Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of looking at the wrong things in the wrong sequence while attempting to figure out how to build their business. Making mistakes is painful, expensive, and completely unnecessary. Since the stages of establishing a successful business are straightforward, too many people complicate things and end up nowhere.
For instance, exhaustive business strategies, 3-5 year revenue estimates, and so on are neither required nor guaranteed for each company’s success. In most circumstances, it is totally impractical to expect what you write on paper to manifest in the real world exactly as you say it will. The market is moving far too quickly. It’s difficult to anticipate exactly what your business will look like in a year, let alone 3-5 years, let alone ten years.
Business success is not something that just happens, it’s part of a plan. It’s also not just about the numbers either; we’re aiming for success in terms of time management, client relationships, work-life balance, and much more. With these things in mind, these are the five little steps to help you see what you can do to make your business a success.
The 5 Steps To Succeed in Your Business
Tip#1: Message to Market
Your marketing message is what captures your prospect’s attention, tells them how you can solve their problem, why they should trust you, and why they should choose to do business with you over all other options. Your marketing message should “talk” to your potential customer.
When you first start, your only priority should be to get your product to market. Building systems, hiring, Facebook ads, and so on are all priorities. All you should be doing is developing your minimal viable product (MVP) and attempting to sell it to someone. Consider your MVP to be the most basic version of your product that someone would be willing to pay for. It solves the problem, but perhaps not as well as you would like or with all of the bells and whistles.
How do you know whether you have finished this stage?
Someone has paid you.
Many entrepreneurs fall into the trap of becoming trapped in this phase and striving to make the product better and better before moving on to step 2. So don’t do it and instead go on to the next level. There will be plenty of time in the future for continued product improvement.
Tip #2: Marketing and Sales Engine
Marketing is the activity, collection of institutions, and processes for producing, conveying, delivering, and exchanging products of value to consumers, clients, partners, and society as a whole, whereas a sales engine is a cohesive sales and marketing strategy that provides consistent sales outcomes.
Now that you’ve received payment for your product, it’s time to create a marketing and sales engine. You are also changing your identity from creator to marketer during this time. To begin, ensure that you are measuring the most essential metrics of your marketing funnel because if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. Here are the three most important KPIs to monitor for your funnel:
Clicks/Calls
This is the “head of your funnel,” where people will click on your ads/posts, visit your business, or contact your phone number.
Leads
A lead is someone who expresses interest in your product or service by providing you with their contact information (name, phone, and email).
Customers
This is the result of converting a lead into a sale. A customer is a person or business who buys goods or services from another company. Customers are crucial because they provide revenue; businesses cannot function without them.
You can observe what percentage of people pass through each stage by tracking the figures for each stage above. This will help you to quickly forecast how many sales you may expect from your marketing efforts. For instance, your funnel could look like this:
- 100 clicks/calls
- 10 leads (10% conversion rate)
- 2 customers (20% conversion rate)
Assuming conversion rates remain constant, if you want four clients this month, you’ll need to generate twice as many clicks/calls.
Other metrics to keep an eye on at this point are:
Cost to Acquire a Customer (CAC)
This measures how much it costs to attract a single client through marketing efforts.
Profit Margin
This is the amount of profit you make on each sale. Take the revenue (what they paid you) and subtract the expenses (what you paid to supply the product/service) to get your profit. To calculate your genuine profit, include the CPA in your expenses.
Lifetime Customer Value (LCV)
This is the total amount of money that your business can expect to gain from working with a customer.
How do you know if you’ve completed this phase?
You’re overwhelmed.
The most common error here is that people skip the next phase and instead hire. When you do this, every problem in your company is magnified and compounded by the number of individuals you hire. Instead, concentrate on the next phase.
Tip #3: Create Systems
Systems are step-by-step instructions for completing processes in your firm. These are also known as Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). Many business owners despise this aspect, but it is vital to the success of the company. You’ll want to write these SOPs in a clear and precise manner such that anyone with the bare minimum of technical understanding can complete them.
After you’ve completed all of your SOPs, you can create a job description for the person you want to recruit to perform each SOP. These are the positions you will need to fill.
How do you know if you’ve finished this stage?
You have finished your SOPs and job descriptions.
You’re probably feeling overwhelmed and lonely at this time. Fortunately, it is now time for you to move on to the following stage.
Tip #4: Build a Team
With your job descriptions in hand, you can start looking for the best candidates to fill them. This is the point when your identification transforms to management. People should be hired based on their ability to match your job description as well as their fit with company culture and values. Invest the time required to fully teach them on their role and your SOPs. It will pay off handsomely, especially when you suddenly find yourself with less to do.
How do you know if you’ve finished this stage?
You still have time.
All of the jobs you’ve been doing for so long are suddenly removed from your plate by your new hires. Because your team members are concentrated, the work often gets done faster and better.
Tip #5: Scale
Many businesses are uneasy about having additional time, and many feel bad about it. However, time is a gift. Don’t give in to your temptation to return to dull tasks. That is the purpose of your team. You now have the chance to do what you do best: think.
You should have a terrific product, a profitable marketing and sales engine, detailed systems, and an exceptional team by this point. Use this extra time to start strategizing how to take your company to the next level and actually scale.
Here are examples of some questions you may ask:
- What are the most profitable marketing channels for you?
- Can I put more money into this to obtain a better return?
- Are there any more channels that I haven’t tried yet?
- Are there any additional revenue streams I could add to my business?
- Where can I improve my business?
- Could my standard operating procedures be streamlined?
- Is there anyone on the team who isn’t needed?
- Is it possible to outsource work at a cheaper cost and still obtain the same result?
- Is it possible for me to save money on certain products or services?
It’s critical at this point of your business to guard your time and give yourself time to ponder. This will be an ongoing battle, but one that you will undoubtedly win. Always test your concepts and customer segmentation using the business model camass.
Need Help?
If you would like help growing or scaling your business, please contact Mach 1 Design. We are a small, local firm with a global reach, and we have helped businesses of all sizes grow and scale. We can help you take your business to the next level. If you’d like to work with a firm that knows how to do just that, please contact us – we’d love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected] or call us at (469) 536-8478.
