Marketing and sales

Practical articles for starting and running your business in Switzerland.

• Below-the-line marketing: activities, examples and budget for SMEs

  Plan workshops, partnerships, referrals and local campaigns. Calculate the full cost, break-even point and results of below-the-line marketing for your SME.

• Communication plan: a practical method and example for SMEs

  Build an achievable communication plan: choose your audience, messages and channels, set a budget, and measure results with a 90-day SME example.

• Customer segmentation and targeting: choose your ideal customers

  Choose the right customers for your SME with practical B2B and B2C segmentation criteria, a weighted targeting framework and a worked Swiss business example.

• Distribution channels: choose your sales routes and partners

  Compare direct sales, resellers and distributors. Choose suitable channels, calculate margins and cash needs, and test partners for your Swiss SME.

• How to find and retain customers: a practical method for SMEs

  Build a repeatable sales process for your Swiss SME: choose acquisition channels, follow up on proposals, calculate acquisition costs and retain customers.

• How to set your selling price: a practical method for Swiss businesses

  Set prices for a Swiss product or service. Calculate markup and margin, test discounts, choose billing units and understand Swiss VAT and price display.

• Opening a restaurant in Switzerland: permits, costs and planning

  Plan your Swiss restaurant: Geneva and Vaud permits, premises, staffing, VAT and funding, with a worked break-even example.

• Terms and conditions in Switzerland: clauses, sales and services

  Write terms and conditions for a Swiss business. Cover customer acceptance, payment, defects, returns, subscriptions and differences between B2B and B2C.