You’ve joined us here on a cold winter morning at the London Olympic Stadium, as one online writer is about to make the most obvious statement the internet has ever read…
He’s warming up now, preparing his typing fingers and readying himself to block people on Twitter…
Ladies and gentlemen, it looks like he’s going to say it…
‘Being a startup business is, like, really hard.’
That’s it! He’s done it! He’s made the most obvious statement it’s possible to make! But can he save his career as an online writer by backing up his sentence with a useful article on startups that have made a success of themselves?
It looks like he can! So, let’s stop berating him and see what SMEs he sees as an inspiration in today’s marketplace.
CJ Connally
In the world of electrical and mechanical engineering, CJ Connally has been reigning supreme in the Yorkshire area for many years.
And the reason for this is simple – great service delivered efficiently by licensed engineers.
In more detail, the real reason for Connally’s success is trust. Word of mouth plays a huge factor in the engineering game, and Connally receives referrals in spades.
If you’re thinking of beginning an engineering firm, theirs is the rulebook to play by.
The Skinny
In a world where the print medium looks about as healthy as the residents of your local graveyard, free cultural magazine The Skinny stands strong.
In part, this is because the magazine keeps its outgoings low with staff of largely unpaid volunteers. But it’s also cultivated a cultural cache that makes advertisers drool.
Focusing on film, theatre, music, LGBT issues and a smorgasbord of other hot-button subjects, The Skinny’s student audience know where they can find their free copy, keeping circulation high.
What’s more, its high turnover of writers keeps the prose fresh and energetic. We’d recommend you pick up a copy and figure out the mysterious alchemy of their marketing strategy.
Skyscanner
Skycanner was a lowly startup only two decades ago, and now it’s worth billions of pounds.
The strategy? Find an untapped resource, in this case, the internet, and create an easy-to-use site with a core feature that won’t go out of date.
The airline price comparison site has taken this bare-bones mission statement and run with it, adding a variety of bells and whistles to its site along the way.
It’s a company that’s had imitators over the past 20 years, but it’s also created a robust site that’s gained the trust of millions of users.
These three companies have taken seemingly pedestrian concepts and turned them into profitable enterprises. Study their strategies and see how they can apply to your business.
