MARKETING IN SMALL ENTERPRISES 

Market Potential and Market Assessment. 

A market refers to all buyers (people, institutions) within a specific geographical area, who are in need of business products, willing and able to buy them. These constitute a real market. This means that people or institutions, a constitute a market for any business (like trading business) should exhibit the following; 

• Need or want the products being sold by the business.
• Able to buy the products.
• Are willing to buy the product.

A potential market for a business is composed of people or institutions in need and is able but is not yet willing to buy its products. 

Market assessment is the process of determining the market of the products of the business. Basing on the above concepts, an entrepreneur can clearly identify that a real market, potential market and market assessment are three distinctive terms (they have different meanings).

Importance of Market Assessment 

• Before an entrepreneur generates a business opportunity, he/ she may carryout market assessment in order to find out the real and potential market of the different products that would be generated from different business ideas.
• Through this, one would make the best selection from the many and hence, faster yields from the business. So when a given business opportunity is started, entrepreneurs also carry out market for the products, their needs and what to be done to maintain and expand the market.
• It helps in identifying of customer complaints or needs or problems for a particular product and hence, one can devise ways of improving, expanding and fulfilling the customers’ needs or desires.
• Market assessment provides information concerning various aspects of the business, for instance, one may determine the market share, effectiveness of his/ her marketing strategies like advertising, promotion programs and for the case of a new product being introduced to the market, one gets customers response to this new product.
• It also helps an entrepreneur to make decision like whether to set up and maintain or expand the business, whether to increase on the distribution channels or not, etc.

Factors for Assessing Market Potential for a Business 

These are factors which one should consider when determining customers who are in need and able to have his products and among which are; 

1. Demand: This is the amount of the product that people are willing and able to buy at a given price, if the demand is high, the market potential will also be high and hence, the better prospectus of the business.
2. Competition: This is all about a business struggling to maintain its customers as well as attracting those of other business, mainly those who sell the same or related products. A business which faces high competition will automatically experience a low market potential as it will keep on losing customers to other businesses/ competitors.
3. Prices: There might be many people who would be willing to have a business product but their ability to buy them is restricted by the prices at which it is being offered, however, this one depends on the nature of the market, for instance, the potential market for expensive shoes in rural areas is very low as people will not afford them and thus second hand clothes will have a high potential market.
4. Availability of Substitutes: These are alternative products which customers can go for in order to satisfy the same need, e.g. beans, and peas, kiwi and dragon shoe polish. Thus a commodity without substitutes will have a high potential market compared to the one with close substitutes e.g. salt as the customer will be having no alternative apart from the product.
5. Income Levels: The ability of the target people or institutions to buy a business product at a profitable price will influence the potential market, i.e. the higher the income level, the higher the potential market will be.
6. The location of the business also affects the potential market, a business which is strategically located in relation to its target customers will have a higher potential market than the one which was not planned for, that is why a business plan is a very important management tool as far as a business is concerned.
7. The number of people: Business and institutions that operate from a target area will also determine the potential market, the bigger the number of people, the higher the potential market.
8. Government Policies: These may affect the business operations e.g. the opening hours for business, the location of the business, the nature of customers to serve etc, for instance, trading business which were located near the bus park in Kampala were having a high, market potential, however, when the concerned authorities decided to demolish the park and set up the bus terminal building, all those businesses lost their market.

Factors Considered when conducting a Market Assessment 

For an entrepreneur to conduct a market assessment for his or her products, he or she should consider a number of factors which may include; 

1. The target markets for the products i.e. the people, business or institutions the business intends to serve. This provides a boundary within which the assessment is to be done, e.g. with the target group one may look at the age, sex, income levels, education, etc.
2. The nature of the product to be produced and the market needs under this, one looks at the variety of products, quality, design, brand name, packaging, etc and all these are checked against what the market or customers would wish to have.
3. The competition and substitute products facing the business and this affects the market, most business have competitors and their products can be substituted for the ones the entrepreneur wishes to make.
4. The target market trends and their implications on the business market, an entrepreneur would wish to know how the market the market he hopes to join has been behaving in the recent past since it will affect the products he is to sell now and in the future. Among the trend issue that one would wish to know may include the following;
   • Is the market expanding or controlling?
   • Is the market stable or unstable?
   • How are new entrants treated in the market?

Conducting a Market Assessment for a Business Opportunity

 There are various guidelines that may be used when assessing an opportunity or a product or services. They include; 

1. Customer’s identity; under this, you will determine the category of customers in your market and the information you will look for will involve;
   • Who your customers are, age and sex.
   • Their occupation.
   • Their family size and marital status.
   • Where they live, their interest and hobbies.
   • Their level of income.
2. Customers’ needs or wants; Again here, you will receive information which will answer questions like;
   • What particular products do your customers need?
   • What special features are they looking for in the products i.e. size, colour, packaging, etc. With all the above collected information, you will be able to identify your market share as compared to your competitors. If you find out that your share is saturated with more capable competitors, then you should get rid of the business and try to identify other opportunities from a list of the available ideas you have.

 Using the S.W.O.T Analysis to determine the competitive Advantage of a Business. 

SWOT analysis is a tool which enables an entrepreneur to check the chances of success of his/ her business in the market. This will enable him/ her to decide whether he/ she should continue with the business or not. SWOT analysis enables an entrepreneur to check his business strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, compares them with those of his competitors so as to determine whether his business is in a better position to compare favourably with those of his competitors. Some of the issues that an entrepreneur will consider when carrying out self-assessment using SWOT analysis to determine his competitive advantage are; 

1. Strengths: These are things/ features or qualities that put an entrepreneur’s business products at an advantage compared to those the competitors, they include;
   • High quality products
   • Ability to produce a product that meet customer needs.
   • Customer friendly who can buy at profitable prices.
   • Efficiency and effectiveness when handling customers.
   • Ability to attract customers.
   • Good location of the business. ü Well trained marketing staff. 
2. Weaknesses: These are constraints or limitations that the business products mat face in the market. They include;
   • Being new in the market hence low market/ weak image. ü Weak distribution image  ü Low marketing skills. 
   • Higher costs compared to the competitors ü Poor and inaccessible location of the business.
   • Inability to finance the needed marketing changes.
3. Opportunities: These are external chances or possibilities and benefits to the business. However, the business has no control over them, i.e. they may happen or not happen. They include;
   • Sudden changes in customer’s tastes and fashions, in favour of an entrepreneur’s products.
   • Possibility of big orders for the products, say from the government, may be due to certain changes in government policies.
   • Changes in the market trends due to new development like a large institution being set up near the business.
   • Falling trade barriers in attractive foreign markets, like the COMESA, that removed some duties off imports and exports for traders who come from countries under COMESA increased market growth.
   • Complacency among rival firms/ enterprises i.e. where rivals feel that they are satisfied with the market they have and the kind of services they provide and cannot make more improvement or expansion of their work.
4. Threats: These are undesirable happenings that may occur in the market to the disadvantage of the business.

They include; 

• Entry of new lower cost foreign companies in the market.
• Increase in sales of substitute goods.
• Costly regulatory requirements.
• Increasing bargaining power of customers and suppliers.
• Sudden negative changes in government policies. ü Competitors reducing their prices for the goods.

Marketing refers to a series of activities undertaken by an entrepreneur in order to find out who his/ her customers are and what they need or want. It consists of activities that involves the flow of goods and services from the producer to the customer. The major objective of marketing is to ensure that the needs of customers are satisfied as an entrepreneur makes profits through satisfying these needs (sales). Some of the marketing activities undertaken includes;

• Finding out what people or customers need or want.
• Developing or providing the goods or services that meets the identified needs or wants of customers.
• Setting affordable prices i.e. what customers are willing to pay and will enable the entrepreneur to make some profits.
• Making products available at places where customers can access them easily.
• Promoting the products by informing and attracting customers to buy them and retain their interests in buying the products. In marketing, an entrepreneur mainly focuses on the buyer/ customer.

The Selling Function

 Selling is a two-way communication between the buyer and the seller. The purpose of this personal contact between the two people is to enable the entrepreneur (or his sales person) persuade the buyer to accept it and the reason as to why it would be good to buy it other than other products. 

The creative selling Process (Sales Man ship) The creative selling process involves the following steps; 

1. Pre-sale preparation; The first step in personal selling is the selection, training and motivation of sales persons. The salespersons must be fully familiar with the product, the firm, the market and the selling techniques. They should be well-informed about the competitors’ products and the degree of competition.
2. Prospecting; e. locating the customers, prospects are people or firms that are likely to buy the products, so in prospecting, an entrepreneur finds where to go, who to see, what to do and say.
3. Pre-approach; with this, an entrepreneur gathers information about his/ her own products, that of the competitors and his prospects, i.e. personal information about age, interests, income, etc of the customers, which helps him to sell products that meet his/ her customers’ needs/ wants.
4. Approach; this is the first face to face meeting with the customer, the approach should be well planned so as to create a good impression and win the customer. The first ten words used at this stage are more important than the next five hundred words.
5. Sales presentation; this involves attracting and retaining the buyer’s attention, an entrepreneur works hard to create interest in the customers’ minds. Creative selling can be achieved by;
   • Making a strong point about a producer right from the beginning of the presentation.
   • Talk more about other benefits of the product than its features, like this type of shoe is durable and comfortable instead of saying “this is leather shoe.” ü Give the customer/ buyer complete attention.
   • Involve the buyer in the discussion/ conversation.
   • Listen to the customer to make him/ her understand his/ her needs.
6. Handling objections; objections arise when a buyer says “no” to the price or design of the product. This is the beginning of selling and it means the buyer has interest in the product. The following methods may be used to handle objections.
   • Listen to the customer and do not interrupt him/ her.
   • Use a “yes, but” method. For instance, if a buyer says “your price is too high”, say yes but you will benefit more as it is more durable and elegant compared to others …..,
   • Ask the customer what he/ she do not like about the product and give an alternative to meet his/ her needs.
   • Turn the buyer’s attention from objection to another benefit of more appeal.
7. Closing a sale; this involves finding a way of making a customer act or buy the product. Here, an entrepreneur may use the following methods.
   • Shall I receive one for you?
   • at size, quantity, shape, colour, etc do you prefer?
8. Follow-up, e. the support an entrepreneur gives his/ her customers after the sale of the goods. This creates repeated purchase. It can be done through sending an e-mail, phone call, etc. thanking him for previous purchase and in case a customer needs more, you can get to know through this follow – up step.

 How to become a Successful Sales Person One should improve the skills of selling and sales, i.e. should know the needs of his/ her customers, the needs can be identified through listening to them and allow them to ask questions, giving them advice and offering suitable goods or services. A sales person should also know how to treat the customers, they should be treated in the same way or better ways than the sales person would like to be treated when he/ she is a customer. The following ways are helpful in customer treatment; 

• Greeting the customers and where possible, call them by their names.
• When a customer comes and finds you working on another one, greet him/ her and tell him that you are to attend to them soon.
• Be polite and friendly, this makes the customers feel welcomed and enjoy visiting the business regularly.
• Should look clean and tidy.
• Listen carefully to what the customers say and ask questions to find out what they need.
• Be patient and give them time to ask questions and decide what they want. If you do not have what they want, continue directing them where they can get it so that you retain your reputation towards them, this will attract them to come again.
• Thank the customers for coming to the business even if they have not bought your products. A sales person should also be well conversant with the product he/ she is selling, customers will ask you very many questions concerning the products, like how they work, then the usage, etc, you should be ready to give the technical information that is needed, demonstrate how the product can be used and how it operates.

 Differences between Selling  and Marketing 

• Marketing focuses on customers’ needs while selling focuses on seller’s needs.
• In marketing, there is an integrated approach to achieve long term goals, while there is a fragmented approach of achieving immediate gains.
• In marketing, a customer enjoys supreme importance, while in selling, a product, enjoys supreme importance.
• In marketing, an entrepreneur converts customer’s needs into a product, while in selling, he/ she converts products into cash. e) In marketing, there is caveat customer’s needs into a product, while in selling, there is caveat emptor (let the buyer be aware).
• In marketing, profits are realized through customer satisfaction while in selling, profits are realized through the volume of sales.
• In marketing, much emphasis is put on planning and development to match products with market needs, while in selling; pressure is on selling goods already produced.

Marketing Mix 

Marketing mix is the term used to describe a combination of various elements (marketing activities) which constitute the core of a company’s marketing system. It may also be defined as a set of controllable variables that are put together in order to satisfy target customers. These elements includes; product, price, promotion, place and positioning. They are normally termed as 5Ps as below; 

1. Product This refers to anything offered by a business to satisfy the needs/ wants of customers. It can be a good or a service like shoes, vehicles, medical services, etc. Customers always buy goods and services that satisfy their needs and wants and such needs keep on changing overtime. This requires an entrepreneur to regularly carryout market research to establish changes in tastes so as to produce the desired products. An entrepreneur should also produce good quality, unique in design, etc so that consumers would always prefer taking them to those of the competitors.

Factors considered when Developing a Product 

• Develop a product in response to the needs of consumers.
• Decide on shape, colour, packaging material, brand name, quality and quantity basing on the needs of customers.
• Determine whether to make your products similar to others or unique as compared to those of other sellers.
• Determine the availability of raw materials necessary for the making of the product.
• Government policy i.e. should produce a product that meets the set standards of the government policies, as in quality, quantity, etc.

Elements of a Product 

There are majorly four elements of a product, i.e.

1. Description; i.e. the product name, how it can be referred to, like French cut, marine cut, etc. It should be a unique description and appealing/ attractive to customers.
2. Product attributes; these are features or characteristics that make a product different from others, it can be in terms of taste, colour, texture, etc, all these features enable a product to stand out from the rest.

• Quality; this is the extent to which the product meets the needs of customers, expectations or requirements, so quality should be in response to the needs of customers.

1. Branding; this makes the product distinct or different from others, either through its description, attributes or quality. Branding creates customer loyalty about a particular product like Chairman extra strong brew, Royal Vodka, Guiness the power, Bell lager the achievers’ drink, etc.

NB: There are two product value methods of promoting a product, i.e. 

• Non-productive value method, which refers to any value or incentive an entrepreneur gives to his customers but are not specifically related to the value of his product, like good customer care, secure parking space, etc.
• Product value method; these includes improving the quality of the product, improve on the packaging facilities, colour, shape and size of the product.

2. Price This is monetary value of a product. An entrepreneur should sell his products at prices that will attract customers; however, prices should be favorable to enable an entrepreneur make a profit.

Factors considered when determining Price.

• The cost of the product, the price determined should be able to cover the incurred cost and remain with some profit.
• The quality to be bought and how much they are willing to pay, those who are willing to have bulk purchases should be lower than those who buy in small quantities.
• The price of competitors’ product, i.e. if a product has close or related substitutes, an entrepreneur should ensure that the prices are in line with those of the competitors or even lower.
• The profit margin that an entrepreneur wants, one should determine a price which covers the costs and remains with a profit margin that he/ she wishes.
• Whether the product is seasonally demanded or not, i.e. seasonal products like rain coats, chrismas cards, etc, are usually sold at higher prices than those that are not seasonal.

Common Methods of Pricing 

• Cost oriented pricing; here, the price is based on the product cost, it should cover the costs of production and some profit is estimated and a final price of the product is estimated.
• Demand oriented pricing; with this method, price is normally based on the desire to attract customers and increase the demand for the products, e.g. a high price is charged where demand is strong and vise vasa, that are why always new ladies’ fashions on the market (cloths) are highly priced due to high demand.
• Competition oriented pricing; i.e. here the prices are determined by the prices of competitors, it should always not be the same, i.e. it may be higher or lower than those of competitors, preferably should be lower as customers would need a product that is lowly charged.
• Value pricing; i.e. where pricing is based on the value of the product, the higher the value, the higher the price, that’s why gold watches and rings are highly priced than the normal one.
• Haggling/ bargaining; this involves a discussion between the buyer and the seller until they come to an agreement on the final price, this normally happens in markets like St. Balikudembe (former Owino market), Kibuye market in Kampala and other markets.
• Forces of demand and supply, i.e. where supply for the goods equates to the demand for the goods, then the price is determined, the price determined at that point is termed as equilibrium price.
• Supply oriented pricing; where pricing is based on the volume of products supplied on the market, the higher the supply, the lower the price charged and the reverse is true.
• Fashion oriented pricing; where pricing depends on the fashion of the product, new fashions on the market tend to attract many customers and hence, charged highly, that’s why new fashions of ladies’ jeans and tops are highly priced.
• Government pricing; i.e. where the government sets up both maximum prices for the goods and sellers may be prohibited from selling above or below the set price.

3. Place; This is concerned with various methods of making products available to the customers, getting the right product at the right place and time involves transporting, storing and stocking the products to make them available for the consumers all the time. This means that place includes;

• The process of moving goods and services to the places where they are wanted by customers.
• The channels through which the products are made available to customers like shops, wholesalers, retailers, etc.

Factors that an Entrepreneur considers when choosing a Place

• Transport network; an entrepreneur should locate a business in an area where there is efficient and effective transport which will enable him/ her make products available to consumers all the time.
• Storage facilities; i.e. where goods will be kept safely till they are needed by the customers, good storage facilities protect the goods from damage by too much heat, moisture, theft, etc.
• Security; i.e. the place where the business products are being made available should be secure. This will minimize the risks of stock losses through thefts and break-ins.
• Ease of access to sell to customers, customers prefer goods and services which they can easily access any time they need them in order to minimize transport costs and time wastage.
• Delivery facilities and costs incurred when transporting the product, i.e. the business products should be placed in such a way that they are easy to deliver to customer, which would help to reduce the delivery costs.

4. Promotion This involves different ways of informing and attracting customers to buy products either for the first time or buy more of them. It involves activities which influences people to buy the products and the quantities they will buy. Some of the various methods that an entrepreneur may adopt in order to promote his/ her products includes;
   • Using window displays or putting outside the shop so that they can be seen easily by the passers-by.
   • Proper arrangement of the products inside the shop, which straightly attracts customers to buy, that’s why most people tend to move to supermarkets with an intention of looking at the well displayed goods and end up buying them.
   • Giving out free samples, gifts, etc, this will attract many customers to come and enjoy these free samples and hence end up buying more goods.
   • Use of attractive sign posts, neon signs where people can easily read and get to know your products.
   • Carrying out door-to-door advertising, where sales men move from house to house making them aware of the existence of the products.
   • Attending or through trade fares and exhibitions which normally attracts a bigger population of different income levels, for instance, the UMA trade show that is organized annually promotes a lot of business men.
   • Publicity, like use of public address systems which also attracts and makes people aware of the products.
5. Positioning; This refers (in marketing) to targeting a small segment of customers for whom and entrepreneur aims to sell his/ her products. It may also be referred to as the arrangement of products so as to occupy a clear, distinctive and desirable place relative to competing products in the minds of the target consumers. An entrepreneur may be guided by the following when carrying out product positioning;
   • What products do I offer/ serve?
   • What emphasis do I attach to each of them?
   • Who are my target buyers?
   • Where do they want to find the product?
   • Who are my direct competitors?
   • What unique attributes do I have compared to those of my competitors? ü How do customers want to be served?

 Planning Promotional Programs

 These are steps that an entrepreneur may follow when he/ she tries to communicate to his/ her target customers about the product he/ she is selling, they include; 

• Determine the target customers, i.e. this can be done through analyzing their consumption habits, sex, age, income, etc. All this can be done through carrying out a market research or survey. This will help him/ her to identify an appropriate promotional method to reach the identified customers.
• Determine the unique features of the product; here an entrepreneur decides on the unique features that the product will have in order to meet the identified customer needs, such features may be in quality, size, shape, price, package, etc.
• Constructing a business positioning strategy; this will seek to address the issues raised I positioning check list.
• Determine the best message to communicate to the target customers about the product, should involve the benefits to the target customers, this communication should aim at informing (emphasizing) the customers that failure to buy the product, they stand to lose a lot.
• Determine the production and advertising options and their associated costs, the option to be adopted should be cost effective but should be the one that will reach the target market.

Distribution Channels for Goods and Services

Definition;

 Channels of distribution refer to the ways in which products are made available to the customers. These are the arrangements through which products move from the producer to the final consumers. An entrepreneur would require a channel that can distribute his/her products to the right customers at the right place, time and cost. These channels will consist of different middlemen that participate in the distribution of products and bridge a gap between the manufacturer and the consumers.

 Types of Distribution Channels. 

1. Direct distribution/ Manufacturer-consumer channel; This channel is also known as direct-selling or short channel distribution. It is a method where an entrepreneur makes and sells his products directly to consumers. There are no middlemen involved. With this channel, a producer or trader may sell directly or through his or her own retail stores, e.g. Bata shoe company through mail or door-to-door selling. This channel is common in the distribution of industrial heavy equipement like tractors and expensive items. It is important for some businesses because customers can express directly what they like and enables an entrepreneur to work accordingly (satisfy their needs), However, it can be expensive and time consuming in terms of reading and serving customers.
2. Retail distribution/ Manufacturer to retailer to customers. This is also known as the medium channel. In this channel, the producer sells to big retailers like multiple shops, or departmental stores who in turn sell to consumers. It is common in the distribution of consumer goods hence, increasing the firm’s total sale and profitability. However, an entrepreneur who uses this channel may lose contact with the customers who use his products and this may lead to failure to notice their complaints and needs, and again may lose some money by selling to these retailers at a lower price to allow them also sell at a price.

• Wholesale distribution/ Manufacturer to wholesalers to Retailers to customers. This channel involves an entrepreneur selling in large quantities to wholesalers who in turn sell to retailers in small 252 quantities to retailers in relatively smaller quantities who finally sell them to consumers. This is also advantageous as it captures a bigger market, however, it reduces an entrepreneur’s profits due to a number of agents involved who also work for profits and may lose contact with his consumers.

1. Marketing and selling agents; these are commonly known as marketers or sales representatives. They are agents who sell products on behalf of entrepreneurs. They are paid a commission, which is based on the value and volume of sales.

Factors considered when choosing a Distribution Channel for Goods and Services

1. Nature of product; e. the make of the product to be distributed, for instance, perishable and expensive products require a direct distribution channel e.g. milk, fruits, gold, etc and also heavy products like machinery needs a short channel so as to minimize the transportation costs.
2. Reliability of the channel and its image; a reliable channel is the one that is able to provide and avail goods to customers where needed, for instance, house hold goods need a longer channel, which can reach customers at any time. This encourages customers to make repeated purchases.
3. Nature of market; The area where the goods are to be sold can influence the channel of distribution for instance, when the market is small and located within a narrow area, direct selling would be preferable and vise vasa for a bigger market and a geographically scattered market. 
4. Nature of customers; Customers have different habits and requirements, for instance, those who need credit purchases and home delivery services would need a short channel and hence may get direct contact with suppliers in order to reduce costs.
5. Cost effectiveness; As an entrepreneur looks forward to minimize costs as much as possible, as well as maximizing profits, one should choose a channel that is less costly or is likely to reduce the operating costs in order to maximize profits.
6. Location of target customers; where customers are near and within the reach of your business, a direct or short channel will be preferred. This helps an entrepreneur in identifying customer needs easily and reducing the distribution costs and the reverse is true where customers are far from your business.
7. Availability of storage facilities; these ensure the safety and stock of adequate quantities of goods needed by customers. If the producer, wholesaler and retailer have good storage facilities, one can buy from any depending on his/ her own convenience.
8. Nature of the business being operated; determines the channel of distribution, for instance, a financially strong firm may practice direct selling as it will have the ability to use the necessary market techniques, which may provide customers easy access to the goods. However, a single product firm will use a longer channel so as to reduce the cost of delivering goods directly to customers.
9. Availability of middlemen, if the desired type of middlemen is not available or when the available middlemen are not able or willing to provide transportation, after sales services, then a direct channel could be adopted and the reverse is true.
10. Degree of competition; if an entrepreneur works in a highly competitive environment, he/ she needs to use a longer channel which can distribute goods to a wider market/ in different areas so as to increase the market share and vise vasa.
11. Cost of distribution; if the cost of distribution in terms of transport and market are high, this will affect the overall profit of the firm, so an entrepreneur could reduce this through using a longer channel where such costs would be shared among these middlemen

Advertising 

Advertising refers to a process/ an activity that involves the spreading of information to the prospective buyers about a product, and increasing its awareness so as it increases sales. It involves giving information about a product to the prospective buyers/ customers to make them more informed and pick interest in buying the product. Advertising may be informal i.e. where potential customers are informed about a product that they are not aware of or an additional feature or use of the existing product. It may also be persuasive which attempts to entire the customers that the community in hand (being advertised) is better than any competing commodity. This is aimed at creating an inclination in the mind of the consumer towards a particular product. 

Ways of Advertising 

The various ways of advertising for different businesses includes; 

1. Print media; This involves advertising in newspapers, magazines, mails and posters. ii. Broadcast media; This involves advertising over the television, radios stations, etc.

• Out of home media; This form involves the use of billboards, sign posts, neon signs, banners, transit delivery, etc.

1. Other advertising medias includes; use of brochures, directory, price lists, exhibitions, trade fares, business cards, photographs, etc.
2. Direct marketing activities; this form can be done through telephone, direct contacts between the seller and the buyers, etc.
3. It also bridges the gap between the entrepreneur and his customers like through the press, phone calls, etc, an entrepreneur establishes good contact with his ultimate customers.

Factors considered when choosing an Advertising medium in an Enterprise 

Among the factors that an entrepreneur would consider when choosing a mode of advertising includes; 

• The cost of the medium; the cost should be cheap and affordable in order not to affect the business anticipated profits for an entrepreneur, the cost should not be more than the value of the goods, that’s why expensive products are advertised over the television and magazines, whereas cheaper ones over the radio and posters.
• Target consumers have to be considered, it will be useless to advertise a product in newspapers and magazines when your target group is composed of literates and local people who cannot even read nor access the magazines and newspapers, you rather use radios, then if you are targeting rich people and literates, you can then use televisions and newspapers.
• Age group of the target market has to be considered, different age groups have different media like if you are targeting youths, better use televisions, magazines, whereas if you are targeting adults, use radios and newspapers since they listen to radios more than televisions.
• Speed and urgency of the information should be considered, if an entrepreneur needs to access his market very fast, he should use media like over the radio, television, etc than magazines that are out weekly, monthly, etc, then if one wishes his information to reach the market in less than 24 hours, should rather use a radio and television than newspapers as they are out every after 24 hours.
• Geographical area to be covered, one should use an appropriate medium that can reach the geographical area he/ she is targeting for instance, there are some areas where newspapers and magazines cannot reach, so in order to reach such markets, one should use a media type like radios, televisions, posters, etc.
• Consider the media used by competitors, one is expected to use a medium that is better off than the competitors’ in terms of market coverage, urgency, reliability, etc, but this should be done in consideration of the cost of the medium in comparison with the expected returns (sales).
• The availability of the medium, for instance, however, much one would wish to use neon signs as a medium of advertising in areas where there is no electricity/ power, it would not be possible, like in remote areas, thus one should consider media forms that are available and affordable
• Nature of the commodity to be advertised should be considered, like there are some commodities that can best be advertised by showing their fashions, models, colour and forms, like cars, machines, etc, so such items cannot be advertised over the radios instead a television is appropriate as it will portray all the necessary features to the potential market.

Communication Skills in Health Service Business

 Communication is an important aspect in business as an entrepreneur would deal with different parties both within the enterprise like employees and outside the enterprise like the public, government, stake holders, suppliers, institutions, etc. 

Communication is a two-way process that involves the transfer of information, ideas and knowledge from one person (sender) to another (receiver).

 Importance of Communication to an Entrepreneur/ Health service Business.

• Helps an entrepreneur to pass on relevant information to his staff, customers, government and public which may be beneficial to the business, e.g. informing the staff about the new changes in management and production.
• Helps in recruiting and selecting workers for the business, e.g. publishing advertisements, to those who can send application letters for selection of required staff.
• Helps in keeping good relationship within his customers and new customers. 

• Helps in creating good understanding between the entrepreneur and his/ her employees, i.e. through conducting meetings and discussions.
• Helps the entrepreneur to coordinate operations of his/ her business that are executed in the different departments.
• It acts as a measure of managing credit sales and credit purchases in business hence, smooth running of the business.
• Communication acts as a form of increasing the sales volume and widening the market share, e.g. through advertising, printing brochures concerning the business, etc.
• It is one of the means that facilitates the establishment and starting a business, i.e. through registering with the Registrar of businesses, one needs an article of association. Memorandum of association, Certificate of trading and incorporation, etc.
• Helps an entrepreneur to know what, how much and when his customers need his commodities, i.e. through letters of inquiry and purchase orders.
• Helps the general public to get knowledge about the existence of the business, and its operations, which improves on t bodies to monitor and direct the business operations.

Essentials of Effective Communication 

Communication is said to be effective if the message sent is understood in the sense by the receiver as communicated by the sender. For communication to be effective, it should possess the following, i.e. 7Cs of effective communication 

 Complete i.e. the message should include all facts the receiver needs to know about the subject matter on which communication is based. 

 Concise: i.e. the sender should give the message in the fewest words possible, it should not be too wordy so as not to confuse the receiver. 

 Courteous: i.e. the sender should be sincere when giving the information and should avoid hurting the  receiver, however, he/ she should not depart or shy away from addressing the issues under concern. 

 Correctness: i.e. information being sent should be as correct as possible. 

 Considerate: i.e. the message should be as clear as possible, i.e. the sender should choose word and language that is familiar to the receiver. 

Clear: i.e the message should be clear 

Barriers to Effective Communication 

A barrier to communication is any hinderance that stops the receiver from getting the message the way it was sent by the sender. Some barriers to effective communication include; 

• Unclear message i.e. where it is missing the target group, time, venue and purpose.
• Inappropriate channel of communication, e.g. communicating through television media when your target group is blind people.
• Lack of interest by the receiver e.g. if the message is communicated at an inconvenient time, or a wrong target group.
• Inappropriate environment, e.g. where there is a lot of noise, which obscures one from listening to verbal message properly.
• Unattractive message to the receiver is not well packaged to attract the listener.
• Incompleteness of the message.
• Lack of sender’s consideration of the receiver in his communication.
• Using of funny or a language which is not clear to the receiver e.g. a kid saying “am Kawaa” to his parents.

Methods of Communication. 

1. Oral communication; this is the use of word of mouth when communicating, either face to face or by telephone, it is a common form of communication in business. It minimizes the chance of communication breakdown as parties involved deal with each other directly, by discussing and agreeing at the end there and the.
2. Visual communication; This is communication by presenting information through the use of diagrams and pictures without necessarily using word, e.g. organizational charts, photographs, posters, graphs, pie-charts, etc which may deplet different situations in business, e.g. business growth, trends, sales and other business trends.
3. Written communication; This involves writing business letters, memorandums, circulars, reports, bulletins, business manuals, journals, minutes, etc.

Forms of Written Communication 

• A business letter: This is a correspondence from one organization to another, where one business may write to another business about goods or services available for sale and their corresponding terms and conditions, or another business may write to a customer reminding him of the payments due but not cleared, etc.
• A memo: This is written communication within an organization, i.e. can move from one office to another but within the same organization, for instance, the manager may use a memo to inform the employees about staff meeting which is to take place on a stated date, etc
• Circulars: These are written documents given to different people but having the same information, this document is prepared and then duplicated/ photocopied and copies are circulated to their specified designation, e.g. The head teacher of the school normally prepares circulars to be taken to the parents at the end of the term.
• An action/ circulation slip: This may be used by an entrepreneur to inform the named personnel, i.e. if one person receives the document, reads it and passes it on to another person named on the slip.
• Reports: These are used by an entrepreneur to give conclusions and recommendations based on investigated facts and situations, for instance, the weekly report that shows the business operations and financial performance of the business in the stated week (it is prepared at the end of the week).
• Notices: These may be used by an entrepreneur when giving out short messages to concerned persons, for instance, a notice may be a reminder to the customer for payment, intension to sues, etc.
• Bulletins, business manuals, journals; etc, these can be used by entrepreneurs to give information about the business operations, products, history/ back ground of the enterprise and such journals may be given to both customers and potential buyers.
• Minutes: These are documents prepared so as to keep records of the resolutions of a meeting, such minutes could be used for future reference and implementation i.e. basing on what was resolved in the meeting.

Forms of Visual Communication

1. Organizational charts: These can be used to show the organization structure of the business, showing different sections or departments in the business and how they relate or report to each other. This structure/ chart is in hierarchy as it normally moves from the top management up to the lower subordinates.
2. Photographs: These can be used as illustration of some other information given so as to improve on appreciation and understanding; such photographs are used to advertise the goods and their needs to customers i.e. how they can efficiently and effectively satisfy the needs of customers.
3. Films or documentaries: For instance, films may show customer care activities, business latest products and their applications, they can also be used for training purposes, documentaries can be used by entrepreneurs to appeal to the target customers and the general public.
4. Posters and wall charts: These can also be used to represent or illustrate certain information in the business and serve as an important method of advertising and giving awareness to the target groups.
5. Graphs can also be used by an entrepreneur to present information about the performance of the business, like one can use bar charts, graphs, pie-charts, etc, to compare the sales or profits of different periods and also to show the trend of business performances.

Techniques of Communicating With Customers. 

1. How to present a product. When presenting a product to a customer, an entrepreneur should;
   • Consider customer’s privacy, convenience, ability to use the product, etc. ü Consider the needs of target customers. 
   • Consider the giving of samples, guarantee, etc to back up the product.
   • Consider presentation aids like photographs, catalogues and charts to back up the product.
2. How to bargain with a customer; When bargaining, a health service entrepreneur should bear a good communication, should avoid dominating the customer and should try to give the customer satisfying reasons why the product is being sold at the offer price, may also give counter offers like reduction in price, delivery services, etc. c) How to follow up orders from suppliers of the health products; In order to give personal attention, an entrepreneur should understand the needs of customers and come up with those products that satisfy them, i.e. the products need to be at the right price, right quantity, should be given the right promotion and in the right place and at the right time in order to meet the needs of customers identified by the entrepreneur.
3. d) How to follow up orders from suppliers of health service products; The health service entrepreneur should make sure that he has the physical address and postal address, telephone numbers and all other contacts, you can make other methods of contacts as you follow up your order like writing a reminder letter.

e) How to collect overdue accounts in health service business; 

• Sending polite reminders to customers with overdue accounts and suggesting the dates for settling the debt.
• If no response is received within the specified time, a stronger worded reminder should be sent. ü If recovery is not affected, employ courts of law for those debtors who stubbornly fail to pay.

1. f) How to handle difficult customers in health service management; In order to handle difficult customers, a health service entrepreneur should; 

• Acknowledge and evaluate customer objection fairly.
• Listen carefully to the words being used and feelings being expressed.
• Leave the customer to be open such that you can understand the basis for his being difficult. The customer may raise some important points.
• Buy time by suggesting that you will look at the issue later.
• As you try to convince the customer from your point of view, hold your argument until the customer agrees with you.