The seven fundamentals to grow your business

There are a lot of business “hacks” out there. I am not a big fan of hacks. I prefer fundamentals. Hacks might be clever but if you build a business out of hacks it becomes weak and wobbly. We want strong human-centric businesses and the way to build one of those is with Fundamentals. I have given a lot of thought to what you need to make your business work, to create a business that grows and delivers the lifestyle you want.  

Real, sustainable, money generating growth that frees you up to run the business and live your life, requires a well thought through approach to designing your company. Building a business is a discipline, it requires a systematic approach to creating an entity that can exist and grow without you. 

So here are essential fundamentals to creating a business that runs like a business. These are not five-minute activities or get rich quick ideas, but they are the fundamentals you need to get right.

I promise: work on these and you will create a thriving entity and soon you will be able to take a vacation.

The seven fundamentals are

1. Know your market
2. Clarify your kick-ass product or service, your signature program
3. Create a marketing strategy that attracts
4. Convert leads
5. Deliver transformation
6. Seal the project.
7. Renew and Never stop thinking about what comes next

Know your Market

Before you do anything else ask yourself this: what is the problem I solve and for whom.

Many MSP owners can’t answer this question clearly or succinctly, and that impedes growth. If you don’t know who your customers are, how will your customers know that they are your customers?

We host a morning networking meeting instead of asking people what they do we ask them what problem they solve and for whom. 99% of attendees answer with their title or profession.

As in, the problem I solve is that I am a lawyer.

That you are a lawyer, or architect, or consultant, or babysitter, or whatever you do is not the problem you solve for your clients.

They have some legal challenge, and you have to be clear and specific about what that challenge is. It has nothing to do with you or what you do – defining what you do comes next.

So ask yourself these key questions:

• Who is my perfect customer?
• What is missing in their life?
• Why are they not able to complete that missing piece?

Remember: You make your perfect customer complete by filling in that missing piece. This is the problem you solve.

Clarify your kick-ass product/service, your signature program

So now you know what the problem is: what is your solution?

You must have a clear solution.

Again, your solution is not your profession restated as in “I am a lawyer, and I do law.”

You must show your prospects how you solve the problem that you identified. This is your signature program, and it is what sets you apart.

One of our clients is a stylist. She used to introduce herself as a Stylist, and nobody cares. Now she presents herself as a stylist who works with men who don’t like shopping and know nothing about fashion or style.

The challenge is clear , but it begs the question: what do you do about that.

Define your signature program

Her signature program involves understanding what you want to dress for, what you do and how you present. Then she shops for you picks out clothes for you and takes away all of the need to think about style and fashion.

She has developed a whole program that takes away all of that concern about style and annoyance of shopping.

That is much more compelling than being a “Stylist.”

A signature program helps grow both in terms of attracting clients and also in terms of price. Having a clear signature program will allow you to charge more for your services while you spend less time delivering.

Create a marketing strategy: attract customers

If you google marketing strategy pretty much the first term that comes up is the funnel. You will be encouraged to buy all kinds of funnel technologies to manage your marketing.

But what does that mean?

The simple answer is that a funnel takes people from awareness: knowing who you are, through to conversion: being your customer. It is a funnel because you have to make a lot of people aware so that a few engage with you, of those that engage with you a few will be customers.

So if you look at how many people are at any stage of the process, it looks like a funnel. There will be many people at the top, a fraction of those in the middle and a fraction of those in the middle become customers.

Read more about the sales and marketing funnel here.

Here is the trick: you must define the process by which people become aware of you, go through the funnel and end up customers. If you don’t do this, you end up spending much time talking to many people who won’t be your customers.

That time and effort are better spent on delivering your product and selling to those who want to buy.

So take the time and make an effort to create your clear marketing strategy.

Convert with a sales strategy

A sales strategy is different from a marketing strategy. With marketing, you want to appeal to many people, drive awareness and weed out those who aren’t interested in what you sell.

Sales is the process by which you move interested people to converted customers.

To define your sales strategy think about what you have to do to encourage interested prospects to sign on the dotted line and become customers.

Ask yourself:

• When do I start the sales process with a prospect?
• What does the process look like? Do you call or visit, do you send an e-mail, how do you interact?
• What documentation will they need and how can you provide it?
• What are common objections and how can you overcome them?
• How often do you follow up?
• How do you keep in touch with those who are interested but take a long time to convert?

Key to the sales strategy is how you present yourself and how you show your prospects how their lives will change after they work with you.

Also include a feedback loop: when something isn’t working identify what it is, fix it and try again. There isn’t a universal sales strategy: there is the sales strategy that works for you, your market and your customers.

Deliver real transformation

It may seem counterintuitive to grow by focusing on the customer that you already have, but in fact, this is a potent growth channel.

Happy customers will continue to buy from you. Once they know you and know the quality, you deliver the hard marketing work is complete. They have learned how to work with you, and the buying decision is easy; switching to someone else takes time and effort that they would rather not invest.

Additionally, happy clients can become powerful advocates. The fact that they love what you do and get value from it is something that they will share with their colleagues, friends, and associates. Happy customers are one of the best ways to fill the top of your marketing funnel.

Renew and never stop thinking about what comes next

There will come a time when you have customers when the business is running, and you feel confident enough to take your eye off growth. Don’t do that.

The world, the market, and your customers are always changing. The moment you think you have made it is the beginning of the end. Always keep your focus on what comes next.