Could Mentoring be the catalyst for the UK’s next generation of business leaders? 🚀

About time the UK caught up with our friends over the pond.

Hi Gary

How to drive your business forward

This week Gem and I went to the Lakes for a couple of days to bond and to scope out some event venues.  As part of the mini trip, we looked at various outdoor activities that we could do.

Axe throwing was full, Archery - neither of us confessed to being Robin Hood, quad biking didn’t appeal due to the rain, so we plumped for a 4x4 off road driving experience in a Land Rover.

We’ve all been there, you’ve had a very busy day but got absolutely nothing done.  No matter how many hours you work, the to-do list always gets longer not shorter.  AAARGH!!

One of the questions I get asked by clients is “How do you get through so much work whilst running three growing businesses?”.

I don’t think USPs exist as they did.  The reality is that there is always another business out there doing what you do with better credentials, greater experience, and more qualifications.

So how do you compete in a crowded market?

One of the biggest headaches I hear about when chatting to small business owners is that “I can’t seem to find a team that cares as much as I do!”

“I may as well do it myself!” is a common phrase I hear and there is nothing more frustrating than working longer hours after your team has disappeared for the day.

This time last week we were in the middle of running a Masterclass for some of our VIP clients, contacts and selected guests.

The day was split into five, to help those that attended to develop their future business goals & build out a plan.

For a majority of business owners, the lead-time or burn time as I call it is typically three to four months.  This is the average time from a (qualified) prospect engaging with you and them placing the order. So, when you have a poor sales month, it is rarely what you did or didn’t do this month.  It is what you did or didn’t do three to four months ago. Here are the usual reasons why:

I get asked this question many times by small business owners who have their head in their hands and are at their wits end in terms of feeling overwhelmed, being trapped and they have lost their mojo. This status isn’t sustainable.

In order for you to increase revenue in a sustained and controlled way, there are three strategies you must adopt.

From the many businesses I chat with, most don’t execute all three and often, the ones they do adopt are the wrong ones.  

As a result, they are constantly chasing their tail and working hard to back fill the business they are losing.

Here are the three strategies in the order they should be adopted:

You will have heard me talk about the fact that systems run the business and people run the systems.  If the systems are robust and the people follow the systems, it should provide you a platform to be more efficient, profitable, repeatable and deliver best in class service levels.

There are many benefits of engaging with a Business Mentor from tapping into their experience, them holding you to account or just having them being there to listen (more on this in a future issue) when it’s lonely and you need to chat things through.

Processes run the business, people run the processes. Unfortunately, many businesses large and small get this so wrong.
Poor customer service leads to clients chipping at price or leaving and you lose the referral stream from them.
Last week I was on the receiving end of some extremely poor customer service. A combination of processes that don't put the customer first and people that really do not care.
Here's what happened...

I sat with a new client this week who was struggling with her mojo. She had lost her confidence and was caught in a tail spin. She had asked for my support. As part of the process to de-construct what she was doing before re-building, I asked a simple question…

You are good at developing relationships right?  Friends, spouse, kids, neighbours etc.  You do this every day and never have an issue. How about developing a relationship with your prospective client?  Have a conversation?  Get to know them?  Do not sell.

Get them to know, like and trust you without you having to sell.  Easy right? Yes, if you just be you and stop worrying about having to ‘sell’. When they are ready, they will buy.

So, think about those tasks that you shouldn’t be doing.  It doesn’t matter if you like doing them or are even good at them (I do iron a mean shirt, I just don’t like doing it), you have to find somebody to outsource or delegate those tasks to one by one to allow you to spend more time customer facing, earning money and doing something that ignites your fire.

There are plenty of strategies to ensure you deliver exceptional results that drive referrals, far too many to list in one post.

Referrals and word of mouth (WOM) marketing should be a key part of your strategy. And if you’re not receiving them regularly, something needs to change.

When most small business owners start out, they dream of landing a few clients, the money starts rolling in and they work a handful of hours.

Simple right? Wrong!

The reality is often far from the dream.

If you are a small business making a 10-15% net profit (at best for many) and offer a 10% discount to “win the business” there is a strong likelihood that you will finish up de-valuing your brand and working for next to nothing.

I want to educate as many small business owners as possible what the difference is, so they can ask for the correct help when they need it and get the results they desire.  If they choose the wrong option, they often don't get the results and not only does that impact their future, it further damages the reputation of my sector because they blame the trusted advisor.

Ultimately, sustainable growth begins with the courage to assess your team honestly and the discipline to build the one your business truly needs.