Not being consistent.
It’s the small things that are not so insignificant that result in small businesses failing, and the biggest contributor to this is the lack of systemized processes to sell, serve, and manage customers. Having good systems in place is the reason why Amazon, Walmart, and Costco can be so massive and have a (mostly) stellar reputation. In fact, if you were to look at Yelp.com and read reviews, you’ll often see that the businesses that attract the most complaints are the small businesses, and the ones that don’t are large stores.
So much for the myth that small business provides better service.
The big thing that all of them have are clear policies (such as return policies) and a certain level of consistency. McDonalds produces a pretty mediocre product, but whether you’re in NYC or Bangkok a Big Mac is going to taste exactly the same.
You need to have a system.
If you haven’t read Michael Gerber’s E-Myth I’d recommend that you check it out. Michael makes a very persuasive argument about how business that operate like franchises have a much higher success rate. Most importantly, he talks about the technician’s curse where business owners, who are very technically inclined at working in the business, need to work on the business. For a book written in the 1980s the main gist of the book is just as relevant today at then.
It’s easier than ever to build it.
Yes, I’m in the automation game, and yes it’s my business, but I truly believe that the work of automation can let businesses systemize the most effectively. In fact, Michael Gerber is a spokesperson for Infusionsoft, one of the most prolific (albeit, very expensive) marketing automation systems for small businesses.
Yes, it has another name, Confusionsoft, but it’s best to think of any sort of automation system and compare it to the difficulties of training a new staff member. In this context, the complexity of marketing automation systems begins to look a lot simpler. Having said that, I often recommend other platforms for small businesses because the feature set of most systems exceeds what most businesses need.
But it’s not easy.
The problem is that when you’re rolling out an automation system, you’ll be working in the business not on the business. You’ll be faced with not only learning both the new software and the best practices. But there is a solution:
Book your free, no obligation, consultation. We’ll build out a powerful system and you can use it with any provider of your choosing. It doesn’t have to be me, but I want to help you succeed.