Consumer and business demand are fueling massive growth opportunities in 2021. Get these four business team components in place to maximize your 2021 business growth. It's all about you and your teams.
When many businesses or marketers think of growth, they focus on new products or divisions. But for real change, you need to start deeper. You need to start with yourself and your business teams.
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Due to the pandemic, a colleague of mine faced business closure. Kathy couldn’t meet or help her clients. She decided to go online with consulting and offer retail products.
Kathy had a website, but it was a basic brochure about her services. No online scheduling software. No shopping cart or credit card payment system. Oh, and no retail items to offer.
The idea was excellent but needed a lot of support.
The first thing she did was find some retail products that would be useful to her clients during the shutdown.
Like many businesses, Kathy’s website was in a WordPress format. She’d need to either hire someone to add what was necessary for e-commerce or learn to do it herself.
Of course, she tried to do it herself to save money. After all, with the shutdown, she had more time than money.
Everything Kathy tried to add had its own learning curve.
One piece of software didn’t want to communicate with another. I felt bad listening to her struggles.
Finally, she reached out to her webmaster to assist her in sorting it out. Then she found out he didn’t do e-commerce websites. His expertise was service-based businesses.
Back to square one. It took a couple of months for Kathy to get operational.
As a business owner, marketer, and consultant, I’ve seen this happen many times.
It’s like building a bridge without supports or a house without any foundation. You need your business team infrastructure, the foundation first.
Without it, the product, its delivery, and customer experience won’t be at the successful level.
Start with you. Start by evaluating where you are and where you want to be. Are you equipped with both the business management and business specialty skillsets you need?
Each type of business requires its own unique set of what I call technical skills. These are specific to your business model.
But you also need business marketing and management skills for success. Without them, you’ll struggle. You won’t achieve the earnings or growth your business deserves.
You need to set aside time to evaluate, plan and then implement. Make appointments with yourself on your calendar. It’s the only way you can make sure it happens.
Create a short and long-term plan balancing both types of skills. Getting these skills might include self-study, courses, conferences, or workshops either in person or online.
I find these legs often get overlooked until something fails. They are all about your business teams. We get caught in reactive mode, and that never gets the ideal outcome. First, you need to think of your teams—who, what, and why.
Then you need the other two legs to support your efforts and those of your team. Regardless of your business model, you still need them in place.
You’ll probably need two teams. You’re going to need your home support team to buy into you and your goals. Without this support, building a successful business is much more challenging.
If you’re the person in charge of everything at home, from cleaning to laundry to shopping and cooking...you need help. Or maybe you and your partner both have careers...you both need support.
Look for ways to get your home team to help out. Build this infrastructure for success, not burnout. Delegate and don’t micromanage. Focus on your big goals. Don’t dwell on tasks not done your way.
Thank them and reward them. It might be designated family time or a date with your spouse. Often non-financial rewards have much higher relationship bonuses in the long term. Your kids and spouse might both build better life skills that will benefit their future selves.
Not everyone may have kids or family they can involve. Then it's time to look at hired outside support.
In addition to your home team, you need a business team. Evaluate your strengths and what you can hand off so you can focus on those strengths. Delegating has a financial expense.
But how much more could you generate if you didn’t have to handle that task?
The question becomes more of a no-brainer if you can hire someone better at the task than you are. Look for someone who can get it done better and more efficiently.
Whether you hire employees on a full or part-time basis, they come with significant financial and time commitments. It’s not easy to find the right person with the right skills.
The other option is working with business partners.
Business partners include accountants, lawyers, business consultants, marketers, and your web host. Independent contractors and freelancers also fall into this category.
I always recommend contracting with your web host to keep your website up, backed up, and current. If you're expanding, you will need web design, graphic work, and a copy/content writer to get your message clearly across to your target audience.
The benefits of the outside team are significant. There is no overhead when they aren’t needed. No payroll-related taxes. And they excel at the task.
Find specialists that understand your business model. For example, an accountant used to working with manufacturers may not understand a small business offering services.
Find people who “get” your business. That is going to make the most successful relationship.
The last two legs are tied together. Hardware and software.
These are the physical components you and your team will need to function. And the physical elements that make up your business.
A brick-and-mortar business needs different things than e-commerce. Brick and mortar need everything from fixtures, displays, equipment, seating to payment processing—computers to routers to your telephone system.
E-commerce is dependent on computer systems, audio-visual, photography, web content, and responsive customer service. The fulfillment department functions are key to handle the delivery of sales to the customer.
There is nothing more frustrating for operations than a slow computer system, out of date, or needing maintenance. Consider contracting with a support business, something like Geek Squad, so you have help when you need them. I’ve found if you only use them once during the year, it offsets the annual fee.
Software is how you harness your electronic hardware to make it function for you.
I remember when I wanted my home office to be the dominant place for my writing and consulting business.
To accomplish that, I needed my business telephone to funnel to the home office without it ringing on my personal line. The cable company advised me I’d have to upgrade my account to a business account (regardless of the level of use). The price would jump from $60 to $180 per month plus any installation charges.
That was a definite no. So I researched and went with a VOIP service.
VOIP stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol. For me, it was like cutting the cord with my cable provider.
I eliminated the need for physical equipment beyond my computer and my existing cell phone. I handle calls on my laptop or answer the distinctive ring on my cell phone. The cost? About $30/month. The convenience has been fantastic.
You’ll also need payment processing software, scheduling software, and some sort of client management system. Don’t forget accounting software and backup software, so you never lose your data.
Online automatic backup means no worrying about lost data. A cloud-based accounting program means fewer or no trips to the accountant’s office as you can grant them access.
Then there are those great apps that facilitate marketing, research, and client connectivity—plus Zoom or other face-to-face ability. Some are browser extensions. Others connect one program, so it talks to another and reduces tasks.
Take your time and create a checklist of all the software puzzle pieces. Then make sure they are integrated and ready to work for you. Start with you, your goals, and your dream teams. Then add the hardware and software that help you succeed.
Judith Culp Pearson specializes in marketing and coaching businesses in the wellness sector. Through empathy engagement at every client touchpoint, she focuses on retaining existing clients and building new relationships for growth. [email protected]
Judith Culp Pearson receives three top honors
at the annual Society of Permanent Cosmetic Professionals in
Ft. Worth, Texas - October 7-9, 2023
