It happens to everyone; you’re buzzing right along in your business then you hit a road block a cobweb in your plans and you have to step back and regroup.
How can you wipe away the cobwebs and continue moving forward:
Take an action, any action. Inertia feeds inertia. Take a small step toward chipping away at a larger goal will make it seem more manageable and you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment for having worked on it — even if it’s only 15 minutes at a time.
Do you lack confidence in either making a decision or moving a project forward? If so, call on the help or advice of an expert. Ask for support for those items that stump you.
Is there information you’re missing to make an informed decision? If you need more information, do some research or ask for clarification.
Do you make promises to your clients and then fail to deliver? This is a pitfall that some business owners fall into — they think they can “do it all” and perhaps they can, but they don’t set a realistic timeline for completion. If you’re working with a client and are offered a task, take a step back and consider how long it will truly take you and how many other projects you have in the works. You need to be realistic when setting deadlines.
Here are some tips on over-delivering on promises made to your clients:
As mentioned, set realistic deadlines. If you can deliver a product prior to a set deadline then that’s great. It’s better to be early on a deadline than to miss it or to have to go back and ask for an extension.
Is a client asking you to do something or provide a service that is outside of your realm of expertise? If so, you need to determine whether it’s worth it for you to take on this project or if you have a trusted business partner with whom you can share this task. Don’t say ‘yes’ just because your client asks, especially if you can’t deliver a high quality product.
Bottom line: Go above and beyond for your clients and they will thank you for your attention to detail as well as your willingness to help them solve their problems.
There is no magic bullet when it comes to taking the leap into being an entrepreneur but there are some steps you can take to avoid some of the pitfalls that have befallen those that have gone before you.
In my talking and working with those with the entrepreneurial spirit, there are a few “sins” I have uncovered during my conversations:
They lack customer focus. You can’t rely on the idea that if you build something or offer a service that people will just flock to it. You need to focus on your ideal customer prior to even deciding to make the leap into business ownership. Who is your ideal client and what do they need… ie, what problem do they have that you can solve?
The money in your bank account — especially if it’s borrowed or on credit cards — isn’t a measure of success. Yes, making money is great and will help you achieve other goals in your life, but if you’re leveraged to the hilt, and that is the reason you have money in the bank, you could be putting your business in a precarious position.
Going it alone. Even if you don’t have the funds from the get-go to hire staff, you should at least have a “board of advisors” that you can bounce ideas off of. Individuals whose business savvy you trust and whose advice you may be willing to follow if you’re steering off course.
Not making the investment in a good attorney and an accountant. While you may think you can’t afford to pay for legal advice or hand your books off to an accountant, you truly can’t afford not to have these advisors working for you. They can steer you away from risky investments and help keep your legal dealings in order.
What lessons have you learned on your road to entrepreneurship?
If you’re like most entrepreneurs, you are driven and want to succeed. If you didn’t have the drive and the will power to undertake your own business or enterprise, you wouldn’t call yourself an entrepreneur, right?
What can you do to jump start your business, make it grow, and take away some of the natural growing pains many entrepreneurs suffer? Here are my tips:
Keep your eye on the prize. Your ultimate goal is to turn a profit. Don’t underprice your services.
Keep in mind that sometimes the terms of the deal are more crucial than the price. Don’t accept any deal that you can’t ethically live with.
Plan for most deals to take longer and cost more to implement than you originally planned for. Build a cushion into your plans.
You may not always feel you’re getting paid what you deserve, but if you take a step back you will likely find that you received what you negotiated for. If those numbers don’t sync, rethink your patterns for negotiating.
Persistence, perseverance and promotion are keys to a successful endeavor.
Did you know that your best source of “advertising” for your business is word-of-mouth? It is. It’s been shown that business owners and individuals would prefer to do business with someone they “know, like and trust.” This doesn’t necessarily mean you need to personally interact with everyone in order to draw them into your network, but it does mean you need to learn how to ask your satisfied clients for a referral.
It may take you a bit to work up your nerve to make this request, but when you consider that your current clients enjoy working with you, the “ask” should be easier. Here are my tips for requesting a referral:
Be bold and simply ask. If you don’t ask, they won’t know you’d like one and you won’t receive one. Simple as that.
If you receive a referral, respond to the referral partner and the prospect on the same day if possible. Make certain you are also responding personally to a referral, don’t hand it off to an employee.
Once you’ve received a referral and have connected, let your referral partner know how it went. Thank them again.
Saying thank you by sending a gift is generally considered good form, especially if the referral leads to business (and money in your bank account)
Do you have an on-going referral program that your current clients know about? Create a program and announce it to your current clients. Offer incentives for referrals.
