Mostly Reds
You’re in the make-it-or-break-it stage
You’re at a crucial place in your business. Currently, the strategies you’re using are putting you and your business at a significant risk. The most important thing you can do now is take a step back and evaluate your current tactics as objectively as possible.
What are you doing that you think you’re “supposed” to or that you’ve “always” done but that aren’t helping you meet your goals? The reds that you marked should be your first priorities; those are the ones that hold the greatest risk of eroding everything you’ve built so far.
RELY ON…
Strategic testing. You know what hasn’t worked. But you may not know what works because you’re throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks. Focus on one element at a time that you can test to move your metrics in the right direction.
Your offer. Lean into the fact that you know your program is wildly valuable and solves a major pain point for your potential customers. It’s easy to doubt your cut out for this if your program is not selling. But it’s likely not your program itself. It’s how you’re selling it, from how you talk about it to how you price it. Be kind to yourself at this stage in the process.
Metrics. You need to know your numbers. If you’re spending more than the cost of your program to acquire customers, it’s not sustainable. It sounds obvious, but too many entrepreneurs avoid looking at their numbers because they seem scary at first. You’re taking this assessment, so you’re not one of those entrepreneurs. Time to roll up your sleeves and dig in—or get the support needed to have full clarity on your metrics (including which ones actually matter).
WATCH OUT FOR…
Consumer mindset. When the going gets tough as consumers, we tighten our belts. As business owners, we need to make strategic investments that have the potential for major returns.
Everyone’s-doing-them tactics. What works for the big names in business often won’t work for you. You may not have a giant audience (yet) for them to work! You need tactics that will help you grow right now.
Time sucks. There are a lot of tasks that end up on our to-do lists that don’t actually need to be there. These are both tasks that aren’t supporting our business goals and tasks that shouldn’t be on the CEOs plate. You may not be ready to hire for your team yet, but that doesn’t mean you can’t hire experts on a project basis. Get clear on your zone of genius, and work with experts for areas outside of it.
Your #1 Next Step
You’ve got one foot in business and one foot out of business. It’s time to commit.
I once exchanged about $700 worth of work for an hour of a business coach’s time just to ask if it was really possible for me to sell my online program. Let me save you the $700: it absolutely is possible for you to sell your course.
While marketing and sales tactics are wildly important, so is your mindset. Believing in your success is the first step. If you don’t think it’s actually possible, you’re not going to make it happen. As you make that mindset shift, it’s time to get laser focused on being the CEO of your business and make the hard decisions needed to move business forward.
Questions to Consider
Get out a notebook or open a Google doc and spend some time answering these key questions
- When do you find yourself stuck in a “consumer mindset”? (Thinking like a consumer instead of a business owner?) How can you transition to a CEO mindset when making business decisions?
- If you could wave a magic wand and fix one thing in your business, what would it be? And what’s the first step you can take to head in the direction of fixing it?
- What are you doing to actively improve your sales numbers or profit margin? What don’t you yet know that you need to invest in to learn?
- What tasks are you doing that aren’t actually moving your business forward?
- What tasks are you doing that are necessary for your business, but aren’t necessary for you to tackle? Could you hire someone at a lower rate to tackle them?
A Little Inspiration from Other Entrepreneurs
It’s always inspiring to see what other entrepreneurs are doing in their businesses. (Plus, it’s a savvy CEO move to steal the best tactics!) Hear from just a few Circuit Sales System entrepreneurs to hear how they’re using their Circuits to serve more customers, power more sales, and have a great impact.
[CSS] is that blueprint you’ve been looking for. If you have been looking for something to give you the true steps and the legit wording and the questions to ask—and if you have been looking for a blueprint and been buying all the things that say ‘a blueprint’ that have not met your expectations or blown them away, this one will. This program does.”
Abbey Brown
Owner The Milestone Market and The Brownstone, wedding and event venues“In [late] June, we turned the Circuit on. Right after that my summer went sideways. I had an injury that required a pretty significant surgery. However…while I took time out of my business to listen to my body…I watched the sales start to come in. In the first month, we generated $11,000 in revenue. The Circuit works!”
Lisa Marker-Robbins
Founder of Flourish Coaching“Nicki is the go-to authority for automated selling. The truth is that launching just isn’t sustainable and if you really want to have a successful business, you need to be able to sell every day. Nicki provides an in-depth (but easy-to-follow) system to actually make that happen. I can’t think of a business that wouldn’t get tremendous benefits from learning from her.”
Stacy Tuschl
Multi-Seven Figure Business Coach and Systems ExpertMore Resources for Make-It-Or-Break-It-Stage Entrepreneurs
Check out these articles and podcast episodes, handpicked by our team to support entrepreneurs in a similar stage of business growth as you.