that could not cut operating costs. The pandemic more than just threatened the potential for innovation and the start-up environment. It hammered it.
Research by the world bank highlighted that in 2020 the number of newly registered companies (so-called ‘limited liability companies’ – LLCs) fell in 58% of economies but thankfully in 2022 things are looking up and there is some light on the horizon now. Finally.
So, you’ve got an idea. You may have had the idea building for the past couple of years. Now is the time to bring the concept into the real world. One thing that the past two plus years have shown is that people crave conversations. Starting a business from scratch you need to find out fast what people REALLY want and our recommendation would be to do something that whilst on the face of it is remarkably simple, few actually do. Ask people. Ask your potential clients. Engage with your existing customers too. And mobile messaging is the way to doing all this in a way which people find inherently comfortable.
Many of you will have heard of ‘bootstrapping’ which describes a situation in which an entrepreneur starts a company with little capital, relying on money other than outside investments. This covers off the majority of start-ups. Money is tight and it appears logical to use channels which on the face of it are very cheap or free. Take email.
The very first version of what would become known as email was invented in 1965 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT and now billions of us are somewhat slaves to it. Many are not though with inboxes full of unread content! If an organizations gets people opening 25% of the emails they said then they are doing exceedingly well. Really. ‘Free’ does not always mean cost effective where mobile customer engagement is concerned.
Sure SMS text messaging costs but with a read rate of c. 98% it is well worth reaching for this fantastic channel. Around almost 30 years now, five billion people have access to it. You don’t need a fancy mobile device to receive it. You don’t even need internet connectivity. It is the lowest common denominator and if you are looking to reach as many people as possible and get their eyes on your content as fast as possible then there is quite simply nothing like SMS.
Chat apps such as Whats app, Telegram and Rakuten Viber should definitely be somewhere in your mobile engagement communications mix too but especially when starting out, simplicity is key. Don’t overthink it so much you actually end up hamstrung and doing nothing. Just do it!
Use these channels for your new business whatever and wherever it might be.
Here at Intis Telecom we’ve focused on business messaging for 13 years. We have a loyal client following who recognize the value we bring to their businesses. Our SMS and chat app solutions make it genuinely easy to send for you to send your customers content rapidly and accurately, allowing you to get on with doing what you do best – treating your customers with exceptional care, speaking to them all as individuals.
