Can you remember what it was like when you did all your research in person?

Those were the days when you went to display home villages and went through all the homes looking to see if you liked one that suited your lifestyle.

Before going you knew very little detail and were in no position to make any decision because your ability to do research was limited.

Fast forward to today and because of the internet and all the content online you can have a look through all the homes before you even go near the display village.

Most of this research is working out what you DON’T want. You’re qualifying which homes really are worth pursuing.

So how does this apply to your business?

If your prospects know very little about you then you have not allowed them to do sufficient research and you may end up with lots of ‘tyre kickers’ who waste your time.

Prospects should know more about you than you know about them.

If you have the correct web presence then they can find out enough about you to qualify themselves and also to be in a position to move more quickly once you have met them face to face.

What is your experience with tyre kickers?

How much of a time waster have they been in your business?

Do you ever feel like a slave just working to make payments to your bank. Many small business owners live under the pressure of debt and the worry that if their business fails or falters the bank could take their family home.

Today Andee looks at why banks want to take security over your family home for business borrowing and identifies two strategies that you can use to work towards a position in your business where you can release your family home from the clutches of the bank.

The Vlog series comes from One Sherpa an online global membership community dedicated to helping small business owners succeed and prosper.

The series is filmed on location around Melbourne, Australia and answers questions commonly asked by small business owners.

This video is filmed from Wicks Reserve and answers the question ‘Why do banks always want my home as collateral for borrowings?’

I haven’t met a business owner who hasn’t had this experience sometime in their life so if you’re feeling like this today then you’re not alone.

Thousands of business owners have felt like this and often for very different reasons.

Here’s a few examples you might relate to:

• Cash flow is just not flowing because customers won’t pay their accounts.
• Staff are leaving and you feel as though no one is left to help you.
• Technology is great except when it won’t work and you feel hostage to it.

So what’s the answer!

There is a well known saying ‘The night is always darkest just before the dawn,’ which is true for all of these circumstances.

If running a business was really easy then you’d probably find more people who were doing it.

Think about this:
When you’re half way up a mountain and feeling tired don’t look up. You’ll only feel discouraged at how far you’ve still got to go. Look back down the mountain and encourage yourself with what you’ve already achieved.

When you feel discouraged it’s time to look back at everything that you’ve achieved to date.

From experience I can tell you that it’s not until you have achieved a few things that you’ll feel discouraged and want to give up. In the early part of your business you’ll be so pumped and motivated that you’ll have no need to reflect.

It’s only when you have been on the road and achieving quite a lot does it seem as though everything is too hard and you want to give up.

So what’s your experience on this?

The key to success is to get things right more often than you get things wrong, and an important element of this is recognising when something is not working and cutting your losses so you don’t throw good money after bad.

Today Andee looks at three situations in business where many people throw good money after bad. If you are caught in any of these situations we suggest you take a long hard look at what you are doing and consider a change of strategy.

The Vlog series comes from One Sherpa an online global membership community dedicated to helping small business owners succeed and prosper.

The series is filmed on location around Melbourne, Australia and answers questions commonly asked by small business owners.

This video is filmed from the Rye Back Beach and answers the question ‘When do I know if I’m pouring good money after bad?’

How hard is it to get a person to move from being a completely cold lead to a raving customer?

I don’t know about you but it seems to me that it is getting more and more difficult to convince people to buy quickly because they have so much choice and also there are so many marketing messages that people are exposed to today.

I have previously spoken about ‘two step’ versus ‘three step’ marketing and it is this longer process which means that as business owners we are faced with more ‘touches’ for potential customers before they are prepared to respond to one of our offers and buy.

Now you might be asking what are the seven touches?

Are you saying that every customer must have seven touches before they will buy?

Seven touches is the number that I use when thinking about how I’m going to bring a cold lead through the process to a raving customer.

I know that the touches can be different for different situations but the most important thing is that I’m thinking a significant number before I can expect any revenue.

Now let me ask you this. Could you justify seven ‘face to face’ meetings before getting a sale?

Think about how difficult it is to set up a face to face meeting when someone doesn’t want to meet you.

This is an expensive way to go from both a Time AND Money perspective.

So there has to be a better way!

If you think about it, the first few touches are much better being done in a digital format.

Customers can research information that you provide them in a non confrontational way.

No one wants to be ‘sold to’ and therefore engaging them digitally can have a far better effect of warming a customer than the awkward nature of a face to face meeting when the potential customer is just not ready to buy.

What’s your experience on this?

If you have been in business for any length of time you will know what it feels like to be under pressure.

Today Andee discusses three primary sources of pressure for owners of small businesses and gives a key to help relieve this pressure.

The Vlog series comes from One Sherpa an online global membership community dedicated to helping small business owners succeed and prosper.

The series is filmed on location around Melbourne, Australia and answers questions commonly asked by small business owners.

This video is filmed from Cape Schanck and answers the question ‘Why does it feel like I’m squeezed all the time?’

Have you noticed that there has been a major change in your own behaviour in the last decade?

Where was the first place you went to look if you needed something done around your house from a tradesperson ten years ago?

You ‘let your fingers do the walking’ didn’t you? The famous Yellow pages advertisement encouraged everyone to stop doing their research by walking around every where and save the time by looking up the Yellow Pages.

I believe this was the start of consumers researching more from information than doing it in person as had been the case in the past.

But let me ask you this: Who goes to the Yellow Pages as their first port of call now when thinking about research?

Most people just ‘Google It.’

Although they still ‘let their fingers do the walking’ consumers are looking for information and doing research much earlier in their buying process. One of the reasons is that done correctly it is much easier. So potential customers are likely to be truly researching and are not ready to respond to an advertisement or offer to buy.

This trend means that small business owners must get their heads around connecting with potential customers over a longer period of time. It is essential that you have the research information available in a digital format that you would have delivered personally in the past.

You must get used to the fact that when you meet a potential customer they know more about you than you know about them. They are likely to have done their research on you and know significantly more than you realise. They may even know more about your industry than you do simply by having more time than you to spend on the research.

What is your story on research? How are you doing it today?

I would be very interested in your opinion on this topic.

Business is supposed to make money… right? Yet many businesses have insufficient cash flow and often struggle to pay their bills on time.

Today Andee looks at the three key places money ‘hides’ in your business and what you can do to get more cash out of your business

The Vlog series comes from One Sherpa an online global membership community dedicated to helping small business owners succeed and prosper.

The series is filmed on location around Melbourne, Australia and answers questions commonly asked by small business owners.

This video is filmed from Flinders Peir and answers the question ‘Why does my business consume money rather than produce it?’

I don’t know about you but isn’t it frustrating when every single customer seems to want something just a little different and you can’t get any real pay back on work previously done for other customers.

So what do you do?

Well, my biggest problem is in saying NO because I think it can sometimes be the difference between getting a sale and not getting a sale.

Or so it seems to me at the time!

You know what I’ve found… Often the customer is only seeking to clarify what is and isn’t included. Sometimes if I try less to accommodate them and tell them exactly what we can and can’t do for them it gets easier because instead of me compromising, the customer makes a compromise.

Often when I’ve been worried about losing a customer, I find that by being honest and straight forward about what we can and can’t do, the customer automatically works out if we’re going to be able to help or not.

And you know what?

In the end it makes it a whole lot easier for me!

So what are your experiences in this?

Does it often feel like you are the last person to get paid in your business?

Today Andee explores why many owners of small businesses struggle to get the level of income they desire from their business, and gives a key strategy to overcome this problem.

The Vlog series comes from One Sherpa an online global membership community dedicated to helping small business owners succeed and prosper.

The series is filmed on location around Melbourne, Australia and answers questions commonly asked by small business owners

This video is filmed from Arthurs Seat and answers the question ‘Why am I the last to be paid in my business?’