Five Things You Should Be Doing Right Now

It can be done, but you have to make it happen.” –Chris Gardner

So, you want your business to succeed. You want to make more money doing something you enjoy. You want to be able to hire more employees. You want to take more vacation time or even a year off. These are nice, lofty goals, but how will you get there. Can anyone make money in a recession? Will market changes, technology, or the economy prevent you from getting what you want? It’s time to stop blaming circumstances and people and start making things happen. Here are five things you should be doing right now if you want to achieve your goals.

Advertising More. The average business owner spends nowhere near enough on advertising. Newspapers, radio, television, magazines, internet, brochures, flyers, direct mail, and canvassing, among others, are all great ways to advertise. Google has programs for print and radio ads to lower the cost and make the process simpler. The “recession” will lower the prices for all forms of advertising. Your competitors will be advertisng less since money is tight. Now is your chance to become the big man on campus and make your prospects remember you. Beg and borrow to pony up the extra money and start a real advertising campaign.
Studying Your Competitors. Yes, look at their website and study their ads. But I’m talking about going deeper. What exactly do they offer and how much does it cost? Where are they stronger than you? Where are they weaker? What do their customers love about them. What do they hate? Has anyone, anywhere, ever written a review about them? About how many customers do they have. Who are some of their biggest customers? To put this in perspective, Walmart managers consistently go out and pretend to shop at the competition to gain pricing and placement information.
Searching for Property. In case you hadn’t noticed, there is a bit of a slump in real estate. Now is your chance to get an office that truely reflects you and your company. The loans are different than residential real estate, so get a realtor you trust and hopefully by now you have a banker in your corner. Having a piece of real estate will give your business a real asset that can be borrowed against in the future. Obviously, owning property isn’t for every business. But now is definantely the time to take a look and see if it’s right for you.
Finding the Best People for Your Team. Again, tough times have risen the unemployment rate. Not only that, but people with jobs feel less confident about their future. That means some very smart, capable, reliable, and responsible people are in the job market! Don’t shy away, but sieze the opportunity to scoop up the best people to help your business succeed. You may need to invest money into your business to afford it, but it is a necessary step to achieve your goals.
Selling Like Crazy. Everyone hates making cold calls. Most people hate trying to sell to people. This is probably due to the fact that you yourself hate to be sold. But you do buy things and services, and you probably love to buy. Let’s face it. Your business isn’t going to grow with out active sales work. If you are weak in sales, go to seminars, read books, and boost your confidence until you are a strong salesperson. If you are simply too introverted, than hire a salesperson to do it for you. Any downtime you have should be spent trying to gain new customers. If you have no time for sales, hire someone to do the work your doing, or hire a salesperson. No excuses!

If you don’t have any goals, then you’ve just wasted your time reading this. Go back and enjoy the status quo. If, however, you’re like me and you want to achieve, then get to work. You already have the tools you need, you just need to go out there and get it done.

Mike Freeman
I want to grow my business and help you grow yours.