Not all people want to get employed at a company or a business enterprise. Well, that is not because they are too lazy to move their body and their minds to work. It is primarily because they want start up their own businesses. Starting a business offers a number of advantages and disadvantages. Many people think and believe that the advantages are more than enough to offset the effects of the disadvantages of going into business.

A business typically entails selling a product or a service. In this case, selling alone will not suffice as the company should also market their product or service. Marketing is considered as a vital part of any business since it concerns with determining that the offer product or service do suits the wants or needs of the target customers. It also concerns with enticing target customers to avail of the offered product or service. Thus, if you really wanted to achieve your goal of generating profit, there might be a need for you to review suitable marketing strategies for your business.

Businesses are distinct and unique from and to each other. This means that not all businesses are the same – each may carry different products or service and may cater to various customers. This also means that marketing strategies may differ from each business. Some marketing strategies may work on one business and may not on another.

With this in mind, you, as an entrepreneur or a part of company, should be able to come up with the suitable marketing strategies for your business. How can you achieve that when some strategies might not even work? Well, to know how far you could go, you first need to know your own situation – your product or service and your capability to make it sell.

Before creating marketing strategies suitable for your own business, there is a need to first define your target market. Who are the persons or people you are planning to sell your product or service? Where do they come from? What are their age brackets? Are they just from a local place or from a global market? What are the profiles of your target customers? Do they have the capacity and the capacity to make a purchase? Will they be willing to shell out a certain amount of money just to avail of your offered product or service? Is your target market composed of people from the Class A, B, C or D? Are they accessible or do they have access to your product or service?

After defining your target market, it is now time to turn your attention onto your product or service. What is your product or service? What are the benefits could it bring to your target customers? How will the target market consume the product or service? Are the offered products or services saleable? How would the target market react once the product or service is offered to them? How are you going to position you product or service with regards to comparable offerings?

Once the target market as well as the offered product or service is defined, there is now a need to undertake a special assessment to determine what marketing strategies should be used for your business. This assessment is called the SWOT analysis, which outlines all the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to your business, particularly your offered product or service. Here is a short sample on how you could run a SWOT analysis.

• Strengths

You should list a number of strengths that your business and your product or service has. For instance, you may indicate the strategic location of your store or office, or the connections you have with suppliers and some big customers. You may indicate the quality of your product and service as well as the cost efficiency returned when creating and delivering your offering. Having a staff that is well trained and very skilled could also be considered as strength for your business.

• Weaknesses

There is no perfect business. This means that if every business has its own strengths, it also has its weaknesses. Weaknesses may include the vulnerability of the product to depreciation or its high cost of capital. Weaknesses may also include having your location at a place where customers may not want to visit or a place where the target market is not really that accessible. Other weakness may include high cost of office rental or high operating expenses.

• Opportunities

From time to time, there will be opportunities that will come for the benefit of your business. You just have to identify them beforehand, so that when these opportunities come, you would be all ready to take advantage of them. Opportunities may include an incoming relocation of a company which employees could become your target customers. Opportunities many also include festival and other events that may serve as a good venue for promoting your business as well as your product or service.

• Threats

While opportunities present facts and events which you could strike to better your business, threats have the capability to undermine whatever strengths your product or service may have. For instance, another business offering similar products or service is in the area or is posing to compete against you is definitely. Another threat to your business is the impending increase of fixed costs and other operating expenses. These could undermine your ability to price your products or service competitively.

By carefully undertaking the SWOT analysis, you may be able to come up with the suitable marketing strategies for your business typically coming in form of 4P, which stands for Product, Price, Place and Promotion. The SWOT analysis, when coupled with the most suitable 4P, would allow you to create a strategy that would not only allow you to sell your product or service, but also increase your customer base.