Here’s the funny thing about making mistakes…
Newbie entrepreneurs like to know the mistakes that the big boys made so they can avoid them while on their journey.
The veteran entrepreneurs just love talking about the things they wish they had done differently when then first started out.
And as for those in between…well, they’re probably making mistakes right now.
In growing a business, I’ve learned that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Something may work for some people, and then when you try it out, it blows up in your face.
That still doesn’t mean you shouldn’t learn about some of the pitfalls that those ahead of you have had. On the contrary, you should know about them, so that when you encounter them, you’ll know how to avoid them.
That’s the reason for this post. Here is a list of 5 dos and don’ts and it would do you a lot of good to read it, especially number four.
1. Don’t Start With Your Head In Cloud 9
Seriously, travel the world after 30 days?
It’s okay to feel good about a business. After all, you’ve got to be emotionally connected to whatever you’re doing.
But if you’re referring to the same kind of business I talk about on this site, then please, gimme a break.
If you can even buy yourself a Rolex after 30 days, consider yourself lucky. Okay maybe I exaggerated on that one a little bit :).
The bottom line is, focusing on just the money will cause you to jump in and out of several businesses. But focusing on building value will cause you to stick with one business until it becomes sustainable enough to consistently put food on the table.
Be very careful what you wish for.
2. Don’t Be A Generalist
Being a Jack of all trades won’t make you a Master of all, regardless of how you want to look at it.
Using myself as an example, I could’ve chosen to talk about online marketing as a whole. But that field is so wide, and with so many tactics, that everyone now seems to be an “expert” in it.
So I picked a little section: lead generation, not because I’m a pro at it, but it’s something I want to know more about. And then I’ll build myself up to expert status in it.
That way, I get to be a Jack of all things online marketing, but become a Master at lead generation.
Get it?
Here’s how to make this easy: break your field down into two parts- Tactics and Results.
For example, in online marketing, the tactics include: email marketing, content marketing, Facebook advertising, social media, search engine marketing, banner advertising, PR, website design, graphic design, etc.
The results (i.e. what the client wants) include: leads, sales, brand awareness, traffic, search engine domination, social proof, etc.
So what you need to do is pick one of your tactics (I believe you’re written them down) that interests you the most, and then decide to use it to help your client get one of the results. My tactic is content marketing (because I love writing) and the result is lead generation.
So, look at your field, break it down into its several pieces, then pick one of those pieces and develop your skills in it. If you’d like me to use your field to explain this point, let me know in the comments.
3. Don’t Wait Too Long To Launch
The peril of the perfectionist.
We know ourselves…we love to plan, but are slow in execution. We always feel the plan should be perfect and that it could always be better.
So we tweak, and tweeeak and tweeeeeak…
And we tweak some more…until 6 months go by.
Then there’s the other set of people, who start out online but don’t sell anything…for months.
You don’t want to be in either situation because you’ll just keep riding the hamster wheel, praying that one day the wheel will stop rolling. Well, it won’t stop rolling until you get off.
The only antidote I have to this is to tell you to just start, and get someone who you can be accountable to. It could be your wife (if you’re married), your partner, a friend who is already doing what you want to do, a mentor or a coach.
4. Do Something People Will Actually Want To Buy
This is probably due to two things:
- You’re selling something people don’t need and so won’t buy. For example, a non-rechargeable torchlight repair service. For me I’d rather buy a new one.
- You’re selling something that people need, but you’re doing it to the wrong audience. For example, selling graphics design services to Lawyers who don’t do anything with design.
If you fall in any of these categories, please stop what you’re doing and start over in a direction that will actually lead you somewhere.
5. Do Things Professionally
It’s not always about the results you’re able to give the client. If it’s only about results, then why do ladies who always have one black eye every other day, keep dating the same set of ‘woman-beaters’ every time (which happens to be the result of such kinds of relationships).
It’s not just results, the customer experience also matters. The result is the final destination, but as a service professional, you need to make the journey sweet as well.
When a client sends an email, how fast do you respond? When he shows anger in his email, do you reply with anger back? Do you keep him in the loop about his project or do you just wait till he starts asking you for a progress report?
And how do you deliver your results? Shabbily or with attention to detail?
Except you were brought up in a home where you always had to write a letter to your dad for permission to eat dinner at the table, then I don’t expect you to be 100% professional in all your dealings. But for the ones you’ve learned, both previously and in this post, make them count.
There are more do’s and don’ts, but I reduced it to 5 just so you could digest it all. Sometimes, information overload is bad for business. It’s the implementation that counts.
So, if you’ve already started building your service business online, pass it through this checklist and see if you’re doing anything wrong. And if you’ve not started, a good place to start would be to subscribe for free below and get my blueprint and how to start and grow your service business online.
In a nutshell…
- Don’t’ start with unrealistic expectations, get your head out of the clouds.
- Focus on a niche and build your skills in that area.
- Stop planning and start doing.
- Sell something that people actually want, to the people who actually want it.
- And finally, give your clients a State-of-the-Art experience, from start to finish.
What do you think? Are you guilty of any of these dos or don’ts? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Original image credit: flickr.com