Finding structure in your business.

Some would say it’s a blessing and some find it hard to stay motivated. No matter what your working environment looks like on a daily basis, it’s safe to say building a business from the ground up is hard work. From my perspective, I find it tough to stay focused when working from home every day and I miss human interaction. A lot. But on the other hand, getting the kids to nursery on time and having the time to exercise in the morning is a huge bonus.

Having worked in marketing and part of a corporate environment for over a decade, I’m lucky to have experience in how to overcome challenges. From internal processes, market conditions and fierce competitors; taking a step back and taking a 360 view of what was happening around us, was one of the most effective strategies.

But it’s not always easy to overcome challenges when you’re running at 100 miles per hour in your own business, trying to keep your head above water. Which is why it’s even more important to take a step back occasionally. Keeping one ear to the ground for your small business to understand strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats; allows you to see more clearly and figure out where to put your focus. When you spend time looking at internal and external factors, challenges and solutions become much clearer and you save yourself so much time down the line. 

It’s not always understood but this is actually all part of the marketing process. Common belief is that marketing is solely about sales and advertising. But actually there’s a lot of information gathering that needs to take place before businesses can communicate effectively to an identified audience and grow. Understanding your unique opportunity in the market requires bringing the outside world in. 

Resilience and finding a way forward.

If the words ‘problem’ or ‘challenge’ were a year, 2020 would be top of the list. I don’t think anyone could have predicted the impact the recent pandemic would have on small businesses, start-ups and individuals all over the world. Boy, have we felt it too. 

So what’s our point? Problem solving for business owners has got to be at its most relevant. Every day we are troubleshooting. Finding a way to navigate the market landscape, implementing a work from home environment while keeping morale high, standing out in a cluttered online environment, keeping up to speed with customer’s wants and needs. It’s exhausting! But having a process to follow that allows us to effectively attack and structure the appropriate solution to any problem; is a game-changer. 

So when you’re trying to overcome challenges in your business, here are some things to consider:

• You can’t do everything. Figure out what you’re great at and what the business needs most from you. Stick to it.
• Work out what resources and people you need to help plug the knowledge gaps.
• Try overcoming challenges from a customer perspective. What would they want? How does it benefit them? 
• Look across the board at what’s not working before jumping to solutions. Consider:  How can people find you? Is your web journey seamless? Can people buy from you easily? What are customers saying about you? What experience are you providing and how can people share positive reviews?
• Create and lean upon your network of advisors. Think about who can help, at what point in your journey. Talking to other people is invaluable.

We love talking to other business owners to see how we can help in solving their challenges. Often the answer comes through a conversation.

And with over 10 years experience helping brands stand out from the crowd, connect with audiences and support business growth, we’d love to help.

Book some time with us today and let’s have a conversation.