A common trend among small businesses…especially when struggling in a slow economy… is to branch out and add more new products and services.
In the pest control industry, these can include lawn care, gutter installation & repair, insulation, carpentry & construction, nuisance wildlife control, etc.
This seems like the logical thing to do to increase your sales.
But…we are not creatures of logic!
When I’m working with a small business owner and he/she wants to discuss adding a new product or service, I caution them to think it over very carefully.
Example: I know a guy who opened up a restaurant. Within a year he was talking about opening another one at another location.
I told him I thought it was a bad idea. It was obvious that his current restaurant was only half full of customers every day during peak lunch hour. His marketing was pretty much ineffective.
I told him I thought he should focus his money and efforts on getting a huge crowd into his current restaurant. I said, “When you’ve figured out how to fill up this restaurant, then you can open another one.”
He didn’t listen and opened up not one but two more restaurants within 12 months.
And…you guessed it…neither of them was successful. He had to close them down after about a year. He wasted a lot of time…and money…and suffered a lot of stress and anxiety by trying to grow his business the wrong way.
FACT: Eighty percent of your business comes from twenty percent of your efforts.
You need to be able to clearly identify that productive twenty percent. That is what really makes you money. It is your bread & butter business.
Now…what if…instead of adding more efforts and investments into another product or service…you focused on eliminating the efforts and activities that are the least productive and focused more time and effort on the thing that actually makes you money.
Make sense?
I’m not saying that branching out is not always a good idea. I just want you to realize that it can be a negative thing for your business in the long run if you aren’t careful.
I’ve fallen victim to this on more than one occasion myself. What seemed like a good idea at the time turned out to be a lot of frustration and wasted effort.
And the more creative you are, the easier it is to fall into this trap. Major distractions come along disguised as great opportunities and we find ourselves veering off course to chase another mirage.
So…ask yourself these questions:
- What one thing really makes me money?
- How can I become famous for that?
Remember: If you try to be all things to everybody you will end up being nothing to nobody.
Find the one thing you can do better than anyone else and become famous for it. And everyone will come to you to get it!
Thanks for taking the time to read this and I hope you have a great day,
Hal
PS. Find FREE Small Business Marketing Tips, Secrets, Strategies and Techniques at my website, http://www.HalColeman.com
Need a great speaker to share some dynamite marketing ideas? Hire ME! (Hey, I’m FUNNY too!)
Or feel FREE to call me at 770-993-0004 or email Hal@HalColeman.com
