Surely, the economic condition of the past 2 years has forced many small business owners to either close their doors or take an in-depth look at what adjustments can be made to keep their doors open.
If your business lacks definition, you have a weak niche, you are out of touch with your clients or if you know your business strengths, but are unaware of potential opportunities, you may want to seriously consider re-inventing your business.
Don’t have a set of clear goals or objectives? Start with an assessment and analysis of your current business condition. What do you ultimately want to accomplish or achieve? What do you want your business to be known for?
Recognize and acknowledge that which needs to change. It’s your first step; awareness. Believe in the fact that you CAN change. You have the ability to change; however, change requires ACTION. Belief and action are the basis of the foundation for renewing your mind and your business. Carefully examine what has worked and is working. Begin to look at ways to expand and enhance those things that have worked well for your business.
Feel like you are in autopilot or stuck in paralysis? Get motivated! Start with some inspiration. Find a reason to get excited about what you do. Get a fresh new perspective. Schedule 3 appointments with 3 people you admire. They don’t necessarily need to be in your industry; you simply need to admire what it is they do. Talk to them about what keeps them going, how they stay refreshed and engaged in their passion. This is different than popping in motivational CD’s. It is personal. You know these people. They bring a realness into the equation. Ask them for their perspective on your business and you, as an individual. It is important to be open to what they have to say. This is not the time to be defensive. Really listen to what it is they are saying. When we listen, instead of hearing, we have an opportunity to learn. New knowledge can be inspirational. It germinates and grows into other thoughts and ideas. Fresh ideas kill stagnation and give birth to growth.
Planning and development. Try mindmapping your thoughts and ideas. See where you can begin to connect the dots to all that you dream and envision for your business. By downloading your thoughts, you can get a clearer picture of what makes sense and where to start. You can begin to develop a plan of action. Make sure your plan has a good flow and transition.
Narrow your marketing message. Do not try to cover all of your products and services at one time. Your message should be cohesive and consistent. Continuously brand your logo, image and business.
Embrace technology, get connected and stay organized. Increase your online presence and credibility with current and relevant information. Engage your readers with useful information, resources and practical tips. Thanks to modern technology and innovative tools, micro and small business owners can develop their client market base anywhere in the country; or world! via newsletters, blogs, webinars and social networking platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, FastPitch!, Biznik, and Sta.rtup.biz.
Organize and automate your business processes as much as possible. There are hundreds of platforms that will not only save you time, but energy and money! Here are a few:
- Evoice Receptionist – Just because you are small business owner, doesn’t mean you have to function like one. Think professional. Think full-featured virtual phone system. Professional greeting, multiple lines, no hardware/software and access anywhere.*
- Doodle – Need to arrange meetings but have trouble coordinating schedules? Need to take a quick poll? Doodle makes it easy to find a date and time for a group event or conduct a quick survey. How does Doodle work? Create an event or poll. Forward the link to the poll to the participants. Follow online what time works best or what the participants vote for. Doodle is a free online coordination tool which requires neither registration nor software installation.*
- Chrometa – Do you need to track the time you spend on each client? Are you worried you might be under-billing? Track all PC-based work for your clients with NO data entry. Easily piece together what you did days, even weeks earlier.*
- Nozbe – Project management for the small business owner and solopreneur. Overwhelmed by all the stuff that needs to be done? A traditional to-do list hasn’t helped? Nozbe combines the power of projects, next actions and contexts that not only help manage tasks, but actually getting them done.*
- Fonolo – Do you make a lot of sales calls? Don’t have time to wait through phone menus? With Fonolo, never listen to a phone menu again. Use deep dialing to avoid dealing with phone menus and use their intelligent history to track your calls. Fonolo transcribes the phone menus of large companies, so you can navigate them visually. Skip the navigation. Get right to the business.*
- Mind42 – Manage all your ideas, whether alone, twosome or working together with the whole world – collaborative, browser-based and for free.
- Setster – Online appointment software for scheduling appointments plus an appointment widget for booking appointments with service providers.*
- Highrise – Highrise helps you manage your contacts, keep track of who said what when, schedule follow-ups, set reminders, and convert leads into done deals.*
*All products and services listed above are subject to change without notice.
Find a new client base or re-develop your old one. Stop trying to sell your clients things they no longer need or value. As a small business owner, you have the capacity to make adjustments that large corporations can’t. Take extreme advantage of that. You can respond to changing client needs more rapidly if you are in tune to the climate in your industry.
Are there any other target markets that can use your product or services in a different way or for a different benefit? The health care, medical and pharmaceutical sectors are some of the industries that have not been hit by the economic downturn. Can you provide a product or service for anyone in this field? Can you seek new clients there?
For your existing client base, hone in on your clients’ current needs. Re-define your client profile. If you review your database, you will probably recognize some common denominators amongst your clients. Make an effort to personally contact your clients and ask them what they liked about your product or service, why they no longer need it or how you can increase the benefit of using your product or service.
Get rid of the dead weight. Stop lugging around the balls and chain that keep you in a self-defeated state of mind. Fire those clients that rob you of your time and energy. It is better you fire the clients that steal your time (and your money, since your time IS money) and make room for the clients that value your time. You can’t service new clients if you are constantly catering to the ones that should be fired. Move on.
New collaborations. Make your clients your silent partners. Cross-promote when appropriate. Consider developing powerful collaborations with like-minded business owners. Start giving. If you stop giving your time and energy away to undeserving people and unproductive activities, you’d be surprised how much more time you have to give to the people and activities that really matter. Create a list of people you should or want to know better; engage them in meaningful conversations and offer a few tips and resources that will benefit them. Stay in touch with them. Cultivate your relationship with them and find opportunities to collaborate.
Commitment and consistency will complete the process. Commit to yourself and the success of your business by consistently taking action on necessary improvements. Practice, practice and practice some more until it becomes a routine. Consistently find new ways to refresh yourself and re-engage in your business. Take action on eliminating time wasters and unproductive work habits. Be patient. Businesses don’t grow overnight and it will certainly take more than 24 hours to get back on track. However, remember you are on the road to recovery.
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A.Michelle Blakeley is the Founder and CEO of Simplicity, Inc.; a progressive small business development firm. She manages her clients’ business expectations and prevents information overload via Micro Business Therapy™ and Micro Business Action Plans. She is featured in Forbes.com as one of 30 Women Entrepreneurs to Follow on Twitter and the host of Simple Truths: Intelligent. Insightful. Informed. on BlogTalkRadio.com.
