Just What Is Your Business?
Sometimes you just have to get back to the beginning of things before you get a clear view of just what’s going on. This end-of-the-year season is a good time to do that.
As businesses survive, and grow, and prosper they begin to take on lives of their own. Sometimes, five years after the initial startup, the business is not necessarily where it might have been predicted to be. That’s because if it is changing as the changes around it dictate, then it is always evolving toward opportunity.
So why not ask a few questions to see just where the business is? These two will no doubt spark lots of thought, and hopefully discussions, among the key players in your company.
- What are you selling?
- Who is buying it?
It’s tempting to provide the quick answers based upon what you’d like to believe. I’m a contractor and I’m selling new homes. The people who want to buy them are people who are moving up from their initial starter.
Great. Now, look at what’s really going on. Are you really just selling new homes, or has the business picked up sidelines and added other aspects? How have the new homes changed? Have they gradually gotten smaller, or have they grown in size? Are you building more inner city, or have you started working exclusively for a suburban developer? Just who are the customers? Are you actually selling move-ups, or have there been some new kinds of customers who have begun to show up?
Many times you may find you aren’t selling what you thought you were selling. That is a key discovery since if you don’t have a clear idea of what your product is, it’s pretty hard to market it. Likewise, your customers may turn out to be someone other than who you thought they were. If you are marketing to the wrong crowd then sales will be hard to come by.
