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Don’t let this decision destroy your business

Updated February 2016

By Jim Connolly | May 19, 2015

Professional development, business, improvement, marketing tips

In many cases, business owners are missing out on massively better results because of an avoidable, sometimes fatal, yet tiny error.

How small? Just 5%!

Here’s what you need to know, including how to stop this error from crushing your business.

The marketing power of 5%

If you give a project 5% less than it needs, the cost to you is way more than 5%.

That’s because 5% less than good enough will achieve almost nothing. If it’s not good enough, even by 1%, you lose. It’s not good enough. That’s it.

If your marketing falls 5% short of what it needs to be, your sales or client acquisition numbers will be poor. You’ll be relying on repeat business and word of mouth referrals.

The challenge here, as you may already know, is that word of mouth referrals come when they come. In other words, they tend not to come when you need them, instead arriving when you’re too busy. This is such a common problem that it has its own name: the famine and feast cycle. This leads to cash flow problems, which cause more small businesses to go broke than any other factor!

Most small business owners are more than 5% away from what’s needed for their marketing to work. These hard working business owners wonder why their results are so erratic and why their lower quality [but better marketed] competitors are thriving.

It’s a decision — It’s always a decision

The decision to work hard, work long hours and make too little progress is exactly that. A decision. A deliberate decision, to be precise.

Why is it a deliberate decision?

Because you will never meet a small business owner, who doesn’t know when their marketing is under performing. They know better than anyone. They are totally aware that their efforts are not being rewarded. They are fully aware that their business isn’t developing the way they want it to.

Knowing this, they still decide to repeat the same errors.

Until one day, something changes

Sometimes it’s driven by the realization that things don’t just magically get better. Other times it’s a wake-up call, as they see that a landmark birthday [one with a zero at the end] is approaching. Occasionally the naked truth smashes them in the face — that they deserve more. So they make the decision to start growing their business correctly.

Some make the decision in time. Many will wait until it’s too late. These are the “let’s wait until next year” crowd. They become a casualty of their casual approach to business.

I have no idea where your business is right now. If your business is thriving, kudos to you.

If you want more from your business, the best time to do something about it was years ago. The second best time to do something about it… is today.

IMPORTANT: If you want to make more sales, boost your profits and grow an amazing business, this will help you!

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Jim Connolly

Hi! I'm Jim Connolly and I use creative marketing to help small business owners increase sales, boost profits and build amazing businesses. Read more here.

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