Learn,Share,Grow

The economy determines how most business’ maintain, grow or close. It is sometimes unfair, but that is the way it usually goes. The majority of big box customers are price driven and fail to realize that money spent should be WELL spent. That doesn’t always mean the lowest price. Quality still means something and it is important that you sell yourself and your business on Quality and not the cheapest price.

If you are in a service industry you are basically selling your time. Time is a precious commodity and should be offered as one. If your customer or potential customers knew how to perform the task, or wanted to perform the task they would. If you do not value your time, why should the customer.

This is why your customer base should already consist of people that respect and deserve your services. The customer is not always right, and can sometimes cost your business more than they are worth. You should already have developed a customer model that you want to do business with. This way, when you have a potential new customer, there are guidelines in place to help determine if you can best meet their needs and vice versa. You will not be able to help everyone and should not accept every job that comes around. It is difficult when you first start in business to not want to accept every job because you think about the money you are turning away.

Learn to say NO to those jobs that you are unsure of or your gut tells you to stay away from. When you learn to know thy customer you will see your business thrive! In order to attract the right people you must know who those right people are. What demographics would you appeal to? If you are a small business, with 50 employees or less, then you should search for a niche market to capitalize on. These are all questions you should have pondered before going into business, but if you are like the rest of us business owners, we do things in the reverse. No matter, the point is that you can start doing those things now.

Know thy customer and know thyself.  Knowing these things can help you thrive no matter what the economy holds.