Hi guys,

Would appreciate your thoughts regarding a business dilemma I am dealing with at the moment.

I am in the business of sourcing and importing from China, of lots of products, but notably building materials, tiles, tools etc'. Seeing that the economy in general and the property market in particular is going down the hill, I am contemplating entering new industries. I was thinking about the wedding industry, i.e. wedding gowns. The reasoning behind, is that regardless of the situation, people still marry and tend to spend a lot of money on that occasion.

But do I go about it?

Cheers,

Yael

Dear Yael,

A good question, I can fully understand why you may be considering moving into a different type of business, and suspect others will be thinking the same.

It will be worth having a look at our other forums as there are a number of tips about marketing, but as a starter there are a few questions you should ask yourself:

What do you know about this type of business, and how long will it take you to learn about what is needed, how to ensure customers are understood and satisfied. How easy is it to get into this new area, are there set up costs or barriers to entry?

How much of a market will there be - true people will still get married but perhaps they will reduce spend if the recession really hits - always worth trying to quantify the potential.

What is the competition like? Are they in your area (is it a geographical thing?) and if so is there anything you can do that they cannot? Are there weaknesses there?

There's lots more, it is always important to go through the analytical process before starting something like this as you are more likely to be successful if you do (or even decide it is too risky and re-run the process for something more suitable).

As I say, have a look at our marketing tips and papers and get back to us with further questions.

I am sure others have some tips etc - anyone out there already in the wedding business?

kind regards
Stephanie

__________________
Dr Stephanie Morgan
Crosslight Management
www.crosslight.co.uk