3 Signs Your Business is Swimming in a Red Ocean
Is your business surrounded by blood-thirsty sharks (i.e. competitors all around you with very similar offerings)?
Is your company thriving right now but you have no innovative ideas or products for your company's future growth?
Are you giving discounts or slashing prices just to stay relevant in your market space even though it's eating into your profit?
If any of these apply to you, you're swimming dangerously in a Red Ocean, my friend.
In the International Bestseller, "Blue Ocean Shift -- Beyond Competing", W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne discuss what it means for your business to be in a bloody red ocean (full of competitors offering the same products with no major differentiators at roughly the same price) versus a blue ocean (your innovative, pioneering ideas or products put you ahead of the competition and into a category of your own...a clear blue ocean for you to swim in where growth is unhindered). In this book, the authors provide proven steps to inspire new creative thinking, confidence in your abilities to soar above your competition, and possibly even create an entirely new market space all-together.
Now, let's assume that like the vast majority of businesses out there, yours is swimming in a red ocean. Could your marketing strategy be part of the problem? Yes and no. If you don't continue to create and elevate your business, you will likely stay stuck in a giant pool of competition until someone comes along with a new product or service that disrupts the industry you're in. That, we know. BUT it also needs to be said that if you're not being a brave pioneer with your company's marketing strategy, your business will eventually (and possibly very quickly) be dwarfed by the companies who are.
In a time where traditional radio and tv commercials are being replaced by Facebook/Instagram ads, vlogs, blogs, influencer marketing, and podcasts, it's imperative to stay on top of your marketing game and embrace the shift. If you aren't staying visible and relevant on the largest social media platforms available to date, your competition will absolutely drown you out. You see, consumers are getting savvier about who they choose to do business with. They want to SEE your business and get to know it before they decide to trust you and do business with you. Don't just take my word for it, though. Check out this quote by Mary Lister of Fluent, LLC:
"Millennials are an economic force! With $200B in annual buying power, smart marketers are turning to new channels to hook this generation. They are the least frequent in-store shoppers—which I totally understand, I just went grocery shopping for the first time in a month—but tend to spend large amounts when they do shop. This generation is the most responsive to online shopping opportunities, recommendations from friends and family, and are motivated by shopping ease. Millennials are reshaping the way that goods and services are being marketed by staying unresponsive to traditional marketing tactics. This generation decides where to eat based on Instagram pictures, chooses hair stylists from Facebook and has their groceries delivered to their door."
While this quote is focused mainly on Millennial consumers, Gen X'ers are also hopping on to social media platforms and internet shopping in droves while moving further and further away from what we know as traditional marketing. Because of this, businesses are having to hire external marketing companies and/or internal marketing teams to manage all of the necessary changes. Not only does it often require a whole team to keep your marketing strategies up-to-speed, it also takes a lot of research, dedicated training, analytics, and creativity to develop the engaging content needed to break through the white noise of social media marketing in order to reach your target audience... your customers.
It's evolve or die time for every business in every niche around the world.
So, what about you? Do you feel that your company is swimming in a red ocean of competitors and unenthusiastic consumers? Is your marketing keeping you there or is it helping to propel you into a blue ocean? If you're feeling unsure, the answer is obvious to us. You're swimming with the sharks, Honey.
~Megan
3 Q’s to Ask Yourself if You Want to Scale Your Business
We all want to scale, don’t we? As a business growth consultant, I’ve heard my clients say things like:
“I want to TRIPLE my sales in 2021!”
“My goal is to add over $20M to my pipeline and help at least one hundred additional people buy homes this year.”
“I can’t wait to open my second AND third location before next summer!”
Before you stop me and say, “Megan, what the heck is wrong with dreaming big and shooting for massive growth?”, let me say this…
There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with aiming for the stars. Dreaming big is a must when you’re starting or growing your business. It keeps us trudging forward when circumstances leave us wanting to pack up, go home, and cry our faces off. We need those big juicy aspirations, or all we’ll ever accomplish is mediocrity. And mediocrity is not for you, my friend!
Yes, I want you to set giant goals and then crush them like they’re a brand new pair of designer sunglasses. (I can’t be the only one that does this every…single…time I buy a pair.) But before you dive in face-first, stop and take a second to ask yourself a few questions. Your company’s reputation depends on it.
Can my current operating systems handle a huge increase in sales?
This is the most important of the three questions you need to ask yourself. Here’s why:
I have a biz & marketing consulting client (let’s call her “Cheryl”) that has been in business for about a decade and is brilliant at what she does. Because Cheryl delivers an excellent service to her clients, it’s no surprise that year over year, she has experienced a steady increase in her business. When this client brought me in to help with marketing and explained her plan for explosive expansion into new cities starting in 2018, my immediate reaction was, “Oh, no!”. While Cheryl definitely has a service worth sharing with the masses, it was easy for me to spot that her operating systems were not ready for this type of growth. Her team was already feeling overwhelmed, working late into the evenings on tasks that could be automated, keeping track of clients on ever-growing spreadsheets that failed to capture all of their information and account updates in one convenient place, and begging for work-from-home days. Even worse, Cheryl was having to field calls and text messages from every potential client that wanted a quote for her service and updates for existing clients all day, every day. And as if it could get any more stressful, she was chasing down unpaid invoices every week. How frustrating and unsustainable!
If Cheryl were to try to expand as quickly as she originally planned without addressing the squeaky wheels in her systems, her customers would likely notice a drop in customer service and quality of service, and then *POOF*, there goes Cheryl’s stellar business reputation that she worked for a decade to build.
So, I did a little research and found a comprehensive CRM that matched this company’s organizational needs to the “T", as well as provided a portal for clients and affiliates to view their account updates and communicate through a private messenger with their designated team member. The CRM goes above and beyond that by automatically performing some of the tasks that the employees would have otherwise had to continue doing by hand. This has majorly shifted her business’s processes, and they are now all enjoying a more streamlined, efficient way of handling their clients’ accounts and communications.
Additionally, I suggested they implement three service package options to simplify the quotes and payment schedules. She is no longer chasing down unpaid invoices or spending countless hours a day creating individual quotes for each new client. Potential clients can look at the packages and decide which one suits their needs and know exactly how much it will cost. Now that Cheryl has updated her operating systems, as well as adding several simple-to-understand service plans, she is ready for the big jump in sales that she has been dreaming of.
Are my team and I on the same page? Do they feel excited about the upcoming year and our goals?
I’m working with another successful client who also has BIG goals for this next year. He wants to add $20M in production to his current average of $50M. AWESOME! Here’s the problem with my client’s goal: his team is already feeling the pressure of their existing business. They are as streamlined as possible in their operations, and the workload is just truly too much for their skeleton crew to handle. What’s the solution? If he wants to hit those big numbers in 2021 without causing his whole team to protest and possibly walk out on him, he’s going to have to hire more help. If he doesn’t, his team will not feel excited about growing the pipeline because it will mean more overwhelm for them.
Ask your team for their input. Get them pumped about growth. Don’t just tell them what’s in it for YOU as the business owner. Tell them what’s in it for them (and there should definitely be something in it for them, especially if their work load is about to increase). I know I’d be much more willing to work harder as someone’s employee if my paycheck was going to reflect that added effort. So, let your team know that their opinions, lives, and dreams matter to you. Get on the same page, and tackle this goal together!
Do I have a strategic plan for how this will all unfold, or am I just winging it and hoping for a big shift in my business?
I hear often from small business owners about dreams of scaling, but rarely do they come to me with a plan of action ready to be implemented. I know you know this already, but it’s worth saying loudly for the people in the back.
YOU CAN’T WISH YOUR WAY TO MORE SALES.
You must create a plan of action that captures past clients, new clients, and clients that may not want your services right now but will hit you up in the future because they want that thing you offer and remember your company’s brand above anyone else’s in the same industry. If creating a strategic plan isn’t your forte, that’s ok. You’re a rockstar at what YOU do within your business. Solicit the help from someone who specializes in growth strategy, and get to work! Those big dreams aren’t going to chase themselves.
There you go! Ask yourself those three essential questions, and you’ll be well on your way to successfully scaling your business and crushing your MASSIVE 2021 goals. I’m rooting for you and can’t wait to see what you can accomplish.
~Megan