Business Success Depends on Support and Knowing Your Numbers
We firmly believe that knowing your numbers is the number one way to grow a business and keep your dream alive. When you started your business, you set out to change the world with your product or service and you embarked upon the adventure of being a business owner. I bet you have encountered a few challenges and surprises along the way. Maybe, those bumps put your dream on the slow track and you’ve lost a little of your spark. Jump starting dreams is what we do at Allison Maslan International. Over the last 10 years we’ve helped business owners not only jump start their dream, but leverage that success and create solid, thriving businesses. It is one thing to have a dream, it is another to have a plan that supports that dream and allows it to flourish. The truth is, business success depends on support and knowing your numbers.
Don’t do it alone. Get support.
All major businesses have advisers who help them plan and execute their business strategies. Your business idea might be unique and brilliant, but without proper guidance, you could find yourself spending money and spinning your wheels. No matter what your business is, a proper support network is crucial. We believe in the power of the Mastermind and direct, one-on-one coaching strategy with an expert. The collective mastermind is essential to helping you with accountability and support and a top notch strategist can keep you out of the weeds. For more information on how we do it, click here.
Focus on sales.
Let’s face it, making money and living your dream is exciting. Too many business owners push sales to the end of their development when building a business. I’m not saying you shouldn’t have a great platform and a good website and a solid plan. But I am saying that those tasks should be happening the same time you are developing your sales plan. People get stuck in logo development, website building and all the other items of building a business and often delay sales until everything is finished. Let me tell you this: it’s never perfect or finished. Ever.
Measure everything.
From the moment you start your business, there are things to measure. Sales, leads, calls, clicks and conversions, views…you name it, every aspect of your business can be and probably should be measured. Here are the important ones to monitor that will keep your dream alive.
What to measure? Revenue, expenses, cost to acquire a customer, lifetime value of a customer and lead list size.
- Revenue: By getting clear on how much money you are generating vs. how much you are spending, you will get a clear picture of your operating costs. More than likely, these numbers will help you tighten up expenses and maybe get more creative with bringing revenue in. You should have a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly spreadsheet.
- Expenses: How much are you spending? A simple review of your bank and credit card statements will give you the numbers you need.
- CAC: One very important number is the CAC. How much does it cost for you to get ONE customer? CAC = All Sales & Marketing Expenses / # of New Customers
- Some common sales & marketing expenses includes: paid advertisement, sales and marketing staff salaries, CRM and marketing automation software licenses, events, sponsorships, gifts to customers, content production, social media, web site maintenance and more.
- LVC: Lifetime Value of the Customer
- Roughly defined, LTV is the projected revenue that a customer will generate during their lifetime. How much can you expect to earn from one customer? What is the sales cycle after the first purchase? How do you move them through the funnel for future purchases and how much money will the average customer spend with you in their lifetime? Here’s a simple formula to calculate this number:
- (Average Value of a Sale) X (Number of Repeat Transactions) X (Average Retention Time in Months or Years for a Typical Customer)
- Lead List Size: How many prospects are you adding to your funnel daily? Hint: that number should grow daily. Keeping track of the number of fresh leads will help you streamline your prospecting activities and create more ways for those leads to get into your funnel. List size matters in most businesses and a business without a growing list will soon exhaust what they do have and end up in crisis.
So, are you counting the right things? Are you measuring daily? Do you know your numbers? Success is a numbers game. Get the support you need to create the strategies required to see those numbers GROW. Don’t go it alone. Don’t neglect your sales process because you are building other important systems in your business. Your systems must run parallel to your sales strategy. Finally, know your numbers. Get clear on where you are and where you want to go. Once you do, you will see your business as it actually is and have a better chance of creating a real, business changing strategy to move it forward.
Are you ready to scale your business?
Start working smarter, not harder! Download our 17 Ways to Scale Your Company Fast. This includes a FREE Download and as well as a video training with Allison Maslan.
