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Why New Entrepreneurs Should Ease Their Way to Market
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Throughout the past few years, COVID has sent many people into a whirlwind. It made us question our approach to health and wellness, reconsider our work/life balance, and even reevaluate how we conduct business to begin with.
The pandemic nudged many people to start their own businesses, whether out of necessity to supplement lost income and pay bills or realizing it’s the time to tackle an idea they’ve been nursing for years. Many people felt more comfortable becoming entrepreneurs during such a time when the entire world seems uncertain about its future.
Emerging Entrepreneur Trends
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 5.4 million new business applications were filed in 2021, compared to the 3.4 million in 2019, the year before the pandemic hit. There are some interesting statistics surrounding this trend. For example, these newer entrepreneurs are more likely to be Black, Latinx, or part of another minority group. Additionally:
- 16% of new businesses were healthcare
- 15.7% fell into the category of professional services
- 15.5% belonged to the food and beverage industry
- 9% were personal services
At RedSky, we’re noticing another emerging trend: a shift in how people operate. Consumers’ buying tendencies are changing, as well as how they interact with brands. Research shows that approximately half of consumers will permanently change shopping and consumption behaviors due to COVID-19.
“Consumers are looking to brands to step up more and more,” explains Laura Albers, Managing Director at RedSky and Co-Founder of sister company, Oasis Intelligence. “It’s not only about creating products that do their jobs, but also what a company stands for and the impact it has on the people and planet.”
The unfortunate reality is there is no shortage of data highlighting the number of new businesses that fail to get off the ground. For example, consider that:
- Over 50% of companies fail in the first 5 years
- Approximately 75% of companies that received venture capital still fail
- For 2021, it’s estimated there will be a record 160,000 additional business shutdowns than we’ve seen in previous years
- Over 50% of business owners believe they might have to shut their doors within the year without receiving additional support
Many entrepreneurs attribute needing more time and funding to their lack of success. However, we believe that most businesses are creating a product or service without truly understanding their consumers’ new behavior, attitudes, and techniques.
Adopting a New Approach to Entrepreneurship
As pointed out in Nail It Then Scale It by Nathan Furr and Paul Ahlstrom, typically, the entrepreneurial process follows the same flow:
- Get an idea
- Discuss the idea with a close network of peers and professionals
- Find funding
- Develop the idea into a concept
- Launch the product
- Ask for customer feedback
Before entrepreneurs move too quickly to bring a product to market, they should consider whether this product is satisfying a consumer need, rather than saving it as an afterthought. With RedSky HumanSight™, we make the consumer the focal point to how successful your business becomes, including your product and service, messaging, etc.
Today, people are more educated and savvy than ever. While many business owners recognize this, it’s sometimes all too easy to overlook. After all, if you’re developing a product that you want, why not assume it wouldn’t also satisfy other peoples’ desires, too? Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case.
Consumers don’t just want to purchase from any company anymore. They are more selective in their purchasing decisions, meaning they are more thoughtful in choosing brands that they trust.
Once consumers are able to build the pathway to trusting your brand, it creates a domino effect.
However, the first step toward motivating them to trust you and talk about you is to understand who they really are, what they value, and what they need.
Interested in working with RedSky Strategy to shift your perspective and marketing strategies? Our team looks forward to meeting with you and uncovering how we can use HumanSight™ to illuminate the best pathway to growth for your company.