Archive for May, 2011

A custom made business provides buyers with unique, one of a kind products, services or experiences that cannot be replicated or are difficult to replicate.  Contrary to common belief you don’t have to be a genius to establish a custom made business.

Almost every product can be customized to suit the needs and requirements as well as budget of an individual buyer.  Make no mistake ideas and inspirations are not the only driving forces of a custom made business.  It takes a lot of hard work to become a successful entrepreneur and this holds true in case of managing a custom made business.

Here a few important questions you need to ask yourself to determine whether you are ready to become a custom made business owner…

Have You Identified a Niche?

The allure of a customized product lies in the fact that it is “like no other”.  There’s just one or a few (in case of limited edition pieces) of custom made products and that is really why people opt for them.  The thing with standardized products is that you will find many “just like that” and owning one will certainly not make you stand out in a crowd. 

So have you found your niche?  Are you game for a custom made product or service in food, fashion, lifestyle, advertising, photography, accessories, apparel or footwear?  Let’s say you want to enter the food business then what is it that you would like to make your niche?  Exclusive wedding cakes, divorce cakes, cupcakes, cheesecakes or just bread? 

Sharpen your focus first and find your niche!

What’s Your Target Market?

Successful marketing is all about defining customer needs.  But the fact is…how will you define customer needs if you don’t know who your customers are? 

Customer profiling should be the first thing you do after zeroing in on a business idea.  Ask the all important question…who is my customer?  A focused approach towards customers will help you determine whether or not your product will find takers and if you do who they will be.

Great Ideas Are Nothing without Buyers.  That’s why you need to work on a customer profile…

Who is your customer?

Define in terms of gender, age, income, occupation, lifestyle choices, liabilities, assets and so on. 

Are You A Good Listener?

As a person who creates products or services that are made to order, you have to be a good listener.  A customized business involves creating a one of a kind product that is tailor made for just one person.  This is precisely why you have to be a good listener.

You have to be willing to listen to what the customer wants, needs and expects instead of imposing your own views on him or her.  If you are a hair dresser you need to talk to a client about his lifestyle, tastes, preferences, perceptions and ability to maintain a particular look.

You don’t simply give him a hair cut which looks good on a model in an advertisement and which the client thinks will look good on him.  You should take time to talk to him and explain that his face and the models’ face are different and that’s why what he thinks is best for him might not be a good idea.

Help clients to look at things practically, inform them about trends and styles but do this gently and listen first!

What’s Your Support System?

When you start off your entrepreneurial journey you might have to play “the one man army” and do most things all by yourself.  But as your business grows you will need a good support system in place and by this I don’t mean family and friends to support you and perk you up when you are feeling low.

A support system refers to your employees and linkages that you need to establish to get your product from your workshop or factory to your customer.  Let’s say you are a fashion designer your support system will comprise of suppliers (fabric accessories, etc), embroiderers, tailors, master cutters, sales staff and courier services. 

Researching and establishing contacts with reliable people to partner with is a good idea and is in fact the first step in building your support system 

Are You Determined to Persevere? 

Setting out to service a niche market with a customized product or service in particular is a move that calls for lots of perseverance and self-belief.  Driven by the determination that each time you launch a product or deliver a service you can do it in a better and varied manner so that no element of repetition comes in…isn’t that a firmness that just a few mavericks have?

When everyone else doubts that there is light at the end of the tunnel a custom made business owner is spurred on by self-belief.  It is only when you believe in your ideas that other people will believe in you. 

If you are game to set up your own custom made business TheOneOfAKindPreneur brings you a free e-book “The Stuff Custom Made Business Owners Are Made Of” to keep you stay on track with your entrepreneurial journey.

I have also launched an email consultancy program “Mentoring for Custom Made Business Owners” to help you refine, define, focus and brand your custom made business.  Please fill up the contact form on this site to get in touch with me for further details. 

Image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=721

My blog TheOneOfAKindPreneur will complete 100 days on 5^th June this year.  In a run up to this personal landmark I will be taking a look at how this journey began, releasing a free e-book and launching some new programs.  This post about the television show that inspired me to launch my blog. 

Take it from me I am not a television person.  Yes, I don’t watch a lot of television simply because entertainment isn’t really high on my list of priorities.  But I do watch some television and NDTV Good Times is one of the few channels I like to tune in to.

It was one Monday night that I tuned in to NDTV Good Times and there it was…Custom Made for Vir Sanghvi, the show that set me thinking about the allure and potential of customized products and services as a marketing opportunity.

Here’s a peek at this show and how it lead to the launch of TheOneOfAKindPreneur, a niche blog which I hope is or at least soon will be “The One Stop Source for Tips, Ideas and Resources for the Custom Made Business”.

What is Custom Made for Vir Sanghvi?

It is a show that used to air on NDTV’s lifestyle channel called NDTV Good Times.  For a news channel that turned to lifestyle for the central theme of its next television channel, NDTV seems to have found and carved its niche really well.

The host Vir Sanghvi is India’s well known epicurean and journalist.  The show chronicles his travels across India, in search of the most luxurious and bespoke ‘Indian’ experiences.

From made-to-order paintings, luggage, apparel to exclusive meals, desserts and perfumes to a tune composed especially for him, he gets the royal ‘red carpet’ treatment wherever he goes.

Why I launched my Business Blog?

I strongly believe that no matter what it is that you do there is no better way to do it than stamping your work with your very own signature style. TheOneOfAKindPreneur is blog is born out of my passion for being different and my fascination with custom made products and services. 

I love buying goods and using services that reflect my personal style and allow me to play some part in creation of the product or service.  While this does not imply that I don’t pick clothes off a rack in a mall it does mean that I prefer custom tailored clothes over readymade ones.

I figured there must be many more people like me who would like to own a one of a kind product or want to launch a business selling such products and services.  My blog is an endeavor to connect with them. 

The business of custom made products/services offers business owners the opportunity to leverage their skills, garner their resources and create a bespoke experience for customers who demand exclusivity.  That’s why my blog is also a platform for customized businesses to showcase their offerings. 

I hope that in time my blog become “the place” on the web for anyone who wants to set up a customized business or seeks information related to it. 

Image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=1499

Bridal Henna by Henna Sooq

Khadijah Dawn Carryl is a Henna/Mehndi artist and Muslimah business owner who turned her love of henna and desire to share its beautifying benefits with others into a thriving business.

Her henna studio, Henna Sooq specializes in providing customers with imported, high-quality, sifted henna powders, herbs, and a specially blended henna paste that’s ready to use. Henna Sooq is the one stop store and resource for all those interested in natural hair care, decorative henna supplies or receiving personalized henna and glitter body art services.

The range of services on offer includes:

Private Sessions
Bridal Services
Prenatal Belly Art
Glitter “Tattoos”
Corporate Events Henna Workshops
Hair Workshops
Parties

Henna Sooq is located in Elkridge, Maryland, where they provide products and services for the surrounding community; but you can also order products and supplies through their website Hennasooq.com.

To catch up on the latest on offer at the Henna Sooq log on to their blog at http://hennablogspot.com/

Image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=1803