The One Thing Small Businesses Need To Know
One thing big businesses like Uber, Starbucks, Wal-Mart have figured out, is that to build a successful business means, they needed to build a sustainable business first. In developing and growing their business, they used building blocks.
These building blocks can be seen in fragments all over social media, in literature, and television. There are thousands of business experts teaching components of these building blocks, but because they are not experts in every field, they don’t presume to teach everything. And rightfully so. If you watch Shark Tank, you will hear many of these building blocks being addressed or mentioned. But again, not the full picture.
For business owners these building blocks are crucial for the business’ sustainability. Again, with these blocks scattered everywhere, it’s difficult to determine not only which ones to use, but when, in what sequence. For example, registering a business with the Secretary of State before you’ve even proven the business concept is putting the cart before the horse. Should the business concept not work, not only was it a waste of money, but also shows up on the Deparment of Labors statistics as a business death.
Business experts commonly state that their greatest irritation is meeting potential clients and the client has no clue as to their true business needs. Subjectively, clients often say “I need more sales” or “I need to raise money”, but the reality is, the answer is subjective. The answer isn’t based on any objective evaluation, but rather a feeling.
Why? Because until now, there has been no software, book, or otherwise, that lays out which life cycle stage is business is in, list all of the building blocks for those life cycle stages, and provides them in the correct sequence for a business owner to simply follow. If there was such a blueprint, business owners would be able to objectively understand where they are and where they need help, at any moment in time. Business experts would not only be able to effectively help more clients, they would be able to do so faster and with sustainable results.
Since nothing like that existed, until now, business owners couldn’t evaluate their business and consultants were left to fend for them self in creating systems, diagnostics and assessments in hopes of obtaining a clearer picture of the clients business needs.
Knowing what the building blocks are, is not enough. This is where the expertise of business consultants become valuable. It is the business experts that provide all of the inner workings of each building block in order to make sure it is built properly. Just because you know you need to market test, doesn’t mean you know how to do it. It is safe to say, there are no big businesses in the US that made it to their current levels working alone.
Simply put, without knowing the life cycle stage of a business, what building blocks are under developed and needs repair, what the next building blocks are, and seek help from experts who know how to develop these blocks, small businesses will continue failing at epidemic rates or surviving with gross revenue levels under $250k annually.
Karlton Hoskins, 2019 ©