“Businesses have limited time, money, people and equipment,”said Rod Matthews, an expert on change and human performance.
"The game in business is essentially to use the resources you currently have to generate discretionary resources that you can reinvest to grow your business or that you can spend how you like."
“Businesses that don't generate discretionary money or time are businesses that will soon be out of business."
According to Mr Matthews the problem exists because business owners make some common mistakes including:
Following trends
"It is all too easy to get caught up in the latest trend. Everyday businesses are setting up Facebook pages, writing articles to post on LinkedIn or spending big dollars on a flash new website that seems to do everything from tracking visitors to making your coffee. All this effort is wasted if your target audience is not interested in social media.”
Mr Matthews suggests that if tell a social media expert that you want more sales, chances are pretty good that their solution will involve spending money and time on social media.If you ask a salesman the same question they will recommend you should be networking and selling face to face. Business owners would do well to consider where their clients are looking before throwing money at the latest trend.
Spreading it too thin
Another trap that small business falls into is to spread their limited marketing and sales resources too thinly. Rod calls this the Machine Gun Approach.
"Trying everything at the same time and hoping for the best is a sure fire way to go out of business fast," he said.
"The first step should be to identify the path your clients travel. How do they arrive at the point where they know they need your businesses help? Then you can identify points along that path where you will gain most value from providing them with information in a particular form."
Not measuring results
Rod Matthews tells the story of a client in the not for profit sector who was raising money for a well-known high profile cause.
"They were spending $20 to raise $18 and they had been doing this for some time. Measuring the results allowed us to plug a major leak in the organisation's cash flow."
Business owners who wanted more detail on how to maximize the return on their spending could learn more attending Rod’s upcoming “More Sales with Less Effort Master Class Boot Camp.”
For more information visit http://www.rodmatthews.com.au/master-class-programs/more-for-less or email: team@rodmatthews.com.au
