What to do if your start-up isn’t growing

The harsh reality is that 19 out of every 20 new businesses fail. So if the start gun has fired on your business and you haven’t moved out of the blocks yet, here’s what you can do to get yourself going. It’s a very simple formula but it works every time.

Step 1 is to decide on your destination. Where do you want your business to be in 1, 3, and 5 years’ time?

Step 2 is to take marketing action. The problem is – what action should you take to bring potential clients to your door? How do you know what’s going to work? Well, the truth is that you don’t but you have to start somewhere. First of all, think about the marketing channels that you think will bring you your most probable customers. This might not be obvious to you but the key is to experiment with different channels and to measure the effectiveness of the channels and your marketing messages. Rarely is there a silver bullet. What works for others won’t necessarily work for you. A mistake that start-ups often make is that they look for what has worked for others and try to copy. Although there will be similarities, your business and your audience will be different so what might have worked for another start-up company may not work for you.

Experiment with different marketing channels, but don’t try too many all at once. Focus on one or two that you think will work really well. Whatever you try, you must be able to measure it. The management guru Peter Drucker once famously said: “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” He said that before the Internet age, but that statement has never been more valid than it is today. So before you embark on any marketing activity set up your key performance indicators (KPIs).

Step 3 is to adjust based on your experiments and your measurements. Know what’s working and what’s not working and then set about improving things. Either tweak what you’re doing or experiment with new messages and marketing channels. Keep going and eventually you will come up with one marketing message and method or a few that work really well for your business.

Step 4 is to do more of what works when you’ve found out what that is. Assured that you’ve found out what works through experimentation and measurement, you can go ahead and run with that in order to build your business.

Let us help you create a more profitable & sustainable business.

Email: [email protected] now to arrange your complimentary FREE 30 minute Business Strategy Session, where we will help you identify at least 5 ways to solve your most painful problems & improve your business.