Expat Living Singapore – July 2019

LIFE & FAMILY

JULY 2019 75

it’s all about figuring out what makes
people tick. It’s so rewarding helping
entrepreneurs on their journey,
whether it’s being involved from
day one, coming up with the name,
creating the brand and then bringing
it to life through a website and other
communications, or getting involved
at a later stage and helping them go
to the next level. Seeing the business
ideas that people come up with and
how these can be brought to market
is always interesting.
As my approach is very business-
focused and strategic, I help our
clients figure out how to exactly
position what they do to appeal to
their target customer and achieve
their business aims. So, my role tends
to often go a bit beyond marketing
and into business strategy.
Having my own business in this
field is a good fit for me because it
combines my passions and I get to
work on things I believe in. Plus, as
a business owner, you always need
to come up with creative solutions
to overcome challenges and forge a
new path ahead. It’s probably what I
like best about being an entrepreneur.

Why is the work you do
important?
Well, there are obviously a lot of
marketing companies and freelancers
out there, but I think what sets me
apart as a professional, as well as
The EMMS, is the business-focused
approach. Helping people figure out
their marketing strategy and how to
really position what they do to appeal
to their target customer is really at the
heart of everything we do – whether
it’s a logo, a website or Facebook
marketing and so on. It begins and
ends with achieving your goals. In the
end, that’s what marketing should do.
Of course, it’s no guarantee to
business success, but by getting that
foundation right, I hope ultimately
that we can help more entrepreneurs,
start-ups and small businesses
succeed and beat the odds.

There are so many things to think about when you’re setting up, and it’s these types of

questions that The EMMS help entrepreneurs answer through their workshops. Here,

Marielle lists the most important questions to consider at the start of your journey.

#1 What are you going to do?

This one is easy, and many people think when they have that eureka moment,

they’re ready to launch. Unfortunately, even though you might have a great idea,

it doesn’t guarantee success.

#2 How are you going to do it?

Figuring out exactly how you’re going to deliver your product or service is key!

What skills do you need? Do you have all those skills? If not, should you upskill,

or do you need to hire? If you do everything yourself, are there enough hours in

the day to achieve all that? If you’re going to hire, where are you going to find that

talent and how are you going to afford that? What do you need to charge to pay

yourself and everyone else? And so on.

Thinking through all this can be overwhelming. I find mind mapping is an incredibly

useful tool to make sense of all the moving parts and develop a plan of action.

#3 Who is going to buy your product or service and how can you reach them?

When I ask many founders who their target group is, I often get the answer “Hmm,

I don’t know... everyone?” “Everyone” is seven billion people on Planet Earth. Sorry,

not everyone is going to be your customer – not even when you’re Google or Amazon.

If you don’t know who your target customer is, how can you find that person

and effectively sell to them? It’s really worthwhile to spend some time defining this.

The better you know your audience, the more targeted you can become in your

marketing to reach them and sell what you’re offering.

#4 What is your competition doing?

Yup, your business doesn’t exist in a vacuum. You should have an idea of who your

competitors are, so you can differentiate from them and carve out your market share.

#5 Why does it matter?

Why do you do what you do? What was your inspiration – the reason you wanted to do

this? Does your target audience care? Do they care enough to pay what you’re asking?

It’s important to identify your mission and to know if you’re really solving anyone’s

problem. Identifying your purpose will also help keep you motivated when the going

gets tough – and, yes, there will be some bad days on the horizon.

5 TO CONSIDER

WHEN

STARTING

THINGS

8522 1874 | the-emms.com | [email protected]

A BUSINESS