3 Common Obstacles to Growing Your Service Based Business
Summary:
Service based business owners are exceptional. They have incredible knowledge about the services they provide and the expertise needed to create raving fans and repeat customers. However, when it comes to growing their business, they often get stuck. In this article, I share 3 obstacles that small business owners often state as reasons for being unable to grow their business and the steps they can take to achieve the growth they desire.
I have the immense pleasure of working with a diverse group of business owners making a unique difference in their communities and lives of their clients. From bakery owners to financial service providers to business coaches, many business owners and entrepreneurs start out because they have a dream of making an impact while achieving financial and time freedom for themselves and their family.
Expertise and a dream, while both invaluable to starting a successful business, is only part of the equation when wanting to grow and scale that business. Taking that next step can be tricky and a bit scary because it’s new territory, they’ve never been there before. Knowing the right steps to take and in what order to grow and scale is often where business owners get stuck.
3 Obstacles to Growing Your Service Based Business
In my experience, small business owners experience three main obstacles to growing their business that cause them to be stuck and not know what to do to take their business to the next level.
Obstacle 1: Knowing What To Do When
“Where do I start?” Business owners have a tendency to get stuck in the busyness of their business. They are spending more time in their business than working on their business and therefore become more reactionary than strategic. The minute you get out of strategy, you get out of that strategic intentional driver's seat of your business, you start having more problems, more fires, and many more hurdles to overcome on your growth journey. Getting back in the driver’s seat and strategically focusing on your business will help you see what you need to focus on first, second and third AND what you need to stop doing.
Obstacle 2: Having the Money to Invest When You Need It
The second obstacle, if you will, is getting stuck between a rock and a hard spot. The rock is money and the hard spot is time. Most of us get into business to grow and when we think about growth, we think about more clients, more money, more revenue. Often business owners find themselves in this spot of not having enough leftover to be able to fund the things they need - new team members, new marketing, new technology, things that would make it easier to do your job. On the other hand, you're so busy serving the people that you're serving, that you don't have time to do it all yourself anymore. This is being stuck between a rock and a hard place.
To get unstuck, business owners need to find a way to get the cash flowing so they can invest in the most important next steps to growth.Join Our Free Community
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Obstacle 3: Focusing on Things That Move the Needle
Your business is unique, unlike any other and what has worked for other businesses may not work for you. When we don’t have clarity on our next step, we have a tendency to look around us and try to implement what has worked for others in our own business. It’s a natural tendency - we are bombarded with one hit wonders and magical formulas. Stop. Just stop. Just because they worked for someone else, doesn’t mean you can apply the formula to your business and get results. So many business owners have become deflated, lost confidence and money by following someone else’s plan.
Creating a strategic, customized plan for your business that takes into account your business needs, cash flow and uniqueness is the only way to effectively and efficiently grow your business. You have to get into the driver's seat, shift into gear and focus on the unique service you provide, the resources you have at your disposal and create a clear, custom plan for growth. Doing so will help you get unstuck and moving in the right direction.
Leslie Hassler
Leslie Hassler is a popular author and speaker who spends much of her time coaching business owners on how to run their growing businesses by their rules. Delivering high-touch, personalized service, Leslie works with her clients as a partner, not just a consultant (who would pop in, tell you what to do, then leave).
Leslie teaches her clients a structured way to decide what to do first, second, next -- and never – in their businesses, so that they can learn to do it for themselves.
Leslie lives in Dallas with her husband and two kids, so she knows it’s not just about growing the business – it’s about getting the business ship shape so it grows and you can be home in time for dinner.
Leslie speaks on topics such as business leadership, prioritizing the business owner’s To Do list, and how to create and implement a strategic plan for growth.
If you’d like to have Leslie come speak to your group or organization, or present at your event, inquire here.