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How to Engage your Customers like a Successful Artist

Posted on March 18, 2019 Written by Administrator

We’ve all heard the marketing buzz – it’s all about engagement, with high profile influencers maximising the use of social media. Today the most successful bands are the ones that know how to engage their fans. Of course, fans bring recognition but importantly, they help create financial success as well.

Digital channels give access to fans and to musicians alike which means the relationship between them is direct and measurable.

Here are some key lessons businesses can learn from the music industry and musicians in particular about how to engage and create a loyal fan-base.

Get the conversation started

Whether you’re a new band, a startup, or a more established business you need to remember that consumer expectations across the board have changed dramatically. So much of our lives are online, using numerous platforms, which means it’s becoming harder to hold people’s attention. Relationships with publishers and media have also evolved with traditional media losing its clout, and you need to think differently about how to get your message out and keep your audience interested.

The power is being handed back to fans and consumers, who are driving the conversations on social media and user generated content platforms such as TripAdvisor. This means more work is required to create and nurture audience relationships, but it also provides new opportunities for conversations with fans, finding out what they want and keeping them updated and informed about what’s in the pipeline.

Steps to take

Authenticity rules

Marketing is becoming increasingly story-led. Artists, brands and businesses need to show a more complete and authentic picture of who they there and what they stand for.

But it’s not just about your story – you need to be able to talk to your audience in a way that shows you want to listen to theirs too. Authentic people are those who ask questions and open up conversations. As in daily life, these conversations will be multi-genre, they may be political, they won’t always relate directly to what you do or make, but they will show your values and identity. Avoid sitting on the fence.

A good example… when your fans are getting fed-up with ticket prices, availability and secondary sales do something about it.  Ed Sheeran did.  He went out of his way to ensure tickets to his shows were only available through reputable ticket exchanges.

Create your niche community

User generated content platforms are driving conversations between fans and artists/businesses. We’ve all seen how powerful fan communities can be on social media platforms such as Twitter, so it is important to focus on creating your own niche community around your identity.

Subba-Cultcha.com is one example of a music community that is following the model of the likes of TripAdvisor. Fans can not only upload their reviews and read others but have a place where they can buy tickets for experiences they love, all reviewed by like-minded peers whose opinions they know they can trust.

Any space that can offer a sense of exclusivity, and give audiences control over what they see and what is sold to them will keep people engaged.

Make use of the data

There are so many ways you can use technology to understand your audience’s online behaviours – and you don’t need to employ any shady or privacy invading tactics to do so. Remember, anything you or they publish digitally is a tool to discover what your target audience responds to, enabling you to anticipate future patterns trends in more granular detail.

Some tools that will help you measure and monitor audience behaviour include Google Analytics, and Amplitude, a platform that allows you to track user response trends in real time.

What is important is to understand what is driving those numbers – it will be worth the investment of time.

Give generously

Incentivise your following and give them rewards for their presence, for example, competitions, exclusive first samples/listens to new products and music, follower discounts on merchandise, etc.

Radiohead let their fans decide what to pay for their album ‘In Rainbows’ with their ‘pay what you want’ scheme – showing fans that they cared about them, and their relationship with them wasn’t just about the money.

Work out what is most appropriate for your business and the stage that you are at – for example if you want to increase your email database, give them an incentive to sign up, if you want to encourage more word of mouth brand ambassadors, use merchandise.

But show restraint

Don’t give everything you’ve got in the hope that people will return the favour! It must be employed with restraint, and there needs to be some benefit to you. Free content and services are powerful means of showcasing what you are about and giving people the feeling of being a valuable part of the club.

For musicians it can be a difficult balancing act – open access can help you get a viral hit and a loyal following, but you have to be paid for what you produce. Whether you’re a musician or a business – remember, it’s also much harder to roll back and begin restricting access to your content when you started by giving things away for free. 

There are a few big success stories of artist’s having been discovered through giving away content; Carly Ray Jepsen, Shawn Mendes and even Mr. Bieber himself, but there are many more not so successful stories whereby providing free music via streaming platforms didn’t provide the big break the artist was hoping for. 

In some cases it can even lead to a backlash. For example, U2 gave away their album ‘Songs of Innocence’ free on the iPhone 6 – and it caused a massive backlash and didn’t generate the additional sales they had hoped for.

It’s the same with business, giving your product away for free doesn’t mean it will reach the masses, it just devalues the product.  Ever heard the brand slogan “reassuringly expensive”?

Take time to respond

It may not be possible to respond to every comment on your page, but you should be paying attention to them all. Take the time to respond to as many as you can; the positive, the negative, the suggestions and constructive criticism. If you are updating your site or products on offer, share an update and explain how audience feedback and comments helped to drive your decision. And if your community is not yet forthcoming with opinions and ideas, show you want to hear from them by conducting polls and asking questions – this can be easily done on social media channels, blog posts and via email campaigns. 

Trailers and sneak previews are a great way of giving your nearest and dearest fans a taste of what’s to come, whetting their appetite so-to-speak.  Childish Gambino is a great example of an artist who relishes fan engagement by providing sneak-peaks to new, sometimes even unfinished videos.  He continually reacts to the zeitgeist and comes up with ways to whet his fans appetite and keep them engaged.

And remember, if you leave them wanting more, make sure you’re responsive enough to follow up! 

Speak directly

Reaching people in private inboxes helps to add to the sense of community and involvement with something bigger. In an instant message age, communications direct to a personal inbox have more resonance. People don’t want intrusion or anything with a whiff of ‘salesy-speak’, so don’t bombard them every other day with your latest offers. Do keep in regular touch with well thought-out messages telling them something you know they will be interested in.

Where applicable this can also be employed with direct mail – used thoughtfully and with a specific purpose, it can be an effective tool for grabbing attention away from the digital noise. Communication shouldn’t come through just one channel; the conversation needs to continue offline, online, in store, at live events, and through product and service development.

Nowadays you want to attract actively engaged customers. Keep working on engaging and keeping them engaged and their enthusiasm will be a positive force for your business.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mark Jennings has worked in digital publishing and advertising his whole career. He previously worked in the US and UK for the Financial Times, he most recently launched the digital portfolio for Last Word Media. Mark Jennings set up Subba Media with the aim of disrupting the publishing market. Subba-cultcha.com is a fan generated music and festival reviews platform. Built from a strong loyal community, the content is produced by music fans and  festival goers, enabling artists and brand sponsors to reach a new, more engaged audience.

Web: http://www.subba-cultcha.com/

Twitter: @subbacultchacom

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/byfansforfans/

Filed Under: Business Advice

How to be a cruelty-free business

Posted on February 26, 2019 Written by Administrator

Cruelty-free is having its moment. From veganism to animal welfare and non-animal testing, more and more people are demanding transparency from businesses in terms of their practices.

Even so called ‘ethical’ businesses, such as ourselves, are having to dig deeper into everything from supply chain to personal morals and motivations to stand up to the rigorous challenge that being truly cruelty-free brings.

So where do we start if we want our business to be cruelty-free? The answer, as with most things, is of course with ourselves.

I had my ‘aha’ moment when I was a teenager. I was already a vegetarian and I had never really eaten much dairy anyway.  But during a chance encounter with the Krishna movement I was introduced to the idea of compassionate eating for the first time and it made complete sense to me.

As soon as I thought about what I was doing by eating meat and equally by eating any by-products from the meat industry, it just hit me like a ton of bricks. It was like I had just woken up from some murky fog and all of a sudden, I could see clearly how I wanted to live my life and how I should live my life.

After that it was just inconceivable to me that I would ever eat meat or cheese, milk or eggs ever again. Not eating animals is a big part of cruelty free for me, and I personally believe you cannot claim to be cruelty free if you consume or sell meat products.

I do believe these kinds of ‘aha’ moments have the power to change the path of your life in a very transformative way, so it helps to educate yourself about what is really going on in the world.

Farming practices, how we treat animals, and how we treat each other are all an integral part of our daily lives. Take the time to read about what actually goes on. If you have to push yourself out of your comfort zone to do that then so be it.

Just because something is out of sight it doesn’t mean it is not happening and if the information is not in front of you, seek it out.  Find out what really happens to animals when they are slaughtered. It may well make you cry.

From my ‘aha’ moment on, everything I have done has been driven by what yoga calls Ahimsa – non-harming. This is what I believe is the basis for a cruelty-free world – and therefore a cruelty-free business.

It’s obvious that not killing and eating animals is a big part of Ahimsa, but what about its wider meaning?  Ahimsa is about refraining from harmful actions, but it is also about refraining from harmful thoughts too.

So, Ahimsa really means complete absence of violence and harm in thought, word and deed. This, in my opinion, is what cruelty-free really means. And it is this ethos that needs to be applied throughout the business – from your suppliers, to your staff, from your products to your marketing. Focus on a complete absence of violence and harm.

Over the years I have had to learn how to apply Ahimsa to business. I can’t live my life one way and turn a blind eye when it comes to commerce.

On the surface it might seem easy enough to just focus on your suppliers and the supply chain. But I have learned to look deeper.  Everything, absolutely everything, needs to stand up to scrutiny.

Not stocking products that are tested on animals and having that as a company policy is important. Dealing with fair trade companies who look after their staff, choosing ingredients and materials that don’t damage the environment, paying a fair price and treating suppliers fairly – are all part of being cruelty free.

We, of course, also eliminate ALL animal products from our stock and supply chain. But you have to take that outside your own business too. We only work with ethical suppliers who have done their own due diligence on their suppliers. We are rigid in our checking because it really matters. If you want to be cruelty-free – you also need to ask the same of your suppliers.

Beyond that, and perhaps even more importantly, being cruelty-free really starts with positive actions and interactions. And that comes from you.  Look to yourself to be kind and be compassionate with everyone and that includes staff, suppliers, contractors – anyone and everyone really with whom you have professional dealings.

Although this may seem like a big undertaking, it is worth it – and customers (and suppliers) will appreciate it and recognise it.  Cruelty free businesses will be more and more important in the future – customers will demand it, and the transparency to be sure you are doing what you claim. Start now. Build the ethos, bit by bit, into your business. Tell people what you are doing and be willing to accept that you may not get it perfectly right every time – but a desire to change, and genuinely sticking with your ethics will help you attract a strong, committed team and loyal customers.

I do believe that if we want to live in a cruelty free world it starts with compassion to self and compassion to others – whoever they are.

If all our thoughts and actions were grounded in love, the world truly would be a cruelty free place.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Louise Palmer-Masterton is founder of multiple award-winning restaurant Stem + Glory; a hip and trendy but accessible plant-based restaurant, serving delicious gourmet vegan food from locally sourced ingredient that are 100 per cent made on site. Stem + Glory offers all day casual fine dining, fast breakfast, brunch and lunch, juices, smoothies and great coffee. All available to eat in or take away. Stem + Glory also offers mouth-watering and hugely popular tasting menu evenings and special event menus. The restaurants have an extensive vegan bar, offering the best craft beers and fine wines, alongside cocktails, mocktails and smart drinks. www.stemandglory.uk 

Social Media:

Twitter: @stemandglory
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stemandglory/
Instagram: @stemandglory

Linked in: /louisepalmer-masterton

Filed Under: Business Advice Tagged With: plant based, Stem and Glory, Vegan bar, Veganism

Why the nightclub industry must embrace technology to remain competitive

Posted on December 13, 2018 Written by Administrator

Nightclubs have a long and rich history ‒ with the first credited as being Webster Hall in New York, built in 1886. Originally they were social halls for music, dancing and political activism. It was only when Disco arrived in the ‘70s, however, that nightclubs took on their more familiar form.

From the 1980’s, nightclubs – currently valued at $25bn globally –formed the backbone of the nightlife sector. Yet, since the 2008 economic crash, nightclub attendance has been falling in the UK and other Western nations.

Negative press, tighter noise restrictions, and changing social attitudes have all contributed to falling attendance rates and the closure of famous institutions such as London’s Turnmills and Fabric. Nightclubs have also lost their competitive edge in England and Wales with the introduction of 24-hour alcohol licensing.

Is it the end or will these changes force nightclubs to evolve into a new golden age?

Personally, I believe the latter.

In the UK, a grassroots movement #savenightlife has gathered support from record labels, agencies, promoters, and revellers to try to reverse the decline.

Meanwhile, new and innovative, technology-driven ideas are evolving the concepts of nightlife and nightclubs themselves.

In this article, I aim to assess the nightclub business model, the technological solutions that have made – and are making – their way into the industry, and how they could bring clubs into a new golden age.

The nightclub business model

To explain the mechanisms that make money flow into nightclubs, let’s identify the main actors and their role in the business ecosystem.

The top three components are:

  1. Nightclubs – the places customers pay to experience
  2. Promoters – effectively the nightclubs’ salespeople
  3. Clubbers – the customers who pay to live the nightclub experience

I believe that promoters – particularly in the luxury nightlife sector – could be the key to the industry’s future.

Promoters make money by earning a percentage of the total spending of their own customers in the club – the European and US average is 20%.

Customers are either engaged by club promoters or contacted by them to access the club and/or book tables. They’re then greeted and escorted through the night by promoters – ultimately the only figures customers have a meaningful business relationship with.

This relationship allows nightclubs to function as a place where the experience happens – music is played, dance moves are unleashed, and drinks are sold. Nightclubs are the stomping grounds of promoters – the true central business figures in the industry.

However, for this ecosystem to thrive, clubs need to attract a new, tech-savvy generation of clubbers, promoters need new tools to find and engage customers, and clubbers need new platforms and incentives to facilitate their experiences.

Technology and Nightlife

While new technology has been disrupting one established industry after another, the nightlife sector has lagged behind.

Promoters, nightclubs, and their brand managers have made some attempts at embracing technology, largely in the form of social media. Yet, the industry’s decline proves that advertising and brand awareness alone is not enough to increase attendance and save much loved clubs.

Just as street flyering has lost much of its impact, so have Facebook promos.

This technological gap sees the industry fail to attract younger generations – especially millennials – who are accustomed to using their devices to discover products and experiences. Many young, innovative companies, however, have caught onto this.

Nitechain, a Blockchain-powered nightlife marketplace will soon use Nitecoin – its own cryptocurrency – to incentivise its clubbers to stay active and engaged within the nightlife ecosystem. Nitecoin will reward its users for attending clubs, recommending venues, and bringing along friends.

The platform is bolstered by its partnership with Nightset, an award-winning nightlife app which allows its users to find and access events and club nights.

Solutions like this are key. Otherwise, those outside the circles of well-connected clubbers and their promoters – or those travelling to a new city where they don’t have connections – find it incredibly difficult to access amazing nightlife experiences.

Even more difficult to find – and afford – is a table, particularly for groups of fewer than 10 people. This is despite VIP Table bookings making up a massive 60% of club revenues.

While tables offer clubbers the most exclusive experience possible; line skipping, security, bottle service, etc., the enforced minimum spending has caused costs to skyrocket. The minimum cost per table is £1,500 in London and $3,000 in Miami!

Meanwhile, promoters struggle to expand their customer portfolio and increase table sales. Without a technological solution, it’s tough for promoters and clubbers to find one another, and for clubbers to connect with others, book tables together and split the costs.

Figaroo (sometimes dubbed “the Uber/Airbnb for promoters”) focuses on club promoters – the true connectors of the industry. Despite having the most influence on demand, trends, and clientele, promoter technology is still a relatively young, unorganised, and fragmented sector.

Figaroo links them with invite-only customers, giving them greater visibility and allowing them to fill tables. It also connects clubbers with one another – another important method to boost attendance and reverse the nightclub decline.

The stagnation of today’s nightlife industry is also owed to the swathes of homogeneous nightclubs – barely differentiable by their music, format, and overall experience. Many venues are using technology to set themselves apart from the competition and gain the edge over late-licence bars.

Experiential technology from the likes of Zuzor is used to create interactive displays, many of which are used to bring club walls to life. This may see fixtures imitating the motions of a dancing clubber, “cartooning” them, and turning them into the conductor of a psychedelic lightshow.

Interactive bars and tabletops such as Touch Magix, TableFX, and spinTouch, work on a similar concept. Filled with vibrant coloured lights, these futuristic surfaces respond to your touch. So, clubbers can expect to see butterflies land on their hands, create water ripples, and launch shooting stars launch as they sip their cocktails.

With a combination of these innovative ideas, and the many more yet to emerge, technology offers new hope to nightclubs and the wider nightlife industry. Over the next decade, the way clubs and promoters locate and attract clubbers will look completely different.

And club nights themselves? With all this exciting new technology, they may end up looking more like Blade Runner than Saturday Night Fever. Hopefully, we can reverse the current trend, breathing new life into the clubbing scene, so that complete strangers can become firm friends dancing late into the night!

About the Author

Marco Scotti, is an experienced entrepreneur and founder of Figaroo – a platform that connects clubbers with promoters and invite-only clubbers, allowing access to the VIP experience usually enjoyed only by high-net-worth individuals who make up 68% of all nightclub spending in a $25bn industry.

Figaroo is crowdfunding now on Crowdcube, the UK’s largest crowdfunding platform, until Dec. 22.

https://figaroo.club/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/figaroo-life/

www.crowdcube.com/figaroo

Filed Under: Business Advice Tagged With: Figaroo, Nightclub industry, Nitechain, Nitecoin

How freelancers can avoid late payments – help is available

Posted on December 12, 2018 Written by Administrator

Freelancers contributed £271 billion to the UK economy in 2017 so they play a vital role. Over the last 12 months almost three million people (around 10% of all people in work) have been engaged as a freelancer or under self-employed status.

Freelancing has many benefits. You get to work for yourself, choose the projects which excite you, and in many cases earn more than an employee on PAYE.

Having said this, one major challenge freelancers face is a constant battle to get paid. Recent research shows that only 19% of freelancers are paid on time, with related invoices being paid on average 18 days after their due date. This means time is taken up chasing payments – time which could be better used generating more work.

Freelancing does create additional administration for the individual e.g. raise invoices and managing their own cash flow. This in itself can be quite stressful, creating uncertainty about payments plus anxiety for some about having to manage and maintain their own admin and cash flow. This is an increasing problem, with recent data showing that 52% of SME owners blame poor cash flow for negatively impacting their mental health.

However, these issues can be solved by recent advances in cloud technology, which allow freelancers to automate their invoicing, conduct frequent credit checks on clients, and set up reminders for overdue invoices, and help manage issues such as cashflow.

Insights from checking customer credit status

Checking and monitoring the credit scores of customers can be an effective way for freelancers to have up to date information on their clients’ ability to pay their bills. A credit score is a numerical indicator of a consumer or business’s ability to service debt based on a number of different factors. These include records of servicing credit, County Court Judgements (CCJs) and a history of applications for credit.

This has created an opportunity for freelancers and SMEs to become savvier about how credit scores work, and has resulted in established credit scoring companies offering the service to a wider customer base. These companies allow freelancers and SMEs to check on the financial health of their customers, and subsequently provide them with the insights and indications into how long both new and existing clients will take to pay them. This technology also helps them to identify any adverse changes to their credit activity.

Automated invoicing reducing admin hassle

Processing invoices is cited by freelancers as being one of their top five administrative burdens. 29% of those surveyed by The Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed (IPSE) listed is as being a task which could otherwise be spent on winning or completing new work.

Whilst many freelancers still generate invoices with their own basic Excel or Word templates, there are now a plethora of cloud invoicing tools on the market which can save time around both processing invoices, as well as chasing for associated payments.

Cloud invoicing, either used as a feature within cloud accounting software or as a stand-alone tool, allows freelancers to create invoices on the fly from smart devices, include direct payment options, monitor open rates and set up automatic chasers.

Additionally, the fully customisable features of cloud invoicing allow creative freelancers to imprint their own unique identity on their paperwork.

These services can help freelancers reduce the time they spend on chasing late invoices and also help them better manage their cash flow due to collecting payment faster.

Additional productivity gains

Whilst there are a number of options on the market for cloud invoicing and credit score data, utilising one solution to take care of both of these needs can create further productivity benefits through saved time. Using an all-encompassing product aggregates insights from both invoice and credit score data, which provides enhanced insights into the likelihood of customer behaviour and their ability to make payments. This information can then be used to collect payments faster through a combination of both human intervention, as well as automated reminder.

Late payment is a significant issue for freelancers. Most will spend 20 days or so every year chasing invoices. The stress of this can be associated with damage to their mental health. Because of this anything that can be done to reduce the time spent, and speed up how quickly payments are received must be a positive move.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Inna Kaushan is co-founder of Solna, a smart invoicing platform powered by credit score data. Solna speeds up the invoicing and payment process for freelancers and small businesses. Through leveraged credit data that is overlaid on the platform’s invoicing and reporting functionality, users get a clear picture of their customer’s financial health and their overall exposure to risk. The system’s automated credit control functionality automatically chases overdue invoices – freeing up time and ensuring faster payment.

Web: https://solna.io/

Twitter: @solna_io

Facebook:@Solna.io

LinkedIn: Solna

Citations

https://www.ipse.co.uk/our/news-listing/massive-rise-in-number-of-self-employed-mothers.html

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/trendsinselfemploymentintheuk/2018-02-07

https://startups.co.uk/half-of-uk-freelancers-consider-quitting-due-to-late-payment-struggles/

https://www.credit-connect.co.uk/industry-opinion/how-your-clients-can-fight-back-against-late-payments/

https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-clearscore-m-a-experian/credit-data-firm-experian-to-buy-fintech-clearscore-for-275-million-pounds-idUKKCN1GR17M

 

Filed Under: Business Advice Tagged With: late payments

If you use hotel WiFi how can you protect your data?

Posted on December 3, 2018 Written by Administrator

If you’re staying in a hotel on business it is tempting to use the hotel WiFi but as we know this can be risky.

The hotel industry is one of the top sectors to suffer data breaches. Hotels are a target for cyber criminals who are very aware how much of your personal data, including credit card and passport information hotels may hold.

When you connect to the hotel WiFi network and are required to enter personal details. Where does this data get collected? Most Guest WiFi access has a software that sits behind the access points and stores all this information. The repercussions, if a cybercriminal gains access to the backend, can be potentially catastrophic.

Here are some steps you can take to protect your data when using public WiFi spots including those in hotels.

Tethering

Public WiFi networks are rarely secure and often used by hackers to gather data they shouldn’t. We recommend, wherever possible, to connect to the internet via your mobile phone. Use your data allowance, and the security built into your phone, instead of a public network. Mobile data is becoming cheaper and cheaper:

  • Vodafone has a 20Gb data SIM only contract for £20 per month
  • O2 are selling 32Gb of data for £26 per month

The only issue comes when you cannot get a decent signal, most likely due to the structure of the building.

Use a VPN connection

If you cannot get a secure internet connection, a Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection is the next best thing. This allows you to connect to your company network by creating a secure “tunnel” between your laptop and your network. This stops others from accessing your data.

To create a VPN, talk to your IT department. They are likely to have their preferred software application for this, or if you want to use the Windows VPN tool, you will need to know the names and IP addresses of the server(s) you wish to connect to.

RFID Shield Wallets

Public places, such as hotels, are great hunting grounds for thieves looking for card data. They can easily steal your card information by skimming. With near-field communication (NFC) technology, they don’t even have to get hold of the card anymore; simply get close to it. Passive Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) protection comes in the form of a shield (credit card sized) that slides into your wallet next to your cards or there are now wallets with this tech built into the material. More active solutions, using other radio frequencies, will actively block the signal used by the skimmers.

Say No

When you do log into a public WiFi, it will sometimes ask you if you wish to be discovered, or visible, to others on the network. Always say No. While you’re at it, turn off file and print sharing so that nobody can send or receive files from you across the WiFi.

Never abandon your devices

You’re in a hotel lounge or breakfast room and you need the bathroom. Your devices will be safe for a couple of minutes….Won’t they? Do you really want to take the risk? Take them with you. It is inconvenient, but it’s far less inconvenient that explaining to your boss that there’s been a data breach and they have to report it to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) with 72 hours.

GDPR and data security have only made it more important to protect your data. However, the biggest issue is not the fines or the paperwork; it’s the loss of your company’s intellectual property and the loss of trust from your clients that will hurt the most. None of these steps are difficult and a little planning is worth it to keep your data safe, wherever you are.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mike Ianiri is Director of independent telecoms brokerage Equinox. Mike works with companies, charities and other organisations to help them choose the right telecoms packages for their needs and thereby reduce their costs. He is particularly knowledgeable on the integration of IT and telecoms in business.  www.equinoxcomms.co.uk

Twitter: @CommsEquinox

Filed Under: Business Advice Tagged With: Data breaches, Hotel wifi

How to handle the challenges and bring a scientific product to market

Posted on November 26, 2018 Written by Administrator

Kelvin Summoogum, Founder of miiCare – an AI-based assistive tech solution that uses tiny wireless sensors and wearable devices to allow older people to live safely at home – explores the hurdles of turning an idea into a market-ready product.

The process from an idea to a product which is out in the market has its challenges. Luckily, we can learn important lessons from other life-changing products, making the process smoother and easier.

It is important to remember that the idea is just the start of the story. The question: is are you ready to take the actions and do the hard work required to turn an idea into reality?

So many ideas are lost, or are eventually brought to life by others. How can you ensure that you bring your scientific product to market?

Test your idea out

You might think your idea is a breakthrough one, but does it have a place in the market? Are there any similar solutions out there? Is it actually possible to create? And, crucially, is it truly something that people want or need?

To answer these questions, you need to do some thorough research to understand what your market wants and test your idea as a concept before considering taking it further. You don’t want to spend time and money building a gadget that no one will actually use, after all.

I was fortunate in that my idea stemmed from an industry I was already deeply involved in. My role in helping healthcare providers to implement technological solutions meant that I had a good knowledge of which solutions already existed, which worked effectively, and which fell short.

I had also been speaking to and learning the needs of older people on a daily basis. I began to understand that they wanted assistance to help them look after their own health, but without having to leave their own homes – where they felt safe and comfortable – and move into a care home.

It then became clear that there was a gap between what older people needed and the solutions the industry was actually producing. That’s what triggered the idea for miiCare and I was already confident it had a clear space in the market.

If you’re not fortunate enough to be able to speak to your target market on a daily basis, finding ways to meet them, discuss their needs and challenges, and float your idea to them is essential to understanding your market viability.

Funding and development 

If you have reason to believe that you have a viable and original solution to a problem, then it’s time to make it a reality.

 

Sometimes entrepreneurs have an idea that requires a lot of technical expertise to produce. You’ll either have this know-how yourself, need to learn it (which may take years), or assemble a strong and reliable technical team to help you bring it to life.

As health tech was already a passionate interest of mine, I started to dabble with the miiCare concept in my spare time, and the system eventually began to take shape. But for the idea to really take off, I realised it had to become a business, rather than a hobby, which forced me to set some priorities.

When starting from the ground up, you realise that you need to invest a lot of your own money and be very creative in how you use your money. Every investment you make has to be stretched, so you’ll need to learn how to tap into existing resources in many creative ways.

In my case, I enrolled onto a PhD, which granted me an office, a laptop, access to information, resources and even PhD students who were dying to get involved in a real project. This environment also meant that I was able to bounce ideas off like-minded people and find some future team members and other allies. It’s unlikely you can pull it all off yourself, so collaboration is key.

It’s always worth investing some time to build a strong and reliable team. It really helps to have others to share the workload, but also for support and encouragement when things are not going according to plan, and to share in your successes when the hard work pays off.

If you’re bringing a brand new concept to life, you’ll be starting from scratch. If you’re expanding on an existing idea, though, you’ll have more than just a blank page to work from and will be able to find solutions that can be improved upon.

It’s also worth keeping an eye on existing components that could save you a lot of time. While I once considered designing miiCare’s sensors from scratch, I realised that mass-produced sensors which perform the same function were already available and were far cheaper to use in the long run.

Such decisions can minimise your R&D cycle, reducing the time and money it takes you to get your product to market. If you can obtain components that are good quality and have all the relevant certifications, you should take advantage.

Production and marketing costs can also add up. If you’ve spent much of your resources on R&D, this can become a real stumbling block later on. Fortunately, there are more funding sources than ever, especially if you have a proven concept and have completed your R&D.

To fund the production of miiCUBE, for example, we’re running an equity crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube, attracting over £300k from a variety of investors.

So, crowdfunding can be a way to gain funds from a fleet of investors who will be able to strengthen your business case, support your launch efforts, and prove that there’s a market interest.

Test with end-users

When building your idea, it’s also crucial to keep your end users in mind. Remember to regularly ask yourself, and ideally check with your potential customers, whether they will actually be able to use it.

We work with older people who are naturally technophobic and quick to lose trust when technology isn’t straight-forward and working as it should.

We also encountered software problems almost every day. While our code is written to allow the AI to react to various use cases, testing the product with the elderly introduced new incidents and behaviours that the AI tech couldn’t yet predict, meaning that the model would fail if we didn’t fix them.

This is why we’ve spent years making sure that our AI works in every scenario imaginable, and is able to detect the many different characteristics displayed by our users.

As a techie, I like to focus on features, but all of my snazzy capabilities would have been useless if an elderly person was unable to operate it. By asking that question, it shifted my focus from ‘can an elderly person adapt to the miiCUBE’ to ‘can miiCUBE adapt to the elderly’?

That simple change of phrase changed everything about the development.

Ultimately, you should constantly remind yourself of your purpose, maintain a strong level of discipline, and set key milestones. It’s also important to keep in touch with the outside world and engage with end users throughout the process.

Finally…getting ready to launch

There comes a time when you have to get the project out there just to get money in. You’ll also find development beginning to plateau; there are a limited number of changes you can make before the design process drags on and the product becomes obsolete.

You need to set some very strict disciplines and establish what your MVP needs to achieve and stop when you hit that stage. You’ll then be ready to push the project to the market and with the income generated, roll out updates. At miiCare, we make sure to involve our users, investors and other non-techie individuals in that process – they things differently and it is wise to follow their advice.

When you eventually come to filing a patent application, it’s important to be very careful who you ask for help. Ensure that they sign an NDA, in case they’re working with a potential competitor or have the potential to leak ideas – accidentally or otherwise.

I hope you find the practical example from my own experience useful. Enjoy the journey as you take your product forward.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kelvin Summoogum, Founder and CEO of miiCare, a tech start-up which uses an innovative AI-based solution to give elderly people the choice to live independently in their own homes.

It mimics some of the human basic senses to create situational awareness and understand the health of a person, meaning that panic buttons or pendants are no longer required.

Summoogum lost his grandmother from a hip fracture, following a fall at home. Help was only provided the next morning after hours spent in pain and agony.

Often dubbed ‘the Amazon Echo for the elderly’, miiCare uses miiCUBE, an AI-powered assistive technology solution, which links with an ecosystem of sensors, wearable devices and telehealth equipment.

As well as monitoring movement and the use of appliances, miiCare records the vitals of users – allowing for the early depiction of illnesses – acts as a voice-activated home security and entertainment system and is even linked to a call centre of health professionals.

Web: https://miicare.co.uk/invest

Crowdfunding: https://www.crowdcube.com/companies/miicare/pitches/qay88q

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/miiCAREuk/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/miiCAREuk

 

Filed Under: Business Advice

Make sure your business is prepared to weather rough times?

Posted on October 3, 2018 Written by Administrator

I was about to close my digital agency two years ago – I’d tried everything to save it, but it simply wasn’t working. I’d had to let six staff go!

But we signed a key client right at the last minute and the company was saved. From there, I have built the company up from two staff and no income to 20 staff and an almost seven figure turnover.

So, what did I learn along the way and what advice can I offer?

  1. Cash is King. All industries go through waves, often unexpectedly, and you need to be able to brace against them as best as possible. This often simply means supporting drops in revenue with a cache of finance for rainy days. Aim for at least three months break-even in the bank for comfort.

TIP: Don’t spend all your profit – keep some back to help you ride and survive the rough times. Softening the impact of risks allows you to take more of them.

  1. Keep up-to-date. Whilst the UK’s decision to Brexit had a huge impact on us, it was going to be a 50:50 decision either way, which meant we should have been better prepared.

TIP: Don’t be ignorant to wider scale events that might have a future impact, such as a change in governments, price of raw materials etc.

  1. Data not guesswork. Track as much as you can about the operational side of your business. You ideally need to create a data dashboard and update it at least monthly, so you can compare to previous months or years, looking for any trends which might raise a flag.

TIP: By understanding the numbers in your own business you can spot problem early, and develop solutions by using hard data – not guesswork.

  1. Don’t stop marketing. We had become too comfortable with the quality of our inbound leads. We had previously (Google) ranked really well, and complacency set in as a result.       We didn’t monitor the rankings as closely as we needed to, and so we simply slipped off the face of the web without realising.

TIP: It’s important to keep marketing, even when times are bad – you can’t build a business if no one is finding it and the leads aren’t coming in. Visibility is key.

  1. Track your competitors. Our early impact in the space made us naively confident in our market share and we hadn’t realised how many competitors, like us, had grown to the same degree. No longer did we have first pick of the inbound leads; we had to work harder to reap the rewards.

TIP: Always keep an eye on the competition and ensure you are staying ahead of them, not slipping behind. Don’t neglect your peripheral vision.

  1. Secret Shop your competitors. It is SO important to know what the competition is doing, from their inbound process, to their offering and the quality of the documentation in between.

TIP: Create a dummy project and subtly go through the ropes of testing them out. Find out what they do well (integrate it into your process) and discover where they are weak (ensure you don’t do the same). Learn from mistakes without even making them yourself.

  1. Understand market pricing. An important aspect of your competitor analysis is to understand both their pricing and how customers will perceive yours. They may want to know your day rate to compare costs, so make sure you align with your market, even if you expect your quote to be much larger than your neighbour’s.

TIP: Get clear on your own pricing and that of your competitors.

  1. Focus on a niche. Before our turn around we had an ambiguous company, offering both eCommerce and mobile apps, with no crossover customers. This didn’t work, so we divided the business to individually focus our marketing on clear customer propositions.

TIP: Find your niche and stick to it. Make sure all your marketing communicates your expertise in that niche, and don’t be tempted to try to be everything to everyone. A Jack of all trades is a master of none.

  1. Culture. As a creative agency, we are stereotyped with a certain culture and we embrace it. Flexible working; monthly company catch ups (in the pub); bi-weekly retrospectives; internal Slack comms. All of this adds to the reasons why our staff are so committed to supporting each other to deliver great projects for our customers.

TIP: Develop a company culture that suits your business and your team. Work is not just about productivity – it’s also about enjoying what you do and giving you a reason to get up in the morning.

  1. Team of trust. Take your time to employ; we did and it has really helped us flourish, but equally learnt from similar poor judgements. Surround yourself with trustworthy staff and give them as much autonomy as possible.

TIP: Build a great team around you by waiting to employ the right people – taking on the wrong people can be time consuming and costly, whereas the right team will help ensure the business thrives.

Businesses start and fail (often as fast), and it’s very important to look for signs that things aren’t as they should be. Unfortunately, we were too busy being busy to have one eye open on the market and the local economy. Don’t be as naive as I was; having confidence in your product and service can only protect you against so many things, some you simply have no control over, so be prepared!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Anthony Main is Managing Director of The Distance, an app development company. Anthony has been developing apps since the first iPhone, and with his UK based team of digital natives, The Distance delivers intuitive mobile solutions for clients on both iOS and Android. From disruptive start-ups to global enterprises, including NHS, Bentley Motors, Virgin Trains, PGA Golf, Slimming World, and Astra Zeneca, The Distance supports solutions developed to meet all app based-challenges.

Web: https://thedistance.co.uk

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedistancehq

Twitter: https://twitter.com/thedistancehq

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-distance/

 

Filed Under: Business Advice

How to start an award winning brand in a crowded market

Posted on August 29, 2018 Written by Administrator

The birth of a business idea

The idea for my business was borne out of my personal experience and started two years ago. When out with friends we often end up in a coffee shop. However, I didn’t always want to have coffee or a bland soft drink. This led me initially to consider the idea of developing a new range of healthy juices and I also had an idea in the back of my mind about a tea product.

Market research shows an increased interest in healthy food and drink and that alcohol consumption is decreasing particularly among younger people. This suggested there was potential for me to market drinks based on juice or tea. More detailed research gave me an indication of the exact type of products that might take-off.

A quest for knowledge

I set about learning as much as I could about tea. I particularly wanted to understand the flavour profiles of different teas and the art of blending tea with other beverages. I had no idea just how fascinating it would turn out to be!

I realised early on that it is not just wine that is a complex drink with extraordinary flavours – tea is just as complex.   Everything from where tea grows, the weather, how the leaves are handled after they are picked, affect the flavour of the tea you sip.

I was so enthralled that I got my tea sommelier accreditation and decided that I had to start a tea business.

The marketing challenge

The market for tea is a crowded one. Given this I had to think carefully about how my tea was going to stand out.

I focussed on the passion for flavour I’d discovered. My teas would have to taste so good that other people who look for flavour would love them – whether they consider themselves tea drinkers or not.

Roqberry was born from this passion for flavour with the ethos ‘blend the rules’. The rules of tea include: the way to treat and blend it properly, the steps for brewing to get the best results, and the importance of quality ingredients. Roqberry blends this with the ‘rules’ of flavour, taking inspiration from the amazing flavours of cuisine from around the world.

We’ve had to be bold. You may be surprised by our ‘Sushi & Spice’ tea. Tea with seaweed and wasabi has a fabulous taste! I’m very proud that this tea went won a 2 Star Great Taste Award.

The importance of branding

Part of standing out from the crowd in a traditional market like tea, is branding. We have used the ‘blend the rules’ here as well.

I’m blessed to have found a creative studio that was highly skilled, embraced the idea and was on the same wavelength from the start.

They designed the ‘R’ logo which is a curving, flowing, ‘blending’ 3D letter ‘R’ which also showcases the tealeaf. Our little brightly coloured square boxes are a radical change from traditional tea packaging. We have ‘hero-shot’ photographs. These were inspired by beautiful food photography – tea deserves this type of stunning presentation too!

Product quality and taste

Our teas use quality ingredients and are hand blended in the UK. This keeps the whole-leaf intact and also keeps the mixes consistent.

World cuisine inspired blends such as Turmeric Chai, Sushi & Spice, Raspberry Fondant, Lemon Verbena.   Blends are developed with food pairings in mind. For example, our Banana Bee Rooibos combines brilliantly with tropical desserts such as fresh alphonso mangoes or Filipino fried rice cakes. For Dover Sole we recommend Peppermint Cream for a beautiful pairing.

Family and friends were our first tasters. We then set up a pop-up sampling stall and handed hundreds of samples out to people passing by. 

And next

Roqberry will continue its mission to bring you great flavours. We’re a young company so time will tell how we develop.   Winning 7 Great Taste Awards in the first year is an excellent starting place for the future.

Key lesson from the Roqberry journey so far

  • Before starting a business get to know your product. Your knowledge and understanding will help you see the potential for innovation
  • Remember you authentic reason for starting the business and keep it front of mind. You’ll enjoy the journey more as a result and your customers will experience the difference this makes.
  • Even as a startup have a coherent brand strategy and budget. You may not have a lot to spend but you can find a way to tell your brand story.
  • Test your product with as many people as possible and listen to the feedback. Once you have people who like it you can do more research to find out if there is a big enough market for you to proceed.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kim Havelaar is founder of award-winning artisan tea brand Roqberry. Prior to launching Roqberry Kim spent 15 years in a corporate career that saw her live in four different countries and travel many more. During that time, she loved exploring the local cuisines and fell in love with the different flavour profiles around the world. Kim now uses this as inspiration for the Roqberry blends. www.roqberry.com

ABOUT ROQBERRY

Roqberry is a new brand of tea, specifically focused on foodies, tea and food pairings, and bringing big flavour to tea. With high quality ingredients, hand blended in the UK, Roqberry offers both unique flavoured blends as well as top quality artisan varieties.  Flavours include fresh expressions of classic blends, such as smooth and sunny Citrus Grey, as well as extraordinary new fusions like savoury Sushi & Spice. The naturally caffeine free infusions range from spiced Turmeric Chai to floral Bloom Box. And the speciality Tea Legends include artisan varieties like Jasmine Dragon Pearls that remain true to tradition. www.roqberry.com

Web: www.roqberry.com

Twitter: @roqberrytea

Instagram: @roqberrytea

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RoqberryTea/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/roqberry/

 

 

 

 

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