3 strategies for making your start-up stand out

If there's one thing that just about every industry has in common, it's fierce competition for companies - and it's especially tough for start-ups. By following three simple strategies, you can make your start-up stand out, protect yourself from competitors and get started on the road to success. You need to prioritise customer service, pick a niche and be a forward thinker.

Strategy 1: Prioritise customer service and be upfront

It's simple: if a customer has a bad experience with your product, brand or services, then he or she is going to become one of your competitors' customers. The days of expecting an unhappy customer to phone a call centre are history, and you need to meet your customers where they're at. Perhaps the ultimate example of this is Tesla, which will send a technician to your home or office if there's a problem with your car, rather than expecting you to visit a service centre. 

Being honest with your customers when something goes wrong is a refreshing change from PR strategies that centre on beating around the bush. Getting ahead and realising that there's a problem before your customers do - and giving them a reason to be less upset about the problem - is first prize. In February 2017, certain Adobe services went down due to an AWS outage. The company realised it before their customers did and took to Twitter, offering a puppy stampede video to take their customers' minds off the problem. As one person replied to the Tweet, Adobe turned those frowns upside down.

Strategy 2: Focus on a niche

In a nutshell, no company can do everything. And while marketing companies who claim to be able to perform miracles for companies in every industry are a dime a dozen, marketing companies focusing on a specific niche are not. For example, by focusing on digital marketing for clients in the African ecotourism niche, Eco Africa Digital brings together "nature" and "digital". They have provided guest lodges, nature reserves and other companies in the tourism sector with the opportunity to be seen without needing huge amounts of tech knowledge or capital. As Eco Africa Digital is known as an "eco marketing" specialist, their clients are unlikely to use the services of a generic marketing company which would lack their current supplier's industry-insider knowledge. The smaller your niche, the fewer your competitors will be. 

Over and above having fewer competitors, focusing on a niche means that you get to build brand loyalty through strong relationships, rather than having to budget large amounts for marketing and advertising. You'll be a big fish in a small pond, and clear focus will enable you to target lucrative clients and accounts.

Strategy 3: Think ahead

In the digital age, things move so quickly that businesses have only two options: think ahead or get left behind. There are plenty of examples of how thinking ahead has made millions for companies. For starters, Amazon took online shopping to the next level with same-day drone deliveries and Uber "drove" into an even more profitable future by launching Uber Eats. 

A tragic example of the failure to think ahead is Blockbuster, an American-based movie and video game rental store. In 2000, Blockbuster CEO John Antioco was approached by Reed Hastings, the founder of a start-up called Netflix. Hastings proposed that Blockbuster promote Netflix in its stores and that Netflix run Blockbuster's online presence. Hastings's idea was ridiculed - and the rest was history, with Blockbuster declaring bankruptcy in 2010 and Netflix's success currently soaring to levels that Blockbuster could only have dreamed of at its peak.

One of the most important things for a start-up to establish on the road to success is its presence - both online and physical. Allow 3Cube Property Solutions to find you the ideal commercial or industrial property in any corner of Gauteng. Contact us today and let's find your perfect premises.