Positioning does matter..

I met my friend Mia, a smart Lawyer, at the post office. 

She was posting about 4 dozen cards.

I asked her what was the occasion?

She said that these were Valentine cards & signed as "Guess Who" & sent to all the married men in & around her society.

She said that last year she had posted about 2 dozen & was lucky to have about 4 divorce cases.

So this time, she wanted to increase her business.

Sounds hilarious..  Well, jokes apart.. the above is an excellent example of positioning your product/services in the market.

Why does it matter so much to position your services/products in the market???

* It defines your identity (who you are are and what do you do).

* It opens up opportunities and lets you settle for a set of customers/clients.

* Lets you understand the competition and makes you "position" your brand in the market.

* Keeps growing you whether vertically or horizontally in the market.

Do we need to position the services/products at the startup stage?

* Yes. Yes. Yes. It is extremely important to position your product/services at the very initial stage of your start-up. Do not underestimate the power of positioning at the startup stage as it is very useful in determining the USP of your brand and also helps in getting to the market (Go -to-market) easily.

* It helps you to create THE IDENTITY of YOU (You is here the entrepreneur or the start-up services of your product/service). The lawyer mia is a perfect example of using her positioning in the market to get divorce cases (read it as biz growth).

Should Startups position themselves or use an agency to help them position in the market?

* Tricky question here -  as startups are sometimes not sure how and when they would be able to break even in the market and are normally shy of positioning their product/services as they fear they may lose to competition or things may not work as they have planned. Add to it, the shoestring budget that keeps them from advertising even in the smallest way.

* Startups should strongly focus on the positioning at the start (never mind the shoestring budget).

 e.g. If you are a great baker and want to supply cakes to the market, DO a thorough analysis how to position the cakes for a better business.

Do you want to supply to the wedding/parties?
Do you want to supply to corporate functions/events?
Do you want to give to retail stores?
Do you want to specialise for baking only for kids? We all know kids love cakes :)
Do you want to supply to maternity hospitals? ( The hospital can give a cake to the mother or the family after the child is born) . You can't measure the happiness writ on the receiver's face :)

The key to great positioning is Customisation and starting small with a set of clients.

* Mouth Publicity, social media helps a lot in startup stage. If clients are happy with your services/product, thank them personally and ask for testimonials. These help a lot again in positioning your brand in the long run.

Lastly do only startups needs positioning or do SMEs need repositioning their brand.. That will come in next post.

So, friends, keep reading and Keep positioning your brand. Well, we know that Positioning does matter.