As an accomplished Californian entrepreneur that has graduated from business school, gained experience in multiple fields, and led a company to success over the past couple of decades, Jack Rochel wants to share his experience and knowledge. His goal is to enable young entrepreneurs with real world knowledge so they can make smart decisions when starting their own businesses.
One of the most important lessons of Jack’s career has been to understand consumer behaviour. Before going forth with any idea, entrepreneurs need to explore whether there is a need, want, or demand for their idea. Otherwise, pursuing the idea can lead to loss of money and time.
Consumer buyer behaviour refers to the buying behaviour of final consumers – individuals and households who buy goods and services for personal consumption. There are many characteristics of segments of consumers that need to be analyzed to fully understand a segment’s needs. The culture and basic set of values of a segment has a strong influence on what a segment will and will not invest in. Following, are social classes. These social classes divide members of society relatively permanently an is based on income, level of education, assets, and other demographics. Their demographics will place them into the upper class, middle class, working class, or lower class.
Next, Jack encourages potential business owners or starters to take it one step further and understand the social networking of these segments. By understanding their how and who they network with, managers can decide which segments are more likely to participate in consumer-driven marketing therefore reaching out to other segments. This is also called word-of-mouth influence and buzz marketing. Entrepreneurs could target membership groups with direct influences, aspirational groups who attract positive attention, or reference groups who form a comparison or reference in forming attitudes or behaviours.
Additionally, Jack Rochel pushes aspiring entrepreneurs to network everywhere they go, with everyone and anyone. Not only will they become known in their communities, they may meet an influential leader that can back them in their ideas and business plans, eventually using them as brand ambassadors. Similarly, online social networks are online communities where people socialize or exchange information and opinions. This includes blogs, networking sites, and virtual worlds. The experience entrepreneur encourages everyone to become savvy with the online world as well. In the era of the Internet, businesses are converting to virtual sales and operations since they are much more profitable.
Jack Rochel knows that most businesses and individuals are hooked on technology. They have made the switch from manual to virtual. He wants entrepreneurs to make the switch if they haven’t already and understand consumer behaviours of the people around them. More importantly, understand the segments of the people they may be doing business with in the future. Lastly, for future business opportunities, Jack wants for aspiring innovators to strengthen their networks and circles virtually and physically by surrounding themselves with people they hope to be like, work with, and people that will push them and their potential business to be the best it can be.