The ONE Thing That Can Double Your Business

You might be thinking that business is complicated and that growth comes from many things.

And…

That kind of thinking will get you nowhere! That kind of thinking will keep you working flat out chasing shiny objects… and getting poor results.

The Please And Pain Of Running A Business

The beauty of being a business owner is that you can carve your own path. You decide what you’re going to do every day, not your boss. You decide how and where to make your fortune.

The downside of being a business owner is that you can carve your own path. You can decide what you are going to do every day.

So, the pleasure and pain of running a business are both sides of the same coin. How can that be?

The truth is that new ideas are exciting. It’s fun to dream up new ideas. To see opportunities and to make plans to seize them.

But…

Ideas do not make the cash register ring. Ideas do not grow your business. Implementation does!

And…

Implementation is hard. Implementation requires focus and courage.

These are the real secrets to business growth. Implementation, focus and courage. Without these 3 things, you are likely to suffer from shiny object syndrome. You are likely to dream another brilliant idea before you’ve implanted the first one and you are likely to work yourself into the ground without moving the needle in your business because you haven’t finished and implemented your first idea.

How do I know this?

Because….

A Personal Confession…

My business has not grown at the speed of my ambition this year because I have not done what I set out to… I got distracted and didn’t do what I know.

It all started when I didn’t get the results that I hoped for at the start of the year. When I looked back at my most successful campaigns (those that pulled in £672,989 in just 9 days), I could see that my conversion was virtually the same.

So, why wasn’t I achieving the results that I wanted?

Because my targets were totally unrealistic. I set targets based on what I wanted, not what was achievable. Have you ever done that? Set yourself an unachievable goal and been left disappointed.

The frustration at myself pulled my focus away from the one thing that would grow my business. My focus shifted from the one thing that would make everything else possible.

Instead, I chased shiny objects that would give me a quick surge of cash.

What’s not to love about a surge of cash in your business?

There’s nothing wrong with that, except if it stops you from achieving a much larger goal. A goal that would wipe away all your worries.

You see, in an ideal world, we would do everything. The reality is that we all live in a world of limited time and money. Even if you have a team, there's still a limit on what can be done. That's why success is found in a relentless focus on the ONE thing that can double your business (or more) in the next 12 months.

A Relentless Focus On ONE Thing

Have you read the books The E-Myth Revisited and Ready Fire Aim?

If not then I would strongly recommend you do. Both books teach you how to start and grow a business… and how to avoid common startup mistakes.

Both books talk about 4 stages of business growth. Ready Fire Aim is better at describing the 4 business stages because it gives revenue figures so you can instantly see what stage your business is in.

Here are the 4 stages of business growth.

1. Infancy – Zero to £1 million
2. Childhood - £1 million to £10 million
3. Adolescence - £10 million to £50 million
4. Adulthood - £50 million to £300 million

For businesses in Infancy, Ready Fire Aim says that your focus should be on sales and profitability.

This business tenant holds true for every venture. If you sell products, software, own a restaurant, sell services or run a training company, then you need to make sales.

But… is that really the one thing that will double your business?

You see, my view of starting and growing a business is that you need to find your ideal customer and make them feel good about buying. These are the 2 things that fuel growth. If you can't find people that need your help, then you won't make sales, regardless of price and quality.

If you can find people that need your help and you can't make them feel good about buying, then you won't make sales or grow your business.

So you need people that need your help (your Ideal Customer) and a system to make them feel good about buying.

If you need 2 things to grow your business, what is the ONE thing that drives growth?

The ONE Thing That Drives Everything Else!

In my experience, the one number that drives everything else is the size of your community.

Your community is a group of people that have raised their hands to say that they want your help. Your community is a group of your ideal customers who want to start a relationship with you. A group of people that want to know more about how you can help them achieve their goals.

So why is building a community the ONE thing that every Infant business should focus on?

Because…

The bigger your community, the bigger your impact, and the bigger your income.

The truth is, when you have a community of raving fans, then you have security in your business. You know where your next sale is coming from.

To make the sale, you need a proven system to make your community feel good about buying. So to grow your business, you need two things.

First, you need to find your ideal customer and build a community of raving fans.

Second, you need a proven way to make them feel good about buying.

So…

Why does the community come first?

Because if you have a proven system to make people feel good about buying and you are speaking to a small audience then you will get disappointing results. Which is what happened to me at the start of the year.

What Influences The ONE Thing?

In my opinion, every Infant business would double their turnover (or more) if they focused relentlessly on building their community of raving fans.

Building a community of raving fans is known by marketers as lead generation.  Unfortunately, some marketers see lead generation as ONLY the collection of data. Nothing could be further from the truth! After all, you want to build a strong relationship with the people in your community so they are happy to buy from you today and in the future and rave to their friends and family about you.

Success with building a community of raving fans is found in attracting your ideal customer and then earning their trust with stories and upfront value.

The stronger your relationship with your community, the more security you have in your business because we all want to work with people we know, like, and trust.

Building a community of raving fans is the one thing that every infant business should focus on.

But…

What Influences Or Contributes To Success?

1. Having a clear picture of your ideal customer
2. Knowing where your ideal customer asks questions
3. Knowing where your ideal customer spends their time
4. Knowing who else has a relationship with your ideal customer
5. Having a proven system to pull your ideal customer into your community
6. Knowing advertising platform nuances to find your ideal customer for less money
7. Technology systems to tied adverting and nurture together
8. Earning trust and building a relationship

This isn't a blog about building a community of raving fans so I'm not going to talk about each of those points. What I want you to realise is that several things influence and impact the ONE thing that can double your business in the next 12 months.

Once you know what those things are, you can ask yourself if you have the knowledge to succeed with the ONE thing. If not, then get studying. If you have the necessary skills, then get busy.

Now you know the ONE thing that will double your business in the next 12 months, what else do you need to succeed?

Focus & Courage

Knowing the ONE thing that will double your business in the next 12 months is huge.

Having the courage to focus on that exclusively is really hard. Especially when you realise that you need to learn something else to succeed at the level of your ambition.

It takes courage and focus to ignore the distractions of a seemingly easy and hugely lucrative opportunity.

It takes courage and focus to write down your business growth ideas and do nothing with them until you have implemented the one you are working on right now.

But…

The reward for your courage and focus is your dream business. A business that gives you the income and lifestyle that you want.

Now It’s Your Turn

Write down the ONE thing that will double your business in the next 12 months. This will be your North Star.

If you have an Infant business (Zero to £1 million), then it's likely to be building a community of raving fans.

Once you’re clear on your North Star, write down all the things that influence success. What are the 5 things or the 10 things that you will have to do to succeed with your ONE thing?

Then ask yourself if you need training to successfully deliver the ONE thing. If you have all the skills you need, then get busy. If you need some new skills, then start studying.

You’ve now got a simple and powerful action plan to double your business in the next 12 months. I hope you have the courage and focus to succeed with it.

Please let me know the ONE thing that will double your business in the comments box below.

If this can help someone you know, then please email this to them.

Until next time…

Carpe diem

Roland Eva

P.S. if you'd like to build your dream business then you need a proven system to find people that need your help and make them feel good about buying.

After many, many failures, I’ve created a simple 5-step system to find people that need your help and make them feel good about buying. This system made me £672,989 in just 9 days!

I’d like to give you a free ebook that reveals: how to use the simple 5-step system that made me £672,989 in just 9 days!

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