Lets be honest with each other!
This week we had a client who had a little wobble. They are building a business from scratch and have an amazing corporate career background. The concept is great and they even approached us with a brand concept which translated well into their vision. But none the less they had a wobble.
They are now back on track, so to speak, but the advice to them was no different than we would give to anyone trying to start from scratch.
Stop paying attention to social media, LinkedIn self professed millionaires. Especially if it is obvious their sole or primary source of income appears to beÂ
" How they can sell you a strategy, how you too can have the same success"
Focus on what you know, get advice and support for things you don't and.... don't be afraid to reach out to businesses similar to the one you are trying to build and ask them for advice.
Ask a specific question like...
"I am struggling to write a business plan, what would you suggest I do, or who could I talk to?"
This will likely steer you towards a productive and helpful answer from someone.
The truth is too many small businesses and even established entrepreneurs like to sugar coat their success and not enough are prepared to share openly the hard to talk about elements of growing a business. Claims of 200% growth often mean they have secured their second client. Many posts that start with "clients often ask me" are simply an attempt to look like they have more authority and sometimes, well, often in fact, no such thing happened.
This incident was further supported when our consultant Luke Green had a meeting with another Consultant who is just starting their own journey. They asked him how things were.
Instead of declaring that it was all roses and diamond plated Lamborghinis he told them honestly it was tough to start, and outlined some of the issues. He also suggested some potential places they could explore to try and get clients from which we have found successful.
They are technically a competitor, but building a business is about building a network and a good competitor can also be a exceptional ally, even sometimes a potential client.Â
Business is hard, growth is hard, mentally and physically. The first year can often feel demoralizing.
Lets share our challenges as much as our successes, and more importantly share freely how we overcome the issues.
There is a raft of useless advice sat behind a towering paywall of support, but the basics should be a thing the business community wants to share to grow markets and help each other succeed.
The next time you meet with a client see if there are any issues they are facing that you might not be able to help them with directly but could point them toward a solution for.
Lets help prevent wobbles, end empower each other to succeed.
Looking for advice on something, Brand or Product related? Lets us know. Looking for advice on something else as well, tell us about that too, we might just know someone that can help you with that as well.
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