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3 Reasons You’re Not Making Business Profits (And How To Avoid Them)

Stories from the crypt of online marketing n. 17

Stop doing these 3 useless things in your business to start making a net profit!

“Do not waste, do not want.” “Don’t lose your breath.” “What a waste of time / space / energy.”

The list goes on and I’m sure you’ve heard or said several of these idioms over the years.

Being the system personality type that I am, wasting time is one of the things that annoys me the most.

Growing up on the farm, my dad decided he wanted to control the thistles that were starting to take over the grasses. I guess pesticides didn’t exist back then, but child labor did!

One summer he put me to work pulling each and every thistle … by hand. Armed with adult-size leather gloves, I sat in the field grasping the large spiny stalks at the base and pulled with all my might to free those suckers from their clutches. I had to make sure every part of the root was captured; otherwise the grass would grow back.

I worked all summer on that project (or so my childhood memory has held true). It was a large patch of nettles with thick vines firmly implanted in the hard soil, so they were not so easy for this 10-year-old boy to pull out.

Of course, next summer they all returned to continue their dominance of the field.

What a colossal waste of time.

Have you ever felt like you’ve wasted too much of something in your business? When marketing the services we provide, you will often hear me encourage business owners to stop wasting three things:

1. Wasting time

2. Spend money

3. Waste of energy

Let’s explore each of these areas and see if something sounds familiar to you.

Wasting time

One of the biggest problems that I see entrepreneurs having is wasting time trying to learn and do something that is outside their area of ​​expertise.

Somewhere along the way, women especially, it occurred to us that we should know how to do everything that goes into building a business.

How is that possible?

Even if you had an MBA, would you know HOW to do everything? They would certainly know WHAT to do, but I do not dispute how.

That is why businesses cannot be built with just one person. They need a team.

Companies should delegate to people who have expertise in areas the founder does not have. And no, the DIY tools that are available don’t cut the mustard. The fact that I can use a calculator does not make me a mathematician.

In the end, you don’t know what you don’t know and that’s okay. Nothing happens to you. You simply need to learn to delegate!

I asked other business owners in a Facebook group if I belong to what they found a waste in their business and throughout this article you will hear their responses.

This one from Christine Awram, founder of Woman of Worth, shares her valuable lesson on trying to do everything herself:

“Wearing too many hats and not focusing on what I’m brightest, letting others shine their specific brilliance in areas I’m not that strong in. Doing everything and / or micromanaging comes at a price, primarily burnout and inadvertently upsetting people. LOL. This was a difficult lesson for me many years ago when I thought I was a superwoman and could do everything. “

Another time waster that I certainly fell for is attending countless webinars and seminars. And I am not the only one! NLP Trainer and Master Coach Teri Holland wrote:

“I wasted a lot of time and money on weekend seminars that didn’t offer any value, but I felt a ‘FOMO’ feeling if I didn’t attend. Every time I was feeling deflated, the seminar didn’t deliver what was promised and was just an argument from sale for a larger program.

And there are some good ones too! I’m just getting pickier about where I spend my time and money now and stopped chasing the next brilliant offer. “

Jenn Biddlecombe of Inner City Flooring in Coquitlam mentioned a waste of time that she may have also experienced:

“At first, I wasted energy trying to get my family to support my business. You and only you are the only one who cares about your success.”

Wasting money

I mean, who hasn’t wasted money while pursuing their dream business? Surely yes!

Like Teri, I spent a lot of money on courses and programs that didn’t deliver as promised. Hell, I could have taught those courses myself and added even more value while doing it!

Besides spending money on courses and programs, there are other areas that could be sucking your money out of your net earnings.

One of them that I have experienced is hiring the wrong people for our team. Whether hiring an employee, contractor, or subcontractor, this can be a very costly mistake if due diligence is not done to ensure the right person is chosen.

And I am not the only one! Martin Jongejan, owner of ZOOM Home Cleaning Experts expressed his frustrations in this area:

“Spending too much time and effort on my team members who wanted to be successful in their role, more than they wanted to be successful in their role. It was like trying to push a rope. I can’t underestimate the importance of having people on their team. who gets it, who wants it and who is capable of doing it “.

And Renata Kobek from Kobek Immigrations has a similar experience:

“Paying for unsatisfactory professional services and spending too much time trying to make sure everything is perfect.”

Black Sheep Business Consulting Business Management Consultant Kevin Foreman shared a valuable lesson he learned about wasting money:

“I have wasted more in business through capital. This underscores the need for ample financial resources, as not all investments in your business will pay off. Some people like to say ‘no money is needed to start or grow a business’, but they couldn’t be more wrong. You need a lot of money, because even the strongest companies waste a lot of capital. The loss of opportunity from not wasting capital is less than the opportunity to gain market share, which is obtained by wasting something of capital “.

Ultimately, in order to grow a business, it is important to make sure that everything you are investing money in has an ROI (return on investment). If that investment – like a fancy new phone, a program that teaches you skills outside of your area of ​​expertise, or a state-of-the-art camera – can’t make you money, reconsider and use those funds for something. that it will.

Wasting the effort

Sometimes we don’t realize how valuable the effort is. It’s not tangible or measurable, but when it comes to a push, it’s extremely valuable.

Effort is a resource that we must hold onto and ensure that it is used with the right intentions.

Achieving our goals is one of those intentions. Do you have your business goals defined? What do you want to achieve in the next 6 months? For next year? 5 years from now?

If you haven’t set your goals, then you could be wasting a lot of effort chasing unreachable dreams.

Or maybe you have goals in mind, but have you planned how to achieve them? What does it take to achieve those goals?

This is where knowing your numbers is also imperative. If you don’t know your numbers, then you are wasting a lot of effort playing your business.

This example of Marcel Barker with Tammi Anne Barker wasted a lot of effort trying to sell before really understanding what they were selling:

“Our biggest waste of time, energy and money comes from not fully understanding the life cycle of our product and when we should be doing what. We would generate a ton of social media hype long before we figured out what we were selling and how it was done. When I finally sat down to write a proper business plan, I did my research and wrote a complete and very detailed walkthrough from start to finish, taking a collection through a lofty concept -> design -> development -> launch -> sale – > production. It revealed a lot of what we had been doing wrong. “

Chasing those shiny objects that flood each of us. Unique. Day. It can be very tempting when we don’t know our numbers and we have a business and marketing plan to follow.

And so we take a complete turn.

Wasting valuable time, money, and effort trying to build a successful and sustainable business.

Does any of this sound familiar to you?

Need help getting on track and sticking to a solid plan for your business instead of playing at it? I offer free 30 minute consultations for business owners like you and invite you to book an appointment so I can help you get on the right path to building your dream business.

For the success of your business,

Susan

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES ON OUR WEBSITE:

1. Read: Business shiny and shiny object syndrome exposition. There is an insidious parody happening to entrepreneurs with the shiny, shiny object syndrome. What you need to know before enrolling in another program.

2. Read: Why focus is the number one factor in your business success. Are you distracted by shiny objects? If you are busy pursuing different projects seeking business success, you should always ask yourself these questions posed by guest author Cheryl Bishop.

3. Look: Why business plans are essential. You have heard about the importance of business plans, but do you know why they are so essential? My guest Pamela Chatry shares valuable information about business plans.

4. See: Simplify and demystify the business plan. Creating a business plan doesn’t have to be scary or overwhelming. My guest Pamela Chatry covers the important components that are part of a business plan.

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