‘Tale Means Business: 5 Reasons Why You’re Not Growing Your Business

“I am so eager to grow my business.”

This was a message recently sent to my client service team member by one of our new clients.

I know her message resonates with so many of us, especially if you work so hard (because you are not one of the so called lazy Nigerian youths) and you are not seeing much progress in your business.

I will like to offer a few reasons why, before I share what you can do.

No clear direction, focus or strategy
You start a business because you believe you can solve a problem that exists. You may even think you can solve it better or faster or cheaper than other people who are currently solving similar problems.

If you have not decided how you are going to solve that problem i.e. your business model and who you are going to solve it for i.e. your target market, you will be pulled in many directions.

Another factor that makes focus difficult is the fear that if we set a defined target, we might lose some potential customers. I told a client the other day that her target market of people between 18 and 90 years was too wide! She said she set such a wide target market because she gets clients who are within that age range.

The challenge here is that an 18 year old and a 90 year old have very different needs and you have to communicate with them differently. Trying to do this will make your marketing message confusing.

I shared how to communicate your marketing message in our marketing masterclass.

Doing too many things at a time
Your role as an entrepreneur is to joggle many balls, right? Yes and No!

Yes, you are to ensure all the moving parts of your business are working in a good sequence. I talk about this in the 4 pillars of business growth video.

The problem usually arises when you are quick to take every advice you get or try to apply every tip you see online.

Doing this will only distract you. You will find yourself carried away doing so many things, that you forget to focus on the things that really count in growing your business.

If you have a clear direction like I shared in point one, you will filter what you hear or read and apply only those things that align with your business focus.

You are not consistent
This further buttresses the last point. To get results from anything, you have to do it consistently for a sustained period of time. A few experts have proposed some time frame. Malcolm Gladwell shares the 10,000 hours rule and Brian Tracy says you have to commit consistently to doing something for 5 years before you achieve the kind of success you desire.

I am not saying you should be consistent with something that is obviously not working, but if you have not tried something long enough or hard enough, you might not get the results you desire from it.

If you sent a broadcast message to your clients twice and you give up because no one responded, you might be missing a future sale because research has shown that your message usually sticks with people at the sixth encounter.

You are not retaining existing clients
This one hits close to home because I don’t like losing clients. It makes me feel like we have not done enough to serve them.

Practically, research has shown that it is 3 times more expensive to get a new client than it is to retain your existing clients.

Even if you have your marketing down pat, if you are not retaining your existing clients, it will be like taking one step forward and two steps backward.

You are not asking for the sale
I spoke at a conference recently, and one of the participants complained that people were not paying for the high value she offered. Sometimes, people are not paying because you are not asking for the sale!

Your products or service might be great, but if you don’t ask for the sale by promoting the value to the people who need it; your sales will not increase and your business will not grow. I shared practical ways to ask for the sales in my marketing master class.

Now that you know the 5 reasons why your business is not growing, what do you do?

Take all the reasons, and do the opposite!

Be focused and do the few things that will move your business forward. Learn how to communicate your value and sell your products. Make sure you retain your existing clients.

I already taught the practical ‘how to’ in the marketing master class video and I will like to give you access to watch the video for FREE!

If you want the access, we are currently working on a solution that will help us serve more start up and growing business owners, and we need to know if it’s something you need. Kindly fill our survey HERE and we will send you an email with access to the class for FREE.