I have just joined a bootstrapping IT firm as partner. Now the company provides a number of services like web development, app development, and ERPs etc and has many solutions like management softwares for School, Hospitals and Restaurants etc.

Basis profitability and competition points of view, I would like to focus on ERPs and the ready solutions and not on web/app development. Now the question is that with limited money, how do I run campaigns for awareness and lead generation for these individual services/solutions? This company is in Jaipur- a non-metro tier-1 city of India fyi.

As of now, my plan is to start with School Management system, generate leads from cold calling the decision makers(free of cost), pitch our solutions to them and get some money. Use that money to create visibility using FB and google ads (for other solutions too). Plus, some BTL stuff (standees, brochures in newspapers) in office/school areas. After that, we can start going to events which we can use to increase awareness about our brand as well as for networking. What do you think? What else I can do?

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Jay’s Answer:  Focus narrowly on a niche, and become the expert on their types of needs. Then, leverage your niche expertise on another niche. Trying to do everything for everyone is a recipe for failure with limited resources.

Given you’ve tried to reach out to principals with zero response, I don’t imagine that simply showing up will produce any better results for you. Instead, have you met with a group of principals to understand what their needs are, what their buying cycle is, and how/why they’d consider switching to an unknown system such as yours? These types of meetings are called “informational interviews” and the purpose isn’t to sell (to talk), it’s to learn (to listen). Once you know more about their timing needs and decision making, you can market in that timeframe. It may also be the case that you need to market to the school board, rather than the principal. FB may be appropriate for the school, but it may be better to use professional school journals/newsletters, etc.