Our current business phase is building cloud services (services delivered via the internet) that will allow people-to-people, business-to-business and people-to-business connections, with the ability to communicate, shop, share, trade and discover, plus much more. We hope that in the future we will provide not only online services but offline services too.
We believe that when people use everyday services such as the internet, communications, gas and electric, the organisations are making vast profits for shareholders (sometimes in the billions) and it is unjust. We would just like to see an equal or majority share of these profits benefiting the consumers and their communities and this is the principle of U-do.
So we set to work. We worked for 12 months, many weeknights and weekends, building the concept, sifting through research and statistics, building the business plan and creating a design and product brief we were all happy with.
After 10 months of planning, we decided to take a brave – and some might say risky – step and release a website explaining the concept, to ascertain whether people agreed with our principles and wanted the services. We couldn't build the site ourselves so we engaged a third party. Unfortunately, just before the deadline arrived, the third party was unable to deliver on their promise and we were left without a website and press releases going out five days later. After hours of frustration and deliberation, we managed to find someone who could help; it was the longest weekend of our lives, and one we will never forget.
As the site went live, the press releases went out and the marketing campaign started, we were confident that everyone would see it and embrace the idea and sign up, but oh, how wrong we were. I must point out here that we are far from naive and knew it wouldn't easy, but we thought it was a great idea – so why didn't everyone else?
Confused and slightly taken aback, we went back to the drawing board and after even more research, more planning and more statistics analysis, we realised that either the message on our website was not clear enough or we needed to add more detail. So we revamped the website and took a different approach to our marketing, personalising our messages and getting out to as many people on an individual basis as we could. The most convenient and the cheapest way we could do this was the social networks.
Again, we didn't expect anything to happen overnight, and it didn't – it took long hours and 100% commitment by everyone involved, but our hard work slowly started to pay off. We exceeded our six-month sign-up target by month four.
Many of the challenges we faced are outlined above, but the key points were:
• Getting to our target audience, in the most convenient and cost-effective way
• Gaining support
• Getting the right messages to the right people
Also, on a personal level, my life has taken a backseat (I'm not saying it has been all work and no play, but I would say 90% has been work).
Twelve months on, the support continues to grow. Talks with partners have commenced and relationships are being built. Getting to this stage has been no easy ride, and the hard work and dedication will continue long into the future with more long nights and weekends blending into the working week, but we are still as enthusiastic as we were right at start.
From our experience, our advice to other people looking to start up is:
•
As the famous saying goes "No one ever plans to fail, they just fail to plan"
. Plan everything down to the last detail.
• Know who your target audience is. You may not think you have one, but you do. Don't aim for the masses, as you won't get very far.
• Social media plays a significant and successful role in marketing, and it is one of the most successful marketing strategies – but only if you know who your target audience is. Only research will tell you if this is the best strategy for your business.
• Advice is available and you should listen to it and take it on board, but knowledge gained is just as important. Use the knowledge you gain from the mistakes you make; don't make the same mistake twice – you might not get away with it.
• Have a clear vision from the outset and stick to it. The steps along the way may change but the goal at the end should always be the focus.
• There will be many good times, but with them come the bad. When the bad times hit, always be prepared to get back up and remember why you are doing what you are doing.
• Always remember, just because you think your business idea is the next best thing since sliced bread, doesn't mean your audience will necessarily agree. Do your research.
Nicola Holbrook is the managing director and founder of U-do, a social enterprise built for people. The purpose of U-do is to build sustainable communities where people can generate their own funding for community projects, re-development, etc, in the hope that communities can become self-reliant and not dependent on hand-outs. We also aim to help support small independent businesses and give them a local and global presence. Twitter: @udotweet
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