If you’ve been in a business awhile…you know it takes consistency to create the inertia that’s needed to build momentum.

If you’re just starting out… understand, it’s going to take time. Do not let that overwhelm you. Just be realistic about the effort and consistent actions it will take to get your business going.

Hoping, wishing and planning alone WILL NOT get you to where you want to be.

A common mistake I see Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs make is having unrealistic expectations of where they THINK they should be at this point, which then can breed more fear and anxiety.

Remember keep things simple!

So what HAS to happen for a customer to purchase from you?

• They must first be aware that you have a product or service that solves a problems of theirs.
• They have to like you, and trust you before they will hand over their money.
• They need an ethical reason why to take action and buy now!

This applies to business models that are: 

Brick &mortar establishments (retail, b2b, food establishments, bar and entertainment) Service providers (online or in person), and e-commerce.

Your actions are determined by where your business and you are in your business building journey… not where your competitor is… or where your friend is… or where your friend thinks you are.

If you’re just starting out… 

Focus on building brand awareness, refine your brand positioning, and gaining trust with first time customers.

If you’ve been in business awhile…

Then you should know your customer and what pain points you solve. Focus on driving repeat transactions, increasing your customer experience,and gaining customer loyalty.

Sometimes what happens though, is the Business Owner starts focusing on the wrong strategies for where they’re at in their business building journey. 

They get a serious case of FOMO, and start looking at the shiny new things that others are doing, and stop everything they’re doing to chase their competitor… “well if they’re doing it we must do it too”… the thing is.. you are not your competitor. Your team is not your competitors team, your budget and cash flow are mostly likely different than your competitors.

Without being self aware of their own business SWOT Analysis, business owners use the wrong strategies for where they are at, and fail to create REAL Momentum.

As the business owner of your business, not your competitors business, it’s your job to bridge the gap of where you are and where you want to be.

You have to align your focus, and daily actions, with the projects that need to be complete today, for where your business is today, so that you can get to where you want to be in six months.

For example…

If you’re wanting to be able to re-target traffic and buyers in the future, then a great project for someone starting would be to begin building their email list…

Six months (which will be the holiday shopping season) from now, when you want to retarget “your list”, as all big companies do, on Facebook ads or let them know of a super cool new product or holiday offering, you can’t… because you never actually started building the list and thought you’ll do that later.

What’s going to happen when spent all your time building your platform on social media, and the algorithm changes once again, your tactic to gain vanity metrics doesn’t work, or your page gets shut down? Or you actually look at your data and realize all the time you spend creating content, isn’t actually leading people down the path to purchase.

Now you’re stuck with a great idea, and no way to implement a retargeting strategy because you didn’t do the pre-work. You spent all your time building on borrowed space.

Start thinking of your business as a well oiled machine.

One thing feeds another part, and when more internal parts of the business communicate, the more optimize it becomes and the more momentum you can generate.The more momentum generated, the faster the machine produces.

The faster it produces, the more customers your serve, the more customer you serve, the more transactions and sales generated.

Do you want a business that operates like a well oiled machine?

If so, then show up as the leader your business needs, create real momentum for where you actually are by aligning your focus and daily actions with the projects that need your attention now.

Cheers to creating REAL Momentum in your Business!