4 reasons why you are still stuck in startup phase

Most of the clients I work with are stuck in the startup phase of their business even though they could be in business for 1-3 years, 5, 10 or more. I used to think that startup was a certain period of time, say 5 years and have now been witness to entrepreneurs stuck there for the lifetime of their business.

It’s not a pretty place to be for an extended period. It usually means that you are putting in too much time, you are exhausted, you don’t feel confident investing in it anymore and you are struggling to find each customer. The inability to find the freedom you were dreaming about has put you at your wits end. When you aren’t fantasizing about your miracle solution, you think about quitting.

Clients in this phase are often experiencing these kinds of problems:

1) Fear of focusing on one kind of customer

It’s scary to feel like you are limiting your reach by talking to just one persona. You know that you have many and that they are a bit different so wouldn’t it make sense to keep your messaging and content general?

That sounds logical but it actually comes across boring. Picture a conversation you would have with a friend or colleague that you dumbed down so much that you could be talking to anyone. Would that have the same impact? No, you’d leave a pretty dull impression and that doesn’t convert.

2) Unprofessional relationships with existing customers

This problem is a completely missed opportunity that is super easy to remedy. Many of us cringe at the corporate way and the opposite of that is an unconfident and unprofessional client intakes, delivery of products and ongoing communication for really solid value. It’s a wasted opportunity to demonstrate your leadership and evoke confidence in your ability to deliver an amazing experience.

Which is what we all crave, leadership.

3) Underutilizing core abilities & unique strengths

A lot of entrepreneurs think they need to round out their strengths and become good at everything. This leads to wishy-washy impressions. It’s difficult to become a trusted authority or compelling leader in a narrow area of expertise when you don’t focus on what makes you special.

Knowing how you differentiate from your competition provides amazing insight into your where you need to position yourself in the market and that comes from knowing your strengths.

4) Engaging in too many marketing tactics

More marketing is super tempting but I find the more people do the less effective it is. Unless you have a team of supporters to do all kinds of things it’s best to focus on one or two tactics to build relationships.

Okay maybe three. Do them consistently and give valuable information in every single piece of communication staying focused on your core message.

If you can get beyond these four problems, you’ll be well on your way to busting out out of the stuck startup phase and growing a sustainable business that gives you freedom.

My goal is to help you figure out your key insights that you can leverage to create bigger, better results using up way less of your time. This starts with awareness of some of the problems you are facing.

Are these blocks are consistently coming up for you?

Let me know below what you really need to get past in order to stop getting in the way of your business growth.