December can often be quite a depressing time for a lot of businesses. Let's face it, people in general are more concerned about Christmas, presents, parties and having a bit of time off - and usually they're more concerned about this than buying your products or services.
Although I think most of us understand it, it's still quite demotivating when no-one buys your product or service no matter what marketing does.
December and January usually are a bit quieter than normal in your business, but don't despair. Do what you should be doing at this time of year. Namely:
1) Planning for the New Year
2) Doing some marketing for the New Year
3) Last minute admin (sending out Xmas cards, notifying customers of opening hours etc)
4) Me time - having a bit of a break and recharging your batteries
5) Thinking about how you can get quick wins (such as selling low-cost products for January sales)
Doing this work when things are a bit quieter will set you up well for 2009!
This is our last blog of 2008, as we're trying to clear everything off our plate, so we can have a break over Christmas too.
So, on behalf of everyone at Exceptional Thinking, we wish you a merry Christmas and a very happy New Year.
Thursday 11 December 2008
Wednesday 3 December 2008
Why you should focus on one business idea
I meet many business owners who have two or more businesses or ideas. They may be working on opening a cafe while selling alternative therapies or doing PR while also doing coaching or have several internet sites selling very different things.
Several businesses are often started at once because a business owner believes that if one doesn't take off maybe the other one will. It could also be that one business isn't bringing in as much money as it should and so the business owner starts up another business that can supplement the income. Or it could just be that they've got bored with the first business and another idea that looked more interesting came along at the right time.
I can completely understand the attraction to starting more than one business, but it also has it downsides too. For a start, you're splitting your time, energy and money between two or more businesses - it's impossible to do them all properly and often end up where one idea is neglected or worse all the ideas are just picked up and put down occasionally.
Also, it's difficult to tell what someone does if they have lots of business ideas going on at the same time. How can someone possibly refer a customer to you if they're not sure what you do? It also weakens your credibility - how can you be an expert in all of those fields (P.S. it doesn't matter if you are an expert in all of these fields, it matters that people don't BELIEVE you are).
I know it's hard and I know it's scary but focusing on just one business idea will actually create more results than if you spread yourself across many ideas. You'll be able to concentrate on it properly and give it the time and energy it deserves. And yes, it might not work straight away but you'll be able to tweak it until it does rather than focusing on something else.
Give it a go...you might be pleasantly surprised!
Several businesses are often started at once because a business owner believes that if one doesn't take off maybe the other one will. It could also be that one business isn't bringing in as much money as it should and so the business owner starts up another business that can supplement the income. Or it could just be that they've got bored with the first business and another idea that looked more interesting came along at the right time.
I can completely understand the attraction to starting more than one business, but it also has it downsides too. For a start, you're splitting your time, energy and money between two or more businesses - it's impossible to do them all properly and often end up where one idea is neglected or worse all the ideas are just picked up and put down occasionally.
Also, it's difficult to tell what someone does if they have lots of business ideas going on at the same time. How can someone possibly refer a customer to you if they're not sure what you do? It also weakens your credibility - how can you be an expert in all of those fields (P.S. it doesn't matter if you are an expert in all of these fields, it matters that people don't BELIEVE you are).
I know it's hard and I know it's scary but focusing on just one business idea will actually create more results than if you spread yourself across many ideas. You'll be able to concentrate on it properly and give it the time and energy it deserves. And yes, it might not work straight away but you'll be able to tweak it until it does rather than focusing on something else.
Give it a go...you might be pleasantly surprised!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
