Greg Weatherdon: Recent Episodes
Greg Weatherdon
Regardless of whether you have two or twenty employees, leadership matters and for what it’s worth, there are few natural born leaders. That’s why leadership skills need to be learned and relearned all the time.
So here’s a question I bet most entrepreneurs don’t ever consider. Do you lead from the front or the back? Some entrepreneurs know instinctively when to lead from the front or to lead from the back. Others though need to consciously work at trying to balance between the two. But sadly too many haven’t got a clue and nor do they care.
To say that leadership is a large and fragmented topic, would be an understatement. A recent search of Google on the word “Leadership” returned an astronomical 4.7 billion results. That’s “B” as in billions. Therefore it’s safe to assume that there is lots of interest in the topic.
To be sure that with this many results there is bound be a fair amount of repetitiveness in the advice given. Fortunately, there are always those tried and true nuggets of wisdom that have stood the test of time.
One of those truths is that good leaders tend to be good leaders regardless of the environment. Having said that, one of the biggest challenge facing leaders today is that they may have to up their empathy quotient. This is so that they can accommodate the current crop of employees, as many appear to need more hand holding than previous generations.
Why step back?Although every situation is different, the good leaders know when to assert themselves and take charge or when to back off and let someone else lead.
They’re confident enough to know they don’t always have to be out front. By relinquishing control, they give their staff the opportunity to grow their leadership skills.
Ultimately, the more you lead from the back, the more freedom you’ll have, allowing you to tackle more strategic issues, or to simply cut back on your workload.
The trick is to know when to take charge and when to let others do so. Finding the right balance is tough and should always be determined by the situation.
So when do you lead from the front?So how often do you lead from the front? Unless you have a very green team, it’s a lot less often than you think.
There are a number of situations that require you, the owner, to step up and lead the charge. These tend to fall into two buckets, crisis or opportunity.
A crisis can best be defined as a showstopper. It’s any situation that can negatively affect the company’s reputation or performance and has a high degree of urgency.
Many times in crisis situations you don’t have the luxury of sitting back and letting things unfold in a natural way. It often requires immediacy of action.
This is where experience and knowledge comes into play, whereby the leader can react far more quickly to the situation.
Opportunities on the other hand may require someone to lead from the front for political or strategic reasons.
Here are some situations that may require you to be out in front and leading the charge:
Let’s first look at some crises situations:1. 1. Having a large client threaten to stop dealing with you after all attempts by your team have failed, would rank high. 1. 2. Needing to defend the actions of your team with a client would be another situation. Many times the “customer isn’t always right!” 1. 3. A massive competitive threat that comes out of nowhere might also qualify. 1. 4. A product or service failure. You need to own it!
And now opportunity situations1. 1. Depending on your industry, you may need to lead the charge on launching a new product. This gives you the chance to get direct feedback, good or bad directly from your customers. Equally as important, it can show your customers and team that it is important. 1. 2. Setting the vision or direction of the company requires you to lead from front. It’s not something you can delegate. Your actions speaks louder than words. 1. 3. Matching is another situation where it’s important to be visible. Matching means exactly that. It’s where you match client title with your own.
For example, a new clients wants a presentation on your services. In attendance from their side will be mid-level person along with their company president or vice-president. In those case you should be visible and lead the conversation. It also shows the client that they are important.
The switchRegardless of whether it’s a crises or an opportunity, the goal here is to ultimately relinquish the relationship to a team member.
This is done by stating something to the effect “Going forward Mary will be your key contact”, or “John will follow up with next week to discuss next steps”. By making that statement, you go from leading from the front to leading from the back.
Additionally, whether you lead from the front or the back, these situations must be used as teaching moments.
These teaching moments include taking the time to explain to your team the rationale for the given course of action and will be open to input.
However, being open to input doesn’t mean that you are obliged to act on it. So to counter this, you must take the time to explain why it will or why it won’t be incorporated it into the plan.
Equally important is that, when leading from the back you must let the individual know that you have their back and are available for consultation if needed.
In conjunction with this support, your job is to run interference for their team. In other words, you need to make sure they don’t get distracted with other people’s priorities.
Don’t jump inThe hardest part for any leader when taking a back seat is to avoid jumping in and rescue an individual when it’s clear that their chosen course of action will not achieve the desired outcome.
This was a lesson I learned many years ago as a newly minted district manager at a major consumer goods company. A big part of my job was to monitor, motivate and train a dozen or so sales reps.
Fortunately or unfortunately, very little of this could be done remotely. For the most part this was a feet on the ground undertaking, riding shotgun for hours or days as we visited dozens of accounts.
One of the golden rules when leading from the back, was never to interrupt or critique the individual, while they were presenting to a buyer. Sometimes this was painful, when it was clear that things were going off the rails or there was a missed upsell opportunity.
Had I jumped in to save the day on any of these calls, we would have surely walked out with a bigger order, but at what cost?
Taking control in those moments risked destroying the individual’s self-confidence and undermine their authority with that buyer. Not a fair trade to my way of thinking.
Instead, the right approach was to wait until the call was completed and undertake a post-mortem. Unless the individual was brand new, these after call reviews only took a few minutes and happened in the car on the way to the next call. Simple teaching moments that paid immediate dividends throughout the rest of the day.
Time well spent.In hindsight, working this closely and exclusively with any team member for a day or two pays huge dividends. Unfortunately, that’s a rarity today and that’s a shame.
Fortunately though, time spent working with your team to show them how to be more effective is always a good investment. It gives you a chance to share your knowledge and experience, usually in real life situations instead of in hypotheticals.
People go to work to be successful!Developing your team’s leadership capabilities by knowing when to lead from the front or the back is critical if you want to grow your company.
By developing a more capable workforce, it frees you up to spend more time on strategic initiatives, such as goal setting or keeping the organization on point vis-à-vis your vision. And let’s not forget the freedom to seek out new opportunities.
Understanding that if employees are enjoying their work and feel appreciated, they’ll perform at a higher level. There’s nothing new or complicated in that statement, but it’s surprising how misunderstood this simple concept is.
As with any delegation initiatives, the goal here is to free up your time and increase employee’s satisfaction. Always keep in mind that people go to work to be successful. Being bored with their work is a sure fire way to increase turnover.
There’s a time and a place to be that hard charging entrepreneur and there’s a time to step back. Knowing the difference can really help you and your company grow.
You may also enjoy SBM #33 Responsibility and authority
Get More LIFE Out of Your BusinessYou shouldn’t be the hardest working person in your company.
Many small business owners find that even after the struggling start-up years, they’re working too many hours and still managing every aspect of their businesses.
Greg Weatherdon has been there, done that. As an entrepreneur, he learned not only how to get a business to the point of running smoothly, but also how to reduce the number of hours he worked, delegate more responsibility to his employees, and take longer vacations while his business chugged along like a well-oiled machine. And now he is providing the secret to success.
Do you suffer from any of the following?
- Business ownership isn’t living up to the dream.
- Endless workdays.
- You can’t find good people.
- Profits are less than expected.
- You can never take a vacation.
You’re not alone. But there is a solution. As Greg demonstrates, with some time and effort, you really can Get More Life Out Of Your Business.
ORDER HERE
Finding a trustworthy supplier can be challenging. Following these 8 steps can help reduce the risk and increase your success.
I actually starting this piece 3 or 4 years ago, pre-Covid days. And as often happens when trying to be creative, you can be hit with a case of writer’s block that can leave any number of incomplete topics to collect dust. In my case, I can have upwards of a dozen or so pieces just sitting on the sidelines at any point in time. So was the case with this piece.
The reason I mention pre-Covid days is because many businesses are still facing challenges as they recover, however my original observation about customer experience were prior to Covid and yet still exist today.
Putting lipstick on a pigThe phrase to put “lipstick on a pig” means making superficial or cosmetic changes to a product in a futile effort to disguise its fundamental failings. {Wikipedia} Many businesses, both small and large, condone this kind of behaviour.
On a recent road trip south, we stayed in a number of hotels. Like many, when heading to a specific destination we tend to stay in mid range establishments that we book at some point during our day. Booking any farther ahead is pointless as we never know how far we’ll drive on any given day because of weather or traffic.
These establishment are well known chains, from Holiday Inn Express to Hampton Inns, to name a few. Fancy, no! But usually more than satisfactory for a quick overnight stop and they’re usually situated right near major highway exits. So easy off, easy on. In most cases they’re reasonably priced and provide a free breakfast. All in all, a good value proposition. Most of the time.
The following are just a few of the observations I made during our stays at various establishments.
- Poorly trained and uncaring staff
- Burnt out light bulbs in room.
- Inoperative power ports or outlets in room.
- Significant marks on wall and ceiling in room.
- Peeling wallpaper in hallways.
- Worn and scratched stain on bathroom door.
- Poorly applied caulking around tub. I ain’t buying the placeIndividually, none of these shortcomings are a deal breaker and can be easily overlooked when just staying one night. As I like to say, “I ain’t buying the place” and for the most part the rooms and establishment were clean. But they tarnish the customer experience.
The point I’m trying to make with these observations is, when something such as a hotel room is serviced every single day, how do any of these items get overlooked? In one hotel we stayed in they were in the process of completely renovating the front lobby and the breakfast area. Yet, this is the same place where the wallpaper in the hallways was pealing and light bulbs in the room were burnt out. To my way of thinking they kind of got this back asswards.
I always wonder whose decision it is to invest tens of thousands of dollars in refurbishing the lobby when the rest of the establishment is in dire need of some loving. Especially when these items can be rectified at little or no cost. It’s akin to putting lipstick on a pig and again does little to improve the customer experience. Considering that these places are designed for travellers who typically spend more time in their rooms than in the lobby as they rest up for their next driving day.
When you think about it, once checked in, most guests spend their time in the room as they rest up for the next day of driving. So, wouldn’t think room maintenance would be a priority? Just saying!
To be sure 1st impressions are important and major renovations are part of the hospitality industry. As franchisees, they have requirements to update their facilities to new standards set out by the franchisor.
Out of syncBut many small businesses operate the same way. They are more concerned about their outward appearance, which I maintain is an absolute must, but useless if the behind the scenes operations are totally out of sync with that image.
Too often I see small business owners spend time, effort and resources on producing a great website and social media posts but only deliver mediocre products, services, or results for their customers. If they only spent a part of that effort on delivering great service to their customers, their profitability would soar. Unfortunately, that kind of effort doesn’t get them the likes or shares that they so desperately seem to need.
What many forget is that likes or shares rarely put money in the bank. Let me ask you how many times have you purchased a product or service only because of their social media activity? If you’re like most, not very often, if ever.
The sad part is that the return on investment on social media is, for the most part never measured. Mostly because most small businesses don’t have the knowledge or resources to track results. The assumption is that they’re successfully executing their strategy, because views or likes keep growing.
Focusing on the wrong things, rarely pays any dividends. The true metrics that they should be measuring are those that are focused on the customer experience. average order size, repeat sales and on time delivery. This is what successful entrepreneurs do. They focus on getting better.
Do you care enough?So in order to determine if you are focused on the right things, the first question to ask yourself is “Do you care?”
Are you actively working on becoming more efficient? Are you paying attention to the little things that would make it easier for your clients to deal with you? Are you actively seeking input from your customers on what’s working and what isn’t?
What are their pain points in dealing with you? These are all legitimate questions and more often there are a myriad of little things that you and your team can do to improve your deliverables. But first, you must care. You must care enough to dig deep to identify your company’s shortcomings. It’s never easy to self-criticize but is necessary if you’re going to improve the customer experience.
What you can do to improve the customer experienceOne of the best way to start the process is to ask yourself, if you were your customer, would you be willing to accept your service levels? To help with the process, the following is a list of questions to help you get started on the journey of discovery that cost little or nothing but will help with your customer experience.
1. When was the last time you looked at your website? Is the information relevant and current? Is it mobile friendly? Do a quick search on “outdated websites” and you’ll discover what turns off your customers when they visit an outdated website. It might be costing more than you think. Consider that over 70% of customers visit a website before visiting the business.
2. When was the last time you checked both the company voicemail and that of your employees? Does it still have your “out-of-office” notice from last years summer vacation? Does the message drone on forever with information, instead of directing them to your website. Do you use it for quick promotional messages?
3. What’s your response time to voicemails or emails? Many voicemail messages state that they’ll get back to you within 24-48hrs. Seriously, customer calls should be returned immediately, if not, then the same day at least. Get too many calls that you can’t return them the same day? Then hire more people or put the most commonly asked questions on your website to reduce the volume of calls that only require information. See point #1
4. Do you deliver on time? Are you constantly missing deadlines and having to make excuses? Maybe you’re taking on too much work and agreeing to timelines that you know will be impossible to meet. To correct this, you might need to be honest with the customer from the start and set realistic completion dates. Yes, you might lose some business, but it’s better than failing to deliver and damaging your reputation. It’s about managing workflow.
5. Is your staff working efficiently? That doesn’t mean they need to work harder. No, it means you need to make sure that they are properly trained and that you identify and remove roadblocks that inhibit their abilities. Do they need your approval on everything? Train them, then delegate the responsibility and authority to make decisions. (See SBM #33 Responsibility & Authority) Creating templates and processes can reduce the time and effort needed deliver the final report or product.
6. Are you providing trying to provide too much to your customers under the “value added” premise when nobody cares? Working under the pretense of “more is better” when in fact “less is more” might be the better approach.
7. Do you update your clients with regular status reports, or do you leave your customers in the dark? Having a customer constantly looking for an update is wrong. A quick phone call, text message or email to update them on the status of a backorder or delay can diffuse a lot of problems.
Rest assured that any time spent on providing exceptional customer experience quickly translates into reduced customer churn, increased repeat orders and of course, improved financials.
.(See
What’s stressing you out?Another way to improve customer experience is to consider what’s stressing you out? It’s usually a good indicator of what needs fixing. Specifically, where do you think you can provide a better customer experience? What are your pain points? These are the things that keep you awake at night. What are you doing about them? Be honest with yourself, because we can all do better. Let’s face it, there’s no point attracting new customers only to lose them because you fail to deliver.
So what’s your peeling wallpaper or burnt out lightbulbs? In many cases it’s not the things we hear about that need to be fixed. It’s the ones we don’t hear about that’s troubling. This is where the silent majority just walk away, never to be seen again.
Sometimes good enough, isn’t!
You may also enjoy reading SBM #74 Average or Great
Get More LIFE Out of Your BusinessYou shouldn’t be the hardest working person in your company.
Many small business owners find that even after the struggling start-up years, they’re working too many hours and still managing every aspect of their businesses.
Greg Weatherdon has been there, done that. As an entrepreneur, he learned not only how to get a business to the point of running smoothly, but also how to reduce the number of hours he worked, delegate more responsibility to his employees, and take longer vacations while his business chugged along like a well-oiled machine. And now he is providing the secret to success.
Do you suffer from any of the following?
- Business ownership isn’t living up to the dream.
- Endless workdays.
- You can’t find good people.
- Profits are less than expected.
- You can never take a vacation.
You’re not alone. But there is a solution. As Greg demonstrates, with some time and effort, you really can Get More Life Out Of Your Business.
ORDER HERE
Too often innovation gets confused with invention, when in fact they are not the same. Unfortunately, we are bombarded with articles and warnings that in order to survive as entrepreneurs we must innovate or be left behind. Ok, I’m not sure that we would be left behind, but innovating or improving how we do things, is never a bad idea.
The goal for any innovation should not be for the sake of innovation alone but should either enhance the customer experience or increase our efficiency. If you can do both that’s even better.
Microsoft Office 365A simple example where, in my opinion, neither of these goals are achieved is Microsoft Office. Over the past few years, I have watched as this software grouping has morphed into a bloated feature laden product.. What was once a simple dropdown menu style that allowed access to the most commonly used functions have disappeared under renamed menus loaded with icons that would have an archeologist scratching their head trying to decipher these hieroglyphics.
I would hazard a guess that the vast majority of the Office 365 install base are not power users, therefore these improvements or product evolutions, fail my innovation test. It neither improves the user experience nor increases efficiency for most of us as we waste so much time looking for a simple formatting function.
I’m sure that some power users need these enhancements that the product engineers dream up but for most of us it’s overkill.
A recent experience with an Excel spreadsheet or is it now called a workbook or a worksheet? Regardless of what it’s now called, I needed to unlock a protected spreadsheet. Because I don’t use Excel everyday, I needed to hunt down that function. Once upon a time, you could simply click on one of the dropdown menus and click on that function. Well no more.
After I don’t know how long of hunting and pecking through the drop menus and trying to decipher the various icons, I typed “unprotect” in the Excel search bar to no avail. Finally, I turned to Google for help and finally found the answer. Seriously, nothing should be that hard.
A simple solution might be to just offer the everyday user an option for a “Classic” menu that would offer the user the most commonly used functions within the complete Office 365 lineup. Now that would be an innovation!
Alternatives such as Open Office, Libre Office and Google’s Workspace offer a simpler user interface. Aside from being free, their popularity might be driven partly by their ease of use.
Small BusinessInnovation for most small businesses does not have to be earth shattering. In SBM #36 Innovation, I mention that what we need to understand is that most successful innovation comes from either borrowing ideas from other industries or reconfiguring your existing products or services to tackle new markets or customers. Put this way, innovation becomes less daunting and can be implemented incrementally over time and does not require wholesale retraining of your staff and customers. Therefore, they are considered natural or logical enhancements.
Merriam Webster provides the following definitions which may serve to clarify the difference between innovation and invention:
Invention“a device, contrivance, or process originated after study and experiment,” usually something which has not previously been in existence.
Innovation for its part, can refer to something new or to a change made to an existing product, idea, or field.
They go on to provide the following example:
One might say that the first telephone was an invention, the first cellular telephone either an invention or an innovation, and the first smartphone an innovation.
The wristwatchAnother simple and great innovation is the wristwatch. Prior to the 20th century, wristwatches were only worn by wealthier women as a fashion accessory, whereas men had pocket watches. It took a World War for the wristwatch to become a mainstay accessory for men.
As the story goes, coordinating troop movements, bombardments and attacks required officers and soldiers to be always aware of the time. The process of fumbling for a pocket watch proved cumbersome due to the necessity of having to always check. That frustration was compounded during the winter months when wearing gloves.
Someone gave this some thought. They simply stole or should I say borrowed the wristwatch idea and adopted it for men. That way soldiers wouldn’t have to reach for their watch at all, as they were wearing it. A simple twist of their arm and they could see the time.
https://www.businessinsider.com/watches-after-wwi-the-male-accessory-2016-5My experienceWhen I founded the Marketing Resource Group or MRG, I brought this essence of innovation to the consumer packaged goods and healthcare industries. Prior to MRG, I owned The Sales Support Company which was a contract retail merchandising company. In other words an outsourced sales force. I had 150 people working coast-coast performing various sales functions in our client’s smaller retail customers.
Because our merchandisers needed to travel from store to store to perform their duties, wages and travel costs represented a significant portion of our costs. Raising prices was difficult as it would dilute the cost/benefit argument we had put forth. So, after eight years sustainable profits were elusive, so I sold the company.
My innovationOne of the reasons that made my decision to sell The Sales Support Company easy, was that I knew the industry still needed to service these accounts but needed cost efficient solution, which I had been quietly testing for over a year.
Once clear of my obligations with my previous company, I launched MRG to provide our clients with an alternative solution to service these accounts.
So instead of having an individual physically visit a store, we began telemarketing these accounts as a means to communicate and solicit orders. As an aside, we provided other services that previously required a sales representative to perform, but now were done remotely.
I knew of only one company that was doing anything remotely similar and that was Kimberley-Clark, the makers of brands like Huggies and Kleenex.
The big difference was that they were selling their own products, whereas we would be a sales as a service model, representing any number of companies and brands, albeit never at the same time.
Aside from Kimberley-Clark this hadn’t been attempted before and therefore it took a bit of effort to get buy-in from our clients.
Eventually, we convinced enough clients of the merits and gained the necessary momentum to make it a viable business that I owned for 17 years until I sold it.
This innovation had numerous benefits and few downsides for our customers. Considering that we handled what I referred to as their orphaned accounts, those retail establishment that due to annual purchases or geographic location, received no sales coverage from their existing salesforces.
Foremost, our reach was unlimited. If they had a phone, we could contact them, regardless of where they were located, even in the Artic.
Innovation through adaptationSo let’s be honest. I didn’t invent anything here. I simply took an existing service, telemarketing, and applied it to an industry that wasn’t using it. There is a saying “good artist borrow ideas great artist steal ideas.
Is that not the purpose of innovation? How many so called innovations, add no value to the end user and only add confusion.
First and foremost, innovation needs to improve the experience. But change for the sake of change is rarely a good idea. The best way to determine the value of your innovation is to ask your customers and not just your power users.
Also consider that instead of more features, maybe consider fewer and see if that improves the user experience.
You may also enjoy SBM #107 Beware of the whale
Get More LIFE Out of Your BusinessYou shouldn’t be the hardest working person in your company.
Many small business owners find that even after the struggling start-up years, they’re working too many hours and still managing every aspect of their businesses.
Greg Weatherdon has been there, done that. As an entrepreneur, he learned not only how to get a business to the point of running smoothly, but also how to reduce the number of hours he worked, delegate more responsibility to his employees, and take longer vacations while his business chugged along like a well-oiled machine. And now he is providing the secret to success.
Do you suffer from any of the following?
- Business ownership isn’t living up to the dream.
- Endless workdays.
- You can’t find good people.
- Profits are less than expected.
- You can never take a vacation.
You’re not alone. But there is a solution. As Greg demonstrates, with some time and effort, you really can Get More Life Out Of Your Business.
ORDER HERE
The world economies are in a mess and heading for a recession. But this shouldn’t be much of a surprise if you’ve been paying any attention to the news over the past year.
The war in Ukraine, inflation, ongoing supply chain disruptions, interest rate increases, energy supplies and pricing are making it tough for consumers and small businesses alike.
So what is a small business owner to do? Well, you have two choices, play defense, and batten down the hatches or go on the offense and grab market share. So let’s explore both options.
Play defenseThe most natural thing to do in recessionary times is to get ready to ride out the storm. In episode #55 of the Small Business Minute titled Are you Ready? I review some things you can do to ready yourself for an economic downturn.
But when a recession does hit, playing defense means making draconian cuts in expenses because there’s a good chance your revenues will take a hit.
It means being ruthless. You need to adopt the attitude that nothing is sacred, and everything is on the block. But being internal optimists, that’s not easy for a lot of entrepreneurs. Always remember the goal during recessionary times is to survive and live to fight another day.
One big problem with any pending economic retraction is knowing how bad things may get. There have been many contractions that weren’t anywhere near the predictions and ended up being nothing more than speeds bumps.
However, there have also been many times that the reality was far worse than the forecasts. In addition, some industries were more impacted than others. The point is no one knows with any certainty which way the winds are going to blow. So, it’s better to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
This recession is differentUnfortunately, there is one major problem facing business owners this time around – Covid! Let’s be honest, from a business owners’ perspective, Covid was not just a health issue, it was business destroyer. Its impact was far worse than any recession.
Small businesses faced unprecedented disruption, through forced shutdowns, and health and safety protocols that were extensive and expensive. This left small businesses uncertain of their future.
Because of this, entrepreneurs were forced to make decisions to cut staff and expenses in order to survive. Any owner that had a financial cushion saw most of that safety net disappear.
So, once the economies of the world started to open up, entrepreneurs have been struggling to return to profitability and normalcy. Unfortunately, because of Covid, most small businesses have nothing left to cut.
Sadly, if a recession is in the cards, thousands of small businesses will disappear as they are tapped out. One thing that you can count on is that there won`t be a government bailout.
But there is an alternative.
Play OffenseIf you take a pause and step back for a moment, you’ll might realize that there is another approach to consider, and that is to go on the offense.
When you consider that when most small business owners hear the word recession, their knee jerk reaction is pull back on everything. As I mentioned early, it’s a legitimate strategy. Batten down the hatches and survive.
However, instead of a wholesale slash and burn across all areas of their company, taking a surgical approach might prove to be the way forward.
First off, making cuts is prudent. But instead of sweeping cuts, why not look at all non-profitable areas of your company. Got dead inventory that you’ve been hanging onto, dump it and free up your cash. Even at $.25 on the dollar, it’s better than staring at it and it puts some cash in the bank.
Next, focus only on those products and services that are profitable, period! This is not the time to launch any new initiatives. They usually require some form of investment, whether that’s human or financial to support it until such time they contribute in a meaningful way to the bottom line.
By focusing on those products or services that are already profitable frees up financial and human resources to go on the offense and start grabbing market share.
When you consider that just about everyone of your competitors will be cutting their marketing spend, this will create a vacuum in the marketplace. With them cutting back on their promotional campaigns, this forces the advertising industry to offer discounts or bonuses to make up for their shortfalls. So, this is the time to take advantage of the situation and amp up your awareness.
By increasing your marketing and sales initiatives during this period, it can drive awareness of your products and services within your target market. The key here is “your target market”.
“Going on the offense in a recession,
is like driving down a two lane highway
and getting the chance to pass
10 slower cars in one shot.”
It’s absolutely necessary to have laser like focus on your target because you’ll need to be shrewd on how you spend your money. Because your profitability will probably take hit during a recession, this may not be the best time to open new markets, but every case is different and need to be measured on its own merits. However, going deeper into those channels that you already know and understand is the smart play.
It’s also important to be aware that recessions aren’t biased. They impact most industries the same. So, you’ll need to be prepared to sharpen your pencil as you hunt for new customers, because everyone will be looking for value.
Once the economy recovers, you should be able to recover most of the margin you gave up, because you’ll have fewer competitors.
Going on the offense in a recession, is like driving down a two lane highway and getting the chance to pass 10 slower cars in one shot.
Bear in mind, this strategy take guts, but as the saying goes “To the brave goes the spoils!” But when you think about it, how risky is it? It might be less than you think. When you consider your that many of your competitors will be sitting in a corner sucking their thumbs hoping that things get better.
Fortunately, recessions don’t come around that often but when they do, you must react decisively regardless of whether you choose to play offense or defense.
A word of caution if you’re planning to play defense, be ready to protect current customers or market share. Chances are one of your competitor may be playing offense and you are on their hit list.
Get More LIFE Out of Your BusinessYou shouldn’t be the hardest working person in your company.
Many small business owners find that even after the struggling start-up years, they’re working too many hours and still managing every aspect of their businesses.
Greg Weatherdon has been there, done that. As an entrepreneur, he learned not only how to get a business to the point of running smoothly, but also how to reduce the number of hours he worked, delegate more responsibility to his employees, and take longer vacations while his business chugged along like a well-oiled machine. And now he is providing the secret to success.
Do you suffer from any of the following?
- Business ownership isn’t living up to the dream.
- Endless workdays.
- You can’t find good people.
- Profits are less than expected.
- You can never take a vacation.
You’re not alone. But there is a solution. As Greg demonstrates, with some time and effort, you really can Get More Life Out Of Your Business.
ORDER HERE
My guest today is Dennis Geelen and is here to talk about his new book The Accidental Solopreneur and how it can help any consultant acheive greater success
There are many fairy tales when it comes to entrepreneurship. Knowing the difference between reality and fantasy, will save you grief!
For newly minted entrepreneurs, the biggest priority is to generate revenue, any revenue in an effort to transition from struggling to profitable enterprise. To those of us who have made the...
This is content summary only. Click on blog title to keep on reading this, share your comments and browse other posts.
A year ago, had you asked small business owners what 3 things could put them out of business?, I would have bet a pandemic would not have been on their top 10 let alone their top 50 things. But a lot...
This is content summary only. Click on blog title to keep on reading this, share your comments and browse other posts.
For some time now I’ve have taken issue with the advice given small business owners on social media platforms under the guise of motivation and advice. Sadly, much of this advice being spewed forth...
This is content summary only. Click on blog title to keep on reading this, share your comments and browse other posts.