24. Let's Get This Show On the Road

Lahera Consultation and Media

Opportunity:

To start, this idea started from the knowledge that many people have ideas for companies that they want to start, but they have no idea about how to get the idea moving forward.  The big companies like that because they can either sponsor their conception and use the knowledge or idea for their own benefit, or completely suppress their ability to enter the market.  With all of that in mind, it is my idea to create a company dedicated to the needs of startups.  I have seen over and over again companies that do not have the organization, branding, or development to get off the ground.  Some of it is not their fault to be honest.  If you are an expert in your field people cannot expect you to perform at a high enough level to run the company without help or support.  A great example is my own father.  He does garage doors on the side, and I developed his social media, graphics, and advertising methods because that is not his expertise.  He does a fantastic job with garage doors, but that does not do you any good unless you have a way to sell it to people in a professional manner.  

Basically, the people that have the needs are those that are new to the business world and have a great idea, but very little business sense.  Even though this is the group that I would like to specialize in and really help, I am not limited to these groups.  My potential customer base is anyone that has branding/media/consultation needs for their company.  For example, right now one of my best clients is in the political field and has had an established brand for almost a year.  They have logos, and graphics in place, but when they expand (which they are currently do a lot of) they cannot figure out setting up a new Facebook page or accommodating the addition into their suite.  I have been in charge of all of that expansion which has proven to be a great asset to their overall brand.  So as I was saying, it does not need to be people that are just starting up, it can be any business that would like to take a new approach to how their business is managing their marketing or advertising.  

Because most of my position is technology related rather than needing to get a product to a specific part of the country, there are little bounds to my work.  Right now I am working with the following counties: Citrus, Alachua, Marion, Duval, Polk, Escambia, and several others.  This to me is great because my work can spread around the state of Florida.  This definitely helps a growing business.  Not only do I not need to maintain a brick-and-mortar location, but I can work all around the state.  If I had the opportunity to work across state lines, it may get hard for some of the aspects of what I am currently offering companies, but some of my services are easily accessible across state lines.  For example, I may not be able to manage a campaign in North Carolina, but I can create LLC’s, develop logos, start/manage social media, create products (shirts, vinyls, hats, etc.) for these areas.  Realistically, I will probably keep most of my work in Citrus, Marion, and Alachua counties because these are the most accessible in terms of having a place to stay and driving to.

Innovation:

In terms of the field, it has been calling for change and innovation for a long time.  People that have worked as consultants try to do what has been done by others and apply it to their clients, but as the demographics shift and people’s wants change the companies and consultants need to change as well.  First looking at the business side of what I do, if you look at logos there is a big difference in how companies presented themselves in the 90’s compared to now in terms of their graphics.  Looking at the trends, in recent years most companies have looked for simplicity in their logos.  However, moving forward, there has been a big shift to including vintage elements in logos and combining them with the simplicity of today.  What this translates to is bright colors, innovative ways to show shapes and symbols, but not over-stimulating the audience.  This is just one example, but setting trends is a way to create dominance in the market.  On the other side of the spectrum, politics has almost no innovation.  This is something that I have experienced by paying attention to various campaigns and we have had in-depth discussions about how this field hasn’t changed in my Political Behavior class.  From what I have witnessed first-hand is that many campaigns are dedicated to sending out mailers that do now actually produce votes for the candidate because they get thrown out so frequently.

I have already introduced innovation to the field by accepting payment from startups when they have the money to pay me.  What I mean by that is that, we can set it up to pay me when they see and increase in revenue from my efforts.  This creates clear value for them because their spreadsheets show it rather than just taking my word for it.  Another way that may work with startups is taking stock in these new companies that cannot afford to pay me for my services.  Even though I will not be paid in the beginning owning the company increases the value of my company and can have sustained long run returns.

To be clear, here is what I am selling:

Logo design: $300

Graphics package (logo/cover photos, t-shirt/stickers/decal designs, business cards, letterhead): $1000

Social Media Development: $100 per account

Social Media Management: $50 per account, per month

Social Media Management Bundle (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, TikTok): $175 per month

Email Services: $14.95 monthly service fee and $10 to draft email

Website Development: $300

Website Management: $75 per month

LLC creation: $300

Campaign Management: $5,000-$10,000

Public Relations Campaign: Variable depending on time involvement/creativity/goods costs

Business Consultation  on retainer (Bundle of all goods/services): $400 per month

Note: All of these can be paid using different methods (i.e. revenue sharing or stock sharing) and are negotiable based on difficulty of request.

Venture Concept:

Overall, there may be some convincing that needs to happen for customers to believe that they need what I am selling.  They could very well think that what they have now is good enough.  This is something that will need the word of mouth and presentation of success from prior projects.  One of the clients that I previously mentioned, she has been a big component of my word-of-mouth growth.  She has shown several people that I can do much better than they are doing, and that has aided me tremendously.  Beyond that, I think that people are accepting the need for social media, so that is not the problem.  It is mainly how I convince them that my way will be most beneficial for them.  There are a lot of people in this area of work and there is very few barriers to enter the market.  For goodness sake, I learned most of my skills from highschool and volunteering and I own a $300 graphics program package.  That to me doesn’t seem like it stops anyone else from entering.  Now, I will say that I am unique because of my willingness to work with companies that do not have money.  I think they you can develop long-term customers by helping them when they truly need help.  These startups are scrambling to better their product, attract customers, pay the bills, and stay open.  They do not need to care about branding and advertising.  If you show that you genuinely want them to do well, they will be customers for a long time.

Employees for my venture may be best with like field offices in far and different locations.  Since a majority of it is online and not needing a storefront, I think that I can have these offices that work closely with clients when they need them in person, but have the ability to share the work to different regions if needed.

Closing points: 

Our advantage: Our ability to work with startups to build a brand and marketing/advertising strategy will help us build a foundation with these companies and create the flexibility they need as they are growing.

What’s Next: I have been focusing a lot with campaigns and politics recently, but I am passionate about starting businesses and want them to be my area of expertise.

Long-run: Rather than just working on branding, LLC creation, and marketing/advertising, I would like to build a parent company, Lahera Investment, that works with these companies to grow them where they need to be to compete with the current giants.  This requires financial capital though also because these would be true investments in companies rather than just services provided to them.