Working on your business, not in your business

Just the other day we were talking to a client so focused on their target market that they’d missed a HUGE opportunity.

Digging into their business plan with them, we saw a misalignment between their activity and revenue sources.

They’d been ignoring a path to market that had the potential to multiply their revenues in a way that their current focus would take years to do. Not just that, but when we interrogated their database, we discovered they already had many inactivated contacts in this untapped sector.

As you can imagine, they got pretty excited! Fresh eyes can be a terrific thing.

Many small businesses are started by people who have worked hard and have a great understanding of the field they are in. They mastered their trade and branched out with their own business, driving it through tenacity and often personal networks to viability.

Then they need to grow. “Just work harder,” many think “I’ll cover off things like marketing myself to keep costs down.”

Here’s where the problem occurs. Not only have they ventured into an area they know little about, but they’re also undervaluing their own time.

They get so wrapped up in the day to day workings of the business that they lose the ability to be innovative – they can’t see the forest for the trees.

These small business owners moved into an employee mindset from the entrepreneurial one that got them started.

Results suffer and growth stalls.

To be truly successful, small business owners must find ways to bring the right skills into the business to develop innovative ways to stand out from other businesses in their sector, generate demand for their offering….

.. and leave them time to get on making the most of their own entrepreneurial skills.

But hiring properly qualified marketing employees is a daunting task, and managing an external agency needs larger marketing budgets.

At InsideOut Group, we work with entrepreneurs and small business owners who have grown by working ON the business and not just IN the business but need help to further accelerate their growth to the next level.

We sit right alongside them, working from inside their business and managing any external resources or vendors required to meet agreed growth goals. We apply fresh eyes to strategic planning, manage the creation and implementation of digital marketing pans, measure results against business objectives and benchmark KPIs and analyse results data to ensure only the most effective marketing campaigns receive investment. Over a short period, marketing moves from being a cost to being a profit centre.

Not only that but at the same time, we build internal marketing processes and systems for you so that when you’re finally ready to employ your own marketing staff (usually after a year or two), you’ll have a resilient marketing framework for them to step into, and you’ll know exactly how marketing runs in your business.

It’s a unique approach that’s been proven to work in small to medium businesses. Why don’t you get in touch and we can explain more.