Monthly Archives: October 2016

0 Alternative Solutions to Your Market’s Problem

Alternative solutions are an important step in your sales funnel or marketing campaign.  On the Awareness Ladder, rung 2 is awareness of solutions to your problem.

Any prospective customer will know they have a problem and right or wrong, they will set out to find solutions.  They may find several solutions, possibly including yours.

Rung 2 is interesting because it best illustrates why marketing is important.  Your prospect has not necessarily identified the right problem.  If they have, how do they choose between the solutions on offer?

You can see why it is important to educate your market.  Identifying the wrong problem can be an expensive mistake.  Trying the wrong solution can be frustrating at best and may have serious consequences.

The Dash for a Solution

It is worth pausing here to recognise something I’ve experienced many times as a development worker.  Often when someone has a problem, what they present to me is a solution.  They will approach me to help them with their solution: “Chris, can you show me how to …”.

Often they are aware of a problem and reach for the first available solution.  It is worth back-tracking to the original problem.  The first solution to hand is not always the best, even assuming they have correctly identified the problem.

This question in the circuit questionnaire challenges you to consider all the solutions available and it is worth taking time to consider which is best under the circumstances.  The circumstances include costs, effectiveness, the skills of the people involved, long-term versus short-term consequences and there will be more.  It is always worth doing this, even if you stick with the original solution in the end.

A common example is: “We need a website”.  My first question, which can be asked in many ways is: “What for?”  This is a good example of a solution to a non-existent problem.  “Everyone else has a website” is not a reason to have a website.  If you do want a website, it has to be a good idea to design it to solve some problem.  Even better to solve the problem some other but better way!

Identifying Possible Solutions

Part of your marketing approach is to find alternative solutions to the problem and show how yours differs from them.  Some alternatives may be better for some prospects and that is fine.  Your task is to find the customers for whom your solution is most appropriate.

Helping people find the right solution to their problem is a valuable service any business can offer.  You will meet people who have come to the wrong person and it is better to move them on in their search for the right solution.

So, assuming we know what the problem is, here are some solutions to consider:

Do It Yourself

This is an attractive solution for businesses and organisations that are not cash rich.  They still need to consider whether this is their best use of time.  Another issue is whether they have the necessary skills in-house.

One option is to pay for training and development so that work can continue in-house once someone has developed the skills.  This may work so long as it is a good use of time.  Similarly, appointing a member of staff with the skills may be another option, so long as the attendant overheads are less than using a commercial service.

It is possible DIY is a false economy but not necessarily so.  After all most organisations do some things in-house.  Sorting out what needs to be bought in is a challenge.

Commercial Competition

Another thing to consider is whether your competitors can offer a solution.  For some prospects a referral is the best service you can offer.  If you understand their problem and know someone who can offer the solution they need, that’s fine.

If it is a good referral you will have impressed both the prospect and your competitor.  Another advantage of doing this is it helps clarify what you offer in the eyes of the world.  If you take on prospects who don’t really fit your offer, not only are you likely to disappoint them, you confuse your genuine market.

Of course, if you are with a prospect, reviewing the competition can be helpful as they may see you are the best offer for them.  If not, make the referral!

Doing Nothing

It is tempting to say this is the worse option but it depends.  Is the problem real?  Is it urgent?  Are there other priorities?  It might be desirable to have a website but is it worth it?

If something is desirable it may be worth scheduling it.  This means you may put it in for review in a few months’ time.  You don’t have to forget about it but recognise there are not enough hours in the day to do everything.

Of course, some problems are really tempting to ignore but must be tackled.  You need to name these and make sure they are not in the “do nothing” category.

What’s your experience of solutions masquerading as problems?

0 On Finding Your Voice

Perhaps the biggest challenge any solo entrepreneur faces is how to find their voice.  Last Friday, I wrote about personal branding and this follows on.  There are two senses in which you may need help finding your voice.

Public Speaking

The obvious dimension is having the courage to speak out.  This challenges many people, be they entrepreneurs, politicians, religious leaders or anyone with a message they need to convey.

The underlying principle is confidence.  Not only confidence in the message but confidence to stand up and speak.  For many, fear of speaking inhibits their voice.

Actually, once you find your voice as a public speaker, you will find expression through other media becomes easier.  Once I can stand up and speak about a personal experience, it becomes less of a challenge to write about it and publish online.

I headed this section “public speaking” because it is perhaps the most challenging approach to communication most of us encounter.  But many business people worry about everything they put out, particularly if it means telling their own story.  There is something empowering about speaking to others because that way you get feedback and through feedback perhaps hear yourself for the first time.

Personal and Business Voices

Everyone in business has both a personal and a business voice.  It is possible to unpick the two but it is not always beneficial.

Let’s say you’ve studied for many years and deliver a coaching service based on your studies.  You are brilliant at what you do.  Your problem is finding clients.  How do you put the message out?  You can list your qualifications, explain how you work and point to testimonials from happy clients.

We fear yawns when we are finding our voice! (Why are there no pictures of business people yawning?) mattysimpson / Pixabay

Yawn!!

Why does any of this matter to me?  Tell me a story about how you solved a problem like mine and now I’m listening.

That is of course too simple.  But the point is you need to find a voice that does justice to who you are as well as what you offer.

You can be entertaining, educational, inspirational, challenging and the chances are your business is none of those things without the essential element that is you!

Ah ha – I hear you ejaculate – but doesn’t that mean you are selling yourself?  Precisely!

Finding your voice is hearing what is unique in your delivery and integrating it with your offer, to make something people want to hear and some may be willing to pay to follow-up further.

The chances are you don’t know your own voice or if you do, you do not how to use it to become most effective.

Maybe now is the time to gather the fragments of your life together and make something of it that people will pay to hear because they need to hear it.

What is unique about your voice?

1 Income for Your Business

It is impossible to write about how you finance your business because every business is different.  But there a few things about business income everyone should consider.

Keeping Track

Keeping track of your finances, income and outgoings, is paramount.  This is where many businesses fail.  You need to monitor your financial situation carefully because:

Sources of Income

So, as a self-employed person, you need to work out where your income will come from to cover both business and household costs.

There are four main sources of income available to you.  They all have their pros and cons and some are more important than others.

Earnings

This is the obvious one and the one that entails most work.  Most of your work will focus on increasing earnings.

Beware this is not as straightforward as it may seem first.  If you are self-employed you must do everything.  This means your product or service is only one demand on your time.  There are other things you need to do and pre-eminent among these is marketing.

If you’re excellent at what you do but can’t market it, then you do not have a business.  You need to plan things so that you balance what you do with your marketing.

Let’s assume you have a service and can handle 6 clients at any one time.  They pay upfront for a 6 month contract.  If you have 6 clients at a given time, you’re living off the fees they have paid upfront for 6 months.  If you don’t have time to market because you have 6 clients, you will have no new clients at the end of the 6 months.  This can play havoc with your cash flows.

Also consider, if you do have time to market during that 6 months, what happens if you land a new client and don’t have space in your schedule for them?

The good news is this problem comes with success but don’t let success draw your attention away from your business, you need to work on it as well as in it.

Investments and Loans

If you can persuade someone to invest in your business you are in luck.  You have something for which someone else is prepared to risk their income!  The chances are they will not only offer financial support but also expertise.  This needs to be agreed before you accept the money.  Will they offer support?

It is worth agreeing in advance the type of support they will offer.  Are they going to advise you or expect you to make changes to your business?  If so, what is the nature of these changes?  Their expertise may be really helpful but it is always better to be prepared.

If you don’t want someone who expects a say in your business in return for investment, you may be seeking a business loan.  Loans are more arm’s length.  Where an investment grows or shrinks with the business fortunes, loans are repaid to an agreed schedule with interest.  Loaners demand interest irrespective of the business performance.

Grants and Other Support

Some ethical issues apply to grants and so they are not usually a source of income for businesses.  They are generally available for social enterprises and so there is a temptation to become a social enterprise to qualify for grants.

There are generally two criteria for social enterprises; if either or both apply, you have a social enterprise.

It is a mutual or self-help group.  This means a group of people work collaboratively to improve some aspect of their lives or community.  So, a group of people who share a disability might work together on an enterprise that benefits their community.

The second is to have a charitable object, such as providing a service for people with a disability.

Sometimes businesses with no track record go down this route before they have a proven market.  This may be more of an issue for the second type, the first type will be a group of people who clearly exist and will benefit themselves.

Funding bodies often focus on financial management and not so much on the effectiveness of the business.  I have seen businesses receive awards for their planning whilst unable to show a market exists for their products or services.

The other issue is cash flow.  A cash rich business can quickly spend its money if its focus is not on reaching its market.  Front loading a business is not always the best way to approach it.

Savings

Savings support some businesses.  Obviously, this cannot continue indefinitely but it is a way to get started.

The downside can be the business owner lacks urgency.  They know they can keep going  and hope that they’ll work it out in time to recover financially!

However, savings can be an advantage because they allow a business time to experiment.   Many businesses fail because they run out of money and others fail because they run out of patience.  If you have savings, you have independence to try things, learn from mistakes and so build a business on sound foundations.

Assets

By assets I mean anything you own that generates income.  Assets cover things like stocks and shares, rental income, intellectual property and so on.  Pensions may be included here although they come into play in later life.  Assets do not include possessions such as your home, car or other things.  These are really liabilities because most of them depreciate in value, add to your expenditure or both.

Some people add to their assets consistently during a lifetime of work because they understand assets allow financial independence.  Anyone who has assets that cover their business and lifestyle costs are in an enviable position but they will be a small minority of the self-employed.

0 Finding Attractive Opportunities

Whilst naming problems and showing how to solve them is bread and butter for marketing campaigns, there is another way to think about them.  An attractive opportunity can be just as compelling as a solution to a problem.  Many solutions are equally attractive opportunities.

The mousetrap may solve a problem but it is not an opportunity for me or the mice. steinchen / Pixabay

This doesn’t always work.  I have mice, on and off and from time to time contemplate mouse control products.  Mice are a problem and there are several possible solutions.  All of then involve killing mice, hardly scope for an attractive opportunity!  A house without mice is an attractive concept I experienced before the mice arrived!  Mice are a problem that requires a solution, not an opportunity.

I mentioned Utility Warehouse (affiliate link) in my post, Indirect Benefits of Your Offer and they are an example of an attractive opportunity.  Like all genuine business opportunities, they are an opportunity subject to you putting in the work.  Usually people become distributors for Utility Warehouse to build up their income through assets.  They receive rewards for the work they put in and soon discover they are part of a supportive community.

An attractive opportunity can be a solution to some problem.  The challenge to any marketing campaign is to ask, is it better to emphasise the opportunity or the problem?  This will depend on your audience.  Anyone who responds to your offer will get everything you offer.  Some may opt for it because it solves their problem and others because they find the opportunity attractive.

You have options when you market your offer and you are fully equipped when you know what they are!

Website Design: An Example

Many organisations benefit from a website designed to meet their purpose.  The problem is they don’t always know their purpose or see they have something to market online.  A website can present an overview of their work but they won’t necessarily understand how a generic presentation of the opportunities they offer can work for them.

The challenge for a website designer is getting across how online activity opens up a world of possibility for most organisations.   They may need help to see the potential to uncover and meet their desired outcomes.

Sometimes this is a problem.  One prospect could not see how building lists now would benefit them in the future.  Their attention was on the developmental phase of their project and taking on a website was an additional burden.  They have improved their site but still have no list.

Another prospect has the potential to generate much-needed income online but has a designer who is not interested in what they’re doing and has other priorities.  In a few years their projections show they will have to close because they will run out of money.

These examples show how immediate problems can lead to neglected opportunities, no matter how favourable those opportunities may be.

Can anyone suggest an attractive opportunity that does not solve a problem?

1 Personal Branding

I’m not sure I know what to make of Personal Branding.  We’re all familiar with branded products and retailers.  If we think about it, we can see their point.  A familiar brand is trusted, memorable.  You pay your money and know almost exactly what you’ll get in return.

But personal branding?  I am not a product or a business of any description.  Why should I be branded and what does it mean?

I’ve based the following thoughts on a new book, “Branded You: How to Stand Out in Business and Achieve Greater Profitability and Success” by Adele McLay.  (The book will be published soon, follow the link and scroll down to register your interest.)  The book brings together all the ideas you need to build your personal brand.  It is really helpful to find them all in one place.  It is an easy read and short enough to return to for deeper reflection, as you work through each part.

I’ve had the following thoughts in response to the book.

Outer Branding

Don’t make the mistake of thinking outer branding is somehow superficial.  If your branding is superficial, then you haven’t done the work.  Integrity is a core principle here.  There needs to be coherence between you and what you sell.

Your story, your appearance, your public persona are all elements of your personal brand. These need to be consistent with each other and coherent with your offer and your market.

The challenge is to make the right choices.  If you help people overcome their problems through outdoor activities, do you approach your market dressed for outdoor activities or in regulation business clothes?

There is no correct answer because the question is a challenge.  Your brand is to accept neither option but to seek something that works for you.  Find a creative solution to build your brand.

Your Brand as a Mask

The masks in ancient Greek theatre communicated the character through sound (Latin: per sonar) Clker-Free-Vector-Images / Pixabay

The paradox is the outer brand is a mask.  But the mask you wear is you!  It may be a heightened version of you but it must be genuine.  The Latin word persona goes back to Greek and Roman theatre and refers to the masks Classical actors used to wear.

Their masks concealed the actor’s identity and amplified their voice.  The paradox is the character depicted through the mask was always more real than the actor behind the mask.  The personal brand similarly amplifies the person behind the mask but with coherence between the brand and the actor.

Inner Branding

You can see there is an inner discipline to personal branding.  You need to work on congruence between how you present yourself and what you promote.

This always feels awkward to me.  I am naturally disposed to being a grumpy old man.  When I was a teenager, someone referred to my husky exterior.  So, I’ve been a grumpy old man for many years.  I am sceptical that I can present myself as relentlessly positive.

On the other hand I know I can be engaging.  I can inspire people through spoken words. I speak with humour, energy and passion.  And I love doing it!  Is this really me?  I surprise myself sometimes.

My problem is I naturally present myself in grumpy mode and can in the twinkling of an eye transform myself into my other persona.  I couldn’t be energetic and engaging if it were not for my grumpy demeanour.

My problem is bringing the two together, so my brand has coherence.  And the truth is, this is something everyone in business struggles with.  Your natural and public dispositions need not be at odds and your brand is how you find a creative solution to presenting both.

McLay’s book describes the necessary practical approaches to working on your brand in both its outer and inner aspects.  If you work through her 7-step programme, you will build a personal brand and hopefully a successful business as a result.

Outward Branding

Here is something I don’t think McLay or other writers are aware of.  How does your brand reach outwards?  This is not about how you appear to the world but the impact your personal brand has on the world.

We are not isolated individuals.  We are all part of various communities and our brand is a measure of our influence in those communities.  To some degree, my brand represents all the communities to which I belong, not just my business.

I live in a part of Sheffield that has had a poor reputation in the city for many decades.  If people know I come from Pitsmoor, this could devalue my personal brand.  But I want to advocate Pitsmoor as a positive place.  I need to find creative ways to do that.  It is perhaps not an easy call but it is something all businesses should consider.

Roots and Branches

If you have a global market, the street in which you park your business may not seem that important.  You probably chose it for all sorts of reasons, not least costs.  If you’re selling to someone even a few streets away, your place may seem irrelevant.

But we devalue our neighbourhoods as we leave them for town or shopping centres.  Maybe businesses need to advocate their place, grow the roots that support their many branches?

When we do this, we support other businesses and grow the communities we need to support enterprise in general.

Again this type of personal branding requires time to develop ideas and grow solutions.  It’s not about ramming the delights of Pitsmoor down the throats of my customers; it is being rooted in a place and committed to it.  Open to ways to build sustainable community there.

Have you encountered examples of outer, inner and outward personal branding?

0 The Power of Routine

Last Wednesday, I wrote about work life balance and suggested the problem most self-employed face is poor accountability.  It is difficult enough if you have only a partner who demands accountability but just imagine how bad it is if no-one does!

After my mother died, my father, who suffered from MS, had to structure his life around the home.  He was on his own and his movements restricted.  He appreciated routine.  Routine is actually a powerful tool for anyone, especially if self-employed.

Here are some of the advantages of routine:

The point is the more you do routinely, the better you can focus on the time dedicated to your business.

Allocating Time for Your Business

There are probably 4 or so hours in the day when you are at your best.  You can work at other times but your mind is sharpest during those hours.

So, when you’re at your best, do the creative work you need to do: preparation for clients, package design, blog posts, etc.

At other times you can answer emails, edit blog posts, monitor your marketing.  These important tasks need your attention but they do not need you at your peak.

The other things you need to do, such as housework, need to be scheduled into the day as breaks or when you’re tired.  Sometimes a break, doing something else can refresh you.  So, tired after a working day, you may find cooking tea a refreshing break!

Housework

Look it’s probably not that important.  If you have a room for meeting clients, it must appear clean and welcoming but your family and friends are not that bothered.  Indeed your shabby home may reassure them about theirs!

Obviously there are things you must do daily and weekly and these should be part of your routine.  Things that should be kept clean include you, your clothes and pots and pans.  Most other things can be cleaned when necessary, that is when you can’t bear it any longer!

Another thing to remember is when you move to another room, what can you take with you?  The term I use, from chess, is en passant, in passing.  Things circulate around the house and whilst you can organise hunting parties from time to time, it is more efficient to make sure you have something in your hands.  If you have something in your hand, it harder to forget about it!

Finally, as soon as you can afford it consider paying someone to do cleaning, decorating, etc.  This is a service you can provide for the local economy!

Have you any suggestions to how to work more efficiently whilst developing your business?

0 What If You Do Not Address Your Customers’ Problem?

In my last post, I discussed the costs of your customers’ problem.  This post considers your long-term business prospects and consequences, if you do not address your customers’ problem.  This applies equally to your own business and your customer’s, if your customer is a business that needs to  understand its customer’s problem.

Local Marketing – Worked Example

A cost is something that can be directly assessed, such as income or membership.  In my last post I looked at the impact of poor marketing on organisations.  I considered some indirect consequences such as stress and bureaucracy.  Poor marketing matters because it implies you do not understand your customers’ problem.

The long-term consequences of bad practice is likely to be failure.  For a business, this is likely to mean closure at some stage.

Can You Manage Without Marketing?

However, many organisations continue for years without worrying about marketing.  This is common in community and voluntary sectors, where activity is not so cash dependent.  Many organisations keep going on membership fees and annual fund-raisers because volunteers run them.  It can also be true of businesses that have a proven product or service that maintains income.

So, let’s assume cash flow is not a problem and your organisation is financially secure although not marketing.  It may have established customers that spread the word by word of mouth.  A shop-front or a few ads in Yellow Pages may be enough for some businesses.

This can be a stable state of affairs.  Everyone needs plumbers from time to time and so it may not be necessary to market plumbing.  Most people know they need to call one if water is coming through the ceiling.  They are also likely to be very much aware of prospects and consequences of not calling a plumber.

But are they fully aware of all the services a plumber can offer?  Are they aware of the benefits of calling in a professional and not trying to do it yourself?  Or perhaps of some basic tips if you do attempt something yourself?

For a business such as a plumber, it may be possible to do well with minimal marketing.  So, it is important to understand not all prospects and consequences apply equally to all businesses or organisations.

Likely Prospects and Consequences When You Ignore Marketing

You will note most of these are community prospects and consequences.  This is why all organisations should prioritise marketing for the benefit of the community and not solely to protect their future.  The benefits of marketing are not solely to the business; lose the business and you lose the benefits it brings to the community.

The General Challenge

This question challenges all businesses to think beyond their immediate interests and consider the prospects and consequences of having a business actively solve the problem it has identified.

If you can name the benefits you bring to the wider community, then you can use this in your marketing.  Just as selling double-glazing or solar panels reduced carbon consumption, your business will bring benefits to the wider community.

These benefits are part of your marketing strategy.  After all many people will purchase double-glazing because it reduces fuel bills and keeps their house warmer.  However, they may tell their friends that it reduced carbon consumption and this may encourage some of their friends to consider buying them too.

Marketing is not an exact science.  Something that sells to many people may turn a few people off.  But understanding your customer’s problem, the benefits you bring and a commitment to educating the public about them, is the aim of any considered marketing campaign.

Can you think of examples of prospects and consequences from your marketing campaign?

0 Why Coaches Must Love Marketing

Coaching and running a business are not the same thing.  To do the former you need to be a good coach and enjoy the work.  To market you need other skills that may not be nearly so attractive.  The problem is without those skills you don’t have a business and don’t get to do any coaching!  Is it possible you could love marketing as much as coaching?

Here are a couple of thoughts you might find helpful when facing the challenges of marketing your coaching or consultancy business.

Marketing can Enhance Your Coaching

Many coaches are wary of marketing because they see it as selling.  Selling is a part of marketing and obviously essential to your business.  It is not the entirety of marketing.

Marketing is essentially educational.  It is an opportunity to spread your message, to explain what you offer and why it is of value to your market.  Remember, even though you may not be addressing your market direct; an engaging and entertaining talk, for example, may help people understand your offer and think of contacts who may be interested.

And don’t forget, if you are good at educating your audience, it will raise your profile.

Marketing is Your Priority

The trap many coaches fall into is their pursuit of brilliance.  The concept of imperfect action is lost on them.

Let me illustrate with a keynote talk.  You develop your keynote talk and set aside 5 days to perfect it.  You already have an adequate talk; you know the type of talk that says what it needs to say but is not terribly compelling.

The temptation is to spend your time developing the talk.  But the big question is, who is going to hear it?  Would it not be better spending the time promoting the talk, ensuring you have opportunities to deliver it to a viable audience?  The biggest reason talks fail is because no-one turns up!

And if you know 30 – 100 people are going to turn up, you’ll find time to improve that talk!

How have you found congruence between your coaching and your marketing?

1 Relationships and Your Work Life Balance

Perhaps I’m the last person to ask about relationships and work life balance.  I’m single and have rarely been in relationships.  It’s a lifestyle that suits me and I’ll write about its advantages towards the end of this post.

It is possible though for people who are not in long-term relationships to contribute.  Not always of course, because there’s no guarantee that our take on the world is relevant to people who live entirely different lifestyles.  But here are a few pointers you may find helpful.

Balancing Your Relationships and Your Work

Self-employment is an attractive option for people with childcare responsibilities.  The implications for your business are there are times in the day when you are not available.  This is usually early morning (which rules out breakfast meetings) and late afternoons onwards.

As children age, these times become more flexible.  Also, as children age, they may be able to co-operate to some degree with your business.  So, long as you keep your word, turn up when expected and can explain your absences it may generally work for you, your family and your business.

You are not dependent on the whims of an employer and that can mean you are able to control the times when you are present to your family.

This does depend on co-operation from your spouse and a good routine that includes regular communication is essential.

You need to create space for spontaneous activities and the best way to do this is to schedule them.  This may sound bizarre but actually it is what many couples do in practice.  If employed, it means certain times are ring-fenced and so your employer determines your spontaneous times.  So, why should it be a problem for you to plan the times when you do stuff together, when you’re self-employed?

Real problems can arise when one partner has a demanding job that is resilient to alteration.  A manager of a business or organisation may have to be there at certain times.  This means the other partner has to fit in as best they can.  If one partner is the main bread-winner, the arguments to fit in with their schedule can become over-whelming.  Your business may be under your control and so can in theory fit in with your partner’s employer’s requirements but on the other hand the employer’s requirements can overrule yours.

There can be other advantages.  If you are building your own business and can rely on income from your partner while you are building it, this can be an opportunity.  But even with the partners consent and active support, it is easy to feel beholden to them as the junior partner.  This can become frustrating where you know you are good at what you do but need more space to do it.

It is hard to suggest what to do under these circumstances because every family is different.  Certainly communicate and explain to your partner, what you need and the extent to which you are encountering barriers to success.

Partners can be towers of strength.  Some couples run their business together, combining their strengths in creative ways.  This can have its own disadvantages.  A couple can be domineering and difficult to negotiate with for other businesses.  It can be confusing if it is not clear the person you’re talking to is able to decide.  So, agree who makes decisions and how you make it clear, if you do need to consult.  For some business people, if you both need to decide, they would rather meet you together and pitch to you together.

Work Life Balance in Isolation

Contrary to popular fantasies, people on their own do not have to be sad losers.  There are many advantages to working alone and it can be a good place from which to run a business.

The obvious advantage is you are in charge of your own time.  You can make decisions, good and bad, on your own without needing to consult.

If you’re used to living and working on your own, it can work very well.  However, be aware you may have difficulties working with business partners or staff if you normally make your own decisions.  It is easy to forget the obligations you have to others if you usually make your own decisions.

The big problem for the solo worker is accountability.  This may seem odd, given I’ve just explained the freedom the lone worker experiences.  However, the issue is accountability to yourself.  If you plan a day off work on Friday, do you actually take it?  If you’ve promised your partner, you have to run your reason for back-tracking past them.  A promise to yourself may be harder to keep.

Accountability is not solely a problem for singles.  Everyone has the problem of knowing what they should do and then actually doing it.

So, in my next post, I’ll outline a concept that will help anyone who is self-employed and needs to manage their life as well as their business.

What issues do you encounter as a lone worker?

0 What Does Your Customer’s Problem Cost?

Remember the problem in this element of the Circuit Questionnaire is your customer’s problem. I invite you to ask: what does your customer’s problem cost?  In this post I use my business as a worked example.

What problem does my customer face?

They are organisations and businesses who have found they need to do more and better marketing.  They are good at what they do but fail to find new customers, members or supporters.  The nature of their problem is their need to move from working in their business, ie doing what they enjoy, to working on their business, ie focusing on what they need to do to generate support.

The short-term costs are failure of business. This can happen very quickly, where the business owner does not have enough resources while building their business.  The big issue for any business is cash flow.  Note this is not the same as annual profit.  Cash flow is money in hand at any time.  If finance is not available, a business can fail even if its books over a 12-month period balance.

Many smaller businesses fail the cash flow test because they neglect marketing.  A few customers who pay up-front can consume a lot time, reducing the time available to market the business for the next tranche of clients.

Long-Term Costs for Community Organisations

I’ve based this list on one I wrote some months ago.  It shows how community organisations with secure income and outgoings can be poor at marketing.  No marketing strategy can work if it can’t find and address these problems.

• Organisation does not meet its full potential. If it does not get its message across, it is unlikely to receive the support it needs
• Baroque organisational structures prevent effective decision-making. This is common in community organisations, where a lot of energy goes into democratic structures that are barriers to decision-making. This may be a balance difficult to maintain but if it is not right, it becomes harder for the organisation to get its message across.
• Spending money on solutions that reinforce the problem, eg wrong type of website designer. The more problems an organisation has in its decision-making, the more likely it is to make poor decisions.
• Poor relationships cause increased stress. The more unnecessary bureaucracy, the more likely members feel frustrated and frustration erodes relationships.
• Individuals become isolated as they become more difficult to work with.  With entrenched bureaucracy, people retreat into their own silos and so become less accountable.
• External relationships can become restricted.  Especially where no-one feels able to speak for the organisation.
• Duplication of effort inside and outside.  Poor communication can lead to several organisations attempting the same project.
• People feel unable to act on their own initiative.  The organisation develops a permission culture,

Remember marketing is essentially educational and for many organisations failure to engage with their markets, failure to educate their markets, means they lose direction themselves.  Marketing reminds organisations why they do what they do.  It is expresses their belief in their own purpose.  An organisation that does not market is not communicating externally or internally.

Hidden Costs

Sometimes symptoms of stress are more subtle. johnthan / Pixabay

Not all costs are financial.  An organisation that is not marketing is likely to encounter other difficulties.

• Stress can be positive where it enables people to generate the energy they need to make their case in the marketplace. But where vision is eroded, money is running short and their message is lost, stress becomes a problem.  Stress is not always easy to recognise.  There are occasionally physical symptoms, such as shaking, but more often it manifests as mistakes, poor judgement, fits of temper, etc.  In time extreme stress can result in physical health problems such as high blood pressure.
• Poor diet and lack of exercise. These can happen where a business owner is under stress and not paying attention to their own health.
• Challenged relationships with families and friends, where someone stressed manifests bad temper or neglect.
• A business that does not market is likely to miss opportunities to network and build partnerships as well as miss out on customers. It is not possible to measure how much business is actually missed through poor marketing.

Conclusion

This shows the costs of the problem my business addresses.  Not all organisations with poor marketing encounter all these issues.  These problems can be addressed if the business focuses on marketing.  Usually a focus on market draws attention away from internal conflict.

I chose community organisations because too much bureaucracy can be a real issue for them.  Businesses can find themselves in similar difficulties.  Granted businesses are often much clearer in terms of governance but a permission culture is always a possibility.

I can say in my marketing “if you are having these problems, the chances are your marketing needs attention”.  I can go on to argue that if you are new to marketing, you need my services to get orientated, understand the basics and plan a coherent marketing strategy.  Sometimes you need to resolve internal conflict by looking outwards!

What are the main costs of your customers’ problem?