Maithreyi Mohan
Starting a small business is not easy. However, if you are gutsy enough to start a business on your own you must know how to promote it so that you have a steady clientle.
How will people find about your business. Your budget for advertising may be meagre but if you do not advertise your business you are finished. Here are a few tips for Susheela to advertise/expand her business.

1. Advertising on the internet is a must even if Susheela does not sell anything on the internet. Nowadays cheap internet domains are available for payment of a small sum of money and Susheela must see that her web address is made known in as many places on the net as possible. She could put her website near the google search engine so that it attracts attention.

1 a) Susheela could tie up with a number of prominent beauty parlours in the area initially, so that she
can have access to her clientele (brides) easily.
She could also approach kalyana mandapams, marriage halls and give her call card/handouts so that people who book kalyana mandapams for marriages and functions can access her easily.

2. She could advertise for free in the local free papers like TNagar times/Adyar times/Mylapore times etc. to gain visibility.

3. She could even come on some of the local TV channels and give a live demonstration on some 'Magalir (Exclusively for women) Programmes.' There are programmes these days where there are live demonstrations of hairstyling, make-up, cooking etc. where live calls are taken. These programmes enjoy a wide women's audience. So a live demonstation will get her much needed attention and also she will get a forum to interact directly with prospective clients.

4. She could even give handouts at famous silk saree shops in the area where people generally go to purchase bridal sarees ( Like
Nalli, Kumaran, Rasi etc. in Chennai).

5. Susheela could go to women's colleges (who are going to be brides of tomorrow) and give free live demonstrations and then give out her visiting cards or pamphlets.

6. Susheela could also approach 5 star tourist hotels/tourism offices/ tourist desks in the airport where foreigners frequent. Not only brides but many foreigners are also very interested in applying mehendi on their hands. If she ties up with some five star hotels where foreigners frequent, she can go there and apply the mehendi in the hotel itself. Also she may get more than one customer because these places have a lot of tourist traffic.

7.She could make stickers and put them on cars as bumper stickers.

8. She should display her ad at petrol bunks where a lot of people keep coming and give out flyers/handouts there.

9. She could engage boys to distribute flyers / hand outs at crowded street corners like Ranganathan street, Pondy Bazaar etc. This
should not work out too costly.

10. However, the most popular method of advertising is by word of mouth. She could talk about her business at her children's school, with other parents and friends, relatives and neighbours. She could put mehendi for her children's friends on their birthdays and persuade people who have birthdays for their children to have a mehendi applying session free of charge for all those who want it. She need not do elaborate patterns because she is going to do it for small children and this way her name will become well known in the area.

11. Susheela could write articles in the local paper about her mehendi, get a reporter to interview her and put some pictures of her work in small local free newspapers which are always looking for news items to put in their paper.

12. She could start off by blogging on Sitagita.com where she can talk about her business and give a little information about her personal
life which she thinks readers may enjoy and interact with the readers of her blog.

13. She could take part in home business forums and also pass on her experiences to other like entrepreneurs and learn from them too.

14. She could talk to other ladies in oth

er states and cities in India engaged in the same business and take tips from them or even think of linking up with them so that she is well known and when people from say Mumbai and other cities or their friends come to Chennai they could approach Susheela for henna application.

15. She could print and distribute tee shirts for small children with her name and phone no. and the business so that people would see it.

16. Susheela could maybe approach some local FM radio stations and advertise her business by getting the Disc Jockey to interview her on telephone and talk to the radio audience about her business.
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17. Susheela could initially give attractive discounts or quote lower rates than others in the same business in the area. These disounts and offers ( like get one mehendi done and the next one will be free) especially during festival seasons like Navrathri and Diwali will become very popular.
She does door service but should advertise her door service. This will bring in more clients, who are either too shy to come to her business place , live too far away, or simply people who prefer to do do the mehendi in the privacy of their homes. This will help her in building up a client base, for many people may come to her if her job quality is good but her rates are much less than those of her competitors.

Susheela must remember that she should implement these tips gradually slowly adding on different forms of marketing. She should remember it is most important to have fun and enjoy what she is doing.

Vaishali Gokhale
To expand her business, these are a few key strategies that Sushila can follow- Advertisement and net-working- Since Sushila has been in the Mehendi application business for 35 years, she is sure to have a vast social net-work that promotes her work and spreads the word around. She should also put up flyers in local stores etc., place advertisements in women's magazines, send printed postcards or flyers in mail to advertise her business and expand the client base. Consistent performance- Sushila needs to pay attention to maintaining her performance standards. Wider client base means more pressure which might lead to less than satisfactory work. This can very quickly lead to loss of customers. Steady supply to the demands- Yet another impact of more clients and more workload could be inability to complete orders. To prevent this from happening, as the business grows, Sushila could hire one or more permanent or seasonal assistant/apprentice and train them. This way there will be more representatives for her business at any given time and her personal workload and/or family time will not be compromised. Cost efficiency- Sushila should maintain cost efficiency in her business and make use of various attractive offers to draw in customers. In addition, Sushila should research ahead about purchasing her raw materials in bulk prices from reasonable places. She could make use of the resources that may be already available to her like space, family members to help with various tasks, but she needs to maintain professionalism. She should keep a very clear and precise account of her expenses and profits and treat her business with care and respect.

Arlette Azavedo
Susheela has worked hard for 35 years to create a successful business, and now she is ready to take it to another level. Well, there are plenty of ways to expand; you just have to decide which method is right for you. To help you work through the expansion of your Mendhi business I would like to shed light on how to find ways to grow your businesses and boost it.
1. Focus on your present business, don’t branch out rather focus in what you are doing at the moment. Embarking on a new venture while your present business is doing well may nib your growth in the bud.

2. Keep your customers happy as after all your customers are the testimony of your artistic Mehendi application.

3. Expand your business over the internet it does pay you off.

4. Using quality products at work shall give you a better cliental. Today people are ready to spend money provided it gives value for their money.

5. Get new ideas and designs of Mehendi applying as these ideas can be a great way to diversify and expand your business, while still providing good service to your clients. Come out with unique and innovative ideas of applying Mehendi.

6. Also, if you can sell your product abroad, there’s nothing like it as then you expand your business.

7. Intricate bridal Mehendi designs and various novel styles designs, can make you the best from the rest and hence fetch you more business.

8. Customer’s satisfaction is above all. Satisfying your clients to the best of your ability makes you more established. Ask your clients for the potential clients as referrals, as this shall expand your business, in a short time. Your best source of new clients shall always be your old happy clients.

9. You got to change the Mehendi patterns/designs according to your customers' desire. You can use more difficult unique designs for wedding brides, make a difference in their life and once another bride to be sees your work, your have another client at your door step calling you.

10. You can definitely expand you business by word of mouth as a friend recommending another friend; specially the celebrity endorsement can be great help to you. You can enhance your Mehendi business through word-of-mouth. Business is after all about cultivating relationships with people who get to know you and trust you

11. Above people do business with people who have confidence in you. One of the most important things is this: It's not what you know, or who you know, it's how well you know them that counts. If you go into this process understanding this one key point, you will have a better opportunity to build your Mehendi business through word-of-mouth.

12. As long as you can create a service that the people want and aren't currently getting, you become popular and accepted in the market. You got to promote your Mehendi business locally and online. You can start with friends, family, and then fliers at parking lots or shops your potential customers could visit.

13. Training your stuff can expand your cliental as you cannot grow without bringing on additional talent. You got to train your staff so that you can expand your cliental you can't grow without bringing on additional talent. In the end though, if you want to grow your business, you will need competent help that will provide value to your business and increase your reputation

14. Satisfy those clients to the best of your ability, and ask them for the names of potential clients as referrals. Your best source of new clients will always be old clients. However, this should not be a problem as you are already in business and that makes you competent enough to respond to increased demand or new needs in the market you are already operating in.

15. As you are an experienced Mehendi application expert and you are good at what you do, have competitive prices, treat your customers well so they stay loyal to you and recommend you to others. You got to grab your client’s attention, arouse their interest, trigger their desire, and motivate them to come back to you for all their Mehendi applying. Variety helps to keep your Mehendi business interesting. Always thank your customer for trusting you and your work or ordering your product, with the thank you note, it does help to maintain your business contacts.

16. In a nutshell, growth in demand for product and services is the basis for business expansion. Plan for it, recognize it, and act accordingly. As long as you have something unique, you'll have a good shot. All the best, Susheela!!!!!