Nov. 29, 2023
Read time: 2 minutes and 54 seconds.
tags:Running a failing business teaches hard lessons. You often end up chasing solutions and forgetting your core mission, which is something easier to reflect on after it happens more than while it’s happening. This happened with my pursuit for consulting gigs and solving people’s problems with data and marketing campaigns, leading to a loss of focus and direction.
The most successful businesses really focus on solving a single problem more than anything. The initial goal was to help e-commerce companies with data science and making data-driven decisions. However, clients cared more about quick, implementable answers than deep knowledge. And think about it, who starts and e-commerce business thinking, hey I want to make this incredible data-driven machine that functions autonomously while I focus on driving down margin and improving profits?
yeah, the 4 nerds that don’t take the risk to make the business in the first place and get sucked into the details rather than execution. It’s ideal to get a business to that point, but we have to think about how people start and focus on an e-commerce business in the first place. The first thing they want to do is solve a problem for someone else with a product they have created or one that they firmly believe in. Their business is their baby, not just a cash machine. As much as my clients repeated their problems, I would still miss the big picture to avoid budging on my solution for them. The focus shifted to solutions instead of the problems themselves.
BIG MISTAKE
As a consultant, you sometimes have to tell clients what they want to hear. This can clash with the drive to always find a better way. It’s a strange balance between validation and continuous improvement. it’s weird, but I like to get in and solve a problem and the consulting business truly went against my entire mantra of problem solving really. There were times that I needed to really hunker down and solve a problem, but the priority was on strategy meetings so that the customer could feel directionally heard and understand what was happening. At times, when I should have been taking more of the lead, I left important decisions to a customer who was really relying on my expertise in guiding them.
A repeat of strange predicament after strange predicament where you run into simple issues that are solvable but the issues weren’t the actual problem. The real problem came down to one question to me:
Why do we actually need you? We have been fine
Agencies need to solve problems and demonstrate their impact as quickly as possible. Vanity metrics like downloads or likes aren’t enough. You need to show how your work translates into dollars where applicable. If a company is advertising, focus on how you’re helping convert those advertising dollars, if they have a system in place, understand how much it’s helping and adjusting results for them. Turn quick investigations into tangible reports that support your work and show that their payment drives far more value than what it cost. Companies want measurable metrics. It’s why they hire you in the first place because you’re going to drive them business or reduce their cost. Pick which of the two you want to focus on.
A failing business teaches you to be measurable, accurate, and quantifiable. Setting up KPIs and proving your worth is a constant struggle, but understanding this early on is key to success. Focus on solving problems, not just providing solutions, to give your business a real purpose and value. [CALL_TO_ACTION]
Meta Description: Learn the harsh realities of a failing business and the importance of focusing on core problems, measurable metrics, and client needs. [LINK_OR_REFERENCE]