Have you ever wondered why there is not enough interest in your startup? You may have collected the reasons that you expect to be factored in this problem and analyzed them little by little, but you still notice that there is a problem that causes the target audience to lose interest in your product or service, when you reach that stage, after you have applied all the advice of experts and reviewed all the details of your project and did not find a solution Yet to improve the project, this indicates that simplicity is what was lacking in your project. So here's everything you should know to make your project a simple project that will bring you success in the shortest way.
Why should you start streamlining your project?
The world is evolving day by day, life is increasing in complexity, and in light of these rapid events, the consumer or user finds himself confused in front of a huge mountain of commercial services and products that offer him their advantages and benefits, and when these advantages and benefits are equal between these companies and projects, the user will find one way to exclude some These companies and projects are from the circle of selection: (a simple project).
The user today does not have enough time to determine the best project to deal with, and it is clear with this knowledge that complex projects that he will not be able to understand easily will be excluded first from the selection race, even if these projects are very distinguished and quality. The user today does not necessarily choose according to the best, but according to Various other factors, simplicity being one of the most important.
Choosing a simple project that is not only from one aspect of it, but from multiple sides and aspects, and you may lack only one of them, or you may lack all of them. Check the following aspects of simplicity and compare them with your project. Is your project simple in each aspect of simplicity?
Streamlined design
You can consider the simplification of design as the first aspect that the user experiences while choosing the right project for him, as the design is the tangible and visual thing that appears first - and sometimes the only one - for most projects, the first thing that the user sees is the design of your website, the design of your commercial identity or the design of your product packaging, whatever Whatever they see, this visual element is often the first thing a user will judge your project by, hence its simplicity.
The designs that you present should be characterized by simplicity and minimalism, not using many colors or lines, and appear calm when looking at them. Calmness and relaxation while styling are what will achieve this dazzle.
Look for design services that are simple and economical, work with him on designing your products, and constantly urge him to simplify the design as much as possible.
Simplify the goal
Why does the customer use your service? Because he has a goal that he needs to achieve, and you are supposed to achieve this goal for him, the user's goal may be to communicate with his family and friends on a social network, publish specialized articles on a publishing platform, or watch entertaining visual content on a visual content site.
Whatever the customer's goal, you have to suggest to him the simplicity of his goal, and the ease of achieving it. When the user feels that what he wants is simple, the customer will feel directly that achieving his goal with you is also easy, when you inform the customer of what he can do using your service or dealing with your project. Be sure to show the simplicity of the customer's goal And that what he needs to do is not that difficult or complicated.
Simplify the job
The functionality in your project is the basis of the project, what your project can provide, the functionality is one of the main reasons for the user to buy your services, if you are presenting a fast smartphone project, then the function of your project is the speed of the phone, this is what distinguishes your project and what people buy from you.
There is no need to complicate the job that you provide. The user will be happy - and buy for that - when he finds that you offer a store specializing in men's clothing than to find that you sell him winter and summer clothes for men and women for adults and children at various prices. The specialized store indicates to the user the quality of what you offer, while the second store Diverse indicates your inability to raise the quality of your products because your focus is distributed on various products.
Make sure that job simplification does not reduce benefits. Designer Maciek Blaźniak designed a simple and minimalist camera called the Less One. This camera does nothing but takes pictures. It's a good simple project idea because it simplifies the functionality, but that doesn't mean that this camera has to be bad at imaging. The simplification of the job should not be incompatible with the improvement of benefits and specifications.
Simplify the target audience
Who are you targeting for your project? The target segment is the specifications of the people you want to buy your services more than others, you may target young people or target women, or target more accurately, such as targeting twenty-year-olds who live in your area and love electronic games, the important thing while defining your target segment is to “simplify this segment ".
Simplifying your target segment takes place by choosing a segment that is more suitable for your project. I once worked on a project to design a website that facilitates the completion of tasks. The target segment at the beginning was businessmen or people with a lot of business, but after rethinking the possibility of simplifying the target segment, we came to the conclusion that what is best for us is to target a simpler segment. We changed the course of the project and started targeting people with The few jobs that are difficult to focus on finishing, such as freelancers and students, this is not a generalization of the target segment, this is a simplification, a rethinking of who we should target.
Simplify the idea
Your project idea is its basis and reason for its existence, but have you thought about the possibility of it being inappropriate in the first place? In the previous example about the website project, we concluded during the discussion of ideas that a website for this goal would be more complex and larger than what the user needs, so we turned the idea into a simple electronic addition, which the user will not need more than.
4 steps to the success of your project
As long as your project does not make progress towards your goals and does not achieve the profitability you expect, you will search for keys to the success of your small business, so you need good entrepreneurial habits that will help your project achieve more success. Here are some ideas and suggestions:
1. Economy is half the success
I know that simplifying your project idea is a painful experience, especially if you built on the previous idea and worked hard. Remember that your previous experience, however, will be helpful in the new simplified idea. Choosing a simple project idea will not necessarily force you to re-exert the previous effort, because with the simplification of the idea, tasks, and tasks will be simplified. also.
Often, entrepreneurs start spending large sums lavishly when launching a project, on necessary and unnecessary equipment and equipment. Unaccounted spending can cause you to go bankrupt, which will be a financial burden on you and your startup and will prevent you from reaching your long-term business goals.
It is essential to be frugal in overheads before your business can have a stable number of profits. Take control of your spending habits. Make smarter financial decisions by managing your money wisely and controlling your cash flow. Find ways to reduce operating costs as much as possible. Eliminate tasks and activities that do not add value to the company or client and that burden your budget. The more money you can save, the more you can keep.
You can also make the most of social media marketing, for example by promoting your products or services and interacting with customers. There are many easy-to-use and inexpensive marketing tools available to small business owners.
on the other hand; If you have some money saved, for example, you can invest it in something that will grow your business instead of spending it on things that do not directly help in developing your business, such as appearances or developing tools that your business does not need. To measure, you must make sure of the cash flow or income that your company generates. What is measured is managed.
2. Determine how you will make a profit
The goal of any simple business or project, whatever its field, is to ultimately achieve profit. As a small business, you must define a plan to achieve profits and improve your sales performance. To be able to achieve success in your business, think about a solid plan to improve your sales performance, and determine what actions you can take, can increase your profits, can for example use the following ideas:
- Know the value of your product or service, and focus on developing it. Find out why people should buy from you instead of competitors.
- Diversify your marketing activities, to suit your limited budget, have you ever tried video marketing?
- Get more leads, by asking for referrals from existing clients.
- Encourage your customers to come back more often, by sending out a newsletter or organizing social media marketing campaigns to get them to buy again.
- It can draw the attention of your customers to your other products, and once they have bought what they would normally buy, suggest they buy an additional product or service.
- Develop your target market before expanding into other markets, focus your efforts on providing excellent customer service to a specific customer base, and provide them with every reason to ensure their loyalty before moving on to entering a new market.
- While setting the pricing for your products or services, you must first consider what is needed to make your business profitable.
- Organize competitions and offer your customers prizes and gifts, as it is another quick way to market and win.
3. Start with small steps
All entrepreneurs aspire for the success of their business, so a significant sector of them may seek financing, for example, the total financing of startups in the Middle East and North Africa region jumped by 31% in 2018, compared to the volume of investment in 2017, with an estimated amount of $ 893 million from total investments, but a large portion of small business owners also struggle to realize their entrepreneurial ambitions in different ways.
If you seek to secure self-financing for your small business and allocate a limited budget, then you are facing many challenges, which require that you start your path towards success with small and calculated steps, you have to learn to walk before you can run, finding an excellent idea, and product design is the stage The first is a long and arduous process that requires a lot of patience, effort, and commitment.
Success does not happen overnight, as it usually takes a new business at least three years to become a stable entity, you need to arrange a business plan according to a specific time frame, to be able to reach your small business to safety:
- Determine the most powerful goals for your business.
- Create a good plan to achieve the goals.
- Break big goals into small goals.
- Set a timeline for achieving goals.
- Track how far you have reached your goals.
- Never stop adjusting your company's goals.
- Celebrate your success in achieving your goals.
If your business has limited resources, taking big steps will harm it. Do not burden yourself with big procedures. Do not incur any unnecessary expenses at the beginning of your emerging project. The more calculated and decisive your steps, the more success you will achieve.
4. Maintain your competitive edge
The main challenge for small business owners is to find a way to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage in the business. The competitive advantage is the attribute that allows the organization to outperform its competitors.
To succeed in your project, make sure to provide greater value to consumers, and to innovate to maintain your competitive advantage. There are many ways to outperform your competitors with a competitive advantage, you can develop a great product, provide customer service at a high level of quality, a more efficient distribution process, or a better understanding of market changes.
The best way to maintain your competitive advantage is to protect your trade secrets. Keep information unknown to others that enable you to succeed and gives you a competitive advantage in the marketplace. The Coca-Cola Company has kept its secret recipe for three-quarters of a century. The company has never patented that formula, saying that Doing so requires disclosure.
Once the patent expired, anyone could use this recipe to produce a generic version of the world-famous drink, and the document remained sealed in a bank in Atlanta until Coca-Cola decided 86 years later to transfer the recipe to a purpose-built vault at the Coca-Cola Museum in Atlanta. KFC has also kept its secret blend of 11 herbs and spices blended in two different locations and combined in a third.
To maintain your competitive advantage, it is also necessary to be proactive in innovation, problem-solving, and facing challenges. Plan for the future of your company or project and do your best to maintain your competitive advantage, which is one of the most important steps to the success of your project.
The old saying goes: “Rome was not built in a day.” To achieve the required success, stay focused on achieving your goals in the short and long term, commit to perseverance, discipline, and clear vision, and possess the basic skills to achieve success.
Finally: I know that simplifying your project idea is a painful experience, especially if you built on the previous idea and worked hard. Remember that your previous experience, however, will be of assistance in the new simplified idea. The decision to adopt a simple project idea will not necessarily force you to re-exert the previous effort, as with the simplification of the idea, the tasks and tasks will also be simplified.