4 Common Small Business Strategy Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make

​As a Strategy Rockstar, I’ve seen it all - from the entrepreneurs who are crushing their small business goals to the ones who are struggling, and everything in between. It’s frustrating, especially when we don’t know what it is we did wrong. As business owners, we are often too close to our business to see the mistakes we’re making, which is why it can help to bring in a Strategy Rockstar who has, not only years of experience helping entrepreneurs reach their business goals, but who can also bring in that outside perspective to help identify the small business strategy mistakes you might be making. Here are some of the most common mistakes entrepreneurs make.

​Not Having a Team for Your Small Business Marketing Strategy

Not having a marketing team is one of the most common mistakes entrepreneurs make, and I’ll admit, this is a mistake I made myself for a long time. Initially, I told myself it was because I was just starting out and didn’t have the funds to invest in a marketing team. I soon found it was a struggle to try and do everything myself, especially since a big reason I started my business was so I could spend more time with my family. Not to mention the fact that, while I’m an expert strategist, I’m not an expert at a lot of the details of marketing, like social media or video editing, so now I outsource those things.

​Not Identifying Your Target Audience as Part of Your Small Business Marketing Strategy

​One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make, especially when they’re just starting out, is saying they can work with “anyone”, which tells me they haven’t identified their target audience yet. I understand that a lot of small business owners are afraid to focus on a niche because they’re afraid it means excluding prospects who don’t fit into that niche, in fact the opposite is true. If you try to attract everyone, you end up attracting no one.

​Think of it this way. If I tell you I work with all small business owners and entrepreneurs, you’ll probably struggle to think of someone to refer me to because that description covers so many people. By contrast, if I tell you I can help nonprofits who are struggling to attract and retain volunteers, that probably brings to mind specific people you can help me connect with because I told you exactly the kind of person I’m looking to meet.

​The same goes for your small business marketing strategy. Once you’ve clearly identified your target audience, you can create content catered to them and distribute it in the right places to make sure it gets in front of them. Without a clear definition of your target audience, your small business marketing strategy will struggle to attract anyone because it will be too broad to be relevant to anyone.

Not Being Consistent with Your Small Business Strategies

​Not being consistent with their efforts is one of the most crucial mistakes entrepreneurs make because consistency really is the key to success. I often talk about how I initially grew my business by making phone calls to prospects on a daily basis. Then a family member got sick and a lot of my time was taken up in caring for them, and I let those phone calls fall by the wayside. I wasn’t consistent in my business and my income suffered as a direct result.

​Now I have a system in place so I can be sure to spend some time making those phone calls, even if it’s just a few minutes here and a few minutes there, so I can grow my business no matter what I’m dealing with in my personal life.

​The same is true of my marketing. When I was trying to do everything myself, I wasn’t always consistent with it, and things often fell through the cracks. Now that I have a team handling a lot of my marketing efforts for me, my marketing efforts are much more consistent, and they’re getting much better results.

Not Following Up

Marketing is a great way to attract people to your business, but sometimes you need to be a little more proactive - you need to reach out to them and have a conversation to see what they’re struggles are and how you can help them. Waiting for prospects to reach out is one of the worst mistakes entrepreneurs make because people get busy, they get distracted, they lose your contact information. Any number of things can happen outside of your control.

​By proactively reaching out to prospects, you are taking control of your business and your income. So, while you absolutely need to implement and maintain a small business marketing strategy, don’t make the mistake of assuming everyone who sees your marketing efforts will take the next step towards working with you. Instead, it’s important to recognize that sometimes you need to be the one who reaches out to remind them of all the ways you can help them with their business.

Whether you’ve just started a new business and you’re not sure where to start, or you’ve been at this for a while and you’re wondering why your business isn’t growing, I can help. You can schedule your FREE clarity call with me now to see how a Strategy Rockstar can help you achieve your goals.