Trying to find a small business idea is one of the toughest tasks for an entrepreneur. Sometimes you have a great idea that you “KNOW” there is a demand for. However, you need to convince another store or provider to actually agree to sell or offer your service. Now you are reliant on someone else to sell your product/service. This is not in itself a bad thing but remember they don’t care as much as you do. No matter how large the incentive you offer them; they will not give it the same dedication you would. You’ve given your pitch, but they just are not sure they want to take a chance. Don’t get discouraged, try a couple more. Still not working? Perhaps you need to take a different approach. Here are a few ideas to help overcome this and instead of pushing the service, make it a pull!
Instead of a Push Strategy try a Pull Strategy
I don’t want to get too caught up in the definition, but according to wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Push%E2%80%93pull_strategy) “A push-pull-system in business describes the movement of a product or information between two subjects. On markets the consumers usually “pulls” the goods or information they demand for their needs, while the offerers or suppliers “pushes” them toward the consumers.”
To dumb it down, look at your business from the customer angle. See if you can get them to buy it/request it first, then you can go to the suppliers/retailers and get them to carry it. It’s easier to convince someone to carry your product if people are already asking for it. Conversely, if you have data to show that people are using it and you have proof it works!
Take my business idea #99 Winter/Summer Car Tire Storage. I suggested that if you can’t get a dealer/garage to offer your service, approach customers first and get them use to the service. Getting a few would then give you great data(proof) and sales figures to then go back to the dealers. Then you can see if they would now offer the service. Even better would be if they contact you after they start
seeing customers using your service. In this situation, I would also offer a lower commission rate then when you did the first time! This creates the pull from the customers and they are asking for the service from the retailer, which hopefully makes your pitch easier.
Get People to Ask for It
You might want to have a few friends go into a targeted retailer and just ask for your product/service. If enough people are asking, this might be enough to get your customer to take the next step. Be careful in how you execute this. I would not recommend having 10 friends all go in and request over 2 days, but spread it out, perhaps the odd phone call, store visit, and web inquiry. These can all help, but remember don’t rush this. Take the time to space out the requests so it doesn’t look fishy or staged.
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