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Small Business Resources
I have developed a new product. This product is a herbal dietary supplement. I cannot get into more details until I start the patent process. I would like to know if I can get any grants from the government to help with the business. I would also like to know how you would market this product (The target market is over 50 million people). I was thinking of selling via a website first, yet I am unsure of how to market the website.
Hi Mani, Congratulations on developing your product. It sounds intriguing. I assume you have already spoken to a lawyer to ensure that the product can be made subject to patent protection. If not, make sure you get on that right away. Patenting is a rather costly process, so you will want to examine both your cash flows and the timing of the patent application. As for government grants, there are many out there. However, among entrepreneurs, there is often a mythology that there are pots of money just waiting to be handed out. Generally it doesn't work this way. Many government programs work on some form of matching basis or on a tax credit basis. This often means you have to put money out first. I cannot really advise you on specific programs as there are many. However, you might head down to the reference library to see if they have a copy of a collection of government programs. You can also contact the ministries, both federally and provincially that deal with science, business development, nutrition (health) and industry. They will each have their own programs, which is why I can't point you to any in particular. As far as the marketing goes, I am a fan of what I call 10 x 10 marketing. That means 10 different marketing strategies are each responsible for 10% of your revenues. What that suggests is that you diversify your marketing. Particularly as you are starting out, you will want to hit as many channels as possible. You will also want to test and measure each tactic so you know what is producing and what is not. So, marketing through a web site is great, but somehow people need to know the web site exists. How do they learn about that? Through other marketing efforts. This can include, strategic alliances with people who already serve your market, affiliate programs, social marketing, teleseminars, webinars, writing papers or articles that get picked up, doing blogs and podcasts on health/nutrition/supplementation. It sounds like a lot, but if you write a long article, it can be turned into a blog, a podcast, an article and a teleseminar/webinar. In the offline world, you will want to look at getting your product into retail channels, possibly through distributors, into naturopathic clinics and doing sampling at events or malls. We could go on for hours about all the tactics you could try. The essential steps are as follows: 1) Who are your target markets? (Note, I use plural. I doubt there is one homogeneous group of 50 million. You need to break that down and first go after the lowest hanging fruit.) 2) Where are they in the highest concentration? That means where can you find them, but not necessarily physically. Do they read the same magazines, papers, web sites; do they like to do similar activities. This tells you the media or channels that are available to you. 3) What do they want? Your product may be the greatest things since sliced bread, but that won't matter if you don't understand what I want and need. 4) Why do they want it? It is important to understand their pains that drive the want. This helps your articulate the benefits they will receive. 5) How are you going to reach them? The information just listed will help you identify the type of marketing and the nature of the offer. There is so much more to discuss about this topic. When you are ready to get started, you might think about joining ActionCLUB, which is a group coaching program that teaches you a lot of these fundamentals and helps you begin putting them into place. Good luck! Warren
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