Today's Guest

We’re taking a look back with host Gordon Henry at key lessons from Winning on Main Street episodes in Q1 2022. We hope these insights and tips can help you if you’re thinking about starting a new business or maybe wondering how to accelerate growth for your existing business in the year ahead.

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Episode Summary

We’re coming out of Winter and moving into Spring, what better time than now to position your business for the next stage of growth. Here are five key points that will help your business reach its goals this year.

1. Client experience

The biggest topic we’ve heard over and over again is that today’s small businesses need to provide a better client experience. We talked about this topic extensively in our episode with Hank Ebeling of H4 Training (listen here). Why is it when we interact with a small business their quality of work is outstanding but getting them to respond to an email, return a phone call, or send over an estimate is frustrating? Often the answer is the business owner is spending too much of their time working in the business and not on the business. What might seem like busy work to you is what most customers think of as good customer service. The great part though is, just like having the right tools for the job site, the right software can help you automate tasks and provide customer service that matches the quality of your work.

2. Starting a business

When it comes to starting a business, a side hustle can be a great way to get started as an entrepreneur. We spoke with Charles Alexander, the Director of the Tennessee Small Business Development Center, and he shared how a side hustle provides a proof of concept (listen here). Growing your business on the side while you continue to work your day job is a solid way to improve your odds of being successful.

3. Launch your business in a way that you aren’t just buying yourself a job

This is an all-too-common pitfall when starting a business. In our episode with Corey Harris and Julie Traxler of SB Pace, they shared how most small business owners that are on the edge of burnout is a result of working harder vs. smarter (listen here). The concept of firing yourself is to get out of the day-to-day operations of the business so that you can focus on the bigger picture – how to improve your offering, find new customers, and delight the customers you do have so they come back for more and give you referrals. Part of the way you can fire yourself is to automate as many of the trivial tasks as possible. Don’t overlook this essential step because there is a compounding benefit that is found on the other side.

4. Know your numbers

Knowing your numbers all starts with accurate bookkeeping, which not only allows you to borrow money if needed but more importantly allows you to get the data that helps you make better and quicker decisions. Knowing your numbers can help you better understand what products or services are driving profit or if you are even making the profit you thought you were. Many small businesses underprice their services which leaves them with too little profit and can result in failure. That is why smart business owners have adopted the profit-first model we spoke about with Stephen King from GrowthForce (listen here). We also spoke with Danielle Hayden from Kickstart Accounting about how her firm is empowering small business owners with insights so they can grow their businesses faster (listen here).

5. Fix your mindset

As your business grows, it becomes more and more critical that you approach it with the right mindset. Mikey Moran of Private Label Extensions shared his philosophy: the quicker we can push past those failures, the quicker we can find success on the other side (listen here). As an entrepreneur, you need to be curious, open-minded, and realistic about your weaknesses so you can hire people to fill in those gaps. Don’t fall into the trap where you ignore your weaknesses and don’t surround yourself with a team that challenges you to grow. 

Resources Shared

• Thryv
• How to Turn Customer Service into a Competitive Advantage – Hank Ebeling
• How to Start and Grow a Side Hustle into a Successful Small Business - Charles Alexander 
• How to Launch a Business So You’re Not Just Buying Yourself a Job - Julie Traxler & Corey Harris
• Fixing Your Pricing Model Can Help You Live The Dream – Stephen King
• Helping Entrepreneurs Understand Their Numbers – Danielle Hayden
• Why Having the Right Mindset is Critical to Business Success - Mikey Moran
  

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