Business Building

Congratulations! – You’re a business owner.  

You’ve put thought, sweat, tears and many late nights into your business and here you sit. … thinking about the future. At least I hope you have looked to the future.

All business needs to be prepared for growth and by preparing for growth your business needs to be scalable. This means processes need to have the ability to be automated and systems have to be formidable.

Once you have customers into your fold you need to be able to lead them by the hand and they need to follow you through the growing of your business without too much turbulence. As long as you have set forth a solid guide ( read up on brand manuals here) (link to post) – you will be able to make changes to your business in a way that allows your customers to grow with you.

Think of Starbucks.  A huge chain that has grown massively over the years. When looking at the evolution of their logo – it’s a perfect example of guiding the customer.

In over 40 years just their logo evolved to what it is today.  Throughout it all they kept their branding consistent yet managed to now have a representation of their company which is recognizable by only an image. If you notice, the business name doesn’t appear anywhere on their logo any more. They are image only.  The power in the following that allows their brand to be equated to just an image is immense. They took their customers by the proverbial coffee cup- in baby steps – and didn’t miss a beat.

No one knows if Starbucks has reached their full growth potential or if there will be more changes on the horizon, but you can rest assured their tribe will have no trouble following the aroma… and logo, wherever it may lead.

Admittedly with the many journeys we take in life there are no manuals given out. Just considering parenting – case and point!

But in business your brand manual is your bible of truth.  You will never underestimate the complexity of design along with the simplicity once it’s complete. Your brand manual becomes your “go-to” reference for everything to do with the look and feel of your business. It can contain information about your avatar, your mission statement, your colors, fonts, and styles. Plus so much more.

What is the purpose of a brand manual?  

Consistency.

It’s a base layer and foundation of trust with your community.  A very simple example is this:  Jim gets a postcard in the mail offering him a $50 discount on a purchase at a new company. The elaborate postcard is tastefully presented in black, orange and white with a website to visit and a code for the discount.  The name of the company is SuppliesRUs. Interested in the discount Jim visits the website to see a site filled with supplies, but the logo states Supplies4U and the website is red, white and blue. Already Jim’s trust has faltered. As he clicks through the pages of products he notices that some have bold flashing headlines while others are lower case and in a script style font. Jim continues adding to his cart, easily adding $200 worth of supplies but when he clicks on the order button he is taken to a nondescript page without a logo or information. The page shows his total – a place for his coupon code and “Pay Now” in big letters.  

Poking around the site a bit more Jim can find no information on the company, it’s holdings or a common “About Page”.  Being fully aware of scams, Jim leaves the page and deletes all his information. The risk isn’t worth the $50 reward. Consistency would have given Jim more peace of mind thus allowing him to continue with is $200 purchase.

Think of how many times when shopping online that you click on an advertisement inadvertently or click on something that opens in a new tab or window.  Sometimes it’s hard to know where you started – besides the basic distraction factor – it can be difficult enough to stay on task for some people. 

This is where a brand manual will come into play.  Your colors, styles, fonts and message will be set. Everyone who builds or designs anything for your business will be given the brand manual to follow.  It’s up to you and your team to use the concepts consistently on materials, handouts, business cards, order forms, websites and promo materials.  

Don’t run the risk of losing the hundreds of Jim’s who visit your website because you haven’t taken the time to define your business.

Who am I? I’m not referring to Shakespeare’s Soliloquy but more specifically referring to who are you in your business and how is that portrayed.

This is an aspect of every business that requires some deep thought and some difficult questions. As with any important decision it’s good to have a sounding board to help you sort through to find the answers.  Whether that is a partner or consultant, having one in your corner is always a good thing.

Thinking about your business, you may just be starting out or you may be established with years under your belt, regardless of where you fall it’s important to know your role. Business owner, founder, CEO, etc are only titles so let’s take this a step further and discuss image. When asking ‘Who am I?” refer to it as your business.

First step is defining if you are a B2B or B2C company and then diving deeper into are you a service or product based business. B2B is products or services that are sold from one business to another and B2C is products or services which are sold directly to customers. For example you may be a parts manufacturer who sells to auto stores or car dealers. This qualifies you as a B2B. The auto store is considered B2C because they sell to the everyday customer.

Maybe you ARE the business. Authors or public speakers can be ‘the business’ even though they have products or services sold under their name. Radio or Talk Show personalities can also be labeled as ‘the business’.

Once you’ve determined your type of business you can start looking at and developing the image of your business. Too many times businesses don’t think past the logo or their saying. But branding and consistency go so much further. For example, a logo needs to be created in both a picture and text only image. There needs to be a stacked and un-stacked logo. The logo needs to be in black/white – plus the reverse as well as color.

This same consistency needs to carry over into every page, every pdf, every mailing, every header. It must be on everything you use or send out.

Stayed tuned to hear about fonts. Style, size, and variants all have a very important role

The grand champion of business is your ability to continually grow and monetize your following.

Call it your tribe, if you will. These people who have found their way to your table need to be nurtured and fed. You will give them education, communication, tips, treasures and they will think of you as a friend.

A tribe that is attentive and engaging is gold. Not only does this improve your business today, but a well nurtured following increases the value of a business when it is sold. It’s a built in legacy feature.

The problem is that many businesses forget to take care of their tribe. They think that once you have them in your fold they will stay and remain happy. But everyone needs attention and special treatment. We live in the land of chaos and shiny objects that can fill our mind and blind our vision, ultimately leading us off course. By nurturing you have the ability to elevate you and your business to expert or authority status.

This continual nurturing also helps to ensure that they won’t forget who you are. For example, Susan owns a local bakery. She’s built quite the following and is known for her scrumptious creations that melt in your mouth. By reminding her customers of her weekly specials she is staying in the forefront of their mind. Then when she has a new menu item or specialty it is easily announced and received with grand reviews as people flock to her bakery to try the delicacy.  If she hadn’t been nurturing her following and suddenly sends an email announcing her latest temptation it may be greeted with “Who’s Susan? Do we have a new bakery?”

By continually speaking to your tribe you have eliminated the need to re-introduce yourself time and time again. It is now an automatic “Susan has a new specialty we have to stop by this week”.

This is also another way you solidify your branding. By keeping your brand in front of your followers they begin brand association.  Stay tuned as we discuss this in detail in the coming weeks.

For now know this:  build a following, nurture your following, success is eminent.

Does the thought of growing your business seem a bit overwhelming?

We all know the proper way to eat an elephant is one bite at time, but if you aren’t given an eating utensil or don’t know what utensil to use, you can never even begin to enjoy the delicacy.

Growth in business is dictated by solutions and action. Debating the answer or developing excuses is a sure fire way to make sure your business is in the same exact place this time next year.  And at that moment, a year from now, you will be asking yourself the same questions. Do I use a spoon or a fork? Do I need a knife? What sauce is best served with elephant?

Action is what gets it done. Of course you have a choice. You can say you don’t like elephant and you don’t want to eat it.  In turn, accepting where you are right now. But if you’re not profiting, not building, not growing your business the way you at one time thought was an option then it’s time to take action.   

You may want to consider the fact you may need help along the way. Trust goes a long way in business as it relates to your customers. You need to also consider trust in finding answers to building your empire. You spend time to build a relationship with your customers so you need to build a relationship with your business consultant, coach or marketing team in the same fashion.

Many times we forget what we already know. I know that sounds crazy, but I’ve worked with clients that say, “We used to do that and it worked really well.” and of course the reply is, “Then why did you stop?”   Having someone work with you who can step back, look at your business and see it with energized eyes is one of the most beneficial tools available. It’s a way to help you start eating your elephant.

Systems and Measures

At the end of the year it’s inevitable that someone will approach you and ask, “How did your business end up for the year?”  Your answer, flippant and narrow for the conversation, is usually a simple, “Great.  We ended on a high note.”  or “There’s always room for improvement”. But, do you really know?  

Before you can talk about or understand what ‘success’ is for your company you need to define how you measure success.  Profit and loss are an easy way to look at it but there is a time in your business when you need to go deeper.  

• How many leads did you get per month?
• What is your conversion rate on those leads?
• What was the cost per lead?
• What is the longevity of a customer?

Once you decide what defines success you need to put systems in place that help you collect the data needed so you can measure. Data is your friend.  The more you have and understand the intricacies of it, the more you will be able to adapt and make changes for greater growth going forward.

Compiling and collecting data is a great tool.  But you need to be able to read the data and use it to strategize a plan. For example, let’s say your efforts are bringing in 50 leads per month and you are spending $1000 to get those leads. But of those 50 leads only 5 are becoming customers. Your cost per lead may be $20 but your cost per conversion is $200. Then of those 5 new customers none of them purchased again.

This information says the leads you are getting aren’t the right people. Either your target audience or your messaging may not be connecting.  The fact that the new customers didn’t become repeat customers says that your nurturing process needs developed.

The next question you will ask is ‘how’? You may find that having someone to consult with on your data and help you develop a strategy is the life line you need for your business. Getting a new perspective or another set of eyes to help you see the growth you want in your business is a necessity that should not be denied.

Having a goal without a plan – is just a dream.  And dreams don’t pay the bills.