Have you ever noticed how some businesses seem to do extremely well, and
go from strength to strength, whilst the majority just seem to muddle along?
Since starting my own business I've met many small business owners and
what I've noticed is that the vast majority of them seem to just about get
by, but few reach the level of success that they're actually capable of.
Some of them end up failing altogether, some lurch from project to project,
and some do OK, but never really achieve the success or lifestyle they
envisioned when they started their business.
On the other hand, I know a handful of extremely successful service
business owners, who are making high 6 and 7 figure incomes every year (and
rising) - and yet they don't work longer hours, their products and services
are not magnitudes better than their competitors and they aren't geniuses!
So what is the difference between the successful businesses and the
struggling businesses?
In a word: Marketing
Whilst there can be other factors that affect the ability of a business
or practice to be successful, such as the economy, trends, cashflow and
product/service quality or innovation, the number one difference between
successful high-flying businesses and their struggling counterparts is good
marketing.
Here is the lament of one survey respondent which is typical of the angst
felt by service business owners who know they do a good job, but who don't
understand why they don't have a queue of clients at their door:
"We know our products and services are good - we get great feedback from
those clients we've worked with - but we still have trouble getting
potential customers to buy in. Our services offer real benefits to clients
but we are not as successful as we should be when we see what other
companies offer (not as
much) and yet are still very successful."
If you offer a quality service or product that produces great results for
your customers or clients, and yet you're still struggling to get all the
clients that you want or need, or to charge the fees you deserve, you
probably have a marketing problem.
What do highly successful business owners do that others do not?
The first thing that they do is to realise that their primary objective
is to build their practice or client base. In the words of Michael Gerber
(who wrote The E-myth) they "work ON their businesses, not IN their
businesses". What this involves is making the time to work on the business -
in particular on marketing and product or service development, rather than
spending all of their time handling clients, delivering services and dealing
with administration.
They also look for areas where they can gain "leverage". Simply put, this
means gaining maximum return for every hour they work. Instead of trading
hours for pounds or dollars, they find ways to do the work once and get paid
for it many times. They find ways to market their services one to many,
instead of one to one (thus reducing marketing and sales effort and time).
They delegate those activities which take up a lot of time (but which don't
add much value in terms of moving the business forward) or which they are
not skilled in such as admin, accounting, website maintenance and
copywriting.
They also develop a success mindset, understand their strengths and
weaknesses, take risks, innovate, hang out with other successful people and
build a support network around themselves.
But above all, they learn how to market their businesses and create a
marketing system that keeps a steady stream of prospects knocking at the
door, without taking up all of their time!
About the author:
Jane Hendry helps professionals, consultants and coaches to create
marketing systems that easily and consistently attract their ideal clients.
To get your free Attraction Marketing Starter Kit please visit
http://www.attractioneers.com
