I have a question for you: What do you do, with the resources you have?
I was prompted to write this post, after receiving an email from a reader, which contained an interesting statement. The guy was explaining that his business hadn’t grown for 3 years, despite him working 12 hours most days, when he made the following point:
If I had more clients I’d invest in professional marketing, but with so little money coming into the business, it’s hard to justify.
Less rare than you imagine
Whilst you may think that statement is extreme in its lack of business acumen, it’s based around a belief that many small business owners have, regarding investing in expertise.
For example:
- Web designers get inquiries from small business owners, who claim they can’t afford a great website, when their current, poorly designed site is costing them a fortune in lost business.
- Accountants talk to prospective clients, who are needlessly wasting thousands a year because their accounts are being poorly handled – yet these prospective clients claim they can’t afford a better accountant.
- Garage owners often speak with people, who refuse to invest in inexpensive car maintenance – only to see the same people return with expensive problems, which could have been avoided.
It isn’t that these business owners can’t afford the expert help they need, it’s that they consider it less important than the other things they spend their money on.
It’s what we do with what we have
Whilst some people, like Seth Godin and Sir Richard Branson, start off in business with a wealthy family behind them and world-class connections, most of us start with very little. It’s what we choose to do, with the little we have, which makes all the difference.
You can tell a great deal about a person’s chances of building a successful business, when you look at their priorities.
For example:
- When we place the desire to have lots of expensive holidays, above the need to invest in our business, we will eventually find there are no more expensive holidays.
- When we ‘invest’ £5 a day visiting a coffee shop, yet claim we can’t afford a new company website, we will soon find we can’t afford to spend £100 a month on frothy coffee.
These small, daily decisions are extremely important. They are what set the sail of our business and ultimately direct us – either to success or to the recurring frustration that comes from a lack of progress.
IMPORTANT: If you want to make more sales, boost your profits and grow an amazing business, this will help you!