Growing Your Business - Why Chasing Sales Is The Wrong Strategy
On an almost daily basis I chat with a large number of business owners
, running all sorts of business. The instability of the economic climate remains high on most people's agenda, and how gruelling or how painless acquiring new customers is proving to be.
For those exceptional few who have not suffered problems due to the economy, everything's fantastic. You can tell they are so excited about the opportunities which lie ahead of them.
The others are more subdued, resolved to turn things around, with practically all thoughts of why they began their business fading away...
For these company owners it is a completely different story. "We need to make more sales," has now become their main focus.
This also makes some kind of sense, don't you think ... making more sales to overcome the current difficulties?
On the surface, this focus seem valid - due to the sheer number of marketing companies and business experts competing for attention with their messages of "... get a lot more sales, we can help."
The thing is that being focused on sales growth, is actually the wrong move, especially if you want to create a company which can deliver genuine independence. One which gives you the ability to select your own hours, to find your own clients, and the opportunity to do what you want, without anyone else controlling what you do...
... true freedom to live your life exactly how you want to, without worry or concern, and with your business supporting your chosen lifestyle.
Besides, isn't that why you began your business?
Ok, reality check. Getting more sales is not wrong - without sales your business is dead. What I AM saying is that it's wrong putting your main focus into more sales.
By now, chances are you'll be asking yourself 'why' concentrating on boosting sales is misguided when it comes to business focus. And to answer that, you have to realise that more sales means increased problems in other areas...
More sales means more costs, more overheads, more effort, often tighter margins and reduced profitability which can also put an enormous amount of strain on your cash-flow.
These problems have to be sorted BEFORE generating more sales. If not, you can create more issues than you solve, which is often what happens.
And this is why you mustn't focus purely on sales. If you do, you will change the balance of your business, and if your have an unbalanced business, it is far less likely to survive without a huge amount of extra effort, increased stress and an incredible amount of luck!
Which means that it is essential you zero in on the long term goals for your business.
Every action you take will either move you closer or further away from your ultimate goal... your freedom to do exactly what you want to do.
It's so easy to mess up here. Getting more sales is only one of the things you must to do to create a successful business.
But it's clear to see the problems of following a "we need more sales" approach. Yet we are also working with business owners who are following a "we need more sales TODAY" approach, and who are worried that their business won't even be around in the future.
Compelling? Yes. Easy to get the meaning of? Yes. But it's also 'desperate.'
Short-term sales are important of course, or you may never reach your long-term objectives. But the flip side is:
You won't get your desired long-term if you only work on the short-term.
It's vital that you give enough time to both - not necessarily in the same proportion - but enough time and focus to develop both.
Well that may seem obvious when you think about it, yet the majority of people still only focus on shorter term objectives. So why is that?
A good question, and easy to answer. It's linked to our decision making process.
... but I'll be covering that in another article!
So, to finish with, you have to remain focused on the broader picture if you want to grow a successful business which can provide you with whatever 'freedom' you want. Focus on the short term can lead to imbalance, which can in turn lead to your business grinding to a halt.
by: Jez Hunt
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