Here’s what we’ll cover
Right now we are nearly 3 full months into 2021 and I have a question for you. Are you running your business on your terms?
I want to talk to you about the business hangover.
If you’ve ever felt like you’re knee deep in mud but you’ve gotta try and stride it out cos your clients are depending on you, cos your team is depending on you, cos your family is depending on you and all you really want to do is take a big long nap, preferably on a warm sandy beach somewhere? If so, you’ll have some idea of what I’m referring to when I talk about the business hangover.
Sometimes it can be hard to find the energy to do the things we know we should to change and shift our businesses for the better.
The year of 2020 caused us all a level of uncertainty and showed us all what it feels like to have a distinct lack of control.
A lot of us are putting off making the big (or small) decisions that we need to make to move our businesses forward. And when we are indecisive, we get stuck. Maybe you can call it a rut. I call it a business hangover.
As for why you need to get out of the mud, over the rut and cure the hangover?
There’s this thing called a cost. Sure, there’s a cost to do a lot of stuff but there’s also a cost of not doing something.
We are talking about what that cost might be and how to go about moving yourself out of the mud, the rut, the hangover.
Links and Resources
- Checkout the Simply Smarter Numbers website HERE
- Checkout the Podcast HERE
- Checkout the Instagram page HERE
Keep Listening!
Here’s the shownotes
Right now we are nearly 3 full months into 2021 and I have a question for you. Are you running your business on your terms?
I want to talk to you about the business hangover.
If you’ve ever felt like you’re knee deep in mud but you’ve gotta try and stride it out cos your clients are depending on you, cos your team is depending on you, cos your family is depending on you and all you really want to do is take a big long nap, preferably on a warm sandy beach somewhere? If so, you’ll have some idea of what I’m referring to when I talk about the business hangover.
Sometimes it can be hard to find the energy to do the things we know we should to change and shift our businesses for the better.
You think you need to hire a team member or VA to free up some time – but you haven’t had the time to make it happen.
You think you need to boost the pricing on your biggest selling service – but you haven’t had the time to think it through properly or do the numbers.
You think you may need to dump a certain service offer because it’s just not attracting the clients you dream of yet you just gone and sold another one.
You think you need to delegate or outsource your million small admin tasks but here you are, up late at night with those pesky admin tasks yet again.
The year of 2020 caused us all a level of uncertainty and showed us all what it feels like to have a distinct lack of control.
A lot of us are putting off making the big (or small) decisions that we need to make to move our businesses forward. And when we are indecisive, we get stuck. Maybe you can call it a rut. I call it a business hangover.
As for why you need to get out of the mud, over the rut and cure the hangover?
There’s this thing called a cost. Sure, there’s a cost to do a lot of stuff but there’s also a cost of not doing something.
By way of example, I mentioned before, perhaps you need to dump a particular service offer because it’s not attracting the clients you dream of yet you just sold another one.
Looking at this specifically, what are the potential costs of this scenario? Well let’s assume you have 2 service offerings. Let’s break it down in an example;
Service A is your newer higher ticket item priced at $8,000. It attracts clients that you love working with and you know you can upsell half of these amazing clients into an ongoing monthly retainer package which usually brings in $1,000 per month for 12 months. Problem is, you need to change up your marketing slightly, make some minor edits to your website and you just don’t have the time to make it happen because you’re stuck in this mud I refer to!
And then there’s service B.
Service B has been your go-to offer since you started out in business. Priced at $2,000, it’s been your bread and butter for a long time but it attracts a smaller client with no real potential for upselling. It’s comfortable, it’s easy enough to do but it’s time consuming and to be honest, it’s kind of boring now, you’re ready to sink your teeth into more interesting work.
So what is the cost of inaction in this scenario?
The cost of saying yes to more low-grade Service B clients is the opportunity to work with more high-level service A clients.
The time you spend on service B clients is a lost opportunity to build new sales with service A clients.
Two service A clients have the potential to bring in $28,000. That’s $8,000 each plus one of them are likely to accept the retainer package of $1,000 per month. That’s $28,000.
Two high-ticket clients have the potential to bring in $28,000
Or to make the same money you need to find 14 low-ticket clients. More marketing, more selling, more admin, more follow-up, more of the same old uninteresting work.
For every month of indecision and inaction that goes by that could be costing you money but it can also be costing you time. Not to mention it can cost you some of your sanity!
For every yes you are saying no to something else – in this business every yes to low-grade service B client is a no to the future exciting high-level, profitable service A Client.
As for how to move yourself through the mud, the rut, the hangover?
If it’s time to start doing business on your terms, Here’s what I suggest;
Bite the bullet, do the numbers.
- Find out your return on time for each service offering
- Get clear on the profit margins of each service offer
- Make a decision about where your business is headed based on numbers and facts
- Get clear on precisely what needs to happen to action the decision you make
- Prioritise these actions and put deadlines next to each
- Consider who is the best person to action these priorities
- Then delegate, outsource or do the actions yourself.
The numbers may actually show you that you’re better off sticking with the lower-level B grade clients – thing is, you won’t really know until you take a look.
