Small Business Success Secret

I have been having new business development process issues coming up in consultations with clients lately so that’s usually a sign that I should write about it here.  This morning I saw that other blogs were talking about the new business development process, so this issue is obviously “bubbling up”for other people as well and not just my clients.

Mark over at Court’s Internet Marketing School leads the parade with his post, Money Always Flows to the Solution.

What problem does your website solve for its users?

Does the answer to that question fly off your lips? Did you have to think about it? Can you answer it even after thinking about it?

How about this - fill in the blanks in the following statement:

“I give my users _________ and I get ________ in return.”

In a few lines, Mark hits the nail on the head. His post kinda makes me embarrassed that I devoted an entire book to that very subject.  (Beyond the Niche: Essential Tools You Need to Create Marketing Messages that Deliver Results)

Then Naomi Dunford over at Itty Biz tells why this is a GREAT time to start your home based business.

Sell the right thing. Sell it to the right people. Hit the right trigger buttons. Do those things and you’ll be the richest person you know.

Ah - there’s the rub!  Sell the right thing.

Last week I told 2 different people to come back and talk to me when they have something to sell.  Their enthusiasm is high but they don’t have a product or a structured service to offer.  In essences, they couldn’t fill out Mark’s fill in the blank statement above.  It’s not just websites that have to fill in the blanks in the statement below, it’s a burning question for business owners as well:

“I give my users _________ and I get ________ in return.”

That is the hard part.  Developing a systematic way to fill in those two blanks in that sentence.

I’ve worked with small business owners for over a decade now on filling in those blanks.  I had one client who offers nutritional coaching services.  Her business wasn’t growing like she knew it could, so she and I spent three months working on her business model.  She had the generalities in place -she could fill in the blanks with the basics, ” I give my clients nutritional information and I get money in return.” However, she was a bit fuzzy on the process - something that she wasn’t clear on until we began working together.

Her business positively EXPLODED after we created a road map so to speak of her process.   We set up a “step one, step two, step three, step four” in her coaching process.  Even though she knew those steps in her head, it was positively AMAZING how quickly her business grew once she was able to outline for her potential clients the process.  In other words, she created a LABEL for the process - “A Four Step Process to Better Health” which helped her prospective clients wrap their brains around the service she provides.  As a result, her practice filled to over flowing, drawing clients to her Michigan based practice from as far away as Japan.

Lately, when I’ve been getting “HELP ME!” emails, I’m seeing a common thread.  People want to break free from the bondage of their 9-5 job and they’re desperate to break free.   That’s great and I agree with Naomi - there’s no better time than now to do so.  However, you have to be able to fill in the blanks if you want to make money - either online or off line.  The common thread is the desire to break free is there - but there isn’t a product or service to back desire up.  They can’t fill in the blanks in Mark’s statement -

“I give my users _________ and I get ________ in return.”

Skellie over at Problogger.net offers 10 innovative blog business models which can serve as inspiration for the ways others have created products and services which they use their blog to promote.

Developing a product can be as simple as creating an ebook or a membership site.   However, sometimes that’s easier said than done.

What product or service do you sell with your blog?  What process did you go through to create that product or service?

Back in April, I got an email from my FTP software people offering a free 30 day trial of Carbonite Online Storage. I signed up and when 30 days was up, my backup still wasn’t complete but I signed up anyway. I had worked during the backup and hadn’t noticed any drag at all of either my system or my online experience.

On May 8th, I signed up for 2 years of Carbonite service. On May 22, I entered my office, turned on my computer and was greeted with the dreaded blue screen of death. My hard drive was dead.

I packed up the beast and dropped it off at my local computer repair shop. (C&W Computers in Stuart, Florida but the link provided to their website now loads some spammy site trying to get you to run an online virus check. UGH!)

Mark (my favorite tech at C&W Computers) went to work diagnosing the problem and I went home to a business that was now officially “on hold” until I could access my files.

But I had Carbonite! YEAH! I also had purchased an Alienware computer to serve as a business backup, so I installed my software onto the beastly monstrosity. Once the software was installed, then I tried to transfer my Carbonite backup to the new PC.

The process of transferring the subscription was fraught with problems. The password I set didn’t work… so I tried to retrieve my password using their system. They sent the password recovery email, but it included a code that wasn’t needed on the password recovery page… and didn’t send the code that was required.

So, finally, I pick up the phone and call. I am greeted with a message that tells me

a) I am the first caller in line and

b) for another $20 a month, I can get my calls answered immediately.

I then spend the next TWENTY MINUTES on hold listening to beg notices to upgrade to VIP customer status.

In the end, I did get through, I did get my password reset and I did backup the files to my other PC. However, I still have a really bad taste in my mouth over the whole VIP customer service deal.

A little more than 2 weeks earlier, I had paid a fee to use their service for 2 years. I had tried to use their “hands free” password reset option. I picked up the phone as a last resort… only to find I was being asked to pay MORE for customer service.

Carbonite, you should have offered me the priority service information BEFORE I purchased. Heck, better yet, why not include PRIORITY SERVICE for ALL of your customers!!!

Carbonite did a great job of backing up my files. Carbonite DOES NOT back up your software though. It doesn’t back up your email either. However, it did restore the backup of my data files to my new pc over the course of a week.

In all fairness, the guys at C&W were impressed by the amount of data I have on my PC… which is why they set me up with an external hard drive AND Symtantec Backup Exec. It’s backing up EVERYTHING I need, not just the data files.

It cost $500 to have the guys at C&W Computers in Stuart, Florida replace my hard drive and set up the new backup option. Carbonite cost less than $90 for two years of service. However, in the end I’m happier with C&W Computers in Stuart, Florida than I am Carbonite…why? Because C&W Computers in Stuart, Florida included VIP customer service in EVERY sale!

One of the biggest “success killers” you’ll encounter when launching a new business (or a new product line) is self doubt. Yet overcoming this seemingly small hurdle is essential if you’re to achieve small business success!

Small Business Success Secret: Defeating Self Doubt

Monika Mundell writes brilliantly about the role of self doubt in her post Your Business Success Quotient.

She begins by defining the equation which is a divided by b = c. A represents the business idea and C represents the success factor. I’ll let her describe “B” for you…

While the divisor is the figure b in our mathematical example, it isn’t necessary a bad figure, but yet I see all the external influences that hinder us from getting ahead in business as divisor nasties or b.

Classic business divisor b factors are normally procrastination, setbacks, failure, mistakes and general doubt in our own abilities to succeed. A divisor b could also be a detour, you know the kind when you see somebody else being successful with something you always wanted to act on but never did.

I love the way Monika has created a “success formula” and successfully illustrated how POWERFUL the “divisor b” factors can be in limiting your success.

Monika uses a simple “mathematical” formula to illustrate a powerful truth… the greatest business idea in the world can be reduced to dust if self doubt is allowed to run rampant.

Let’s say you have a been inspired by a GREAT business idea. On a scale of 1-100, this one is truly a 100. However, if you don’t trust yourself… you may begin to procrastinate or worse yet, begin focus on your past “failures”.

Given enough time, you can actually work the value of your Divisor Nasty up to 100… which brings your great business idea whose value is 100 down to a single digit… because 100 divided by 100 = 1.

If you’re surrounded by enough negative Nellies and naysayers, you might actually get the Divisor Nasty value higher than 100… but that doesn’t mean the original idea is anything less than the 100. It just means you’ve allowed your self doubts to reduce the final success figure significantly.

One way to inflate your Divisor Nasty figure is to begin “shopping” your idea to family and friends. If your family and friends are your greatest cheerleaders and/or potential customers for your new product then seeking their input is a GREAT idea. Unfortunately, if your family and friends aren’t part of your ultimate target audience, their opinion may be entirely irrelevant.

I love watching the CNBC show The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch. I especially love the shows where he was interviewing successful entrepreneurs about their humble beginnings.

During those shows, Donny interviewed entrepreneurial superstars like Jim Koch (the founder of Samuel Adams beer) and Sarah Blakely (the creator of Spanx). Donny asked each of his super successful entrepreneurial guests about the support they got from family and friends when they were just starting out. The guests on this show all respond with some version of, “Well, to be honest with you… they thought I was crazy at the time.”

It’s fun to hear them say that year later, after that they’ve “made it.” It’s easy for us to forget that as they struggled to launch their dream these very successful entrepreneurs probably felt just like Noah did as he built a huge Ark on dry land under sunny skies.

If your family and friends aren’t part of your target market or aren’t serial entrepreneurs, then don’t put too much weight in their criticism. Instead of getting honest feedback, you may just get someone who is shooting holes in your great idea.

Self doubt will plague you (if you let it) every step of the way as you strive for business success.    Every path to success is filled with obstacles, the key is overcoming those obstacles.

What’s your key to overcoming obstacles?