No matter what stage you are in with your current remodeling and home improvement business, the principles I am about to share (if applied) will help you prepare for growth in your business. It’s amazing how many business owners I meet with who aren’t implementing any of the core principles I am about to share with you. In every market, ample opportunity exists to grow your business, but most are not prepared to take the plunge.
Preparing to grow is as important as generating the growth, and to actually grow your business you have to have the “mentality of growth”. You have to want to grow if you have any dreams at all of finding financial freedom and getting out of the craziness of “doing” vs. running your business. Think about it, if you don’t grow, you can’t hire more people, you can’t get stuff off your plate, and you can’t buy your dream home on the Maine coast (or insert big dream purchase here). Worst of all, you probably can never sell the business you created. No business buyer that I know of wants to buy a business that has flat or decreasing sales year after year.
Find out the 5 Things You Need to Do to Prepare for Growth in Your Remodeling Business:
1) Focus on One Thing at a Time
Its truly amazing how many business owners I meet who run themselves ragged each and every day. Jumping from one task to the next and not really ever feeling like they accomplish anything. They are mentally drained, moody, ineffective, and the passion for what they are doing is slipping away. Stop being the “everything” to your business and focus in on one thing at a time. Instead of trying to get 3 things done at the same time, hammer out one specific task until its 80-90% done, or what we call “Good Enough”.
I will talk more about this in #2, but the successful business owners and entrepreneurs have mastered the art of getting stuff done, shutting off all distractions (phone, email, co-workers, internet, etc) and once that task is good enough, move onto something else.
2) Good Enough is Good Enough
Too many business owners procrastinate on getting specific high priority stuff done. And when they do get the time to actually work on something in their business, they want it to be perfect. Perfection is not a bad thing unless it’s preventing you from ever getting anything done. Most of the time, 80-90% completion on a task/business process/sales process/marketing strategy is going to be good enough to get you going and get you results. Get it out there and start using it and tweak it down the road as you get feedback from your employees or prospects.
Now, I am not suggesting that you settle for mediocrity in anything you do. But I would bet that most of you, when you are focused, produce better than average “stuff” and that “stuff” when integrated into your business should help you grow. From sales process checklists to marketing plans to implementing your internet marketing strategy, someone needs to be leading that charge or at least outlining what needs to be done. That person is typically you so get producing!
3) Become the Go-To Expert in Your Industry
Having a great product and great service is only half the battle in your market. Most companies have a pretty good product that would satisfy 80% of the market, while 20% of the market needs something a little more exclusive. What market are you trying to serve? If you are like most companies, you are going after the same 80% and it can get very competitive. You need to become the expert in your industry.
Designate someone within your business, preferably the owner or the guy/gal who’s blood, sweat, and tears has manifested the company, as the expert. This person needs to be producing awesome content in your blog on a regular basis, or hiring someone who can ghost write for them. In the timber frame market this is a little difficult because it truly is a very specific housing niche and not every writer can speak to this market. Also, consider writing a book or producing a “shook” (10-15 short book) that positions your company as the go-to-expert in your market.
There are lots of ways to craft yourself as the expert in your market like:
- Podcasts
- Start a Radio Show
- Articles
- Blogging
- Create a Book
- Webinars
- Social Media
- Instructional Videos
- Seminars
I think you get the idea. Decide what platform or combination of platforms work best for you and start positioning yourself as the expert in your market before your competitors beat you to it. You need that platform to position yourself and the longer you wait to do this the harder it gets. Reverse engineer the people you look up to in your industry and see if you can implement some or all of what they are doing.
4) Put on a Show
No one wants to cold call or chase prospects around. You have to be properly positioned in your market to have people knocking down your door to do business with you. Become the business they remember for all the right reasons. Send your top prospects a digital book with virtual tours showcasing the lifestyle your prospects want with, and include a bottle of wine. Get creative with your “show: and I guarantee it will pay off. Think outside the box when it comes to putting on your show. The cost to acquire one new customer in the your market is probably not cheap and its not getting any cheaper. You have to maximize the potential of every prospect that you come in contact with. Positioning yourself as the expert and putting on that show will separate you from the crowd.
5) Creating Better Systems
More business owners moan and groan about this than anything else I suggest they do. You need to implement systems for everything you are doing, and create systems on how to create systems. Everything in your business needs a specific process for how it is going to get done. From hiring to firing to sales and marketing, and crafting the perfect customer experience, all need systems. I highly recommend you read “The Checklist Manifesto” by Atul Gawande. This book goes into great detail on how to create great checklists for everything you do. Remember, if you don’t have the grow mentality, you are not working on your product, you are not building systems to scale efficiently, and you are becoming less relevant in your market.
Your top competitors are growing which makes it even harder for you to continue on with the status quo. Why?
Because they are getting more and more market share, so even if you are happy with the way things are, you won’t be for long. Having the growth mentality will eventually lead you to creating a great lifestyle for you and your employees and get you out of the chaos. There is no business that I know of that is static. Things are constantly changing and unless you adapt to change, and adapt fast, be prepared to be disappointed some day down the road when your competitors are 100 miles ahead, if they aren’t already.
Need more help growing your remodeling business? Take advantage of all the FREE resources I have on www.RyanPaulAdams.com and my download my "3 Killer Ways to Grow Your Remodeling Business" today.
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