The success of your company solely depends on the acceptability of your product/service in the market place. Thus every company, irrespective of size and sector, needs to have an appropriate "go to market" strategy to remain in business.

It is also obvious that all companies do not have deep pockets required to spend on sales and marketing initiatives. So as an entrepreneur, you need to strike the right partnerships to penetrate and survive in markets where you have had no prior presence.

But before you start looking for alliances, here are some suggestions:

Look before you leap

Tip No: 1: If you are a first-time business, make this your mantra. Before launching any product or service, you must explore and study the market properly. Imagine developing a product which nobody wants. Do not assume or say it's a gut feeling that this is what the market wants. Ask some agency to poll the market, or if you do not have the funds, do it yourself.

Here's Tip No: 2: Once you are ready with the product/ service, you must activate the advertisement or marketing campaign. Simultaneously, launch the product. Ensure your product reaches the shops or retail network before the ad campaign is kicked off, or else, buyers will get cheesed off for wanting to buy your product but not finding it in the market place.

Keep a watch
   
Once you have launched, your real work starts. Do not get complacent, post launch. You must track the product or service to understand whether it has been accepted or not. Depending on the response, you may also have to make improvements. So, constant monitoring of the product/service is a must if you want to succeed as an entrepreneur.

"Most people jump into the market without proper research and customer feedback to get a setback. So the mantra is interview, view and review. This means, you must interview the public as to what they want; after developing and launching the product you must view the market and after that you must review the product for further upgrade or to get feedback," advises Jagdeep Kapoor, Chairman & Managing Director, Samsika Marketing Consultants.

To get into the market you need channel partners or commission agents who will distribute your products to the retailers.

Tip No 3: You must try to identify the right partners or agents as he/she is the key to the commercial success.

Once you have identified your partners, support them with sales and marketing promotion to give the product a push. Go step by step. If yours is a small company, you should grow slowly, steadily and should not spread everywhere without the necessary support and backing. "First you have to be local, then regional, then national and finally an international brand," explains Kapoor.

Chose the right mate

If you are venturing out of your own strong hold into other areas, you should partner with people who are strong in their regions and are willing to invest in your product.

"When your budgets are limited, when you do not have knowledge about a particular market, do not have reach and where there is calculated risk, you should partner with someone," says Ravi Kiran, Head, Projects, Brand Map.

A lot also depends on the budget you have and type of your product you are launching in the market. If you don't have a sales budget, you cannot go on your own and you need to share your profits with your channel partner. For example if you are producing wine, you can rope in a partner who can take care of the total distribution and collection.
You can also partner with someone who can invest in a bottling plant to cater to a particular market.

*Here's a wrap up:

>Explore the market and study it
>Activate and launch product
>Review and monitor it
>Understand the customers' needs
>Observe and listen to the customers
>Re-validate with more market research
>First, go local, then global
>Select the right channel partner
>Pay normal industry margins, don't pay more or less
>Go for JV if you lack the budget and experience

New Age Content Services
smementor@moneycontrol.com