Is it the time to make changes to your business?

Do you have a business not going in the positive way you expected? Have you started believing making small twists or big changes to your business makes it look more promising? I consider a blessing to have the courage to recognize change needs to happen in your business, your projects or in life. I picked this quote because it reminds me that change is not only needed, but a way to embrace perfection.

But what are some of the signs to look for in order to make a change?

You picked a niche you are not comfortable with

You knew it from the very beginning. You feel much more comfortable with a niche you are expert in, but you decided for one reason or another to go for something else. Remember that we all want to deal with experts. Experts are made after lots of work, experience and many problems solved so it doesn’t happen from night to day.  Every day in your business, you should feel you are at the right place at the right time, and if it isn’t you might have not identified your niche and there is some self-discovery to be done. You are on your way to happiness, so try a little harder.

Numbers don’t lie

When you look at numbers, they tell the story. You are probably looking at the sales and expenses numbers every day to see how the business is behaving, and even better if you are comparing them to the projections you made in the business plan. Remember a business exists to be profitable unless you don’t need the money at all. Go to your numbers again and understand what is working for you and what you are missing. When you really enjoy what you do, money just follows. The business has to serve a noble purpose by making people lives better, and you can only do that by performing activities you absolutely love. Again, it is about happiness so keep trying.

You feel as if you are in a vicious circle

You probably have taken all the right steps toward building a successful business. Maybe you followed good advice and you are applying it accordingly but for some reason it is just not working. You have your business plan, your steps are clear, you worked on your cash flow, have hired the right people, have a good product, you dedicate good time to network but it is simply not selling. Give yourself some months, but if after a year or so it is still not working, chances are you might be better off exploring other opportunities and switching gears. You can reuse many of the things you have invested in already, but some will have to definitely go and it will be for the best. Again, if you are doing what you know best, and you enjoy what you do, you cannot feel in a vicious circle, so this might be a sign you are in for a change.

The only way to understand when change needs to happen is making a commitment and setting deadlines to yourself and face reality when the time comes. Depending on the amount of your investment, changing direction in your business might not be easy or happen immediately but you need to be aware that it can happen and you will have to react quickly. Evaluating and thinking thoroughly on how things are going, sharing with an advisor, an accountant or a friend should be a good regular practice. Nobody wants to react when there is nothing left to rescue. Remember you were way more flexible than many other people by quitting your job and starting your new adventure. Keep going as you are in your way to be perfect. 

Why do I need a business niche?

If I had to ask you small business owner, what is the product do you offer, what would you say? According to studies, you only have 10 seconds to respond to make your answer memorable.

You may know you didn’t give a memorable answer if you spend more than a minute giving explanations and examples trying to sound convincing in the hopes that your listener starts making an idea on his own and put you out of the uncomfortable moment. Most importantly and worrisome is that fact that, if you listen closely, you are trying to convince yourself. A few questions may come up to your mind while you speak such as “do I really do that? Hmmm…sounds like a lot and really complicated, am I sure?” It happens more often that you think.

Then the polite answer from that person comes back usually with compliments and additional questions and everything seems fine. But the actual result is that person will forget very soon what you do and much more rapidly your name, and you will end up losing a potential client.

Most of us are scared of focusing in just one niche and saying we do just one thing. We do that because we have a natural and human tendency to widen the list of services we provide because we feel our chances to get more clients is bigger. That sounds logical, but is certainly not true.  Here is the ugly truth for you and me broken down in three jabs just to make it a little easier to breathe it in.

We are never memorable

By not having a niche and one only dedicated service, we lose the amazing opportunity to be remembered by our potential leads. Think about it, if you need an alteration or a financial planner, don’t you go in your mind thinking who gave you the best impression or who do you want to see again? It is true that we tend to use the services of people we like, but to have a shot of being even included in that list of prospective service lenders, we first have to be remembered. If a potential client cannot explain what you do, you won’t be remembered and you have the lowest chance of being selected.

We are seen suspicious

What do you think of someone that tells you he can excel in most sports? Please don’t tell me you don’t get a bit suspicious. We all would! That’s our human nature. We all want to work with the best tailor in the city or the best hair stylist. No one wants to have a hair cut with a hair stylist just graduated. If we cannot be seen as a specialist on something, chances are we won’t be able to concrete business with anyone no matter how great we are or how impeccable our work is.

We never make a difference

The fact that we don’t have a niche and mention the many different things we do makes us questionable as people wonder why us and not somebody else who does something similar. If by any chance, our message gets across correctly, potential clients will start wondering what makes us stand out from a crowd of many other professionals. We are not seen as a specialty and for that reason, we are also forgotten really soon.

So, before you do anything else related to your business, stop for a moment and analyze how you want to be known for, as this is the only chance you have to start and grow a business. Next time somebody asks what is your business about? Make sure you have a short convincing self-explanatory answer that elicits questions but does not leave any room for interpretation. Dare to be that needle in a haystack we are all looking for.