Business Growth Insights

Business ownership is the 21st century version of the American Dream. But of the millions of people taking the leap into entrepreneurship, about 50% of them will fail within five years.

That is a staggering number of casualties, and the ironic part is that not one person thinks they will be one of the many who fail. Even when they do fail, they will blame it on almost anything else but themselves. This doesn’t have to happen.

In working with thousands of small business owners worldwide, I will share with you a few of the classical errors we consistently see business owners make. Avoid these mistakes and you’ll share some of the big bucks.

Mistake #1: Not knowing exactly who your customer is.

This is what we refer to at OneCoach as your “Ideal Client Profile.” If you are thinking that anyone and everyone is your client, stop immediately and get real. For every product or service, there is a very specific personality that is just right for it. As a business owner, your job is to identify the characteristics of your perfect buyer and then craft all your marketing and sales efforts to meet their needs. Do not try to be everything to everybody.

Mistake #2: “The Vanilla Syndrome.”

What this means is that you must discover as soon as possible how to separate and differentiate yourself from your competition. It doesn’t matter if you are a lawyer, dentist, direct sales expert, or a dry cleaner. If you look and feel like everyone else, that is what your potential customers will think. Set aside some time and figure out if you are faster, cheaper, environmentally safer, more knowledgeable, etc., until you determine how you can be and feel different to potential and existing clients. Think about the reasons you choose companies’ products or services to use, and then create compelling reasons that appeal to your ideal customer.

Mistake #3: “Money Matters!”

It never ceases to amaze us how many small-business owners operate their business without having an understanding of their cash flow (or lack thereof). The days of running “by the seat of your pants” are over. It is imperative to know exactly how much is coming in, how much needs to go out for basic operation costs, and how much is needed to invest in the growth of your business. Each expenditure needs to have with it an anticipated return of investment (ROI). You must understand the financial details in your business or they will bite you in the bum before you know it!

Follow these three simple suggestions and you’ll shave a bunch of percentage points off your chances of being a negative statistic.

Is your website fulfilling its purpose? Is it driving leads, building relationships and generating sales to your business every day? Watch this strategy video with John Assaraf and Adrian Ulsh to learn the fundamentals of making your website effective and stand out from your competition.

To learn more ways to grow your business, sign up for a complimentary Business Growth Assessment.

Most people hate being marketed to.

Why?

Most marketers don’t provide any value! But if you’ve been following some of our previous posts about identifying your ideal client, mapping out their decision making process, and developing an elevator pitch, then you already have all the tools to create a killer marketing message that crushes your competition.

These tools will allow you to clearly inform your prospects on how you benefit them and you can establish yourself as an expert they can trust and respect.

Take the information you previously created for your elevator pitch, and use this to write your marketing message.

Write compelling headlines that hit the “hot buttons” of your ideal clients. If you’ve worked on your ideal client’s decision-making process, this should be easy.

Ask your current ideal clients to review your headlines and marketing message. Ask them if it compels them. It’s better to hear their feedback than to assume their perception of your marketing.

It sounds simple, but it is important to consistently use these steps to develop value-based marketing that gets results. If you don’t target your ideal clients and their hot buttons, then your marketing will sound like your competition’s and you will forever compete on price alone.

When people ask you what you do, do you know what to say?

If you’ve already learned about your ideal client profile and their decision-making process from our free videos on business strategies, then you can easily create a 30-second elevator pitch that articulates the exceptional value of your business.

When you create an elevator pitch, you need to know who you are talking to and what they want. Otherwise, your marketing message will fall on deaf ears. This is where the ideal client profile and the decision-making process will really come in to play.

First, state a problem that your ideal client is often dealing with. Start with “Do you know how…” and describe a problem that they are likely frustrated with.

Next, state what you do. “What we do is…” and then share how your product or service is a solution or benefit to your ideal client’s problems.

If you’ve already worked on your ideal client profile and decision-making process, then you’ll be able to easily come up with a good elevator pitch that…

• Has a powerful and compelling message
• Commands the attention of your ideal prospects
• Pre-Qualifies your prospects
• Helps you gain rapport and respect

An elevator pitch with these qualities will save you time, effort and expense. This blog is just a brief overview of this process, so if you haven’t yet, then sign up for our seven free videos and learn how you can take your business to the next level. If you have already seen them, then be sure to check out our Business Momentum Club. You can join now for just a buck!

People are looking for experts they can trust, and with our proven process you’ll be able to create an elevator pitch that clearly and succinctly makes you the right choice for your prospects.

We recently wrote a blog post on finding your ideal clients and their wants and needs. Do your products or services fulfill your ideal clients’ wants?

Your job as a business owner is understanding the solutions your ideal client is looking for. Then you must take the time to apply this knowledge to your own business, to separate yourself from your competition and make your business the obvious choice.

Here are the basics of how you can do this:

Create a list of your ideal clients’ hot buttons. What problems, frustrations and concerns do they have when buying what you sell? Think about the hot buttons across all the businesses in your industry.

Analyze your business. What is your business’ current solution for these hot buttons? Is it ideal?

Brainstorm potential innovations. How can you innovate your business to solve the hot buttons and exceed your ideal client’s expectations? These ideas can be totally out there, but write them down anyway. You never know – the wacky ideas can turn into genius innovations!

Record the benefits associated with your innovation. Once you find an innovation that you can apply to your business, make sure you know the benefits. You can then use these benefits in your communications to your ideal clients to hit their hot buttons and stand out from your competition.

These steps are just the start of laser targeting your audience to stand out from the crowd. We go more in depth about your ideal client’s decision-making process in our free business strategy video series. If you haven’t already yet, you can check out the series here.