Making LinkedIn Work For You

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Making LinkedIn Work For You“So many people miss that LinkedIn is about the clouds of relationships that you can harness to tell your story…and share the stories of others,” says Jason Terry in a recent podcast episode about LinkedIn. LinkedIn has changed in many ways over the years, but it is perhaps best known as a place to be your “professional self.” As our society becomes more accustomed to that “professional self” including pictures of you and your family or moments of deep vulnerability, LinkedIn provides one more way for you and your business to tell your story and gain more customers in the process.

Offer Status Updates

One of the realities of building a business is we often fail to take a moment to document (and enjoy) the journey. So often we are trying to get from Point A to B, head down, in the weeds, that we forget that there are so many people on the sidelines cheering us on. LinkedIn provides an easy way for you to tell those who care about you, personally and professionally, about what’s the latest with your business. This could be a long written post, some photos, a short (or long video), or a combination of all the above. Consider doing this at least monthly. When you go to sell your business, you’ll have a lot of easy narrative milestones to share, and while you’re documenting, you’ll remind people about what you do and pick up some leads.

Create Content Regularly

If you really want to step your LinkedIn game up, consider creating content weekly. If the monthly content is about your business in general, think about weekly content in relation to your own journey. Maybe you had a revelatory client call. Maybe your kid hit an important jump shot. Maybe you got to spend some time with your mom. What you do for a living may have been in some small way related to those events. Share your own insights, and if it makes sense, relate it to what you do, but that’s not necessary. If the content is interesting, people will click through to learn more about you (and perhaps do business with you).

Get Personal

Two of the examples we gave in the previous section were pretty personal, which for a certain generation is still something that you keep separate from work. But the rising generations have no such boundaries, and many people appreciate getting to know you outside of your role at work. Your picture of a trip to Napa with your spouse might inspire someone else to finally do something similar with his/her family. Your postmortem of how you lost a client or had to fire someone may lead to an entire flurry in the comments section leading you to greater insights. The more we reveal who we are, the more we give people a chance to know and like us, and people prefer to do business with those we know and like.

Don’t Just Comment

Yes, a “like” or an emoji does help a post get more visibility, but it’s only a fraction of the engagement that can happen if you take the time to comment. If the above advice was about you sharing your stories with the world, this last section reminds you to engage with those who are willing to share their stories with you. It takes no effort to “like” a post. It only takes a few seconds more to say something nice, and maybe 30 seconds more to contribute to a conversation. Take that time; you’ll be glad you did. (And once again, it may result in a lead).

The Raising Cane’s Phenomenon

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Photo Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dave77459/1000050348 License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/

Not too far from our office, on 69 Hwy, there’s a billboard which has a picture of the rapper/actor Ice T on it, holding an iced tea from the restaurant Raising Cane’s. The tagline reads: “The official iced tea of Ice T.” It will elicit a chuckle from most people, whether or not they ever go into a Raising Cane’s restaurant. But that little piece of advertising points towards a culture and attitude that has made it one of the fastest-growing chains in America.

The Numbers

The company’s first location opened in 1996 in Baton Rouge a few steps from LSU and is known in the company as “the Mothership.” It was an instant hit and on its first day it stayed open until 3:30am. To this day the Mothership closes at 3:30am Thursday through Saturday.

Just under 30 years later, and the franchise is at nearly 900 locations. In the first half of this year, it did $2.3B in revenue, with same-store sales increasing more than 17% in that same period. Average unit volume? $6.2M, which is more than double the quick-service industry average.

The Concept

Founder Todd Graves (who still owns 90% of the chain) originally presented a business plan in college for a restaurant that served chicken finger meals and nothing else. His professor gave him the lowest grade in the class and told him it would never work. He wasn’t daunted and went to numerous bankers anyway. No one took him seriously. So he decided to save up his own dough.

He moved to California and worked 90-hour weeks as a boilermaker, then to Alaska, to work 20 hours a day fishing for sockeye salmon. With enough money in his pocket, he came back to Louisiana, took out an SBA loan, and after being dissuaded not to call it “Sockeye’s Chicken Fingers,” it became “Raising Cane’s,” after his dog.

While it is primarily a chicken finger restaurant (strange to even read that phrase out loud), it does also feature Texas Toast and a chicken sandwich. Fans of the restaurant will tell you about how good Cane’s sauce is (Google will tell you it’s probably mayo, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, pepper, and garlic), and even more interesting, people are fans of the pebble ice that goes in the cold drinks (like the aforementioned iced tea).

Success

So what were the keys to success for Todd, and what we as business owners can take away from this story?

  1. Mentorship: Todd was mentored by Andrew Cherng, co-founder of Panda Express. Todd was inspired by Cherng’s story and took to heart the importance of investing in employees, customer service, and quality real estate. Cherng also provided a model of growing methodically, not quickly.
  2. Do One Thing Well: Let’s be fair to Todd’s professor: a chicken finger restaurant probably never really occurred to anyone as a recipe for success, and in the hands of less committed people, it might have failed. Todd focused on winning on the chicken fingers front and fans often call the fingers “crunchy on the outside, juicy on the inside.” He’s created a category of one.
  3. Have fun: You won’t find boring decor inside the restaurants. From an Elvis picture near the soda fountain, to Texas sports memorabilia, to bright interiors and high ceilings, customers often find the interiors of the restaurants “comfortable.” The fun isn’t just aimed at customers. Employees are known as “Caniacs” and are known for friendly and enthusiastic attitudes. They are empowered to go above and beyond for customers, and that attitude is often reflected in reviews about the restaurants.

A friendly reminder: you don’t have to move to Alaska after getting turned down by a bunch of bankers, work 20-hour days, then save up and build a business from scratch. We can help you buy one from someone who already did all that. Give us a call today.

6 Leadership Styles to Deploy In Your Business

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6 Leadership Styles to Deploy In Your BusinessSports is perhaps the most obvious example of the need to change tactics and strategies based on the situation. The same is true for parenting and business ownership: one size does not fit all when it comes to the people you manage. The best leaders change their styles to fit a situation in their business or a given employee.

In his article Leadership that Gets Results, Daniel Goleman shares these six leadership styles:

  • Coercive (aka “do what I say”)
  • Authoritative (characterized by “come with me” actions)
  • Affiliative (a people-first approach)
  • Democratic (getting input)
  • Pacesetting (sets high standards and personally meets them)
  • Coaching (prioritizes personal development)

As you read through these styles you not only may realize that all these styles are necessary at some point in the life of a business, but that great leaders cycle through several of them in the course of a day. Now let’s briefly look at each style and the best times to deploy them.

Coercive Style

This style is best for a crisis or to get moving on a turnaround. Team members need to be told what fires to fight and when they need to be extinguished by. However, outside of a crisis this style will have an overall corrosive effect on company culture and will be ill-remembered in the long-term.

Authoritative Style

This style is related to casting a vision that your team can follow. This can be to pivot within products and services you already offer, or to create an entirely new line of business. This is a style that works both short- and long-term.

Affiliative Style

While many “team-building” activities are horrible, the goal behind such activities is laudable: making sure your team members know each other not just as technicians and colleagues, but potentially as friends or at least acquaintances. This leadership style seeks to create relationships and open alternative lines of communication not just for conflict resolution, but for business initiatives. This is a leadership style that should always be running in the background for a company that values culture.

Democratic Style

The downside of this style means being drowned in committees and endless meetings, but when deployed correctly, it ensures that employees feel included in decisions and future planning. For management, it also ensures buy-in and consensus for the most important decisions. This style should almost always be deployed with key staff at major turning points for the business but is not wise for ongoing daily operations.

Pacesetting Style

This style is best deployed for a demoralized team that has been led poorly. A pacesetting leader can come in, work side-by-side with the team and offer a “reset” from previous poor leadership. The danger of this can be in burnout, and in the pacesetter not being self-aware (not everyone can or should work 12 hour days). This style is best deployed for a sprint or a deadline but in the medium to long-term it will have a damaging effect, like the Coercive Style can.

Coaching Style

If you’re not deploying this style with your team members, you are, as the young people say these days, “doing it wrong.” While almost all employees value a paycheck, they also value interest in their personal and professional development. How much do you know about what motivates your team members or where they see themselves in the next 3-5 years. If you don’t know the answers to these questions (or even basics, like the name of a spouse or children) you’re not going to retain staff.

Willpower can build a business, but it’s management and culture that helps scale and become sustainable over the long term. Do you have the right culture in place for a future sale? Let’s talk.

Better Websites can Lead to Better Valuations

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Better Websites can Lead to Better ValuationsFor the vast majority of history, businesses have not needed a website to successfully sell. Even now, there are niche businesses, perhaps secondary or government contractors, who have a few clients who know about them and are not really customer-facing. But for the vast majority of businesses, a website isn’t just a checkbox on a due diligence worksheet: it’s an integral part of your business valuation.

It’s Not Just a Shingle

Very reasonably, back in the 1990s, one could have thought of a website as a virtual shingle. You’ve got your company name and logo, maybe a few images, your contact information, and a “contact us” box. That allowed anyone who wanted to find you to do so, and it communicated that you were a real business (of a kind).

Today’s consumer (and business buyer) demands a lot more. Websites are:

  • Your first chance to make a good impression. This means that your site needs to be updated and watched.
    • By this we mean making sure someone is keeping track of all the software updates that may be happening across your website. If you don’t do this links or images may break or become non-functional.
  • Your brand on parade. Businesses these days understand the power of creating a brand experience. That means the fonts and colors that you use for your brand are there. That means you may have a chatbot to meet the customer right there instead of waiting passively for a “contact us” message. You’ve got customer testimonials, links to Google Reviews, and features of your team so that you’re not just an anonymous business.
  • Lead generators. Those businesses who are utilizing best practices know that there’s nothing better than an evergreen lead machine, and a website and associated content is the best way to compete for those leads. Content includes:
    • Blogs (like this one) or podcasts (like ours) that show subject matter expertise or useful tips
    • Video content that can be oriented informatively like blogs or are more fun and whimsical. Video content can be shot in batches and then cut up into one minute slices to share on sites like Instagram and YouTube.
    • Google My Business Questions and Answers in which you can showcase that you are monitoring what the public is asking of you
  • Lead receivers. If you are doing Google LSA or Adwords spending, you’re often going to take those who click through to a customized landing page or your website itself. Someone who is ready to buy needs to be impressed when they come to your site.

Longevity Matters

Part of what leads to the “authority” of websites is how many websites also link to it and how long it has been around. That means you can’t wait until you are planning to sell your company to suddenly put up a shiny new website as part of brightening the curb appeal of your business. You need time to build and maintain the website, as well as create a lead engine via content. While a website may take weeks to build, inhabiting and maintaining a website takes months and years.

Part of why a better website can lead to a better valuation will be part of the traffic and analytics you can present to potential buyers. They will see what you have been doing both organically (“free”) and via paid advertising and part of the value they will look to add will be to see what they can do above and beyond what you’re doing to bring in more sales using the website.

If your website is just a shingle or you’ve never thought of using it as a vector for leads, that’s going to be an area of investment for buyers, which will be something they may deduct from what they offer, as they know what we’ve articulated above: it’s not your grandfather’s business anymore; websites are really important.

Some of what we mentioned here was also discussed in a podcast episode which you can listen to here. If you need a recommendation for someone to help build or refresh your website, we know a few people: give us a call.

Keep Your Accounting in Order

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Keep Your Accounting in OrderAs we’ve often said, no one gets into business because he/she loves bookkeeping and accounting. But no one buys or sells a business (or gets financing along the way) without solid financial statements. So, what are some ways to keep ourselves on the straight and narrow?

Clean Books and Complete Tax Records

Broken record alert: have clean books. Every banker and buyer will want to look at a company’s books that are at least reasonably well organized (shoeboxes with receipts do not qualify) and have few to no errors (small mistakes, particularly those which do not dramatically affect valuation, are understandable and acceptable in small businesses). The best time to have clean books is today. The next best time is tomorrow. Get started. We can help you if you need.

The same is true of your taxes. By properly filing you not only offer a corroborating narrative to your books, but you also establish trust with potential bankers and buyers: this business plays by the rules.

Accurate Financial Statements

Clean books produce accurate financial statements. While such statements have great value to bankers and buyers, their primary value is to the people running the business. The balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows. These documents tell the story of a business, past, present, and future. People who operate their businesses without these documents are either operating a sweet legacy business that probably still has a fax machine (can’t argue with success) or are clueless and heading for disaster.

Internal Controls

How many stories have you heard about a company getting phished and accidentally paying a bill to someone masquerading as a trusted vendor? If you haven’t heard any yet, take a look online and educate yourself, then get with your IT people to make sure you have controls in place to make sure that physical and digital access is properly distributed and monitored. While you’re having that conversation with IT, make sure that you have regular data backups for your accounting data, if not all of your data.

Bankers and buyers love businesses that have taken the time to minimize fraud.

Financial Projections

If you have solid financial statements, you’re going to be able to make better projections into the future. While you can’t account for changing conditions in the world and the market (no one can), the projections you make from solid financial statements tell a story that can lead to a bank offering you financing, or a buyer seeing what the payback ratio looks like.

A Manual

An accounting manual will probably be at the bottom of your list of projects to work on for your business, but it can only improve the value and curb appeal of your business. This manual should include your business’s:

  • Accounting policies and procedures
  • Cash flow management
  • Budgeting
  • Software
  • Strategic planning
  • Disclosures

Formal policies also lessen the possibility of fraud, something we already mentioned above.

Do you feel like you could use some help getting your accounts in order? We have a number of people who can help you if you need. Give us a call.

Don’t Wait for Rates

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Don't Wait for RatesAt the beginning of 2024 the market was led to believe that there would be multiple rate cuts. Yet the Fed met in early June and there hasn’t yet been one (though one, and one only, is forecast before the end of the year). Instead, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has kicked the ball into the long grass, claiming that “rate cuts that might have taken place this year, take place next year.” What does that mean for buyers and sellers in the small business marketplace?

Don’t Fixate

Sellers have been known to wait for the “perfect time to sell,” and we can tell you from many years of experience that such timing rarely occurs. What makes more sense is “the right time to sell” and that’s grounded in circumstances that both buyers and sellers have real control over. Searching for perfection can often lead to disappointment in life, not just in buying and selling businesses.

What we’ve seen in the last 12 months, as the federal funds rate has stayed in the 5.25-5.5% range, the highest in 23 years, is that there are still good buyers chasing good businesses. Because their primary goal has been to capture a great business, they have looked for that first and then worked on financing after identifying the right business. In certain circumstances, given the current rate climate, we’ve seen some flexibility from sellers given expected cash flows in relation to higher bank loans.

If, however, potential buyers are waiting on the sidelines for the “right rate” they should keep in mind that others may think this way as well, and when they wade back in when “rates are right” they might get caught in a bidding war for a business, leading any “savings” from “waiting” to turn into a premium they end up paying.

Trust the Market

That leads us to our second point. Whatever your thoughts on politics and government, many would agree that when the Fed is seeking to intervene it’s trying to adjust for something that is already happening.

Yes, there is much uncertainty in the world at the moment, and domestically, it’s an election year, but we can only report to you what we are seeing and hearing, and that is that businesses are being bought and sold. 2023 was our best year ever at Apex and midway through this year we feel confident that we are going to have another good year.

A solid business doesn’t rise or fall based on interest rates in the market. The same goes for when you buy a business. If it’s a solid business at this time, it will be whether rates go up or down. And as we’ve said (and seen) if the business is a good fit, a seller might be willing to make a concession on price to help make the financing work for serious buyers.

As we said, serious buyers are interested in the right business, not the perfect interest rate.

Thinking of coming off the “interest rate” bench? We’d love to talk to you about what’s available right now. Give us a call.

The Buc-ee’s Phenomenon

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The Buc-ee's PhenomenonWe recently talked about the rise of “beloved” gas stations, brands that have passionate fans on social media. The King Kong of this phenomenon is Texas-based Buc-ee’s, and learning what they’ve done can help you build a better business.

Let’s look at what they focus on, which Buc-ee’s spokesman Jeff Nadalo summarizes as: “Providing award-winning clean restrooms, freshly prepared food, cheap gas, and outstanding customer service.”

Win Basics

We all might chuckle a bit at the phrase “award-winning restrooms,” but it’s not a joke. Some years ago Cintas awarded a Buc-ee’s in New Braunfels the title of “America’s Best Restroom.”

The second most popular/necessary thing to do when you stop for gas on a road trip is to make a visit to the bathroom. The expectation that consumers have developed over the years is one of fear and loathing: who knows what lurks in a gas station bathroom? Buc-ee’s turned that on its head by bragging about their bathrooms on billboards hundreds of miles out.

They raised expectations and then met or exceeded them.

Action item: what is something basic that customers in my industry fear or have low expectations of? How can I turn that on its head? For example, many who take their cars in for repair fear being cheated. Could a shop push the “most honest mechanics in town” narrative and then shoot photos and videos all throughout a repair, not just sharing them with a customer but repurposing them on social media, allowing the DIY folks to get an assist as well?

Add On Items

Buc-ee’s knows, at the bare minimum, they’ve got you for gas and the bathrooms. But they know once you’ve walked inside, you’re probably going to get hooked on any number of other things:

  • Their jerky wall features all sorts of high-quality Buc-ee’s jerky
  • The meat island, which includes the spectacle of one of the team calling out — and others responding — they are about to chop up some brisket
  • The nearby fudge station with fresh-made fudge ready for you to taste and buy
  • The ICEE wall, with all kinds of flavors of the beloved frozen treat
  • Lots of shelves stocked with the famous “beaver nuggets” (if you haven’t had them yet, this is puffed corn tossed in brown sugar, butter, and vanilla) and other “must-have” items for Buc-ee’s devotees
  • A large retail section, usually packed with ample local and regional products, incentivizes the surrounding community to champion Buc-ee’s

Buc-ee’s knows there are plenty of disciplined people who might walk past all these items on their way back out to the car. But there are also plenty of others who will be toting at least a bag (or two) of things they never imagined they needed or wanted (who expects to grab a delicious, fresh-made, authentic brisket sandwich when stopping at a gas station?).

Action item: how can I serve my customers beyond what they are already buying from me? If, for example, I’m a trusted landscaping company, would it be that hard to add on gutter cleaning, thereby saving my customers from having to find someone else? Or if I want to push seasonal business, how about stringing up Christmas lights (and taking them down)? As before, photos and videos can be taken of this work, boosting awareness of the brand online.

Be Friendly

Have you ever heard people complain that a business is just “too friendly”? People appreciate a friendly attitude and a kindly smile, especially if they’ve been on the road for a while. With people greeting you as you come and go, as well as staff roaming the store to make sure you’re never too far from help, Buc-ee’s makes sure that their retail experience is a far cry from what most Americans are used to these days.

On the weekends, their mascot, Buc-ee, periodically comes out to take pictures. A little-known secret we found out from a devotee: if you come on the weekend and don’t see him, you can ask a member of staff if he’s free to come out and meet you, and if you’re willing to wait a bit, he will.

Action item: It’s one thing to be friendly, but it’s another thing to have a reputation for friendliness. How can your business be more approachable? If you don’t have a large brick-and-mortar space (or any office space, for that matter), you could consider short video introductions that you can drop in an email with software like Loom so that potential customers can “meet” you and see the friendliness you and your team exude.

We want to help you get top dollar for your business. If you’re looking for other ways to add value to your company before it’s time to sell, give us a call today. We’ve got plenty of experience and ideas to share with you.

The Rise of Beloved Gas Stations

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The Rise of Beloved Gas StationsThose of us of a certain age remember that gas didn’t always cost more than a dollar, and the only things you’d find if you went inside a gas station to pay were auto maintenance products and some of the worst coffee in the land.

These days, gas prices are always on the rise (as are electricity charging prices for the EV lovers who are about to remind us that they don’t have to pay for gas anymore), but the coffee inside many gas stations is far from the worst in the land. You can sometimes even customize that espresso-driven coffee order and add some fresh-made food that rivals or easily beats what you’ll find at fast food joints. We’ve entered an era in which people brag about their regional gas stations.

On the East Coast, the battle is between Wawa and Sheetz. While many rightfully associate Quiktrip with the Midwest, it has locations as far west as Arizona and as far east as North Carolina. Then there is the cult-like following of Texas-born-and-bred Buc-ee’s, which has been slowly growing out of the Lone Star state as rumors of its “experience” have grown.

Unexpected Disruption

There are some key lessons that all of these brands, whatever their differences in positioning, marketing, and geographic reach, can offer any business:

  • Don’t be a prisoner of your legacy business. Gas stations might just be one of the most boring businesses out there. People who use a vehicle regularly have to visit them whether they want to or not. Instead of serving up the same old same old, these companies decided to level up to add more dollars to their top and bottom lines.
  • Win the little things. Buc-ee’s very famously advertises its clean restrooms on billboards more than 100 miles away from their locations. No one is ever going to complain about restrooms that are too clean! In fact, the intended result often occurs: people who had no need to go to the bathroom amble in any way to make their own inspections, and after concurring that yes, these might be the cleanest bathrooms they’ve seen on the road in their lifetime, stop by for some food or grab an ICEE to go. That cleanliness extends outside as well, as employees often strive to make sure pumps are clean, working, and stocked with receipt paper.
  • Ride a trend. Americans love food, but they prefer (and will pay more for) freshly-made food. Here, we see unexpected disruption again. We used to think of gas-station food as solely comprised of those rolling metal tubes for hot dogs or taquitos, presaging the rolling of your stomach some hours later after consuming said food. Now you can find freshly-baked pizzas or made-to-order subs or even breakfast sandwiches. Turns out that people would rather just buy their food where they are fueling up rather than get in another drive-thru line to get food.

These gas stations have all taken what was traditionally a cut-throat, geographically-limited, low-margin high volume business and transformed it, with a little bit of effort, into a high-margin business, sometimes leading people to drive miles to go to their preferred gas station. Turns out that people like clean, well-lit, delicious-smelling places if given a choice.

If gas stations can reinvent themselves, why can’t your business? Things to ponder:

  • How can I level up services my clients already “have to” use?
  • What adjacent products/services would engender loyalty/surprise/delight in my clients?
  • Could my technology (website/app/social media) be better?
  • Are my customer-facing team members friendly, smiling, and always well-dressed?

We’ve got other ideas to help you as you try to add value to your successful business in light of a sale in a few years. Give us a call today.

Better than a Side Hustle: Buying and Scaling a Business

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Better than a Side Hustle: Buying and Scaling a BusinessMany Americans have come to realize that the economy of today moves lightning-fast and can change in an instant. Because of this, many workers have started looking for alternative methods of making money, and one of those methods is to start a small business as a side hustle.

What many Americans do not realize, however, is that a side hustle can only be life-changing if you can convert it into a full-time focus. It takes a bold person to walk away from the stability of a career and move into working for one’s self as an entrepreneur.

But what if you don’t want to walk away from a career to build a business from the ground up? Then, you might buy an already successful business and add your skills to take it to the next level.

Get to Know the Market

So, what are the types of businesses that are doing well? What are the brands that are getting a lot of attention but might be overhyped? What are the underrated buys no one is talking about?

Research on the Internet is helpful (that’s where you found this article, after all), but this is also where getting to know a business broker can pay off. Reaching out to those who specialize in helping individuals or companies both buy and sell businesses is a smart first step into finding the right kind of business. You can get their inside knowledge of current buyers who may be looking to buy up small businesses and identify what their key purchasing points may be.

Making those connections early is like finding a map when you are lost in the wilderness. It can guide you to safer areas.

Set the Foundation

Once you know what buyers are looking for in a small business, you need to consider your skills and interests. Sure, if you have a degree in accounting, that’s an obvious skill set, but think about all the things your colleagues praise you for that don’t fit neatly into a resume and, thus, aren’t top of mind when you think about skills. Are you great with communicating ideas to outsiders, or are you the person people look to in order to shepherd a project from start to finish, or are you the detail person everyone counts on to pick up that missing line of code or catch that typo? These sorts of skills are invaluable for business ownership.

Buying and scaling a business will be something that consumes a lot of your time and energy, so going forward with something that interests you will help sustain you through those moments that break other business owners. Being a great accountant won’t get you through back-to-back 16-hour days unless what you are doing provides you with satisfaction or engages your sense of wonder throughout the process.

Find the Right Fit

You’ll want to stay patient through the process. You need to find the right fit for your skills and your budget. You might be looking to slowly replace your full-time income or you might be ready to jump in and scale the business to the moon. Excitement and motivation won’t be enough. You’ll need to look at opportunities.

Some of these opportunities include:

  • Areas of internal improvement the seller didn’t explore sufficiently (or at all)
  • Products and services the seller didn’t have capital to create and deploy
  • Basic best practices in digital marketing that the seller never implemented

Ultimately, diversifying your income through buying and building a business is a smart way of insulating yourself from a rapidly evolving and fluctuating economy. Once you have the right partnership and the right systems for building and scaling, you can put them to work making sure your time on the economic roller coaster of today is a joyful and rewarding experience.

If you are looking to skip the start-up and buy into a business that has already proven itself, give us a call. It’s what we do.

Fact or Fiction: Marketing Tips for Your Small Business

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Fact or Fiction: Marketing Tips for Your Small BusinessIt’s no secret that marketing is essential for any type of business, no matter its size. Small business owners may be hesitant to enter the space — preconceived notions about the cost of marketing (and the effort required to keep up with it) abound. Sure, some organizations pump thousands of dollars per month into their strategies, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find a middle ground that fits into your budget.

In the spirit of decoding the wild world of marketing, let’s discuss what’s fact, what’s fiction, and everything in between.

Fact or Fiction: Word of Mouth Advertising is Enough

You may be tempted to build your business purely through word of mouth — and it could work for a time — but it’s not a sustainable strategy. Your business might be able to rely on this type of advertising if you live in, say, a very rural area, but even so, you won’t be able to bring in new customers unless you’re very focused on it. There are going to be a lot of people who have no way of knowing who you are and what you do unless you invest in some serious boots-on-the-ground marketing. And, if you’re focused solely on that, other areas of your business will inevitably fall by the wayside.

While word of mouth can be potent, it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. Small businesses need to complement it with active and proactive marketing strategies to reach new customers who might otherwise remain undiscovered.

Ruling: FICTION

Fact or Fiction: External Marketing is Too Expensive

Every business, regardless of its size, should engage in some form of marketing. The key lies not in being able to afford an entirely outsourced agency, but in planning and budgeting for marketing as an essential activity.

There is a wide belief that only businesses with deep pockets can afford external marketing. The truth is that there are solutions out there for every budget — determine your own. That could mean cutting corners elsewhere so that you can hire an agency, or making an effort to learn all you can on your own. There are a ton of great resources out there (check out Udemy, Coursera, or Skillshare) that you can lean on.

Ruling: FICTION

Fact or Fiction: The 2% Revenue Rule

Should you dedicate 2% of your revenue to your marketing strategy? Not necessarily. If you have a healthy budget then spending 2% of it on a good marketing budget would be wonderful — until next year when your revenue is down. In that case, you would be spending less money on marketing because it’s only 2% of whatever your revenue is, at a time when you should be spending more than that on bringing in more (paying) customers.

If you follow this ambiguous 2% rule, it quickly turns into a downhill slide: you’ll continue to lose money because you’re spending less in marketing.

Assess your business’s individual needs and invest in marketing based on your unique circumstances. It’s a personalized approach rather than a one-size-fits-all solution.

Ruling: FICTION

Fact or Fiction: You Have to Pay to Get Visibility on Facebook

Unfortunately, you do. Facebook is also a business with the aim of generating revenue. Only 2-5% of your followers see organic posts, which means that paying for placement is essential for broader reach. There is value in organic social, but businesses need to allocate funds for specific messages they want to be seen by many.

Ruling: FACT

Fact or Fiction: All Marketing Agencies are the Same

Not all businesses are created equal, and the same goes for marketing agencies. This is good news for organizations that are looking for solutions that don’t require them to go “all in” on an expensive package filled with things they don’t need.

It’s important to tailor your marketing approach to fit your unique needs. Seek out agencies or even freelancers who are willing to work with you to give you exactly what you’re looking for. Some will specialize in Facebook, others in SEO. Don’t be afraid to shop around, conduct interviews, and reflect before you decide on the solution that works for you and your business.

Ruling: FICTION

Marketing may seem complex, but it doesn’t have to be if you bring on the support you need. Integrate it into your budget as you would any other important operation, such as HR, IT, or bookkeeping. In the end, it’s not about how much money you spend, rather, it’s about the strategies you implement. Embrace the right ones, and you’ll flourish — ignoring the need for marketing altogether is a recipe for disaster.

If you want to learn more about marketing your business with the hopes of selling it one day, that’s where we come in. Give us a call.