Keep an eye on this Pest
image is a birds eye view of a woman sitting at a desk. there is a laptop in front of her as she writes notes on a pad next to it. She has straight brown hair wearing glasses and a grey jumper. In the background we see the backs of two people standing by a full clothes rail. Image by Raw Pixel.
I knew from a young age that I wanted to have my own business and at the time, I decided this would be Fashion. I got the green light from Mum as she saw it as a balance between my creativity fulfilling a need…clothes. Any hoo, as soon as I knew it was time to start my business, I did a start up course. We’re talking late 90’s and it was all very bro marketing, yuppy business tactics, there wasn’t much context for starting a craft business.
Things like marketing matrixes, the four P’s (product, price, place and promotion) were being drummed into our ears.
When writing my first business plan, one of the things expected was a pest analysis. An overview of the political, environmental, societal and technological challenges that your, your business and your clientele, will be facing. So example right now, there is growing chat about AI, Chat bots etc. and how they may affect the creative industries.
Don’t even get me started on the political issues going on #FuckTheTories These parties truly are as awful as each other, I have little time for the Labour Party either if i’m honest. But they should not be ignored their choices do affect us.
Doing this wasn’t a big deal to me because I am naturally inquisitive and like to know stuff, I watched and read the news, and had an avid interest in media, buying up to six magazines a month and newspapers five days a week.
Although there’s not so much emphasis put on this sort of thing, it does pay to have an eye on these things so you can react to the changes that may affect your clientele which in turn, may affect you. Because changes as well you know, affect spending habits.
Now, you don’t have to read some economic mumbo jumbo, you can get some great info from simply watching the news, political platforms if you follow any. Recognising what people, your people are prioritising will allow you to respond effectively, instead of being ignorant to the tone of the room.
There’s more than one way to keep an eye on this PEST;
Podcasts
Political programmes
newspapers
local, regional & national news
Bloggers
Magazines
Your local MP/governing body
social media (with a discerning eye, there’s a lot of shit on there)
Your communities/networks
Events you attend
There is bias in their representation so relying on one platform isn’t ideal, if possible. This shouldn’t feel like ‘yet another thing to do’ if you already active on any of these platforms, then there’s a good chance you are already paying attention. What I’m asking you to think about, is how these things may affect your clientele, then your business which will help you plan better. Get you and your business ready for when people do want to visit your corner of the internet.
