Why businesses fail
It pains me so much when I see a business owner who is really good at what they do, who genuinely wants to help people, fail (or really struggle), because they just don’t know how to market their business successfully, find clients and make sales and money.
And I see this quite a lot.
They put so much time, energy, effort, love and money into creating a course or training as a coach and getting the courage and confidence up to leave the job they hate.
Then they struggle to make it work. They struggle to get enough clients and make enough money consistently. It breaks my heart when someone works so hard, then has to give up and go back to getting a job – especially when they’ve tasted the freedom, having your own business can give them!
Setting up in business is hard. If it was easy everyone would be doing it!
The statistics are somewhere between half and 90% of all new businesses fail (depending which data/study you look at).
So I absolutely applaud anyone with the courage to go for it!
Trouble is, most people who set up a new business, especially sole traders, such as coaches, therapists, teachers, facilitators, consultants etc, are not at all trained or experienced in running a business.
They’re not entrepreneurs. How to run a successful business isn’t taught in schools. It’s not common knowledge and I’m NOT saying it’s easy either or that there is one ‘right’ way – because there isn’t.
They have a (probably) fantastic idea, vision or a huge desire to change their life (and the lives of others), or they are desperate to get away from a stressful work situation.
They think that YES, having my own business, being self-employed is the solution (thinking of the freedom, flexibility and the opportunity to create my own future) and they go for it, without any knowledge or understanding of how to make a business a success.
The truth is, having your own business is hard work, it is confusing and frustrating and it’s often a roller coaster, especially financially and emotionally. Many just don’t make the grade and give up because they’re not seeing results.
A successful business requires training & practice
If you were going to run a marathon for the first time, would you really do no training, invest in no special gear, do no running practice and just turn up on the day expecting a great result? NO!
So why, when your business is slow, struggling and not performing as it should, or you’re just getting established, do you try to figure it all out by yourself?
It’s lonely enough, working all alone at home, having to make all the decisions yourself – what to focus on, what to offer, how to price it, how to market it, finding clients, doing your accounts etc etc.
I always say that a business is a marathon and not a sprint, because you have to be in it for the long term. Building a successful business takes time, knowledge, practice, a willingness to experiment, take risks and a lot of patience.
[ctt template=”11″ link=”R83b7″ via=”yes” ]A business is a marathon, not a sprint. Be in it for the long term or not at all #business #success #blog[/ctt]
No one is an overnight success, no one. And if you’ve never seen Gary Vaynerchuck’s video then check that out below – it is well worth a watch and is actually quite inspiring, even if he is also a bit annoying!.
I’m not saying any of this to you to discourage you. Not at all.
I’m all about encouraging and helping people to move from where they are to where they want to be. Whether that is going from making no money to making some or going from making a few hundred pounds a month to a few thousand!
What I’m saying is that we all need help! And it’s OK to need help from (and learn from) others who have more expertise or are more experienced than you, within their field.
When your car breaks down or has a fault, you take it to a garage and trust that the experts there will fix it for you. You don’t try to fix it yourself because you don’t know how to.
Updating your Skills
I really believe that effective marketing can be learned and learning how to make your business work can also be figured out, with help. Several brains are better than just one, right?!
You can have a successful business, you just need to have certain things in place, deal with your beliefs and mindset and train yourself for success.
The trouble is – when you do it all yourself and you learn bits and pieces of information (from this freebie or that free webinar) you only have like 1-20% of the information you need to implement the strategy and make it a success.
So, it
a) takes a lot longer to figure it out, if you do figure it out at all,
b) is slow, frustrating, hard work and difficult
c) you may not be doing any of it right either, so none of it may work! and
d) you may not be in business long enough to figure it all out and stay afloat, earning enough money.
Essentially, you may be wasting a lot of your time doing things that aren’t working.
[ctt template=”11″ link=”c_ewd” via=”yes” ]There’s not a lack of information but a lack of implementation. Only action gets results #implementation #businesssuccess[/ctt]
And I get it, I know you know that ‘you have to spend money to make money’, but when money is tight because your business isn’t flourishing yet and you’re living off your savings (or the good grace of your partner) then it can be a tough call to invest in your business at all.
Talk about a rock and a hard place!
What you need to create a successful business
I’m sure dozens of other people have written similar lists and anyone’s list could be pages long for sure. But for the sake of you reading this now, here are my main keys, the things you really need to create a successful business (whatever success means to you):
- patience
- determination and tenacity
- hard work
- business and marketing skills
- passion
- clarity (and to take action even without clarity)
- help and support
- trust in yourself and how things are unfolding
- committment
- flexibility
- confidence and inner strength
- a strong ‘why’
- effective strategies to market and sell your services (or products)
Some are inner attributes that you either have you or you’ll need to develop and some are things you can learn or get help with, from others. I don’t think anyone can truly do it alone!
Wouldn’t it be great if…
What if you could learn all the marketing know-how you needed to make your business a success?
What if you had regular support from a coach and other business owners who bring a wealth of knowledge to the table?
What if you were totally clear on the things you needed to do, that would make the biggest positive difference and create success in your business?
You can!
This is why I’m starting a monthly, in-person, group marketing and mastermind session from January, so that you have an affordable way of getting good marketing training, making connections with other business women and getting support to make actual, tangible, exciting and awesome forward progress with your business. Every month.
These are drop in sessions (although you need to pre-buy a ticket) so you can come regularly or whenever you can.
You’ll get:
Marketing and business mentoring and training on a different topic each month so you can learn and improve your skills and implement positive changes to your business.
A mastermind of other business women brainstorming and offering advice and feedback, so you get help with a particular issue you’re facing and learn from others’ issues too.
A chance to network, explore opportunities, create successful collaborations and feel supported on your business journey.
A focus on setting effective goals for the next month to help keep you on track and an accountability buddy to help you get them done.
Check out more info here.
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