Beyond Likes and Views: Building a Business That Actually Sells

In 2024, X launched in the South African market with a range of five  skin care products, including its flagship Serum. Despite visually appealing content and early social media traction, the experience revealed a common challenge: turning online engagement into sustainable sales, a key learning opportunity for both the brand and Hashtag. This mirrors a wider trend in South Africa, where roughly 70% of small businesses fail within the first year due to a combination of market, operational, and strategic challenges. Working with X offered Hashtag a clear view into the hurdles that new product-based businesses face and the lessons other entrepreneurs can learn from.

In examining X’s launch, one of the first patterns we noticed relates to brand awareness and personal connection with audiences. While the content was appealing, potential customers had no connection to the person behind the brand, highlighting a key gap in trust-building. Research from Harvard Business School shows that personal branding, the intentional practice of defining and communicating your own value, is just as important as branding a product or service. A strong personal brand builds trust, differentiates your offering, and attracts opportunities, whereas misaligned perceptions hinder engagement and sales. In cases like X, cultivating a personal brand alongside the business could strengthen audience connection and convert attention into meaningful sales, showing why personal branding is critical for new ventures. So, as an entrepreneur or SME owner, if your audience does not know you, how can they trust and buy from your brand?

Another significant challenge X faced highlighted a common pattern for new ventures: refining packaging and product lines to match market expectations. While social media can raise visibility, it cannot substitute for a strong product foundation. Attention alone will not generate sustainable sales. Introducing multiple products at once diluted focus and stretched resources thin, something many SMEs also experience. Research consistently shows that businesses that test, adapt, and refine based on market feedback achieve stronger product-market fit and longer-term success. By first focusing on a single flagship product before expanding, businesses can perfect their quality, positioning, and messaging. The key takeaway is that growth depends on aligning brand awareness with a product that is both market-ready and compelling.

Reviewing X’s journey, the common thread across these challenges is clear: successful businesses require more than visually appealing content or a broad product line. Social media can raise awareness, but it cannot create inherent product value; too many businesses rely solely on online traction without ensuring their product can sell itself. Building trust through personal branding and refining offerings based on feedback are critical to sustainable growth. For entrepreneurs and SME owners, the hard question remains: are you chasing likes and recognition, or are you building a product that sells itself, with social media simply amplifying it?