10 Valuable Business Solutions to Really Skyrocket Your Business!

Because I wanted to give you a very comprehensive answer, I decided to do some research of my own.

So I started by reaching out to other small business owners and entrepreneurs.

I talked to approximately 300 product-based and service-based business owners, mainly from across the Caribbean.

They included consultants, coaches, beach vendors, manufacturers, retailers, contractors, service providers, boutique owners, painters, plumbers, tilers, artists, tax accountants and corporate trainers like myself.

I interviewed business owners and entrepreneurs below and above 50 years old.  Some I knew, some I didn’t  know. I had conversations with both men and women, and those who work exclusively from home. 

To avoid information overload, I asked them a simple question:

What useful business solutions would you share with other small business owners that will help them to really skyrocket their business growth?

When I started analysing the answers, I noticed a certain pattern emerging.

Over and over, there were a set of  failures, flaws, frustrations and fears that appear to be common to all the businesses.

But what I found most exciting was that a similar set of quality business solutions kept coming up to fix what I want to call these “F-Factors” mentioned above.

And here’s something else that was very interesting. 

The solutions that my “interviewees” offered were almost all about something business owners could do better, could do more of, could learn to do, etc.

They seldom mentioned any issues relating to their external business environment or the context in which they lead.

When I shared my findings with some of the business owners I had interviewed, their reactions were interesting.

Some said that they had used some of the solutions in their businesses and had gotten really good results.

But many said that they wished they were more aware of them earlier, so they could have fixed issues in their businesses earlier and faster.

You will love this.

What I did, was to take my extensive, informal research and extracted the 10 most popular solutions to share with you.

You will find them practical, relevant to you and your small business and easy to implement.

Best of all, you know they will work because they have already been tested “positive” by small business owners just like you.

Business Solution # 1 – Commit to Continuous Personal Development

Nearly every one of the persons I interviewed stressed the importance of always developing or educating yourself in some way.

Many of them described this as a flaw and I am very aware that it leads to much frustration.

The average business person understands acquiring a physical asset. It is tangible, it will be around for a number of years (hopefully!) and it will help them to make money.

Spending money on personal or professional development is first of all seen as an unaffordable cost and not an investment. Furthermore, you cannot readily understand the connection between your growth and the growth of the business.

But as many of my interviewees eventually discovered, your business will only grow as fast and as far as you grow personally.

No surprise then that Continuous Personal Development is one the list of business solutions. I call it the habit of lifelong learning.

I truly get this because it’s the foundation on which my entire training and development business is built and helping others to develop and grow themselves is my passion and purpose.

I too am also fanatical about continuously developing and educating myself not only because it’s how I serve you best but it is also so personally rewarding.

So how do you commit to continuous personal development? Here are some tips to help you:

Make it a Priority

Few external forces are going to persuade you to learn. The desire has to come from within. Once you decide you want to make lifelong learning a habit, it is up to you to make it a priority in your life.

Develop a strategy for learning

Determine what you need to learn to grow your business and what you want to learn to improve your life.

Combine these into your “to-learn” list. Then you can develop a step by step implementation plan. Explore all your options for learning and choose the one that would work best for you.

Put what you learn into practice

Skills-based learning is useless if it isn’t applied to some problem or used in some way. Attending a course or reading a book on C++ isn’t the same thing as writing a program. Learning how to quickly build a team for your business in a workshop means little until you apply the knowledge to your business. If your knowledge can be applied, put it into practice

Read widely

It doesn’t matter if it takes you a year or a week to read a book. Always strive to have a book that you are reading through, and take it with you so you can read it when you have time. But don’t stop at books. Read blogs, articles, newsletters…just read.

Learn in Groups

Lifelong learning doesn’t mean condemning yourself to a lonely journey. Join organizations that teach skills. Workshops and group learning events can make educating yourself a fun, social experience.

When you educate yourself, you can make better decisions in your business, you can grow your business faster and when you face problems, you can recover far more quickly than if you’re “uneducated.”

Business Solution # 2 – Train and Develop Your Employees/Team

Many of the business owners I interviewed were very afraid to invest in training and developing their employees or building a team.

But even as they were expressing this fear, they were telling me that they think that having well trained employees is one of the solutions to growing your business fast.

Huh! A contradiction if ever there was one.

I am familiar with this problem because I have had several clients who felt that way as well. As a matter of fact, I had one client who said to me, “…you mad! Spend all this money in training people who will be leaving sooner rather than later?”

I really understand this. But my question is: “what if you don’t train them and they remain in your business?”

Just as important as training and developing yourself, is training and developing your employees or team.

In my opinion and experience, even when you have only 2 employees you need to be considering their development because this is a route to growing your business fast.

Furthermore, when you can’t offer them the salary and compensation packages that a big business can, you can create opportunities for on-the-job training, coaching and mentoring. These can prove to be far more valuable and attractive to your employees.

Here are some strategies you can use to develop your employee:

Training 

Training employees sends a powerful message that you value them and this serves as a serious retention strategy. In addition, trained employees will almost always make fewer mistakes thus saving you time and money. Of course, this is not without it challenges but the benefits far outweigh the challenges.

Mentoring

When done right, this is rewarding for you and your employees. As a small business owner, you would have acquired experience and experiences which are invaluable.

When you use these to help your employees improve their job skills and develop strength of character, you create a compelling reason for them to stay with you. In addition, you develop strong relationships which serve you best when the business is going through lean times or unplanned change.

Coaching

It’s a process in which a business owner or manager helps an individual or a team to do the best job that they are capable of doing.

It includes aspects of teaching and training,as well as observation and feedback.

Coaching serves as an effective communication tool. It also leads to engaged employees and helps to let you know what employees need to improve. And if that’s not enough, it also enhances your performance as an employer and team leader.

If you’re really serious about selecting great business solutions for your business, then training and developing your employees must be one of them.

Solution # 3 – Lead So That Others Want to Follow

Poor or no leadership was identified as one of the big problems facing many of the respondents.

They all realised either by experience or by observing other businesses, that some form of leadership was necessary as a business solution if they were going to fast track their business success.

However, most business people said that they were frustrated with the theoretical BS that is widely available in the name of leadership. They want practical leadership steps, strategies and tools that they can use to get results fast.

I agree entirely because in reality, leadership occurs in a specific context and in a particular environment. For small businesses, the circumstances which require effective leadership skills are constantly changing and owners must be able to respond appropriately.

The one thing you can do right now that will revolutionise your leadership is to be able to recognize the type of team you are leading.

For this I rely on Kevin Eikenberry’s concept of teams, a view which I support whole-heartedly. He advances the argument that there are basically two types of teams – a basketball (hockey, football, netball) team and a track and field team.

The “basketball” team operates as a single unit in which regardless of the position you hold on that team, its success requires you to be flexible and be able to perform any or many roles on that team at a moment’s notice.

 The players depend on each other, acutely aware that goals are reached  and success achieved only when they are working together.

The “track and field” team on the other hand, while representing the same club or organisation and in this regard can be considered a team, they really operate independently of each other.

 What this means is that if enough of the team members perform at a high level the team will win but the actions of the sprinter is not dependent on those of the high jumper and neither is hers dependent on the cyclist.

What does all this mean to you?

Both types of teams can exist in your small business at the same time…and that’s okay. Your mission, should you accept, is to recognize which type of team or if both types exist in your small business, and how to deal with each team.

When you get this right, learning and applying the appropriate leadership skills to your business improves your productivity, enhances the closeness of the team and results in fully engaged employees. In the fastest time.

Leadership is indeed a business solution for your small business, but…don’t rush to implement any old form of leadership. Understand your business, the team you have acquired or you have inherited and find a form of leadership that would be right for you.

Solution # 4 – Be Flexible/adaptable in your business

The respondents were unanimous on this: You have to be able to respond to market and business conditions if you are to remain in business even before you can even think about being successful.

In other words, you have to be flexible and or adaptable in your business.

The problem is that you have dreamt about your business for a long time, you did your market research, you establish your business model and you opened your doors to business.

And you only get a trickle of customers instead of the flood you anticipated.

Everything tells you that you have to be flexible and make some adjustments fast. But you activate the fear factor, you go into denial and you shut out everything that is contrary to what you have done. You are now suffering from a bad case of commitment bias.

I can declare myself a firsthand expert on this.

I once had a candy business (Yes Me!) Before I began it, I did what I believe to be extensive market research. Based on the number of schools in the area and my target market, I was pretty sure that my customer base would be made up of children between the ages of 5 – 13 and their parent and teachers.

When the business opened, I soon realized that I was sooo wrong about my ideal customers and products.

They turned out to be young men between the ages of 19 – 25, who bought gifts of sweets for their girlfriends, grandmothers and all the other women in their lives. And a ton of almond nuts for themselves since these are high in the cancer-fighting agent magnesium.

I convinced myself that this was just a fad and the customer base I had envisioned and planned for will be achieved.

I eventually adapted but sad to say, it was too late.

These particular customers were not even on my radar but for the life of the business they were my most profitable revenue source. 

Being flexible does not mean you are not true to yourself and your business like my girlfriend believes. For example, it can mean recognizing changes in customer preferences and putting the business structure or the production methods in place to readily respond to these.

Being flexible determines how and how fast you generate more sales, lower your operating costs, make more productive use of your time and of course strengthen ties with your customers and your team.

So join me and the other business people in my study and make flexibility and adaptability a part of your business model. It’s really your #1 asset!

Solution # 5 – Learn how to be truly productive

For the average small business owner, being CEO in their business really means they are Chief EVERYTHING Officer.

The problem is usually you don’t have the confidence, you don’t have the money or you don’t’ have the know-how to either outsource or delegate certain of your management or operations functions.

So you end up doing many things at once, working long hours with very unsatisfactory results and a whole lot of frustration to show for it.

Multi-tasking does not equal increased productivity. Neither does “I’m so busy!” mean that you’re productive either. To me they suggest that you’re not focused.

Each of the entrepreneurs I interviewed has a set of “productivity” habits or approaches which they have developed and refined over time, and which they consistently apply to their businesses.

You should follow this example!

As part of your plan to increase your productivity, learn the skill(s) you need to do the things you need to do.

I’m amazed that ICT and computers are such a part of our lives and many people still cannot type, do not understand the fundamentals of the technology and therefore cannot leverage it to improve their business.  

For me being productive means having an efficient productivity system that enables me to reach my goals in the shortest possible time. 

It almost goes without saying that as a business solution, being truly productive will sky rocket your business success.

Solution # 6 – Build a Strong Personal Network around you

One of the guys in my study, Mike, said that he is always amused when he hears people talking about “self-made this” and “self-made that” because right at the very beginning we were made by two parents!

Many of the others identified the need for some sort of support network to help them grow their businesses but failed to build one for two main reasons.

1. They were uncomfortable or even afraid asking for help
2. They believed that networking means that you are using people

I understand #1 because many of us were raised to be strong and independent and asking for help is seen as a weakness.

#2 must be some kind of a flaw in business and personal thinking because I can’t imagine living without my “circle of experience”.

Building out a strong personal network is not only a business solution to grow your business fast, it is about building relationships through networking and making a friend before you need a friend.

It is surrounding yourself with Mentors, Coaches, Masterminds, Circles of Experience, advisors, whatever you want to call them.

So please get over yourself and begin building out your network. Here are some tips to help you.

When you begin to build your network you will need people in the following three areas:

1. People who have the answers you need:

Folks who can help you find a critical piece of software at a moment’s notice … or who are wired into your market in ways that allow them to know what’s working and what’s not … or who have solved business problems like yours for themselves or others … or who have a genius for brainstorming business solutions – you decide.

2. People who have the resources you need:

People who can send you qualified prospects when you need to hire “the perfect” employee for a particular position; business owners and executives who control crucial resources — TV production units, training rooms, computer equipment, and other assets that could come in extremely handy in growing your company.

3. People who can perform specialized tasks far better than you

— or anyone on your staff can: Graphic Designers, Learning Solution Specialists, Business Coaches.

But in order to really have a great team of providers and partners, you’re going to have to have to locate them, begin a relationship with them, add them to your network and keep them in your network, long before you’ll ever need them.

How hard is that? It’s up to you…

Solution # 7 – Understand the big picture of your business 

Meet Benjamin – owner of a business with an annual 7-figure revenue, and one of the most successful of my interviewees.

This was not always the case. In his own words, he had five businesses fail before he finally “got it”.

For too many years, he concentrated on doing what he was trained to do and loved doing, paying little attention to the other aspects of business.

When he finally begin learning about and paying attention to things like key numbers, marketing, understanding simple finance, understanding his industry as a whole, only then was he able to scale a business up to 7-figures.

Benjamin was not alone.

Many of the other members of the group confessed that a serious flaw in their approach to business was that they had convinced themselves that learning about business goes against the very essence of being an entrepreneur.

They studiously refused to see the big picture of their business. And yet, they identify “seeing the big picture” as a business solution that can really speed up the growth of a business.

I do not question this contradiction, because over time I’ve come to realize that in most cases, this position is really a cover for their fear of exposing their weaknesses in the area of business.

Staying in business and growing your business requires you to see the big picture of your business.

Let’s think of your business as a puzzle of many pieces which you must fit together.

A smart way to fit a puzzle together is to first become familiar with the picture on the cover of the box – the big picture.

Then, when you begin to fit the pieces together, you have a good idea which pieces you will need to connect first and how this will help you to complete the puzzle in the fastest way possible.

For example, Let’s say that you decide that your key systems or “puzzle pieces” are Human Resources, Customer Service, Team Building, Personal Development and Marketing. You next have to decide how these pieces fit together to begin looking like the big picture.

 If you approach your business development in this way as early in the process as possible, you will achieve your business growth much faster than Benjamin.

Solution # 8 – Take action to keep you moving forward

Jean (proudly) described herself as the consummate procrastinator. But she had good reason, she added. She did not like doing things half way. She did not like going ahead with anything until she was ready.

Among my interviewees, Jean was in good company. The only difference was that they were not proud of their procrastination.

Are you in this group too? I have to admit that I might have at least a toe in too.

I know that inaction or procrastination which has strong roots in perfectionism has much to do with fear of failure. I had to work so had to overcome mine.

So what advice can I give you?

The same that Jeff gave to me:

“Lorna, you can’t let procrastination take you out! You have to keep moving forward!”

I agreed and so too did many of the procrastinators in the group (smile)

If you are going to really explode your business success, taking action to keep you moving forward, must be your business solution of choice.

Taking action against procrastination is also good for your personal development.

More formal research suggests that there are actually two types of entrepreneurs:

 One that learns something and immediately applies it.  Because they take action, they learn quickly (mostly through their own experience) what works and what doesn’t. In the process they gain valuable clarity on what works and what doesn’t.

Then you have the second type — by far the larger of the two. They want to learn more and then some more and consider this and review that before they get started.  

So they plan endlessly; always asking “What could go wrong” and attempting to solve problems before they occur so as to avoid making a mistake.

If you are a “consummate procrastinator” you need to replace your procrastination with action.

 Some of you may approach it like me by jumping off the ship without a life jacket and learning how to swim before you hit the water.

The rest of you may want to take a more measured approach in which you will at least acquire a life jacket before you jump.

Remember:

It is not the reflection, the reviewing, and the studying that will make things clearer. In reality, this will make things even more confusing.

There is so much information out there that the more you search the more conflicting information you will find. Very soon you will be suffering from information overload – leading to even more inaction.  

Your best bet?

Learn to embrace a “do-it wrong- fast” mindset, knowing that you might not get it right the first time but knowing that taking action will create the clarity you want.

Solution # 9 – Learn the key business communication skills and use them

I don’t have to tell you. Effective business communication is a serious flaw which leads to frustration at every level of the business.

Therefore, it was like déjà-vu to hear many people in the group admit that some area of their communication need to be improved and that doing so will improve the business.

They were absolutely right. Poor communication often creates tension and bad feelings within relationships.

When I asked them how they knew that their communication was poor, the answers were insightful.

Here are a few direct quotes:

• There are times when I should have a face-to-face conversation but I send an email. I know I’m a coward but I can’t help it

• I hate having to give negative feedback. I find I put it off for as long as I can and then (when I do) the drama is off the chart!

• Lorna, I know you’ve spoken to me about reacting emotionally instead of responding calmly but these people that work for me just piss me off!

• I hate public speaking and I find I’m having to do more and more of it lately!

• If another employee tell me I don’t listen, I think I will start screaming and never stop

As I listened to these and similar answers I heard all the F-Factors – fear, frustration, flaws and failures are present.

Fixing your communication problems is not something you can easily do on your own but it is something you must do.

You need to take a proactive and comprehensive approach, identifying your flaws and also what communication skills you need to have to be successful as a leader.

Also, try to determine your communication style and the extent to which it is helping or hindering your business success.

Learn your key business communication skills and use them. These will vary from person to person and will depend on the nature of your business.

They may include:

• Having conversations with clients, customers and employees
• Public speaking
• Listening effectively
• Communicating in a crisis
• Communicating assertively
• Leadership Communication
• Management communication
• Writing effective emails
• Communicating with the media
• Writing reports

As a business solution to explode the growth of your small business, superior communication skills stand out as the foundation skills.  They help you to build confidence, control the conversations and hence the outcomes. They also help you to build networks and expand your influence.

What are you waiting for? Take your communications skills to the top right now.

Solution #10 – Market, Market, Then Market Some More

The question: What single thing you wished you’d done more of?

The answers: Marketing! Marketing! You have to ask? – Marketing!

The answers surprised me. Not that “the marketing answer” was unexpected but I did not expect it to be the answer from so many of the respondents.

But what is marketing?

Never mind the highfalutin definitions you hear, simply stated, marketing is everything you do to place your product or service in the hands of potential customers in return for a profit for yourself.

Even as they acknowledge marketing as a powerful business solution to explode their business success, many people are actually afraid of marketing and will avoid it at all costs.

I can relate to this fear.

When I started ITDS  some years ago, the one thing I was sure I was going to outsource was marketing. And I tried. But repeatedly, the marketing experts just kept trying to market my business like I was selling products.

Very soon I discovered that no marketer I tried could quite translate the passion I felt in my belly and present it to the world as I wanted them to.

So, I had no choice – kicking and screaming – but to learn how to market myself and my business. This was necessary because however good your product and or service is, if no one knows about it, then you will make no sales.

For marketing services the approach has to be different. A service is an activity or benefit that is essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything. Its existence may or may not be tied to a physical product. Incidentally, have you ever tried returning a service you didn’t like?

 This means that effectively marketing a service depends on building a series of relationship at which you the service provider are at the core. This requires you to learn how to sell yourself. No excuses.

Here are 3 great marketing tips provided by Clate Mask, Co-Founder and CEO of Infusionsoft:

First – you need to be consistent in your marketing

The majority of small businesses are inconsistent in their follow-up. They might send an email or direct mail piece and then wait months before sending another one. Without consistency, your prospect has no idea who you are.

Furthermore, inconsistency can cause a perception of ineffectiveness. Nobody wants to buy from a company they don’t trust.

Second -establish your expertise

Too often entrepreneurs, struggling to survive, send emails and direct mail pieces simply to promote their products. Now, promoting your products is great. But you need to do a lot more than that with your marketing. Your marketing messages should be positioning you as a respected authority in your industry. Be sure to include testimonials, endorsements, and awards your company has won, along with your sales message.

Third – educate your prospects

Your follow-up must be informative. You need to provide valuable information. If you’re showing up with no value, you’ll wear out your welcome fast. You need to communicate that you are on their side and deserve to be trusted. You’ll accomplish this if you provide them with accurate, insightful information.

Just remember, when your marketing becomes consistent, promotes your expert status, and educates your prospects, you will soon have prospects knocking at your door, rather than you knocking at theirs.

Want a business solution to really explode your business growth? Marketing will do it for you!

If you want to be a successful business person, if you want to make money with your business, if you want to make a difference in your world, if you want to be successful, here are the 10 Business Solutions to Really Explode Your Business Growth!

1. Commit to continuous personal development
2. Train and develop your employees/team
3. Lead so others want to follow
4. Be flexible/adaptable in your business
5. Learn to be truly productive
6. Build a strong personal network around you
7. Understand the big picture of your business
8. Take action to keep you moving forward
9. Learn key business communications skills & use them
10. Market, market and then market some more

Now PLEASE go ahead and select the one business solution that will bring you the most results the fastest. Whichever one you choose you would be doing # 8…Isn’t that great?

Remember…If you do nothing you are actually going backwards because those taking action are passing you out…