Four Components of a Successful Small Business
by Lisa Princic
A successful small business must have 4 things in their corner – product, market, money & people.
Whether you’re a startup looking for venture capital or you want to become a successful small business all on your own, there are a few basic – but important – components every business must have.
This four component formula is used by high growth business but they need to be in place for ANY business to grow consistently.
Venture Capitalists will only invest in a business if all these factors exist. Are YOU going to invest in your own business without these?
Here’s the quick and dirty breakdown:
Product — a clear offer, better if it solves a specific problem and is easy to describe.
Market — a market for the product means people need it, want it and get it. It’s best if there’s already proof that demand for it exists.
Money — the owners must have enough money available to keep funding the business while it’s in startup mode. (Many businesses fail because they run out of money and underestimate the time it takes to get their product in front of the right buyers.)
People — execution is everything. Ideas are cheap. It’s the action that follows them that makes a business work. A business can have all the three above and still fail without people who are tenacious, curious and ready to carry out under all kinds of circumstances.
Ready to dive deep?
Product — a clear offer that solves a specific problem at a reasonable price
Create Better Services
For a small business to grow and thrive, it has to be offering clear, demonstrable (even obvious), products and services to its clients. Products that are superior to what is already in the market is an added advantage. This can is what will help your brand stand out.
If you’re selling a service, your words are your biggest asset. Connecting with your prospects using relatable language will help them know, like and trust you.
Demonstrating a problem your customers and potential customers have is where this starts. The problem needs to have a complex enough level of difficulty that people struggle to solve, and you must look like the best person for the job.
In other words, you need to identify a market gap (niche) that is yet to be filled, or has room for a better solution. Use the opportunity to describe to your customers how well your product will solve their problems- save time, improve health, save money, improve the productivity of business, quality of life, to mention a few.
The world marketplace is huge. Burning and specific needs are easiest to target vs. general problems.
Optimize your offers
Start your business by establishing high-quality specialized services, and keep it that way until you hit the low 6 figure mark.
This may include concentrating on specified solutions or beginning by focusing on a narrow niches.
When your signature service is selling consistently, it could be time to develop another offer. But try to wait until delivery of the first one is running smoothly.
Consider premium pricing
Properly determined price is essential for maximizing marginal revenue. Typically, prices are inversely related to sales volume. What that means is you need to sell more of lower priced services to stay afloat.
Keep your prices high enough to give you a healthy profit, and reasonable enough to keep your clients returning.
Market — people know the product exists and want it
A simple marketing plan
The world of business is competitive, and so should you be. Marketing strategy should be among your central focus. Know which channels you need to establish a strong presence for people to develop awareness about your brand. They need to include your target customers.
Have a specific message about your products and services to showcase in the marketplace, that’s effective enough to intrigue prospects and turn them into paying customers.
Good marketing strategy and captivating messaging gives your product solid traction in reaching the marketplace. Make your case highly convincing by showing the world that you already have customers lined up to buy from you.
Make sure you’re successfully moving people through all the phases of your marketing funnel, and fill any major holes where people are losing their interest along the way.
Evaluate marketing performance
Evaluate your marketing strategy on a regular basis. Know what’s working, compare results and use the information to double down on the successful customer acquisition methods and drop expensive channels that aren’t working. Proper reviewing will help you answer the following questions:
- Are your prices competitive?
- Is your brand & messaging positioning you as an authority?
- Are your customers fully satisfied?
- Does your product leave them with the need to come back?
- Is your funnel working?
Maintain the customers you already have and use them to promote your products
Keep selling to your current customers and work extra hard to satisfy them. They are your biggest brand advocates.
Don’t get busy reaching for new ones and neglect the ones you already have. Getting new customers is expensive. Use your direct interactions to promote your products and ask customers to encourage others to try your products as well. Get case studies from those who are excelling as a result of your help.
This is an inexpensive but powerful tool, especially if you can build strong customer relations from the very beginning.
Money — a practical plan to finance your business during its start-up mode
Financial projections
A good financial plan is a projection of how well thought out the business plan is. It can also predict how well your venture stands the hardship of the lean months or even years. A startup doesn’t earn profits right away and it may take time for substantial returns to be seen.
When it comes to financing your business, never rely on hope or vision. Make sure you’re prepared. Gather facts and make credible assumptions. If you don’t know where to begin. Ask seasoned peers to share their experiences and words of wisdom.
Understand your numbers
Whether your business is at its inception stage or it’s up and running, failing to understand financial repercussions on your daily operations is a grave mistake. For newer business, you must be prepared to run a business without making substantial cash inflow.
This requires figuring out the period you can operate safely before you can make a substantial profit, and how much money you can afford to spend, to keep your business surviving during lean times. I highly recommend using the Profit First method.
Create one recurring revenue stream
Counting on one source (a single product, customer, service, etc.) to fund your entire business is risky. Keep growing your tribe of loyal customers and, if relevant, create a recurring revenue model (such as a membership program) to create consistent income.
Experiment with creating new offers for currents so you can keep serving their needs as they grow.
People — investing in the team of people who can take your business to the next level
Leadership team (you!)
The fourth major area worthy of investment and often overlooked, is you and your partners. There are endless business ideas roaming around out there but it takes people to implement them.
That often means having the tenacity to get through the hundreds (sometimes thousands) of roadblocks that we face as owners.
Your strength, mindset and tenacity will get you through those setbacks faster and your curiosity will find you a better solution. One you may not have considered before the setback but gives you a superior product, delivery, campaign or support to go further.
Never underestimate your own personal power and abilities to persevere and reach your goals. It’s all up to you.
Hire rockstars
Whatever you can’t do well yourself, you need to find others who are the best at doing those tasks.
Your people are some of the most important assets to your business. Having the right people who share your goals and have a vision that is aligned with that of your business is the final ingredient to a successful business venture.
Customers buy from people, so you need to find people who can help in branding and building your business, who are ready to do whatever it takes to create a strong relationship with customers and nurture loyalty.
Accompanied by the first three essential components, a passionate team that is willing to go the extra mile under all circumstances to make the customers happy and the business flourish is what will help you create, build and sustain a successful business.
Your nexts steps for building a brand that grows with more flow than hustle
Ready to build your successful business model?
- Start by learning how to package & price irresistible offers that sell. It’s the first step to building models designed for profit, growth and fulfillment. Use the Hours to Outcomes Pricing & Packaging to develop irresistible offers. This is the foundation for a strong business – happy clients.
- Once you have offers that are clear and compelling your job is to articulate the value of the transformation they’ll deliver. That’s when you create messaging that helps prospects get clear on what you can do for them and keeps them on your site. Learn how to write connection-driven copy with the Brave Messaging Toolkit.
- Now you’re ready for to kick up the visibility, but first, understanding your marketing funnel is critical to making it work for you. The Scaling Deep Marketing Roadmap will help you walk through the steps prospects take to get to know, like and trust you before they buy.
Lisa Princic is a Business Strategist & Membership Expert who helps thought leaders & niche experts build wildly successful memberships while making a positive impact. She helps entrepreneurs scale with powerful positioning & profitable programs designed around their zone of genius. A staunch believer in simplicity, Lisa helps her clients accomplish their goals by focusing on what to do AND what to ignore.
