Do you have a passion for one industry over another?
Answer those questions and you will be on your way to narrowing your ideal client down.
3 Tips For Finding Your Ideal Client
Once you’ve decided who they are, here is how to reach them.
Tell your business story. What makes you unique? What unique insight do you bring to what you do? Use your story to connect with potential clients and as a way to tell what you do without being overly salesy
What do you have that the competition doesn’t? What are your unique goods or services? What is your unique selling proposition aka USP? Know this and you can determine your ideal client — it’s the person for whom you can address a pain point with your goods or services
Delve into your current client base and notice any similarities. Notice whether you have clients that just don’t fit and ask yourself why you’re sticking with them? There could be definite reasons you are, but only you know. What are common characteristics your clients — share? This could put you on the path of understanding who your ideal client is
After you’ve uncovered your ideal client, you can focus your marketing and your efforts on that niche. You may find that once you have a niche you will begin thriving. For example, I have focused my business expertise on swimming pool construction and swimming pool service clients. Why? Because that is my area of expertise. What’s yours?
Can your business compete in the “Amazon” and “instant delivery” era? There are some businesses — thankfully in the pool industry with pool contractors and pool service businesses — that can compete but others struggle in the instant gratification era. Many businesses have struggled since the pandemic and because people came to rely on delivery rather than going out to stores. What your biz can learn from mom & pop shops is something Rex Richard and his Peak Dynamics team discuss when they strategize with their clients.
You can compete, you just need to know the “insider secrets.” I’d read an article about what independent bookstores are doing to compete and stay viable and thriving. These are a few lessons I gleaned that could help any small business owner who operates a brick and mortar.
What Your Biz Can Learn From Mom & Pop Shops
Community matters. To compete with the nameless, faceless big box stores, it’s all about community and building a connection with your customers. You don’t need a brick-and-mortar store to build a community. Look for ways to stay connected through emails and even by building an online group.
Be like Amazon and offer an “if you like this, you might like that” to introduce a customer to a new good or service you may have to offer.
If you have a retail outlet, is it appealing to customers when they walk through the door? If you have an online business is your website and online presence welcoming?
Small retailers can compete even with the big box guys. You need to help yourself and your business stand apart through customer service and connection and community building.
My team at Peak Dynamics has been remote before it became a trend during the coronavirus pandemic. I have long relied on technology to connect with my staff who is scattered across the globe. I couldn’t run my businesses if I didn’t have implicit trust in them to do what needed to be done. Do you trust your staff? If not, why do you have them working for you?
My contractors are hired for their unique skills and their dedication to what they do for me and for my clients. I vet them well and know they are dedicated to what they do for me, even if I am not their only client. Trust is a two way street. I trust them to do what needs to be done and they trust me to give them the tools they need to excel.
Sure, there have been some missteps along the way but because of those incidents, I learned what to look for and how to avoid those missteps in the future. It’s a live and learns and learn to let go and let your staff — whether they’re in the office or virtual — run with the tasks they’ve been given and become trusted members of your team.
Once I have a team member in place and trained to the unique way in which I do things in my Peak Dynamics pool industry marketing business (hint: hire people who have the skillsets you seek and you can train them to do the nitty-gritty that is unique to your organization), but you need to learn to trust your employees.
Do You Trust Your Staff?
Here are my tips for doing just that:
Provide training to do the job to the best of their abilities in the unique way you operate your business.
Set specific expectations
Set reasonable goals. Don’t be vague in what you expect because your staff/vendors won’t know if they’re attaining the goals you’d set if they can’t pinpoint a set point.
Have an open-door policy so employees know you’re available if they need help. Don’t make them waste their time going down the wrong path if they can just reach out to you for clarification.
Look for employees who show initiative.
Let them know you appreciate their efforts and what they bring to the team.
You may not want to completely change your business name, logo, tagline and colors or you could confuse your past clients. But if you’re expanding or changing or adding a completely new focus, then a new brand could be just what you need. There is no reason you can’t tweak your current brand to make it more current or relevant in today’s market. The last thing you want is for your brand to look old and tired even if the offerings behind it are current and relevant.
Does Your Business Brand Need A Refresh?
You’re offering new and completely different services or products.
The business model has changed and you need a new and different logo to reflect that change.
The business management team has changed. You want a new logo to set yourself apart with a new identity.
If you are pursuing a new target audience, your brand should reflect that.
Does your old logo look tired and dated? Does your brand reflect a fax machine or a beeper? LOL, if so, you should definitely upgrade and update. If you are taking your business in a new direction and targeting a new audience a new logo or brand identification might make sense.
If your old logo simply looks tired or the colors look dated, you might want to freshen it up with new colors.
Use your new branding as a way to garner new and fresh excitement in a social media campaign.
Have you ever wondered what to call yourself when you’re at a networking event? Are you a solopreneur or an entrepreneur? There are subtle differences, but there are also similarities for anyone who wants to run a successful business.
At its core, a solopreneur is an individual who runs his or her own business and “does it all.” A solopreneur doesn’t have partners and typically doesn’t have any kind of support staff unless they hire contractors for specific tasks. An entrepreneur may have partners, a team and leverages capital to achieve business growth.
Are You A Solopreneur Or An Entrepreneur?
A solopreneur wears all the hats. They are the boss and the employee. They are typically the one who has all the interaction with their clients. Not all solopreneurs know how to do everything, and the savvy ones will hire out and delegate those tasks in which they don’t excel. An entrepreneur hires staff so he or she can focus on business growth.
A solopreneur holds all the financial risk, but they typically start smaller so their risk may not be as great as an entrepreneur who is hiring staff, renting space and more.
A solopreneur typically focuses on one specialty. An entrepreneur has a specialty of business growth and hires staff or contractors to bring that growth to life.
A solopreneur may start as a side gig with the idea of growing into a full-time business owner. An entrepreneur typically jumps in with both feet and seeks fast growth that is as profitable as possible as quickly as possible. This is not to say that solopreneurs cannot take their solo endeavor to full-time and more than a profitable business.
Both solopreneurs and entrepreneurs need to bring in customers. Without customers, there is no business.
Regardless of whether you’re a solopreneur or an entrepreneur, you could benefit and thrive under the tutelage of a knowledgeable business coach. If you’re looking for higher growth, are stuck in a rut or simply want a sounding board, reach out to Rex Richard and his team.
Ooommmmm. Whether chanting or mantras or yoga are ways you relieve stress or if you need a brisk run or a long back, we have 5 ways to relieve stress. Entrepreneurs, parents, employees… almost anyone can experience stress and finding healthy ways to cope with it can help you live a longer, happier life.
Self-medicating with alcohol or other self-destructive behaviors is not the way to go or to cope. Let’s face it because life happens, and stress happens. In every life, there is a chance for stress. If you have a friend who is never stressed out, I’ll be that person has coping mechanisms which he or she deploys and that help alleviate their stress.
The way in which you deal with stress can make a difference in every aspect of your life, health and productivity.
Here are my tips for dealing with stress in both work and life:
5 Ways To Relieve Stress
Get out of the house or the office. Simply being in nature alleviates my stress. It doesn’t matter if you sit and look at water, take a hike, walk a dog or sit on the grass and relax, nature brings clarity. Get out of those four walls. Also, if you’re out and moving you’re giving your body and mind a dose of a healthy habit.
Take a deep breath. When people are stressed out they take shallow breaths and that leads to more stress. If you can’t get out of the office, stand up, and breathe in deeply. Breath in for the count of five, then slowly out for the count of five. Pay attention to whether your shoulders are relaxed or up around your ears. Relax. Breathe.
Eat good foods. A healthy diet will benefit both your body and your mind. Stress may not be alleviated by eating kale but eating potato chips when you’re anxious will certainly not be any kind of benefit for you either. A healthy diet boosts your immune system and can help you deal with stress better.
Get a hobby. Don’t scroll through Facebook (called doom scrolling) because that will make you more anxious. Find a hobby that relaxes and challenges you. Train dogs. Swim. Crochet blankets. Get away from the television and get involved in something else.
Stay connected. Isolation was a literal killer for those during the pandemic and it even made illnesses worse for many. Talk with friends. Go for a coffee. Zoom with out-of-state family. Just pick up the phone and connect — don’t just rely on texting. with your friends. When you’re in a highly stressed state it is tempting to isolate yourself but that will make your stress worse.
If you find your stress continues at all time high levels, talk with your doctor or a professional.
