Decide who you serve (and focus on them intensely)
Who do you serve with your business? Do you have a clear picture of those in your target market, if you have one? Can you describe your ideal buyer/client in detail?
Answering this question is predicated on answering the first basic business principle, which was “Decide What To Do“. It would serve you well to read that one first.
You must decide who it is that you serve with your business. You have no choice, if your intentions are to be successful. The reason relies in the fact that we must bring focus on that group intensely. You cannot be all things to all people, you cannot focus with intensity on an unlimited selection either, as those approaches find themselves becoming an unsustainable business model.
Once the question of who you serve is answered, you can go about creatively planning how to reach, touch, and impact that group in the most efficient manner. Being freed up in this area is liberating, and much if not all of the guessing is removed from the process at this point.
There are resources and organizations available that can help you to identify who you serve. If you have been in business for any amount of time, you have the added advantageous of possibly having data to work with. There are even some web tools that can help you gain initial data very quickly.
Next time around, we will look at the Deciding What Makes You Different. In the meantime, I value your feedback.
This is first in the series of Top 10 Basic Business Principles, and it is important that you get this one right.
One of the more difficult decisions to make in business is what am I going to do within the business, and even more importantly, what am I NOT going to do. This decision will impact your business in a significant way.
One area of deciding what to do is in trying to answer the question, “What am I going provide as a product or service, and what are the limits to that product or service?” It is very easy to try to be “all things to all people.” Problems occur when we stretch ourselves so thin doing so that we lose our ability to do anything in a great way.
Most small business owners have been hit with the dilemna of needing revenue, (sometimes desperately), and being tempted to take on something outside of their core competency. The pressure to do so can be great. I’ve even done it. What usually results is that the project becomes profitless due to the extra time and resources needed to come up to speed on how to do it, and do it well. You, or your people may not possess the skills to pull something like this off.
It is hard, if not impossible, for any business, let alone a small business to develop core competency in many areas. Focusing on what you do well is most often the path to profitability and growth. It is not always wrong to take on a new product or service, but it must be done carefully and strategically.
It is worth it to become ruthless in this area. Be willing to walk away from a sale if need be. Instead, look for the potential clients that you know that you will be able to service well.
Another area where you need to ask yourself this question is in the roles that you will fill within your company. What are you good at? What do you like to do? Who can I get to handle some of the other things? Once again, it is impossible for the business owner to do everything that needs to be done in a business. If you try to, you will get mediocre results, or you will burn out and quit!
Even small business owners can afford to hire a virtual assistant, a commissioned sales person, or a key person to help pick up the slack in the areas that you cannot, and probably should not, be involved personally.
What is boils down to, is figuring out what to specialize in. Find the right niche for you, and then work hard to become the very best within that niche. You can focus your human resources, as well as your marketing to become the very best in that area. This will give you the best chance for success, and help you keep your sanity on the journey.
