3 Essential Elements for creating a Predictable, Profitable and Sustainable Business
Have you ever felt that your business lacks momentum? Do you feel overwhelmed or even underpaid? This could be because your business goes through a cycle of unpredictable, then unprofitable, then unsustainable.
For example, if like many, you work mostly on weddings, you probably endure this same rollercoaster of uncertainty every year. No wonder you’re exhausted. No wonder you feel like you're not getting anywhere!
It's all about balance
It’s quite possible that your misplaced mojo is down to one of three essential elements: a predictable business gives you confidence. A sustainable business gives you clarity. A profitable business gives you cash. And when you have all three? Well, that’s up to you.
Each of the three elements requires a different skillset and approach in order to fulfil the potential of your business. However, together they only work best when you have equilibrium. Each part needs an equal amount of your attention. Often I find business owners who are doing well in one area but neglecting the others that they find more difficult, so they never reach their full potential.
Getting the balance right is essential to creating a steady upward spiral of growth. If one of the elements is out of sync with the others the cracks will quickly start to show. If it goes on for too long, eventually it will affect the other areas of the
business and you’ll be in a tailspin heading for certain doom. Ironically, the better you are with any two elements the more you need to work on the third. If you don’t maintain the balance you’ll be back on that downward spiral.
Take a read through each of the elements below and identify which are the biggest problems for you and your business right now. Once you’ve identified your weakest element, figure out what you can do to pick things up. Then get to work – before it's too late!
Establish balance. Then you can work on making small improvements to each of the elements one by one to create a more profitable, more predictable and more sustainable business.
ELEMENT 1: STRATEGY
It makes sense that we start with this element first, since, if you’re looking to improve your business, you need to start at the beginning by attracting the right clients. You could be an amazing DJ, have all the tools and be a charismatic salesman but if you’re casting your net in the wrong water you’ll never haul in enough fish to meet your needs. Imagine the scenario: your customer service skills are second to none and you’re a fantastic DJ. You earn yourself a small group of raving fans who are always happy to refer friends and family to you. Sounds like a perfect business, right? The problem is that referrals aren’t predictable, you never know when the next one will come. So, you need a strategy to attract a never-ending stream of enquiries.
This was one of the biggest obstacles I had when I wanted to go full time with my wedding DJ business. I didn’t have a strategy that consistently delivered a steady stream of leads, which meant it was difficult, if not impossible, to predict the future of my business. These days our marketing strategy delivers more leads than we can actually provide services for, so I never have to wonder where the next booking is coming from.
Bottom line: Do you need a strategy to attract your ideal clients/quality leads?
Symptoms (without a strategy)
No momentum
Feels like you’re not getting anywhere
Feast or famine (especially with weddings)
General lack of cash in the bank
Solutions (with a strategy)
Makes it predictable
Helps you to sell without selling
Less stress
More confident about the future
Think about:
Who are your ideal customers?
What can you do to get your message in front of them more consistently?
How many more leads do you need to grow your business to the level you want?
ELEMENT 2: SYSTEMS
Once you’ve defined your strategy and implemented a steady flow of leads, you need to create an efficient and effective system for turning leads into high paying clients. Designing a system for dealing with each and every lead will make your life easier and help ensure you’re not leaving money on the table.
You could well be generating a steady stream of quality leads, perhaps via a snazzy website or paid marketing campaign as well as referrals, but not converting these into customers. Without a proper sales system, you probably fail to follow up. And when you do manage to speak to a potential client, all you talk about is when, where and how much. Then it all goes quiet. When you finally get a booking, they just want the cheapest option and you can forget the extras!
Having a proper sales system will save you time and means you never forget to follow up. Your conversion conversations will flow and naturally open up your clients to the potential of your top-tier packages, meaning you take more bookings at a higher price.
A sales system also allows you to increase your marketing activity and still handle the extra enquiries you generate. Regardless of how many leads your marketing strategy is generating, the right sales system is where you really make your money.
Bottom line: Does your sales system need more sizzle to turn those quality leads into high-paying clients and more money in the bank?
Symptoms (without a system)
Feeling down and unmotivated
Stuck doing the same old gigs
Underpaid, taking low paid bookings
Solutions (with a system)
Makes it profitable
Takes the pressure off
Guides the conversation seamlessly towards higher-value packages
Think about:
How do you sell right now?
What are the steps in-between the initial enquiry and becoming a paying client?
How can you make it easy and repeatable?
ELEMENT 3: PROCESS
For example, if like many, you work mostly on weddings, you probably endure this same rollercoaster of uncertainty every year. No wonder you’re exhausted. No wonder you feel like you're not getting anywhere!
It's all about balance
It’s quite possible that your misplaced mojo is down to one of three essential elements: a predictable business gives you confidence. A sustainable business gives you clarity. A profitable business gives you cash. And when you have all three? Well, that’s up to you.
Each of the three elements requires a different skillset and approach in order to fulfil the potential of your business. However, together they only work best when you have equilibrium. Each part needs an equal amount of your attention. Often I find business owners who are doing well in one area but neglecting the others that they find more difficult, so they never reach their full potential.
Getting the balance right is essential to creating a steady upward spiral of growth. If one of the elements is out of sync with the others the cracks will quickly start to show. If it goes on for too long, eventually it will affect the other areas of the
business and you’ll be in a tailspin heading for certain doom. Ironically, the better you are with any two elements the more you need to work on the third. If you don’t maintain the balance you’ll be back on that downward spiral.
Take a read through each of the elements below and identify which are the biggest problems for you and your business right now. Once you’ve identified your weakest element, figure out what you can do to pick things up. Then get to work – before it's too late!
Establish balance. Then you can work on making small improvements to each of the elements one by one to create a more profitable, more predictable and more sustainable business.
ELEMENT 1: STRATEGY
It makes sense that we start with this element first, since, if you’re looking to improve your business, you need to start at the beginning by attracting the right clients. You could be an amazing DJ, have all the tools and be a charismatic salesman but if you’re casting your net in the wrong water you’ll never haul in enough fish to meet your needs. Imagine the scenario: your customer service skills are second to none and you’re a fantastic DJ. You earn yourself a small group of raving fans who are always happy to refer friends and family to you. Sounds like a perfect business, right? The problem is that referrals aren’t predictable, you never know when the next one will come. So, you need a strategy to attract a never-ending stream of enquiries.
This was one of the biggest obstacles I had when I wanted to go full time with my wedding DJ business. I didn’t have a strategy that consistently delivered a steady stream of leads, which meant it was difficult, if not impossible, to predict the future of my business. These days our marketing strategy delivers more leads than we can actually provide services for, so I never have to wonder where the next booking is coming from.
Bottom line: Do you need a strategy to attract your ideal clients/quality leads?
Symptoms (without a strategy)
No momentum
Feels like you’re not getting anywhere
Feast or famine (especially with weddings)
General lack of cash in the bank
Solutions (with a strategy)
Makes it predictable
Helps you to sell without selling
Less stress
More confident about the future
Think about:
Who are your ideal customers?
What can you do to get your message in front of them more consistently?
How many more leads do you need to grow your business to the level you want?
ELEMENT 2: SYSTEMS
Once you’ve defined your strategy and implemented a steady flow of leads, you need to create an efficient and effective system for turning leads into high paying clients. Designing a system for dealing with each and every lead will make your life easier and help ensure you’re not leaving money on the table.
You could well be generating a steady stream of quality leads, perhaps via a snazzy website or paid marketing campaign as well as referrals, but not converting these into customers. Without a proper sales system, you probably fail to follow up. And when you do manage to speak to a potential client, all you talk about is when, where and how much. Then it all goes quiet. When you finally get a booking, they just want the cheapest option and you can forget the extras!
Having a proper sales system will save you time and means you never forget to follow up. Your conversion conversations will flow and naturally open up your clients to the potential of your top-tier packages, meaning you take more bookings at a higher price.
A sales system also allows you to increase your marketing activity and still handle the extra enquiries you generate. Regardless of how many leads your marketing strategy is generating, the right sales system is where you really make your money.
Bottom line: Does your sales system need more sizzle to turn those quality leads into high-paying clients and more money in the bank?
Symptoms (without a system)
Feeling down and unmotivated
Stuck doing the same old gigs
Underpaid, taking low paid bookings
Solutions (with a system)
Makes it profitable
Takes the pressure off
Guides the conversation seamlessly towards higher-value packages
Think about:
How do you sell right now?
What are the steps in-between the initial enquiry and becoming a paying client?
How can you make it easy and repeatable?
ELEMENT 3: PROCESS
