This is a year that many economists think will be rough. We have high inflation and the ability to get money is going to be difficult. I’m going to teach you the “blocking and tackling” of business and the areas you’re struggling in that could be why you don’t make it to next year.
Here are FIVE steps you need to survive including TWO you need to take your business to the next level.
Attraction
Do you know who your target customer is? Are you SYSTEMATICALLY attracting them? Do you need a BETTER target customer than the one you have?
Selling
Are you converting your target customers to pay what it is you need them to pay to stay in business and survive. Often we are attracting low-level one-time purchase customers which is not a sustainable business model.
Fulfillment
Can you deliver what it is they purchase? Do you provide a warranty and customer service. How are you handling complaints and issues? You need methods in place to satisfy complaints and reconcile issues. Often a business can be good at these first two and fail this one.
These three are critical to staying in business.
Scaling
Are you growing in such a way that there is an infrastructure underneath that can sustain the growth? If you aren’t growing, you’re dying! This will require systems to support adding new product lines and locations.
Exit Ready
Is this a business that can be sold? It doesn’t mean you need to exit…but you can put your company in a good position to be able to. This is when you have your target customer and your systems in place and a blueprint for success. This makes your company attractive to a buyer it’s a position that you should strive to be in whether you wish to sell your business or not.
