Phew!

Sorry for taking so long to blog... It's been a busy few weeks! I'm delighted to report that the number of people in Ireland considering self-employment as a major life choice is on the up-and-up!

It's great to see so many versatile business types popping up all over the place. The most common questions posed to me recently have been around the areas of marketing - the market research side of things (in great detail, often sector specific!) and the advertising side. Much of the time, people simply just don't know where to start. The best thing to do is a wee spider diagram. It really is that basic! That's all it takes to start. A doodle.

Once you start you will realise it can be difficult to stop! And yes, you will automatically move into the more grown-up sort of scenario, with lists, graphs, diagrams of your target market... The pages of market research will become almost endless.

Why?

Because the more you know about your target market, the better equipped you are to service it.

Same goes for competitors.

If you can identify the best and worst bits about your competitors, then you're laughing.

Because?

You can make their weaknesses your strengths. And their strengths your strengths too. If you are both catering for the same type of client, find out what works for them and provide it too - do it better than them - and whatever area of weakness they have, learn from their mistakes and make sure it's not your area of crapness too!!!