The world is full of dreamers, execution, however, is for a select few. This is a statement I’ve heard many times and I decided to put it to the test.
Out of 10 of my friends, all have had dreams - big ones no less, but only two have gone the extra mile and made their dreams a reality.
That is the same story globally; everyone has a million-dollar idea but not everyone is willing to pay the price. In other words, the dream is free but the hustle is a price few are willing to pay.
Over the weekend I had one of the biggest concerts in Eldoret as part of the franchise that I started last year, The Royalty Festival.
If you are keen on the postings on my social media pages, you will notice that I have been in Eldoret for over a month going into the festival. Most people asked me, if your event is at the end of the month, why are you in Eldoret for the entire month? My simple answer is impact.
Many artistes get on stage to perform at concerts in an area where they know nothing about to an audience they haven’t interacted with before. The moment they step down from the stage, they are forgotten by their audience. A case of out of sight out of mind.
So how do you ensure you stay top of mind to your consumers?
Focus on your customer
It has been said that there are no new inventions under the sun. While that might be true, the question then becomes how do you build a better product that solves a problem more easily?
One way of doing that is by introducing a new element that will serve as your selling point to an already existing product. This means you take time to thoroughly study your market.Especially lookout for complaints.
Before settling on a product, it is strongly advisable that you do market research. Every time I come up with a new product, I usually give myself a period of between six and 12 months for research and product development.
In the beginning, I would get excited about an idea and would rush to putting it out. What that got me was that a lot of companies fail after a few months as a result of no research going into it and hasty decisions.
What market research has done to my new companies is that now I have a better understanding of the market I’m venturing into and thus my confidence in pushing the product - even as the initial excitement of starting a business fizzles out - is increased.
Keep assessing the business idea
Understanding that a market exists for your product is only the first step.
It is why we always have reports after every event that we use to make the next event better. We don’t go into things blindly, although sometimes, like in this case where no festivals have been done before like this, we go with our gut feeling.
Establish a support team
Just like each and every part of a car is important for the proper running of the vehicle, a team plays a big role in ensuring that a business runs smoothly. I might be the vision bearer of the business but there are certain elements of the vision that don’t fall in my line of work and are better off handled by experts in that field.
For example, while organising for the Eldoret event, my team and I went to the grounds to do the actual evaluation. There we met this very passionate security personnel in charge called Kenyatta. What I loved about him was the passion he showed for his job.
In my recruitment process, passion always beats qualification because one can always learn on the job, but passion can never be taught. I was a happy client when I met him after the event was done. Had I been the one in charge of security, I can assure you it would have been a horrible day. I am neither passionate about it nor am I qualified.
In the same way, you should have a team in place, even as a small business. Your team doesn’t have to be permanently employed, but they should be able to count on them when you need them. With a great team comes efficiency and with efficiency comes profit.
Building relationships
I was holding The Royalty Festival for the second time. That meant that I was modifying the idea, covering the loopholes and strengthening the weak points from last year’s version.
My team and I went through the report form the first festival and made the necessary adjustments for a better experience of the festival. Among the adjustments we made was in the area of the sponsors who support the event.
For a sponsor to qualify to come on board, we look at how they relate with the business and how they relate with the consumer. It would be a disservice for a sponsor to invest in the festival, yet their product or service does not relate to the target audience.
In as much as we build relationships with the consumer, we also need to create a healthy working relationship with the sponsors if that engagement is to last.
It is only when we give value to our soponsors that we can grow together.
