Students to Start-Ups
Entrepreneurial Skills Workshop Series
Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Presents:
Finding Your Niche
By Tom Patty
Why Should You Listen to Me?
What I learned – 21 Years at Chiat/Day
 (Apple)importance of single strong benefit
 (Nike)importance of understanding target
 (Pepsi-co)importance of growing business
 (Yamaha)importance of market segments
 (Nissan)importance of purchase process
Other Learning
 Wolfgang Puck Food Company
 World Point (dot com)
 Island Side of Life
Two Part Process
I.
II.
Workshop / Learn Principles
Counseling/application to your business
Principles apply to both Products
(Purchased) and Services (Performed)
How to create a successful company
1. Create a product or service that solves a
problem or fulfills a need in some market
segment.
2. Identify the specific target audience for whom
product or service is most beneficial
3. Create a compelling benefit statement for this
target audience
4. Using all the tools in marketing toolbox,
differentiate from competition
5. Create awareness for product/service in terms
of specific benefit for target audience
How to create a successful company
(continued)
6. Continue to provide appropriate information as
customers move thru purchase process
7. Create incentives to make sale
8. Create incentives to reward customers for
repeat business
9. Using marketing tool box, create ways to grow
business (more new customers—more
frequency of use)
What is Marketing?
 Getting and Keeping Customers
 Creating Customers
Most important marketing reality
 Different people
 Want different things
 For different reasons
Marketing Golden Rule
 Do unto others
 As THEY want to be done unto
Why is good marketing so rare?
 Marketing requires a different perspective
 Think like a customer
6 Things you need to know
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Know your market
Know your customer
Know your competition
Know how to grow your business
Know how to use differentiate
Know how to create awareness
1.Know Your Market
 What is the size of market?
 What are the market segments?
 What segments are growing, shrinking?
 What is seasonality?
 What is the purchase process?
Purchase Process
I don’t know about it
Shopping
I’ve heard of it
I’ll consider it
I’ll buy it
SOLD
Love it
Hate it
Neutral
Repurchase
Owning
2.Know your Customers
 Who are they? (Demographics)
 Who are they? (Psychographics)
 Where are they?
 What do they want, what are they buying?
 What purchase triggers exist?
3. Know your competition
 Who is competition? (direct and indirect)
 Where is competition? (domestic or abroad)
 What products/services at what price?
 How do customers feel about competition?
 Strengths and weaknesses
4. Know how to grow your business
 How to get more NEW Customers
*new products (new concepts)
*new distribution (new markets)
 How to get more $ from EXISTING
customers?
*increase frequency of use
*increase price
5. Know how to differentiate
 How to use Marketing Tool Box
Product
Price
Packaging
Place (distribution)
Promotion
6. Know how to create awareness
 Word of mouth (signage)
 Publicity (stunts)
 Internet (gorilla marketing)
 Direct marketing
 Paid media (internet, newspapers, etc)
Summary: What you need to know
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Know your market
Know your customer
Know your competition
Know how to grow your business
Know how to differentiate
Know how to create awareness
Examples of creating a customer
 Barnes & Noble
 Apple (IPOD)
 UPS
 Ace
 Baja Fresh
Additional Resources
 Books
The Marketing Imagination by Theodore M. Levitt
Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices by
Peter F. Drucker
Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore
Inside the Tornado by Geoffrey A. Moore
The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton M. Christensen
Additional Resources
Web
SCORE Orange County http://www.score114.org (click
on “Business Library”
Creating a Competitive Advantage (free online
workshop) http://www.va-interactive.com/score/
Researching Your Market
http://www.sba.gov/library/pubs/mt-8.pdf
Business Toolkit http://www.toolkit.cch.com/BOToC.asp
More links at http://www.score.org and www.sba.gov
Additional Resources
Small Business Solutions CD from SCORE OC
Additional Resources
People
UCI Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
CEI@Merage.uci.edu
SCORE Orange County www.score114.org
Students to Start-Ups
Entrepreneurial Skills Workshop Series
UPCOMING WORKSHOPS
February 7th
March21st
Demystifying Financial Statements
Driving Growth Through Distribution
Channels and Sales Management
February 21st
April 4th
Sure-Fire Secrets to Entrepreneurial
Success
Nuts & Bolts of Business Structure
and Licensing
March 7th
April 18th
Finding Start-Up Capital
Refine Your Unique Value Proposition
RSVP
CEI@MERAGE.UCI.EDU
Next Steps
Sign up for future “Student to Start Up”
workshops
Decide what specific area of your
business (raising money, distribution,
marketing, etc) would benefit from
counseling
Contact UCI Center for Entrepreneurship
and Innovation to arrange no-cost
counseling from SCORE