What Small Business Owners Should Know About Marketing

A common misconception among future or brand new business owners is that creating a great product or service is enough to ensure success. While offering something of value is a great way to create happy customers, those customers aren’t going to find a business out of the blue.

In order for a business to successfully connect with customers who are going to be best served by the product or service the business has to offer, a successful marketing strategy needs to be implemented and executed. Although marketing may not initially seem like something that’s overly complicated, it usually doesn’t take long for business owners to discover the various challenges that this practice presents.

The Myth of Free Marketing

With the rise of channels like search engines and social media, there’s a prevalent myth about marketing that has continued to spread. That myth is the belief that there are many ways to effectively market a business for free. In reality, there’s no such thing as free marketing.

While plenty of businesses have found success by ranking well in Google or building a strong social media following, reaching those milestones isn’t something that’s without a cost. Even if a business owner decides to do everything themselves instead of paying others for help, there’s still a very real opportunity cost involved.

Finding the Right Demographic to Reach

Since marketing isn’t free, money or resources spent on this task need to be used in the most effective way possible. Countless businesses have learned that while certain channels may work for others, that doesn’t automatically guarantee that it will enable a business to get in front of the right audience.

In order to maximize marketing ROI, it’s vital to identify a highly focused demographic. Once this often challenging step is completed, different marketing channels can be evaluated to see if they’re the right fit for accomplishing a specific goal.

How to Fast Track Successful Marketing

When people start a business on their own, they generally have to learn about marketing through trial and error. While that works out for some businesses, it ends up putting others under. Although that may sound quite scary, the good news is there’s another way to ensure that marketing efforts are successful.

The way to accomplish that goal is by becoming a franchise owner. Because your franchise will be built on a model that’s already been proven, the trial and error phase is already done. Add to that the fact that the franchise route provides ongoing marketing support, and it’s easy to see why contacting House Doctors for more information about our franchise opportunity may be the best decision you make in 2015.

Should You Start a Business in 2015?

Starting a business is a major commitment. As with life’s other big decisions, rushing into a new business is almost never something you should do. However, if you’ve been thinking about starting a business for awhile but haven’t gone through all of the steps to bring your plan to life, there are some key reasons why 2015 may be the ideal time for you to actually dive into the world of business. Here are several factors to keep in mind as you evaluate this decision:

Low Fuel Costs

Even in businesses that don’t directly employ drivers, fuel costs are a factor that can help a new business. Whether consumers are more willing to visit retail stores or thinking about other services to spend money on since gas is no longer crunching their monthly budget, this factor is definitely one that’s worth keeping in mind.

Potential Retirement and Tax Incentives

When it comes to planning your financial future, as well as the one for your business, it’s always best to seek professional guidance. With that in mind, potential tax credits and incentives for healthcare, energy investments and retirement planning are all topics that you should make a point of discussing in detail.

Generally Favorable Market Conditions

While there are success stories from people who started businesses when the economy was in the throes of the financial crisis, succeeding during that time was a huge uphill battle. Since it’s always wise to minimize as much risk as possible, the good news is that the economy’s outlook for 2015 and beyond is much brighter than it was as recently as five years ago. Whether you’re thinking in terms of access to capital or another factor, a favorable economy is definitely a big win for starting a business.

Put Your Business on a Proven Path

As anyone who already runs a business will tell you, deciding to start a business in 2015 will bring you lots of new challenges. But with those challenges will come lots of new opportunities. And even though starting a new business will always include obstacles, that doesn’t mean you have to start from a blank slate.

If you want the business you start to be on a proven path from the very beginning, franchising is the model for you to consider. By becoming a House Doctors owner, you’ll be operating with a business model that’s been proven time and time again across the United States. Not only will this provide a solid foundation, but you’ll also have support for everything from marketing to training as your business grows.

For more information about House Doctors and what we have to offer to franchise owners, you can read through our site and then email us for even more information.

The Strong Outlook for Franchises in 2015

For the last four years, the rate at which franchises have grown and created new jobs has been faster than the rest of the economy. Based on recently published research, that trend will continue in 2015. Since growing faster than the rest of the economy for five straight years is no small feat, a lot of people want to know what the secret sauce of franchising is that has allowed it to continue performing so well.

Understanding the Basics of Franchising

During the course of 2015, franchising is slated to contribute around 3% to the total GDP of the United States. That marks a projected increase of 5.1% for the franchise sector’s contribution to GDP. Given that franchising includes owners that range from local operators to veterans, it’s easy to understand why franchising is something that’s frequently (and rightfully) touted as an American success story.

Not only does this practice empower people from all walks of life to become business owners, but those owners are also creating new jobs at a very impressive rate. In December 2014 alone, the franchise industry was responsible for creating 38,000 new jobs in the US! Over the course of 2015, projections put the number of new jobs created by this industry at slightly less than 250,000. 65% of the employees working for franchises are in the food and hospitality industry, while 29% are employed by a franchise in the services sector (including commercial and residential services).

Potential Franchise Challenges in 2015

Although the 2015 outlook for franchises is very bright, this sector couldn’t be considered part of the business world if there weren’t at least a few potential challenges that need to be addressed. The first challenge is that franchises have been put on the fast track to increase minimum wage employees’ rate in certain states and cities.

Another challenge is dealing with changing definitions of full-time employees. Specifically, most franchises believe that full-time employment should be defined as 40 hours a week instead of its current definition of 30 hours under the Affordable Care Act.

While these challenges may require creative solutions, there’s nothing so major that it will stand in the way of the franchise sector having another banner year in 2015.

How to Get Involved in This Very Exciting Sector

If you want to be involved in an industry with proven and consistent growth, you should take a long look at what House Doctors has to offer to professionals who decide to become franchise owners. Once you’ve had a chance to learn a little more about House Doctors, please contact us if the franchise opportunity we offer seems like a perfect fit with your skills and goals.