Your Path to Business Success: The Blueprint

 At my core, I believe running a successful business is one of the most satisfying professional actions a person can take. Hobbies are great. They are fun pastimes, can help you meet other people, and craft solutions for problems at a small scale. The only problem with hobbies is that they tend not to pay the bills, which is why we all need a job.  Having a job is work. You can earn an income, be part of an organization, and acquire new skills. However, the problem with employment is that jobs frequently require you to do work that does not align with your strengths. You do not have much power or control over how they operate, who they serve, or the organization's values, norms, or practices. This misalignment can grow into frustration, annoyance, and burnout. The solution for some is self-employment.

Building a business from scratch is the one time when you have total power within an organization. You get to decide who you will serve, how you will serve them, and who you will work with. Yes, others get a vote. You will not be successful if you develop a solution no one needs, provide poor service, or treat those you work with poorly, but all those decisions are within your control. The remainder of this article provides a blueprint for small business owners to design a business that meets financial, lifestyle, and personal fulfillment goals.

The Blueprint for Reducing Small Business Risk

Nine out of 10 small business owners fail the first time they launch a business. The top three reasons businesses fail are lack of capital, knowledge, and poor business model design. The incredible thing about this statistic is that when they launch a second business, 90% of them are successful. They are successful because they learn from their mistakes, gain wisdom, and do a better job the second time. Wisdom is the key to business success.

There is only one way to gain wisdom: to seek knowledge. Knowledge can be gained through personal experience or from the experience of others. You do not have to be bitten by a snake to know it is dangerous. You were taught snakes are dangerous as a child, and you use that knowledge to make wise decisions when encountering snakes. The same is true within business. Knowing the risks and dangers of running a small business can provide a blueprint for making wiser business decisions.

Learning from Others

Over the last 20 years, I have acquired business knowledge. Some of it has come from books I read while studying business and economics at Randolph-Macon College. More was learned from professors as I acquired my MBA from the University of Maryland Global Campus. But most of my wisdom has come from reading over 60 business books and 1000 business articles, completing over 500 hours of workshops, and applying that knowledge towards a +20-year business career.  

I have been everything from a sales associate, store manager, marketer, vice president, and now a small business owner, executive coach, and business consultant. I have the metaphorical scars from every significant mistake I have made over my career, and they are the source of the wisdom I share in my writings, coaching, and consulting. One of the benefits of being an executive coach and small business consultant who works across industries is that I get to see how universal most business challenges are. I can take what I learn from one business or industry and apply it to another.

Build your Learning Plan

Over the last 15 weeks, I have provided visibility to some of the knowledge I have gained throughout my professional career. As I have written each word, I have become more aware of the complexity and simplicity of running a business.  If you are a small business owner seeking more knowledge and wisdom for running your business, review the 15 topics below. Each covers a different lesson that can help you run your business better.

Read the article that answers a current problem you are looking to solve and know that each topic is interconnected. Each business management skill or practice I share is maximized when combined with other skills. After reading the articles, if you need additional help applying what you learned, reach out. My mission as a coach is to help you acquire and apply the knowledge you need to be successful.

Crafting and Communicating Your Vision

Getting Your Vision On Paper

Communicating Your Vision

Determining if Your Vision is Viable

Three Fundamentals of Business: Service, Scale, Strategy

Generating Revenue

Converting Vision to Strategy

Setting Goals

Refining Your Product and Service Offerings

Finding Your Niche

Building a High-Performance Team

Building Trust with Your Team

Getting Your Team to Work Together

Attracting and Developing Talent

Reducing Team Conflict

Must have Business Tools

Balanced Scorecard

Balance Sheet

Cash Flow Statement

 If you have read this far, thank you for taking the time to review this blog. Running a small business is one of the most challenging and rewarding things you can do. If you would benefit from having additional support and guidance running your small business, please feel free to email Executive Coach Dorian Cunion at dcunion@yourpathexecutivesolutions.com or visit our website, www.yourpathexecutiveoslutions.com, to learn more about our services.

Your Path to Business Success:#6 Attract Customers by Optimizing Your Offerings

Do your products and services still hit the mark? Customer needs are constantly evolving. At least once a year, it's necessary to step back and assess whether your offerings are optimized for today's landscape. By tuning in to your customers, analyzing economic trends, and diving deep into your data, you can refine your offerings to boost sales and profitability. Here's how:

Analyze Your Current Offerings

Uncover hidden insights by gathering data from every corner of your business. You likely have more information than you realize! Explore these sources:

• Website analytics: What are customers engaging with most? Where are they dropping off?

• Social media: How are prospects and customers engaging with your content? What is working, and what is not?

• Sales reports: Which products are top performers? Which are lagging?

• Financial reports: Where are your most significant profit margins? Where are you losing money?

• Customer information: What are their demographics, purchase history, and feedback?

• External data: What are the latest industry trends and competitor activities?

By analyzing this data collectively, you can identify patterns and opportunities that might be missed when looking at each source in isolation.

Pro Tip: Ask your favorite AI tool about trends and innovation within your industry. Use what you learn to evaluate growth opportunities for your business.

Understand Your Data

Rank your products and services based on these key factors:

• Total Revenue: Identify your cash cows – the offerings bringing in the most money.

• Profit Margin: Pinpoint your most profitable products, those with the highest difference between cost and revenue.

• Velocity: Uncover your fast-moving products, the ones people seek most.

This analysis reveals the unique role each offering plays in your business. Some products might be designed to attract new customers, while others drive profitability or generate consistent cash flow. In a perfect world, every offering would excel in all areas, but the reality is that each plays a specific part in achieving your overall financial goals.

Pro Tip: Pick your favorite AI tool and ask it to review the websites of top companies within your industry and provide a recap of their products and services. 

Identify Unmet Needs

Revisit your current product and service offerings and assess how customers' needs have changed.

• Are there gaps in your current offerings?

• Have your capabilities expanded, allowing you to introduce new products or services?

Keep a close eye on your competitors.

• What are they offering?

•  Can you draw inspiration from their innovations and create even better solutions for your customers?

Remember, the first to market doesn't always win. Often, the companies that refine and improve upon existing ideas achieve the greatest success.

Pro Tip: Ask your favorite AI tool to review your company website and recommend products and services you can add to drive incremental revenue.

Define Product and Service Roles

Be intentional about the role of each product and service.

• Will it be a loss leader to encourage trial?

• A niche offering that allows you to stand out in a crowded marketplace?

• A premium offering with a high-profit margin?

Your pricing strategy and range of assortment is a critical lever in maximizing revenue and profitability.

Experiment with pricing adjustments and track the impact. For example:

• Hypothesis: "If I reduce the price of Product X by 10%, I'll see a 20% increase in sales volume."

• Experiment: Implement the price change for a set period and monitor the results.

• Evaluate: Did the increase in sales offset the reduced profit margin?

• Next Steps: Based on the results, adjust your pricing strategy accordingly.

Pro Tip: Conduct an After-Action Review when testing price changes. Include multiple stakeholders in the discussion to ensure that you capture learnings from different perspectives.

Narrow Your Assortment

While diversification is essential, offering too many products or services can lead to operational complexity and inefficiency. Regularly evaluate your offerings and be prepared to eliminate those that no longer serve their intended purpose or contribute to your profitability goals.

Start by

• Identifying products or services that are not profitable

• Determine if eliminating the product or service would lead to more profitability

• If so, look for ways to reduce the cost associated with the product or service

• Test increasing the price to improve profitability

• Eliminate the product or service if profit margins can not be improved

Pro Tip: Set a product assortment goal, and habitually delete a product or service when you add a new one.

What activity do you need to spend more time on?

• Analyzing Data
• Building Test
• Identifying customer needs
• Optimizing Assortment

See All Options

Closing Summary

Refining and optimizing your offerings is an ongoing process. By regularly analyzing your data, understanding the role of each product and service, and staying attuned to market dynamics and customer needs, you can ensure your business remains competitive, profitable, and poised for growth.

Thank you for reading our latest article on building business success. If this is your first time reading our newsletter, we encourage you to go back and read the first 5 articles in this series. At Your Path Coaching and Consulting, we aspire to provide small business owners with the knowledge, support, and motivation they need to succeed. If you have any questions about this or any other topics related to running a profitable business, email Executive Coach Dorian Cunion at dcunion@yourpathexecutivesolutions.com

Your Path to Business Success: #4 Using Data to Improve Business Strategy

The new year is the perfect time to pause, reflect on the previous year, and adjust your strategy and tactics to drive better results in the new year. But where do you start? Your gut can only take you so far. If you want to make sound business decisions, the best place to start is with data.

Data is foundational in helping you recognize opportunities to attract new customers, serve current customers better, cut costs in your business, and ultimately earn more money. The order of operation to remember is that data helps you form insights, which help inform your strategy. Your strategy separates you from the rest of the pack and allows you to build loyalty, profitability, and sustainability. 

Improve Profits by Using Data

This article will guide you through gathering and analyzing data to unlock your business's full potential.

1. Improve Business Strategy By Using Customer Feedback:

Your customers can help you to improve your product and services if you take the time to analyze their behaviors and ask them for feedback. Here are some ways you can start:

• Customer Surveys: Use surveys to gather insights on customer satisfaction, product preferences, and areas for improvement. Tools like SurveyMonkey or Google Forms make creating and distributing surveys easy.

• Online Reviews: Regularly monitor online reviews on platforms like Google My Business, Yelp, and industry-specific sites. Pay close attention to positive and negative feedback and identify recurring themes.

• Social Media Monitoring: Monitor social media conversations about your brand. What are people saying? What are their concerns? Use social listening tools to track mentions and engage with your audience.

Pro tip: Ask your favorite AI tool to review your online reviews and provide you with insights on what your customers like and dislike about your business.

Where do you get customer feedback?

• Google Reviews
• Yelp Reviews
• Facebook Reviews
• Customer Surveys

See All Options

You can vote for more than one answer.

2. Dive Deep into Your Sales Data:

Your sales data can provide insights into what is and is not working. With these insights, you can adjust your strategy and better meet the needs and expectations of your customers. Here's what to look for:

• Top Performers: Identify your best-selling products or services. What makes them so successful? Can you replicate those factors in other areas of your business?

• Underperforming Categories: Pinpoint products or services that aren't meeting expectations. Analyze the reasons behind their performance. Is it pricing, marketing, or something else?

• Seasonal Trends: Are there peaks and valleys in your sales data? Understand how different times of the year impact your business and adjust your inventory, marketing campaigns, and staffing accordingly.

Pro tip: Compare the price and value of your offering to the competition and identify improvement opportunities.

3. Assess Operational Efficiency:

Efficiency is key to profitability. Taking the time to evaluate your return on labor, profit margin, and return on assets can help you identify undiscovered opportunities for improvement. Here's how to analyze your operations:

• Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) Analysis: Break down the costs of each product or service. Can you negotiate better prices with suppliers? Are there ways to eliminate costs to harvest more profit or provide a lower price to customers?

• Time and Money Allocation: Track how you spend your time, payroll dollars, and company resources. Are there tasks you can automate or outsource? Are you investing in the right tools and technologies?

• Identify Inefficiencies: Look for bottlenecks or areas where processes are slow or cumbersome. Can you streamline workflows or implement technology to improve speed and customer satisfaction?

Pro tip: Explore how your team can use AI to save time taking notes, summarizing emails, or crafting communications.

Summary:

By consistently gathering and analyzing data, you can understand your business performance and make data-driven decisions that fuel growth. Remember to:

• Collect customer feedback through surveys, online reviews, and social media monitoring.

• Analyze your sales data to identify top performers, underperforming categories, and seasonal trends.

• Assess operational efficiency by analyzing COGS, time and money allocation, and identifying areas for improvement.

By doing this, you can identify insights that can inform your business strategy, allowing you to craft tactical shifts that have the potential to unlock more profitability.

In the next article, we'll explore the importance of market research in understanding your industry and competitive landscape. Stay tuned!

References:

How Marketing Automation Can Boost Your B2B Lead Generation - RAY B2B. https://www.rayb2b.com/tools-and-technology/how-marketing-automation-can-boost-your-b2b-lead-generation/

Measuring the Success of Online Product Sampling Campaigns | Mister Duda. https://misterduda.com/25934-measuring-the-success-of-online-product-sampling-campaigns-11/