5 Things you can do to make your business successful for under $150

Everyone wants to have a successful business.  If you are pulling your hair out trying to figure out what you can do to begin moving in the right direction, but you are low on funds, search no more.

There are so many different things that you can do to grow your business, but they won’t all be profitable, may cost a lot of money, and can’t be done immediately.

I want to tell you about 5 things that you can do to make your business successful for under $150 a month.

Here they are…

Thing 1: Set some goals and plan out your tasks

Having a desire to succeed is not enough.  I know that some people believe that it is, but until they take the next step, all they are doing is dreaming.  It never hurts to dream, but if you want your dreams to become a reality, you have to take action.  If you want your actions to be successful, you have to have a plan.  If you want your plans to matter you have to have some goals.  If you… do you see where I am going with this?

It is very important that you see yourself as successful, but you also need to be willing to put in the work to get from where you are now to where you want to be.

When you don’t plan, you actually plan.  You plan to fail.  You are just waiting for what will be…to be and if you haven’t taken a look at the world around you in a while, that is an invitation for disaster.  You have to decide what is important to you.  What is it that you want from life?  What does it mean to be successful?  How can you make it happen?

The answers to these questions are not just going to come to you.  You have to think about them.

• Get a piece of paper and a pen or pencil.
• Think about the things that you want
• Set three goals that you believe will help you get to the place of obtaining those things
• Once you have set the goals, plan out the action steps that you need to take to make it happen.

If you decide to skip this thing, you could become a success and you could not.  There is a 50/50 chance for both of these things to happen in your life, but remember, you have a choice.  What is it that you want from life?  What are you called to do?  You have and want your business to work, right?

Well take the time to plan and make it happen.

Thing 2: Sign up for social media and begin connecting

We all have social media accounts.  Well most of us do, and they are personal accounts.  These are ways for people to get in touch with us, outside of the traditional methods of phone, email, and postal mail.  However, when it comes to business, you don’t really want your professional connections to read messages about your personal situations, unless your business is directly tied to your personal life.

This is why I recommend that you sign up for social media accounts that are specifically for your business and public use.  Many people will tell you to go with the platform that your potential clients are using.  While I believe that this is good advice, if you haven’t done your research yet, you don’t know, so just sign up for the major ones.

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Pinterest

Later on you can figure out where you potential clients hang out and connect with them there.  Until then, you are going to begin connect on these social media outlets.  It is good to establish a platform, instead of simply fishing for leads.

I recommend that you start connecting at a minimum of once a week.  You could connect more, but you want to be careful not to get sucked into the social media cloud.

Post things like inspirational/motivational quotes, pictures of you working and doing, and articles that could help your clients.  Not only do you want to provide your potential clients with information, you should also connect with them through these social media channels.  See what they like and if you like it, tell them.  Read what they are writing and look at the pictures that they are sharing.  Interact with your potential clients because connections are two way streets.  It shouldn’t be enough that they follow you, you should be interested in what they want, like, and need help with.

No matter what business your in, your job is to provide the customer with something that they desire and to service them.

 Thing 3: Begin to track your communications in a CRM

I know, you may be wondering what I am talking about.  If you are new to business, like I was, when I first heard the acronym CRM, you are wondering what it is.  Well, wonder no more.  I am going to tell you.

A CRM is a Customer Relations Management system.  It is a way to keep up with your communications with leads, customers, and potential leads.

We talk to people everyday.  At least we should be.  When people ask us questions or we see a way that we can help someone with our services, we have to have a way to track these things.  Although we are smart, we are not computers or robots.  This means that we cannot remember everything about everyone.

As a business owner, you are busy moving your business forward, educating yourself, finding new innovations to make your business better, and reading articles like this one.  While you can remember the customers and clients that you have deep conversations and extended meetings with, you will not be able to remember the details of those individuals or groups that you have met with briefly.  For this reason, you have to have a way to keep up with the communications.

That’s where a CRM comes in.  You have to have a system in place.  This, my friend, is where some small businesses fail.  They are hard at work, but do not have systems in place to support their activity or customers.  You don’t have to be one of those companies that fail.

Find a way to track your customer relations.  Some businesses use the pen, paper, and notebook system.  While others utilize the good ole spreadsheet, another group of business owners utilize the automated cloud based CRMs that are out there.  Many of these options are free.

Either way, it is important that you decide the method that you desire to use, which will be most beneficial to your company and go with that.

Trust me, this will make your business run smoother and give you the confidence that you need to service your clients effectively.

Thing 4: Purchase an email marketing client and begin sharing

Its great that you offer a service and you are ready to sell it.  That’s what business is about, right?! Wrong!  Business isn’t just about selling a service.  When you simply sell a service, you lack quality, don’t have repeat customers, or referrals.  You are simply about making a quick buck and moving on.

Companies that desire to continue to be in business, grow their customer base, and see their clients succeed, do more.  They establish ways to communicate with their clients that provide them with the tools needed to grow.  These companies encourage and inspire their clients.  They invest in quality information, research, and tools that will benefit their customers in the long run.

Companies like this, build long lasting, trusted relationships with their clients that make running a business pleasurable, exciting, and profitable.

One of the best ways to do this is by purchasing an email marketing client and then, creating the content that will benefit your clients the most.  You will have to establish a schedule of sending out the information and invest time in thinking about your clients struggles, but this is great!  It puts you in the shoes of your clients and helps you to understand their needs, not just yours.

When you understand their needs, you are more capable to fulfill them.  You understand their struggles and are able to build systems and tools that will assist them with overcoming those struggles.  When you do this, you show your clients and customers that you care.  When they know that you care, they trust you.  When they trust you, your business grows and is profitable because they support you and know that your company has their best interests at heart.

This is a business that thrives.  It creates and nurtures relationships with customers and clients to see them succeed by using the business’ tool, tips, and products.

There are multiple email clients out there that you can purchase.  They range in price depending on the size of your email list and allow your plan to grow as your list grows.  Of those, here are a few that I recommend.

1. Convertkit
2. Aweber
3. Mailchimp

Take a look at these.  Their starting price ranges from free to $29.  This is a small investment to pay, per month for the undivided attention of your audience.  When you are able to captivate them, without distractions, they hear you clearer and are more likely to reach out to you for more information.

Thing 5: Hire a Virtual Assistant

There is a lot that you can get done on your own.  However, as a small business owner, you are the Owner and Operator of the company, if you are the only one in the company, at this time.  Although you might feel like you can do it all, the truth is that you can’t.  You cannot run your entire business alone, without any help from anyone.  If you are thinking that you can, I want to be honest with you.  You are setting your business up for failure.

In order to be successful, you have to do what you do best and allow those that function better in the areas that you don’t to do the rest.  That’s where a Virtual Assistant come in.  There are VA’s trained in ares from marketing to finance, web design to productivity management.  If you need it, there is someone out there trained and proficient enough to do it for you and your company.

I know what you might be saying.  “I’ll hire someone later on to help me do all that I need to get done.”  The truth is, you can’t afford to wait until later on.  This business world is moving at a very fast pace and at this rate, you would have all of your ducks in order, just to pay employment tax, employment insurance, and to pay an employee.  There would be a lot to take on.  You can do this later on, but for now, the simple solution is this…

When you hire a VA, things aren’t that complicated.

That’s it!  I’ve said it!

Whew!  It felt good to get that off my chest.

You are hiring a subcontractor that already offers a service, so you don’t have to worry about the taxes, the insurance, and tools that will facilitate the VA.  Instead, you need to be concerned about your tasks, priorities, and deadlines for the projects and assignments that are approaching.

Some business owners believe that by hiring a VA, they will be able to completely walk away, while the VA handles everything.  This is true to a point.  You can assign your VA work and then allow them to do it, but you cannot assume that he or she will take over the business of running your company, while you sip your hot cup of tea on the back porch, doing nothing for day on end.  You will still need to approve the work and come up with the list of task that need to be accomplished, but now instead of running your business ALONE, you have assistance.

Your VA is there to help you be more productive, successful, and profitable.  Knowing and understanding this will also allow you to see the value in making sure that you have a VA with quality work and prices that reflect that.

I say this because you don’t want a VA that is looking to make a quick buck.  This type of VA is primarily interested in what they can get from you, instead of seeing you succeed.  When you find a VA on a service channel for about $5, you are going to get $5 quality work.  That means that anyone could do it.  However, when you chose a VA that has taken the time to establish a platform for her work, avenues of communicating with her clients, and prices that reflect the values of the company, you know that what you are going to get is well worth the price.  A good VA not only works per hour, but also offers packages, so that you can get the most bang for your buck.

I want to encourage you in this.  As you begin your search for a VA, many options will come up, but make sure to ask a lot of questions.  DON’T just ask for a pricing sheet.  Request an initial consultation.  Find out if the VA can do what you want done.  Ask how payments will be handled and methods of delivering your work.

In short, do your research!  You get what you pay for.

So, Let’s Recap

Remember you are looking at a monthly price of less than $150.  This is completely doable if you have the right tools and you focus.

1. Set some goals and plan out your tasks
2. Sign up for social media and begin connecting
3. Begin to track your communication in a CRM
4. Purchase an email marketing client and begin sharing
5. Hire a virtual assistant

After reading through this list, are there any ways that you believe that you can utilize this information to be more productive in you business?  Do you see any obstacles to these things that will stand in your way?  Share them below.