A young New Zealand businesswoman recently rang me. She had just been appointed as a franchisee for a business-education product in a city on the North Island. After listening to one of my audio programs she decided to ask some advice on how to ensure that her new business would get off to a strong start.
As we chatted, she told me she had been a teacher. She had a passion for education and was excited that finally she had a business of her own in this field. She had already invested considerable dollars and was about to invest a great deal more. A chill went up my spine as I considered her probability of success, having been in the same business myself for 36 years. During this time I’d seen no less than 200 hopefuls like this young woman come and go, most leaving the industry much poorer and finally much wiser.
I knew without a doubt the major factor that was going to determine the success of her business and I was reminded of a young man in Melbourne who was just about to lose his business because he refused to recognise the importance of this factor.
The skill of selling and marketing and most of the ills of any business can be solved with two words: SELL MORE!
I’d met Peter soon after he opened in his retail ice-cream outlet almost a year ago in a trendy high-rent location near my office. Peter produces the best boutique ice-cream and sorbet products I’ve come across anywhere in the world. A brilliant product, a bright young man in love with what he does, yet the ‘For Lease’ sign above his shop says it all. Peter is simply not selling enough volume of his wonderful products to make his business pay.
The missing ingredient for success
So what is the missing ingredient that causes many businesses to fail? Many people will tell you that it’s money and that undercapitalisation is one of the major factors in the failure of many businesses. Well I’m going to suggest to you that if you have this oft-times missing ingredient, you will do extremely well even if you are short on money. I speak from experience here, having created several multimillion-dollar businesses from scratch, with no money at all to start with.
I’m also going to suggest that even if you have unlimited funds, your business will probably still fail eventually without this vital ingredient, and that continuing to put money into it will simply prolong the pain of failure.
So what is this ingredient? Well, it’s a common characteristic of all successful businesspeople I have known. It’s the skill of selling and marketing and most of the ills of any business can be solved with two words: SELL MORE!
Yet I see so many people go into business lacking this skill that is so easily developed. Forget what you’ve heard about the ‘born salesperson’. It’s a myth! A sales personality is something we develop; it’s just that some people start earlier than others.
Next week: how to develop this and other vital skills.
Wayne Berry, CEO, Top Gun Sales Business International Pty Ltd