Knowing the social-cultural environment surrounding your business helps you position yourself well. Not many business people, especially beginners, think about this vital factor. But if you are already in business, it’s high time you thought about discovering the social-cultural aspects that affect you. I urge you to follow up carefully on the social-cultural environment in which you operate your business. It will help you to improve the way you do things.
How Do You Follow Up on the Social-cultural Environment of your Business?
Well, it’s not easy for most business people, but if you try, the benefits for your business are numerous. In our company, we do it in two ways:
#1 – Keeping Records of Customers and New Business Contacts
For every customer we get, we maintain a record of them. Such data may include mainly a name, where they come from, how they get to know us, their contacts (e.g. email, telephone number) and others. This information helps us in various ways. For instance, we understand the type of customers to target in our marketing strategies based on the information available from our existing customers.
However, you have to be tactful when collecting this information. If you ask haphazardly, some customers may feel uncomfortable giving you information. Therefore, the onus is on you to learn effective ways of getting useful information from your clients unnoticed.
#2 – Tracking the People Who Visit Our Business Website
We installed a tracking system to provide information on who visits our site, where they come from, their sex, interests, how they get to our website and much more. We regularly get time to look at this information and analyse it. It helps us to improve our marketing campaigns.
The social-cultural environment affects your business operations because it controls the demand for the product or services you offer. You should, therefore, keep a keen eye on finding out those specific issues that impact your business operations.
What Factors Affect the Social-Cultural Environment of Your Business?
This question is vital for you to have answers as you try to study your business’s social-cultural environment. In this article, let’s focus on six specific aspects you should know as a business person. They’ll probably enable you to understand what to look for concerning your social-cultural environment.
First, the General Population
When you start a business, you need to think first about the people in your country before considering the people in other countries. I am saying this because you will have to market first your business to the people in your country. These are the people you physically meet as you do your business.
Study your country’s population because it creates the demand for your products and services. For instance, what’s the percentage of the people that can buy your products or the services you offer in your own country?
Secondly, Age Structure and Distribution
Analysing the social-cultural environment based on the age structure and disposition of the population is very important. Why? It’s because you understand where to focus your energy and time. It means that you need to know the fraction of the people that have the purchasing power for your products or services.
For instance, in developing countries, a significant proportion of the population is below 20 years. Uganda is not an exception. However, a small percentage of the people in that age bracket can buy products because most of them are unemployed.
In another example, most people in developing countries have limited knowledge and skills in computer usage. You will have a small target group if your business is entirely internet-based.
With our first example, it will be unwise to focus all your energy, money and time marketing to people below 20 years old if you sell cars in your business. Why? Because that age bracket has a low or no purchasing power for vehicles.
In the second example, if your target market comprises mainly educated people, then using the internet to market your products may be effective in a developing country like Uganda. Why? Because they are the ones with the ability to use the internet. Secondly, they have the purchasing power for the products and services you offer online.
Thirdly, Geographic Distribution
To analyse fully the social-cultural environment in which you operate your business, you need to consider the geographic distribution of the population that does business with you. It also helps you to direct your effort where you will best benefit.
For instance, in developing countries, people who buy products or services online are found mainly in towns because that’s where you find high levels of computer literacy. Additionally, people who live in developed countries have higher computer literacy levels than those in developing countries.
Fourthly, People’s Background
Exploring the social-cultural environment with particular reference to people’s backgrounds helps you to know their behaviours and how they impact your business operations. People of different backgrounds prefer to buy various products and services due to their cultural exposure.
For instance, I have noticed that educated people buy laser-cut wedding invitation cards in our engraving business. They attach a lot of value to them. The uneducated people look at them as far beyond their means. Besides, they do not even give out cards at their wedding ceremonies, especially in the rural setting.
Fifthly, Sex
Men and women have different buying roles in many societies. For example, men usually pay school fees, while women buy food for their families. In your business, it’s necessary to identify who purchases what so that you can target them and speak to them directly to make a sale.
For instance, in our business, we noticed that women have more influence on which wedding card to make for their wedding. Surprisingly, men also give up on women to decide because, many times, they know more about such issues in Uganda. If we target women and concentrate on convincing them with our marketing campaigns, we can quickly get more orders for wedding cards.
Lastly, Culture
The learning process we acquire through our cultural and social education determines the importance we attach to the ownership of goods, use of services and accumulation of wealth. For instance, we learn to consume by socialising with others and watching their reactions. Religion is a fundamental cultural element that influences human behaviour.
For example, because of religion, women’s role varies from one culture to another. Certain activities get restricted to women. It is not something you should leave to pass unnoticed when investigating the social-cultural environment in which you operate.
Conclusion
As I conclude, starting a business and succeeding in it requires understanding the business environment in which you operate. One of the pillars of your business environment is the social-cultural environment. Understanding your social-cultural environment is one of the critical steps you should undertake to succeed in your business.
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