Business as Usual

Every time I talk with entrepreneurs who are struggling to make ends meet I asked them what they are doing to market their business. Most everyone thinks that showing up at a chamber event or a leads group once or twice a month is sufficient.

But that rarely covers even the beginning of what it takes to keep the new business coming in. In fact, the average business is loosing  more than 20% of their current client base every year. That means with the current increase in the cost of living averaging 15%, each small business owner must increase their new client base by 35% every year.

That is not easily done when doing business as usual. It is tantamount to the success and survival of all entrepreneurs to constantly market their businesses. The rule of thumb is to be marketing no less than 50% of the time until there is enough business and 35% of the time when there is enough business just to keep up with the natural attrition.

There are too many deserving business owners who have had to close their doors because they weren’t watching their businesses. Most people aren’t aware of what is going in their own business and seem surprised when they realize they are in trouble.

Take a look at what your business is doing and what you need to do to keep your business growing.