Lets face it, it is everyone’s dream to work for themselves.  You can call the shots, work when you want, make as much money as you like and actually love the work you do.  There really are no limits on who can become a business owner today. However, the way the business world is today, the first few years can be a real struggle. 

If you have a new business or are considering one, chances are you already have the drive. But with the rate of businesses failing in the early years, starting a new business can be extremely risky.

Here I share 4 common struggles that cause business failure:

BRAND IDENTITY

I cannot express enough how important your brand identity is. They say never judge a book by its cover.  But unfortunately, the truth is, in the first 3 seconds of meeting someone, people decide all sorts of things about you. It is no surprise that career experts say, it takes just three seconds for someone to determine whether they want to do business with you.

Technology has made competition fiercer than ever today, and social executives expect this to increase by 65% in the next three years. Now, unless you are finding your clients a traditional way or they have been referred to you, you have to build your new clients through visual messages.  Your brand is everything, it affects so many aspects of your business, so it is important to get it right. 

I know it sounds daunting and it can be, especially if you don’t have any experience in marketing services.

FINDING NEW CLIENTS

Even the world’s largest companies don’t just sit on their butts and wait for new clients. They all have teams working hard to find new clients and successfully maintain the ones they have. Finding new clients starts with knowing who your ideal clients are. It’s all about knowing your demographic and target market and communicating with them.

Building a healthy client list is not an easy task and without a composite of your ideal customer, you probably would not know where to start looking.  There are many ways to gain new clients, but everyone seems to be heading towards the easy options. If you have not figured it out yet, all the popular social media platforms are very saturated.  If I had a dollar for every time someone said to me, I paid this many thousands on ads and got nothing, I would be retired.

Advertising on the social platforms is good, but it is not the only way.  There are a lot of traditional ways to find new clients which have been distorted with technology.  But I can assure you this. A lot of people love it and miss it.  It is how I gain all my new clients.

Hiring Great Talent

If you want to pay with peanuts you will get monkeys.  Now I never went to Harvard, but I would sure as hell hire some one who did.  You are only every as good as the team behind you.  I have worked for some companies who have a large amount of staff members and it is hard to find passionate individuals who believe in your business. 

The hiring process is timely and can be expensive and your time is valuable. Make sure you clearly communicate the job requirements and your expectations to any prospective hires. If your business is limited to the amount of employees they need, then you have to make every head count.

Always remember that skills can be taught, personality and drive can’t be. Hire someone who exudes the behaviour you want.  Their drive to want to learn could just happen to surpass any experience someone else possess.

If your business is struggling, reach out today for a free business analysis.