SHOCKING NEWS!
Did you know that 8 out of 10 new businesses fail within their first three years? And only 10% of all businesses in the UK make 80% of the income, with 90% of businesses all sharing the remaining 20%.
When you first started thinking about setting up a business, you probably thought about going along to one of those business start-up training courses that go through all the basics of starting up a business.
Just imagine yourself back there again, all nervous and excited about launching your big idea into a real business. There, the business advisor is telling you that around 80% of start-up businesses fail in their first few years of trading.
Out of the remaining businesses that are still trading, only 5% make it really big, about 10% do well, 65% struggle and 20% eventually go bust. Statistics show that just 10% of all UK businesses make 80% of all the money.
Not a pleasant reality for the majority of startups, but everyone sitting there will be thinking to themselves: "Not me - I will be one of that 5% that make it big". And rightly so, otherwise you probably wouldn't be there if you thought you would go bust.
Now, what if the business advisor told you the reason as to why so many businesses fail within the first few years and why 85% of businesses still struggling. Wouldn’t it make it easier to run a business if you know why so many businesses fail and what to do to avoid it?
Unfortunately, those business advisors don’t really know the answer, otherwise, they would have probably told you.
In fact, most business advisors and so-called marketing experts don’t really know themselves.
"But why don’t they know?" you may be asking.
In short, there are two types of marketing, but most marketing experts and business advisors only know of one type which is what they teach.
But before we can fully understand why advisors and marketing experts don’t know why most businesses underperform, we first need to understand why that large majority of businesses fail and struggle to make ends meet.
It isn't a lack of knowledge, as there is so much out there in the world about business success. Instead, it all comes down to lack of understanding and awareness of the different kinds of marketing out there and the applications of them.
Most businesses are confused or completely unaware of the difference, so they either just do what they think is right or just aim for potluck, and hope they succeed. As neither of these works, they give up. But once you know and understand the difference, it becomes very simple.
Large vs Small
There are hundreds of different kinds of marketing strategies, but there are two main types of marketing. Both should be running as finely tuned systems within the business.
In basic easy-to-understand terms, there is ‘large business marketing' or 'B&A' (Branding and Awareness Based) and 'small business marketing' or 'DRR’ (Direct Response and Result Base).
The difference between the two is in their definitions. ‘Branding and Awareness’ (B&A) vs ‘Direct Response Result’ (DRR).
DRR or Small Business Marketing can be used by both large and small businesses alike. In fact, DRR is the ultimate type of marketing as it is accountable and result based. It is aimed directly at your customer for results.
On the other hand, B&A or Large Business Marketing does not work very well for small businesses as it is a non-response advertising method that large corporations use to help maintain awareness. This method is used more with larger businesses that have larger budgets.
As there is no accountability and no proof of results with this marketing method, it should only be used sparingly. Nevertheless, most small businesses adopt this kind of money wasting marketing for their business.
Following The Crowd Blindly
Unfortunately, when a crowd moves, people follow regardless of whether something is right or not. It is just human instinct. People don’t like to miss out or get left behind, and they don’t like to be seen doing things differently compared to everyone else.
So even if it is wrong, people will follow regardless. Most people don’t stop to think about whether it is correct or not, just the fact that everyone is doing it. "If that's what everybody is doing, it must be right". That is the thinking behind it. However, large crowds usually get it wrong, and 85% of businesses are no different.
Don’t Be One Of The Crowd
Being different and doing things differently than everyone else will save your business and make you more money. You can improve so much just by adopting the DRR method rather than the usual B&A method like everyone else.
The 5%
Only a few businesses make it in the top 5%. Like everyone else, they started from small roots, but unlike everyone else, they did things differently.
Even though larger businesses may not be using the DRR method as much anymore, they used it a lot to get them where they are now. Otherwise, they would not be there.
DRR is still used by many of the 5% as it always works when done correctly.
The Blind Leading The Blind
So why don’t many business advisors and so-called marketing experts know how to keep smaller businesses running?
That's because the majority of the marketing that is taught in business school is aimed towards large marketing. Many business advisors and marketing experts come from this large corporate life that adopts the B&A method.
It's no wonder why they teach this method yet don't understand why most small businesses don’t make it, or just struggle to make a living. They aren't able to advise or help smaller businesses properly because they don't have experience with small businesses and don’t fully understand the difference between B&A and DRR.
They may offer great-looking strategies, but they're unable to adapt them to fit a smaller business' structure, budget and size.
It takes just a quick look on Google to see the vast amount of marketing advice that's online. There is so much large-business B&A marketing advice but very little small-business DDR advice.
Systems vs Strategies
This is where many business owners get confused. In fact, many so-called marketing experts and advisors are also confused with this. They fail to see that strategies are, and should always be, a part of an overall system that should be in place to hold those strategies together. Unfortunately, this isn't really taught or used constructively.
Think of a system as being the glue that holds all your marketing together, working together as parts of a mechanism in a step-by-step manner. It's done according to specific methods and an organised plan, which is reduplicated and repeated.
The Correct Application
Putting the correct strategies in a system to fit around and within your business is paramount to the success of your business, and ultimately, your income.
Knowing what, when, how, to who and why.
Knowing what you need to do, by when you need it done, who you are marketing to and why they're buying is key to achieving total success.
Why Do We Struggle to Market Ourselves and Succeed?
Most of us are like sheep, keep doing what everyone around us is doing.
Having a unique style is not enough, to make a real difference and truly stand out, we need to do the opposite.
The Real Truth About Marketing
Marketing is about understanding people. It’s about determining what customers want, sometimes before they know it themselves.
MJ
© Copyright 2016 MJ Marketing Madness
