This article is from the WeChat official account: Jingyan Brand Lab (ID: JPPLAB), the author: Huang Xiaojun, and the picture is from Visual China
Previously, I launched a lightweight business consulting business, and then entrepreneurs added me to WeChat to pay for it through application, saying they would consult about "positioning".
The positioning theory is indeed the most frequently used in the consulting industry. The positioning theory has also helped many enterprises, such as Wang Laoji, Wujiang Zhacai, Xiangpiaopiao, Great Wall Motors, Jinba Men's Wear
But have you ever thought that most of these companies are positioned after their annual revenue of several billion yuan.
Startups are really not suitable for positioning.
1、 Don't just listen to the consultant. There are obvious risks between you two
Entrepreneurs have a big trouble, that is, there are too many "military advisers".
No matter what business you do, your friends, former leaders and even customers are very happy to give you advice.
A friend of mine once opened a cafe, three small rooms and a hall. Her original intention is to provide herself with a good place to write. For the rest, the store manager takes care of them by himself. After deducting the cost, it is good to break even.
Therefore, the price of this store is very low, 9.9 yuan can sell a cup of freshly ground coffee, and then give a small snack.
The store manager must be very busy. Especially on weekends, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., almost no vacancy is available. However, the store can only earn about 2000 yuan a month.
So some friends began to make suggestions.
Your price should be the same as that of other cafes in this street; You should do takeaway business, at least accept packing and taking away; You should make the decoration more artistic; If I were not your friend, I would not know what kind of cafe this is
More and more friends' suggestions made the founder a little uneasy. Should I reinstall and upgrade? Do I want to have some activities to attract people with the same ideals? Do I want to position more high-end?
She began to forget her original intention.
In this case, the biggest problem is not the original intention, but the risk.
Judging from its past performance, this coffee shop, although cheap, can earn 2000 yuan after removing all costs, which has exceeded the boss's expectations.
You should know that one of the three most valuable private rooms in the store has been occupied for free for a long time. Even when some friends come to visit occasionally, they drink coffee for free... These operations that have already taken place, have been included in the cost but have not received revenue.
However, if the price is raised, the business will inevitably be affected; If it is reinstalled and upgraded, the cost will inevitably rise... Once it is changed, loss is actually a high probability event.
And you know, The risk of losing money is always your own The so-called "military advisers" are just chatting in another cafe.
Of course, any enterprise that needs to consult the positioning will be larger than a coffee shop. It can be a clothing company, a game company, a food company, but you will also meet similar friends and suggestions, and will also appear Risk asymmetry.
Therefore, it is very important to take the account book to measure changes and changes - especially positioning such strategic changes.
2、 Positioning is a strategy, which needs more freedom to exchange
Let's re recognize the positioning first.
First of all, you should know that, Positioning is actually a competitive concept.
Its premise is that, in order to make our brand gain greater competitive advantage, we should set the position that the competitors do not have but you have, and the competitors have but you are better.
secondly, This is also the key to consumer communication.
Because positioning means determining your unique presence in the minds of consumers, your positioning has a great attraction for them.
last, This is an organic combination of enterprise management system.
Positioning is actually a complex of commodity positioning, crowd positioning, price positioning, regional positioning, business type positioning, scale positioning, and even promotion positioning.
On the whole, once we position ourselves, it actually rises to the strategic level. This seems to be something that all companies should have, but I can guess that about 80% of start-ups are unable to make their own strategies.
Well known consultant Li Jiaoyu (Li Jing) talked about it in the podcast, Strategy is an irrevocable commitment. At least in this strategic cycle, the company needs to concentrate financial, material and energy to achieve this strategy.
What do you mean? There is a snack brand that has launched a chicken wing tip single product with a monthly sales of millions. You will be amazed when you see that the brand positioning is really accurate, and the ultimate product focuses on the hottest snack social scene of young people at present
But you should also think that this single product is actually the Red Sea market in the whole food field. If you want to stand out, you must launch and expose it to do dynamic marketing.
In the end, he took tens of millions of investments of capital to feed KOL, but he did not earn money. The key is that after the investment funds are burned out, your brand actually has little precipitation. Once the launch stops, the sales will fall back - and there is almost no repurchase of Honghai.
In this way, no matter how precise the positioning is, it is meaningless.
The bigger problem is that, The strategic positioning of small companies is easy to consume a strategic resource freedom 。
Since strategy is an irrevocable commitment, your financial resources in this strategic cycle will lose the freedom to explore beyond positioning.
Originally, you found that POLO shirts are increasingly favored by young people in business, but your brand positioning is white T-shirts. From the perspective of strategic positioning, you have lost the freedom to explore the resources of POLO shirt.
But friends, the biggest advantage of small and medium-sized companies is freedom, which is called "small ship makes a good turn".
Don't let anyone shackle your freedom.
3、 Most companies are repositioning every meeting
When we talk about the small boat turning around, some people will say: since the small boat turning around, first position it, and then reposition it if something is wrong.
In fact, positioning is difficult to achieve once and for all, and repositioning is more common in reality than the first positioning.
At the beginning, almost everyone sorted out their entrepreneurial projects very clearly, seizing what kind of people, what kind of products to do, and what kind of price vacancies
However, it is very likely that this position will be questioned every time the team meets in less than one month.
From some entrepreneurs I have met, The businesses they wanted to do at the beginning were basically unsuccessful. A friend started out as a restaurant in Shanghai and became an entertainment place. Now his main business is car maintenance.
Of course, this turning point is somewhat absurd.
At an industry summit, I heard the founder of a snack brand say that his team actually started as a marketing service provider and started to help the brand operate as an e-commerce agent.
In the end, he found some opportunities for snack business in the process of agency operation, and simply started selling snack brands online.
Of course, there are also people who succeed if they have a certain position.
For example, Xiaomi makes the best value for money. Before 2016, many people should have doubted Lei Jun, but now we have to admit that he is right.
Another example is the Pinduoduo shopping model of "social+games". Huang Zheng once went down under the name of "social+games", but now he is the only platform among e-commerce giants with significant growth.
Most of these people are experienced business veterans. When they are the youngest and the lowest, they may have more money than many people at their peak.
4、 You will be positioned unconsciously if you make money from doing a good business
The market is an invisible hand. When you are comfortable doing business, it will quietly help you find the right position.
I know a restaurant owner who has stores in several district and county level markets. He often opened his shop downstairs in some old residential areas, and then the residents filled a plate of various dishes for 12 yuan each.
It is easy to imagine that from the place where he opened the shop, it is a shop serving the community residents.
But every noon and afternoon, his shop is full of business. Even in the very hot sun, some people are willing to eat under the wall. Over the past year, the dishes in several stores can earn millions.
Finally, when you go to see it, you will find that his shop is not open for community residents at all. Most of the people who come to eat are naked workers.
12 yuan. The workers are most happy to spend as much rice as they want when they make the dishes on their plates as high as a hill. And many workers even have a bottle of cold beer.
If the store is targeted at community residents at the beginning, it may not be the same in terms of sales mode, store environment and dish selection.
But you ask the boss, what is your position? He can't answer for sure.
There is also a boss who sells clothes on Taobao and Pinduoduo. His name is low "×× Wholesale" - it is very cheap at first sight.
From the type and tonality of the clothes, you can completely see who is buying them. As for the positioning, there is no way to say.
But the annual income of this store is about 30 million yuan. Most of the people who buy their clothes are 18 line users, and the unit price does not exceed 100 yuan.
But looking back, the price is low, and the quality and tonality are acceptable. Isn't that what the women in small towns like?
You don't have to ask the boss why she thought of such a business. She doesn't know why.
For a specific business, it is just a matter of constantly adjusting and testing according to the sales feedback. If you want to make money, you should increase your strength to push what you want.
Slowly, the market will give you a place.
This article is from the WeChat official account: Jingyan Brand Lab (ID: JPPLAB), written by Huang Xiaojun
This content is the author's independent point of view and does not represent the position of Hu Xiu. No reproduction without permission. For authorization, please contact hezuo@huxiu.com
