Based on my Business Plan (yes, get your BP in order!) I needed a full-circle of professional talent to support the goals of getting JNP to market.
Not only my professional background has given me the skills to fill a lot of the spots on the Teams, but also the fact that we developed a round of test-marketing products for JNP that went to market (let’s call that stage one), and now in stage two (the redevelopment and expansion of the Brand), I knew what did and didn’t work; therefore, I was ahead of the curve on this stage.
Here are the Teams positions that are bringing The JNP Project to market, and my overview evaluation of each area based on my experience. In future blogs, I’ll define each of these areas specifically:
(alphabetical order)
• Administration
These are important positions— assignments big and small need to be attended too, and bringing people on board that can free up your time to focus on the big picture is invaluable.
• Advertising/ Brand Development/ Marketing
The importance of “brand recognition” is the key to consumer loyalty. Invest in professionals that know how to focus on the brand image you need to create—follow a graphic communications standard that you assemble.
• Business Development
Take advice/review of your business plan—have several areas looked at from: business to legalities and financials—your BP is key to your ‘map’ of how you move forward.
• Digital Application Developers
With technology moving at the speed-of-light, looking to digital development firms is quite smart if your product/business could have the need for an App.
• Digital Media
Companies that ‘work in the industry’ have state-of-the-art equipment and professionals that can take both your concepts (and your digital files if already developed) and convert them into all digital vehicles with ease of stress and a comfort to know the end result will ‘work’ within our digital society’s arena of all mediums.
• Finance CPAs
Money. Have professionals manage your books, budget and forecasting updates. Period. They can also prepare all tax responsibilities—in state, out-of-state, digital, etc.
• Financial Start-Up Consultants
Any time you deal with finances, seek out several consultants to review your business plan, and give you suggestions, critiques, and ongoing guidance as your business goes from concept, to revenue generating.
• Graphic Designers
Visual appearance needs to be polished and consistent across the board for all communications vehicles— graphic designers have a wide range of services from, simple graphics to website image and development, book /magazine layout and collateral—all of which services a typical business requires.
• Illustration Design
Bringing the JNP characters to life takes big efforts—the time to concept character ideas, develop pencil rough sketches of the ideas, tighten the sketches up, and then bring that to living color in a watercolor medium does take time. Hiring illustrators to take on several levels of the tasks slims down development processes.
• Legal Representation
Legal advice and direction both in intellectual property rights and general business affairs is essential—searching out the right firms that ‘fit’ your business’ area will add to the validity of the brand.
• Merchandising
If you require ‘products’ that represents your brand, finding a vendor that can handle all the items assists builds a personal relationship, and ease of order/delivery for each product.
• Photography
Both still and motion shots taken professionally is well worth it, as most candid shots don’t hold up the quality—and quality of image sets you apart visually from the rest.
• Producers / Animation Developers
Going down an animation path can be overwhelming, so focus on your exact need (follow your Business Plan as this is an expensive medium), and outline the steps to get from concept to presentation sample first, then onto final animation stages.
• Public Relations / Social Media
Social media is It, and coordinating public relations is a win for aligning business with potential customers.
• Research Analysts
Facts and data wins out over speculation and assumptions.
• Sound Branding / Music Creation
Sound branding is just as important as visual branding—if your brand requires multi-faceted-identity icons, invest in a known studio that can do soup-to-nuts—it pays off in the end.
• Writers
Writers are not a single group—they each have a ‘specialty’ in which they write: children’s authors, adult authors, education content, public relations, grammatical writing, business writing, advertising, etc. —make sure you hire the right writer for the project so as your ‘business voice’ is projected correctly for the medium in which you speak through.
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Note: This Blog is a chronological diary of a start-up-company—The JNP Project’s Journey—reading it from the start, will broaden your understanding of the path we are on, together, and hopefully, positively influence you in some way!
FYI Tip: Your Start-Up Team needs careful thought. Here are some articles I agree with, and followed suite when assembling The JNP Teams:
http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2013/02/06/how-to-configure-your-startup-team/
http://theyec.org/five-tips-for-building-a-trusted-business-team-from-anywhere/
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/227132
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