Many times we speak with local business owners, who have their vision set and have the ambition to strive towards the goals they set, yet something is constraining their business.

When consulting with businesses we help figure out what that constraint is, and more often than not, we find that there is a disconnect between the realistic marketing budget, and the operational capacity of the business.

What we mean is, your goals might be to increase sales by 10%, but your marketing budget might not be large enough to increase your brand awareness and interest to give your business the opportunity to increase sales by that much.

As a business owner you have to become aware of your realistic marketing budget and what it allows you to do…

Let’s say your monthly marketing budget is $400/month, plus additional spend for one designated promotion per quarter.

So how could that $400 be used…

• Digital marketing spend ( which equates to $13/day ad spend)
• Pay a copywriter to write a sales letter
• Pay a graphic designer to create a logo, a business card, a rack card, a flyer to market your business, 
• Pay a printer to print the marketing assets to market your business
• A deposit on a large event as a vendor OR as an attendee

Now when you look at the different opportunities, you have to decide for your business what is the most advantageous right now? What can help move you towards to the next step?

Maybe Today…

• That’s finding a graphic designer that can work with your budget to make your logo because you’re just getting started.
• It’s designated towards digital ad spend because your invested into building brand awareness on specific social media channels.
• It’s paying a deposit as a vendor spot, because you’re in your 3rd – 5th year of operating your business and you know specific events help you gain visibility and sales by introducing your product to a new audience.
• It’s paying a consultant to help guide you through what you’re needing to do because you feel stuck and aren’t quite sure..

Growing your business is going to require you digging in to figure this out, and be accountable to developing your business in the areas it needs right now. So you can reach that next level that you’re dreaming about today.