Your business plan is ready. Your financing is in place.
Your business is registered with KVK. Next up: finding customers.
It's challenging to find customers, especially in the beginning. Where should you start?
A good website and findability on Google?
Social media? Or a flyer in the letterbox? Consider your customer, your target audience.
What do they need and how do you reach them?
Adjust your communication accordingly.
Build a network, both online and in person at networking events.
Among other things, that's a good place to perfect your pitch.
In a pitch, you explain in just a few sentences what your business does,
and how you can help your customers. How did these entrepreneurs approach this?
We approached brands, approached agencies.
That we liked, that had a beautiful vision, or that we already knew.
We would go by and we just pitched.
We started here, in Heeze.
We noticed very quickly that there were also a lot of customers from the Randstad...
and from central and northern Netherlands who were interested in our products.
That's why we wanted a second showroom.
With the location of showrooms, you manage that geographical spread.
You look at where many people live and where lots of new housing will be developed in the coming years.
Because that is an important indicator for the amount of furniture needed.
These days, everything goes online.
Word of mouth is still the most powerful.
But social media is very important.
That you are visible, that you're easy to find on Google.
That way, you can also attract customers.
Over the past 8 years, our experience is that we've...
benefitted to an incredible degree from the internet.
Word of mouth is still far too slow in this respect.
With that, you often don't reach the people who are also looking for a table.
So you do have to really target online to go and get your sales.
You also have entrepreneurs coming together.
That includes me, from our sector.
And then we get together, once, twice, sometimes 3 times a year.
And we spar about things we encounter.
These past years, we've learned a lot from other entrepreneurs...
who may be much further ahead than us.
If you sit with them for an hour and a half, you learn a lot from that...
and you can easily apply it to your own situation, without it costing money.
Brands invite us to networking drinks, and I do get an invitation every week.
It's very good to keep doing that. -Yes, really good.
And we actually have a lot of contacts.
When they see you, you're back to being top-of-mind.
They also remember what you're from: Oh yes, those girls are doing well...
or they've just written a book.
Then you end up back on the top of the pile.
Yes, really that physical presence. Despite the fact that we're in a digital world.
What I also want to offer as a tip: always go for coffee with someone.
You can get pretty far, and odds are you'll get just that one chance.
And now it is time for action.
Check out tips and tricks on KVK.nl...
about finding customers, marketing, and using social media for your business.
Make sure your website is secure and in order.
Find out which networks are active in your sector and region.
Want to know more?
Visit KVK.nl/en/starting.