GUIDELINES TO STARTING AND SUCCEEDING IN MILK ATM BUSINESS IN KENYA- PREPARE FIRST
Success in any venture requires preparation. It’s said preparation meets opportunity but I say preparation leads to success. It’s also said failure to plan is planning to fail and that is so true. In business you need to plan and prepare well. So what preparations do you need to do before starting a milk ATM business?
Do a market research
A market research is one of the most important exercises if not the most important in the preparation stage. A market research or market survey is the process of analyzing the prevailing market conditions of your product to help you know if you stand a chance of succeeding. This is one of the most important steps many people fail to do and end up failing. It determines all the succeeding processes.
You need to do a comprehensive market research because of the following:
- To determine competition by similar products- a market survey helps you know how much completion is there for fresh unpackaged milk. Because you will not be reselling branded packed milk, you are able to tell if there are others offering the same.
- To determine competition by similar businesses- it also helps you determine how many milk ATM business are around your target location and if they are meeting the demand. It could be possible there are similar businesses but due to the big population, there is a big demand. You can therefore venture into the business and still manage to sell all your milk and even have clients missing out.
- To determine if the target market is suited for your product- don’t just assume that your target market will be interested in milk sold from an ATM. In some upmarket locations there could be no milk ATMs and you may think you have found a suitable location with no competition but in reality it’s because those people prefer to buy packed milk from the supermarket or the shop.
- To determine if there is enough population in your target area- a market research is also a good way of doing a census to know if your target location is well populated. The bigger the population that is densely scattered, the more the market. Densely populated places like pipeline, Kayole, Dagorreti, Mathare, Kibra etc give you a good market because even one street is sufficient for you.
- To minimize risks- when you do a market survey, you are able to know the risks involved and how you can minimize them. Some of the risks might include but not limited to: security, lack of physical amenities, inaccessibility etc.
- To determine what gaps are there you can exploit that your competitors haven’t filled– a market research also helps you know the gaps that are there that you can exploit to your advantage. For example you may find opening early and closing late as opposed to the existing businesses is something you can exploit. Others may include but not limited to: freshness, selling milk of any amount because you have an ATM and the competition doesn’t have, offering milk that is not adulterated as opposed to those in the market etc.
- To help you plan ahead- another advantage of doing a market research is it helps you know in advance what you will require, how much money you need, how to scale up the business etc.
- To help you come up with a persuasive promise– a persuasive promise is what you promise to offer your clients that your completions isn’t offering or delivering on as the clients would expect. For example if it could be offering unadulterated milk or milk milked not more than 10 hour prior etc.
Identify a suitable location and premises
Another step in the preparation stage is identifying a suitable location and potential premises that would be ideal for your business. After doing a market research and the results are favorable, now find the right location and identify the best premises that will serve your needs.
Come up with a business plan
A business plan is a very important document even in a milk ATM business. It is a written document that puts down the objectives/goals and strategies of running and scaling up the business. It also indicates how you will fund the start-up.