What kind of help does your business need to attract more clients and be more profitable?
What kind of help do you need to get to that 7-figure income you're aiming for?
The answer depends on what stage you're at as an entrepreneur and a business owner.
Stage I: Start-up
You've got a great idea for a new business, a new product or a better way of delivering a service. You're sure there's a need out there for it. You're knowledgeable enough in the field to be confident that this can support you and your family. At this stage, your biggest concern is turning your idea into a salable product or service.
Knowing that 50% of new businesses fail in the first four years, what do you need?
Focus.
Over the last 20 years, I've worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs eager to launch new businesses. They're smart, they're committed to success and they're willing to work hard. Really hard.
But a lot of the business owners coming to me for help have made the same mistake. They try to do too much. They try to be everything to everybody and their business is dying while they're trying.
Every entrepreneur needs to identify their target market, clarify the problem they solve and understand the primary benefits of their products or services. Then they need to stay focused on those.
Figure out exactly what your business is, whom it helps and how it helps them. Then come up with a killer marketing message so your prospects understand the value of your product and services. Ignore these fundamental steps at your peril.
Stage II: Struggling Business
After months of working around the clock, you have a product or service ready to sell. You land a few customers and sales start to trickle in. This should be an exciting phase of growth for you, but it's often when the frustration sets in.
You've worked hard to create top quality products and services but your business is still the best-kept secret going. Hardly anyone knows about it and too few are buying.
What should you do to get more than the occasional client and a trickle of sales?
At this stage, entrepreneurs like you who are experts in their industry niche, whether in accounting, web design, yoga, organic composting, or IT consulting, realize that they're not experts in marketing.
What do you need?
Ideas!
Even the smartest entrepreneur needs marketing ideas so they can discover the simple secrets to attract clients, increase sales and generate a steady income.
Are you looking for low-cost, proven ways to skyrocket your busines
Stage III: Profitable Business
It happens even to smart entrepreneurs and business owners. You apply a solid marketing strategy, your business gathers momentum, and pretty soon you're overwhelmed.
Now you're trying to do everything, juggling administrative tasks, managing clients, developing new products -- not to mention marketing, so you can avoid that whole feast or famine thing.
The problem is, of course, that because you did quite a few things right, your business now is a ball and chain around your life. You're making good money, but you're working way too hard and have yet to see the upper six or seven figure income you should be earning.
At this point, you don't need more ideas. You probably have too many already. Now, the challenge is to figure out which of those ideas to use and how to use them.
What do you need help with?
Implementation.
This is the stage in your business when a mentor or coach can help you. You need to work with someone one-on-one to help you assess your business and your marketing, sift through your ideas, and help you plan which ones to use first, second and third to keep the sales rolling in.
Do you have a profitable business? Looking for ways to grow it?
Stage IV: Successful Business
Sit back and enjoy your success? Not hardly.
Sales are rolling in at a steady clip and you keep coming up with even more ways to grow your business. Good thing, too, because the pressure is on. Local and global competition, a sour economy, rising costs and untold other challenges mean this is when things get really crazy. Some of my clients tell me that business at this stage feels like barely controlled chaos.
It's at this point that many successful entrepreneurs let themselves get buried by their business. Busy with their success, they end up missing the big opportunity to not just double their business but grow it by a factor of ten.
I'm sure you known entrepreneurs like this. They've got a steady business and are taking home a couple of hundred thousand dollars a year, but then they stop short. They can't grow anymore because they've become their business instead of running it.
What you need help with at this stage of running a successful business?
Expansion.
After all the hard work you've put into creating a profitable business, why not continue to grow it and help even more customers?
Almost any successful business has the potential to keep growing. It's a matter of taking your products and services and multiplying the number of people you sell to. It can be as simple as lining up a few marketing partners. There are likely to be other key steps, such as making better use of your time, building your team and mastering the art of delegation.
The challenge at this stage is to move from doing all the work to leading your team and building your company. It's not easy to make the shift while you're in the thick of it. That's why having a mentor to guide you -- and hold your feet to the fire -- is almost essential.
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