In your quest to launch a successful product in the marketplace, you need a new product launch strategy that will guide you to success. Launching a product requires meticulous planning, coordination and a start-to-finish strategy that will act as your guide as to what to do next. Sure, Murphy’s Law will come into play and things will go wrong, and that’s why having a strategy to keep you on track and focused is even more important.Here’s how you can develop your new product launch strategy to rake in paydays that you never thought possible:Step 1 – Understand Your MarketBefore even creating your product, you need to understand your market’s wants and needs. If you just create a product that you ‘feel’ is going to be a hit, chances are it won’t. You need to study what the market’s problems are, what solutions they are crying out for. You need to understand their habits, their income range, their personalities, and so on. Find out which market you are targeting and study that market so you can come up with a solution to their problem/s.Step 2 – Create Your ProductThere are three options when it comes to having a product you can launch – you can create it yourself, you can outsource it or you can source it. Another consideration is the type of product you are creating. Is it an ebook, video course, software, or a physical tool? You are more likely to create and outsource an information product and source out a physical product from a supplier. Of course, you can also create your own brand new physical product that is sold under your brand. This requires more resources such as money, contacts and expertise.Step 3 – Do A Test LaunchBefore you launch your product to the general public, it is a good idea to do a small test launch first to see if your product idea is viable. In the online space, this can mean doing a launch to only your e-list of subscribers and customers, or even just a sub-list (a section of your list). In the offline world, this often entails launching your product to only a certain geographical area before you launch it statewide, countrywide or even worldwide.Step 4 – Test, Track and TweakTest and track the results of your promotion in your test launch. Things to test include elements of your sales copy such as your headline, call-to-action, colors etc. You can also gather feedback from beta testers or customers from the test launch to improve your product further. Keep tweaking your product offer to improve it before you roll it to the general public.Step 5 – Build RelationshipsRelationships are almost everything in business. If you have relationships with the right people and companies, your company and brand can grow very fast. Before you can rollout your product, you will want to build relationships with potential joint venture partners through contact points like email, Facebook, Skype and even direct mail so they will be more receptive to promoting your product.Step 6 – Roll Out Your ProductOnce all the talking and planning is done, it is finally time to rollout your product. This can involve starting your large-scale advertising campaign and/or having your joint venture partners promote your product to their mailing lists, either online or offline, or even both. A rollout involves using a lot of leverage, either through media channels or through other marketers’ lists. You rollout your product by leveraging on the built-in readers through these channels.Developing your new product launch strategy is not something which you can afford to do in a hurry. Take your time, consider every angle, and your product launch can be a rip-roaring success.
Business Loans In Canada: Financing Solutions Via Alternative Finance & Traditional Funding
Business loans and finance for a business just may have gotten good again? The pursuit of credit and funding of cash flow solutions for your business often seems like an eternal challenge, even in the best of times, let alone any industry or economic crisis. Let’s dig in.
Since the 2008 financial crisis there’s been a lot of change in finance options from lenders for corporate loans. Canadian business owners and financial managers have excess from everything from peer-to-peer company loans, varied alternative finance solutions, as well of course as the traditional financing offered by Canadian chartered banks.
Those online business loans referenced above are popular and arose out of the merchant cash advance programs in the United States. Loans are based on a percentage of your annual sales, typically in the 15-20% range. The loans are certainly expensive but are viewed as easy to obtain by many small businesses, including retailers who sell on a cash or credit card basis.
Depending on your firm’s circumstances and your ability to truly understand the different choices available to firms searching for SME COMMERCIAL FINANCE options. Those small to medium sized companies ( the definition of ‘ small business ‘ certainly varies as to what is small – often defined as businesses with less than 500 employees! )
How then do we create our road map for external financing techniques and solutions? A simpler way to look at it is to categorize these different financing options under:
Debt / Loans
Asset Based Financing
Alternative Hybrid type solutions
Many top experts maintain that the alternative financing solutions currently available to your firm, in fact are on par with Canadian chartered bank financing when it comes to a full spectrum of funding. The alternative lender is typically a private commercial finance company with a niche in one of the various asset finance areas
If there is one significant trend that’s ‘ sticking ‘it’s Asset Based Finance. The ability of firms to obtain funding via assets such as accounts receivable, inventory and fixed assets with no major emphasis on balance sheet structure and profits and cash flow ( those three elements drive bank financing approval in no small measure ) is the key to success in ABL ( Asset Based Lending ).
Factoring, aka ‘ Receivable Finance ‘ is the other huge driver in trade finance in Canada. In some cases, it’s the only way for firms to be able to sell and finance clients in other geographies/countries.
The rise of ‘ online finance ‘ also can’t be diminished. Whether it’s accessing ‘ crowdfunding’ or sourcing working capital term loans, the technological pace continues at what seems a feverish pace. One only has to read a business daily such as the Globe & Mail or Financial Post to understand the challenge of small business accessing business capital.
Business owners/financial mgrs often find their company at a ‘ turning point ‘ in their history – that time when financing is needed or opportunities and risks can’t be taken. While putting or getting new equity in the business is often impossible, the reality is that the majority of businesses with SME commercial finance needs aren’t, shall we say, ‘ suited’ to this type of funding and capital raising. Business loan interest rates vary with non-traditional financing but offer more flexibility and ease of access to capital.
We’re also the first to remind clients that they should not forget govt solutions in business capital. Two of the best programs are the GovernmentSmall Business Loan Canada (maximum availability = $ 1,000,000.00) as well as the SR&ED program which allows business owners to recapture R&D capital costs. Sred credits can also be financed once they are filed.
Those latter two finance alternatives are often very well suited to business start up loans. We should not forget that asset finance, often called ‘ ABL ‘ by those Bay Street guys, can even be used as a loan to buy a business.
If you’re looking to get the right balance of liquidity and risk coupled with the flexibility to grow your business seek out and speak to a trusted, credible and experienced Canadian business financing advisor with a track record of business finance success who can assist you with your funding needs.