NEW YEAR'S REVOLUTIONWritten by C.J.Hayden
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Most entrepreneurs spend either too much time struggling to get clients and earning too little money, or become victims of their own success, working too many hours to fulfill clients' demands. You can overcome these problems by combining financial modelling described above with approach to marketing outlined below. And don't forget, if you earn enough, you can hire all help you need. 4. Do more of work you like doing and less of what you don't. If you're not enjoying work you do, there's no one to blame but yourself. After all, you're OWNER of this enterprise. If you can do different work in same business, start now to make shift. Loyal customers will follow you if you're still offering services they need. If more rewarding work would require a new business, join ranks of serial entrepreneurs. You started and ran one business, why not another? Life is much too short to do work you don't enjoy, and it doesn't make much sense if you're working for yourself! 5. Build a marketing system that really works. The definition of a system is a selection of related components arranged in a specific order to achieve a common end. Does this describe your marketing? Or is it more like a hodgepodge of random elements jumbled together without a clear goal? If you want better clients, more money, more time for yourself, and more enjoyable work, an effective marketing system may be universal solution. Don't know how to build one? Make this year you learn. Already know how but haven't built it? Get support from a colleague, mentor, coach, or group to make it happen. Have a system but aren't using it? Pull your plan out of drawer and re-commit to doing what it takes to have business you always dreamed of.
C.J. Hayden is the author of Get Clients NOW! Since 1992, C.J. has been teaching business owners and salespeople to make more money with less effort. She is a Master Certified Coach and leads workshops internationally. Read more of her articles at www.getclientsnow.com
| | LACK OF BUSINESS ISN'T ALWAYS THE PROBLEM Written by C.J.Hayden
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LOW PROFITS - If you are spending more than 30% of your gross profit on overhead and marketing, work on improving your profits. Look for ways to cut expenses by reducing your overhead, or focusing on your most profitable line of business. In addition, if more than 15% of your gross profit is spent on marketing alone (assuming you are not a start-up business), consider cutting back on advertising or mailings, and using more referral-based marketing strategies. Seek out customers who will give you repeat business or long-term contracts. TOO FEW CUSTOMERS - Low revenue combined with not enough billable work to keep you busy means you really don't have enough customers. If you don't have a marketing plan, it's time to create one. Focus your plan on most attractive service you have to offer and most lucrative market, rather than diffusing your energy by marketing several different service lines to more than one type of customer. If you already have a marketing plan, but it's not paying off, you may need to break into a new market, look for a more appealing way to package your services, or form an alliance with someone who can send a steady stream of business your way. TOO LITTLE TIME - It's possible that you simply don't have enough time to earn more money. When you are consistently spending over 25 hours per week serving clients, with more potential customers in pipeline than you can realistically serve, it's time to hire an employee or bring in a junior partner. If you're not ready to take that step, think about subcontracting work to a trusted associate, and keeping a percentage of their billings. In reading suggestions above, you may have discovered that you don't have enough information to diagnose your earnings problem. There are six statistics every service business owner should know: revenue, expenses, profit margin, number of customers, average sale amount, and billable time. If you don't have answers, start tracking these measurements today.
C.J. Hayden is the author of Get Clients NOW! Since 1992, C.J. has been teaching business owners and salespeople to make more money with less effort. She is a Master Certified Coach and leads workshops internationally. Read more of her articles at www.getclientsnow.com
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