You can’t grow your business without taking actions, getting results and adjusting your plans accordingly. However, there are some key lessons that you don’t want to learn the hard way.
Of course, business is about growing and evolving on the journey, but here are 7 reminders that might just save you time and money.
- You can’t do everything on your own
At the beginning when you have no budget for outsourcing or staff, and you have no choice but to do everything yourself, there is no way around this.
However, it is advisable to keep an eye on what you can outsource as soon as you can afford to if you want to grow your business beyond yourself.
- Get paid before you hand over a project to a client
Cash flow is essential to the survival of any small business, make sure that you create a pricing structure which never leaves you out of pocket.
For example, you could have a payment policy where you invoice 50% of the total job before you begin it, and the final 50% on completion making sure that all of your costs are covered.
- Sell your training products/services before you create them
The best way to know if there is a big enough market for the training products/services that you want to build is to partially create them before you sell them.
Have the outline of a plan then take them to market and sell them. Once you have sold enough you will know if it is a profitable use of your time to create them.
If there is no appetite then you have saved yourself valuable time and money, this process may also help you evolve and create a product/service that the market actually wants.
- Your network is your key to success
Spend time building a network that you can support and can support you as you all grow your businesses.
The fastest path to growth is to look for JV (joint venture) opportunities. These will save you both time and money creating and marketing your own products/services.
A % of the pie is better than building a whole pie of your own which may require too much time and training to create and sell.
- Spend time doing marketing activities that fill your sales funnel on a daily basis
Don’t make the mistake of focusing all of your time, and resources on servicing the business that you already have.
Business growth comes from the continuous marketing activities that you do to fill your sales funnel.
- It’s not a sale until they pay
How many times have you come away from a great conversation, a handshake on a deal the verbal go ahead?
I am a big fan of believing it and you will see it, I am a bigger fan of signed paper work and money in my business bank account.
Too many people are happy to talk the talk, but few are willing to walk the walk.
- Understand how to use social media to create conversations and convert them into sales
Following on from the previous point social media is an inescapable part of everyday life.
When used incorrectly for business development it can consume huge amounts of time and burn through your marketing budget with little or nothing to show for it.