Boost Business Coaching » Business Grow

Why most small businesses in New Zealand really suck at marketing themselves and what to do about it

Jeff — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:03:47 +0000

Small Business in New Zealand make one fundamental marketing mistake. They don’t systemise and treat their marketing like a well tested and well oiled machine

They don’t have a strategy.

To them marketing is the activities that surround random placed advertising. Usually this is poorly planned often carried out on a spur of the moment decision or a ‘once only’ offer through their local paper or radio ad salespeople.

These businesses may or may not know who their target market is but they don’t show it in their advertising message. They don’t follow the true tested Problem+Solution+Target Market formula and therefore throw away a lot of their resources and advertising budget.

They are generally all over the place with their medium, method and message instead of being focused on one target market and one problem and one solution at a time

They don’t know that advertising is not marketing

Yes I know Mr. Marketing Student 101 the 4ps are Pricing, Promotion, Product and Place. However promotion is only one element of the so called 4ps marketing mix. The reason that a lot of New Zealand small businesses concentrate on the advertising and gimmickry is because it’s the ‘sexy’ side of marketing.

They don’t have a big picture view of marketing and don’t start with the basics first i.e They don’t look at their positioning and targeting strategies based on their product or service and ideal customers. This way they don’t let that direct their pricing, promotion, and distribution strategies.

They are not different on purpose

Many New Zealand small businesses copy the same old rubbish that everyone else uses. This way they are guaranteed to get the same bad results. Even if the marketing is good for one business, it’s probably not going to be that great for their businesses. These businesses forget that they are not the same business so their goals, objectives, target audience, capabilities, etc. are not the same. Secondly – ‘me too marketing’ – does nothing to distinguish their businesses from their competitors. Why would someone buy from them if they are no different than their competitors?

Most New Zealand small businesses forget to give their customers compelling reasons to buy, by not demonstrating that they have something that their competitor does not. Be different on purpose. (Otherwise start the price battle!)

They are amateurs and DIYers

Small New Zealand business people are good at their craft. They are great plumbers, doctors, lawyers, store owners, beauticians, chefs, dry cleaners, accountants. Most of them don’t know anything about marketing- and don’t have the time or patience to learn. And that’s ok. It would cost them more to learn and do it themselves than it would to pay someone competent to do it for them. I don’t want to fix my own broken pipes, or operate on my own heart. I’m no good at it. But other businesses are. That’s why I pay them to do it for me. However, most Kiwi Businesses insist ion doing it them selves. They don’t learn the basics of marketing and don’t start with understanding their marketplace, or find a profitable niche, or define their product or service to serve that niche.

If they did this right, they would either find themselves with no true competition or you they would stand out head and shoulders above their competitors

Small businesses think they can have the same marketing impact as Coke and Macdonalds put together

The problem is most Kiwi small businesses don’t have the money to market like the big boys. The big companies can run branding campaigns and hire expensive Ad companies to produce visually entertaining and stimulating masterpieces that make you almost drool for that new Big Mac or the latest Ford Focus.

NZ Businesses cant can’t afford to run image only ads. Funnily enough, aggressive newspaper advertising departments tell them they can. They don’t realise that their ads have to work hard to create awareness and generate sales or leads.

Unfortunately most small businesses dont market wisely and don’t test and measure to ensure that every dollar they spend is an investment that will produce a measurable return.. NZ Businesses are especially hopeless at using ads that have a call to action to spur a visit to their shops, their websites, or generate phone calls.

Most of them don’t realise until its too late that to do anything else is to risk losing money and ultimately fail in business.

Its all over the place

They are trying random things not really knowing why or they are dabbling in marketing with no real goal, process, or system. As a result their marketing strategy and tactics are not connected to each other or working together in harmony. In fact, they might even be working against each other.

For example running a discounted promotional offer to their prestige clientele using their prestigious services

Tactics must be aligned with strategies and support your goals. Every piece of marketing communication must be integrated with your brand and marketing strategies to be consistent and produce desired results.

Its all over the place part 2 – No system, no processes

Most small businesses have no system in place for marketing. There is no plan for properly evaluating the marketplace and finding profitable niches. There is no system to help position or reposition their products or services to serve those niches. This is especially devastating when their marketplace is changing at a hundred miles an hour every day.

There’s no F.U.

Many Kiwi small businesses, have leads that go un-nurtured and un-converted. Not because they are bad leads but because they don’t follow up. Chances are, if the lead was not ready to buy right then or at least have a sales person talk or visit with him right then, the lead was pushed to the back burner and evaporated into space. Or the customer that visited their store once, or even purchased once, never returned and was never contacted with any type of follow up marketing by the business.

Kiwi Businesses don’t realise that if their business relies on generating leads to turn into clients/customers, then they need to have an automated follow up system in place. Most of them haven’t implemented a system to capture their contact information to send them follow up emails and newsletters and contact them by phone or in person to keep in touch with them and nurture their relationship.

Hard Work – Not automation!

Kiwi Businesses are terrible at making sure that their marketing tactics are not automated where they can be automated. This makes sure that marketing is a drag, a bore, and a chore and pretty soon business owners get so busy following up there is not enough time for doing and managing the rest of the business. These business owners are probably not taking the time to measure the results of their marketing so they don’t know what, results their marketing produces.

They get frustrated, anxious and wonder if marketing is really helping their business at all. They start questioning their time and effort spent on marketing and pretty soon they are doing no marketing at all. Which virtually guarantees their business will not grow- and makes it highly probably that it will not survive for very long.

Conclusion – New Zealand small Businesses

Tools are available along with the simple skills and rules in marketing to turn your marketing effort from a chore into an automatic measured series of tactics. Don’t delay, educate yourself today or get professional help with a business coach or marketing consultant. Invest wisely and get an ongoing return on your investment

Check out Wellington Business Advice

Want to talk to a business coach without the long term commitment – try our $299 business coaching lite programme. Benefits Here

Yes – I want to trial BOOST – pay for the $299 Business coach here

Questions Call Jeff Smith BOOST NZ Master Franchisee 021 – 566 – 535

Lower Hutt Business Coach

Jeff — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 08:35:28 +0000

BOOST Business coaching has expanded its services to Lower Hutt

Lower Hutt Business Coach

The Business Coaching Guy AKA Jeff Smith master franchise BOOST Business Coaching says ‘There appears to be plenty of inquiry coming from Lower Hutt Businesses looking for simple action oriented Business assistance’. ‘ The thing about BOOST Business Coaching is that we have a reputation for working with businesses on a practical level – in other words we tend to leave the fluff, academics and psycho theory to other business coaching companies to peddle’.

The BOOST Business Coach has been available in Lower Hutt for the past few months however we are now looking to enhance Lower Hutt Business Coaching by offering the BOOST system to a local provider or someone looking to join an accomplished company.

We are looking for someone who has previously been in small business and who can talk to Lower Hutt Businesses on a one to one ‘down to earth’ level

Jeff Smith says “The Lower Hutt master franchise is available now and we would love to talk to that special Lower Hutt business coach who has a good track record in growing small businesses rapidly.

Lower Hutt Businesses have been especially keen to take on our $299 BOOST Coaching Lite programme which gives small businesses a good feel what coaching can do for them and how much they are likely to profit from having a good business coach on their team.

Contact your Lower Hutt Business Coach

‘Many small businesses tell us that having a BOOST Lower Hutt Business Coach on board is like having a bolt on Marketing, Operations and Finance department’

If you are in Business in Lower Hutt or anywhere in the Hutt Valley give us a call and we will get your Lower Hutt business Coach on the job right away.

Lower Hutt Business Coaching - $299 BOOST lite programe

Can my Lower Hutt Business Coach help me franchise my business?

Wellington Business Coaching

Jeff — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 08:01:01 +0000

BOOST Business coaching has expanded its services to Wellington

Wellington Business Coaching

The Business Coaching Guy AKA Jeff Smith master franchise BOOST Business Coaching says ‘There appears to be plenty of inquiry coming from Wellington Businesses looking for simple action oriented Business assistance’. ‘ The thing about BOOST Business Coaching is that we have a reputation for working with businesses on a practical level – in other words we tend to leave the fluff, academics and psycho theory to other business coaching companies to peddle’.

The BOOST Business Coaching programme has been available in Wellington for the past few months however we are now looking to enhance Wellington Business Coaching by offering the BOOST system to a local provider or someone looking to join an accomplished company.

We are looking for someone who has previously been in small business and who can talk to Wellington Businesses on a one to one ‘down to earth’ level

Jeff Smith says “The Wellington master franchise is available now and we would love to talk to that special business coach in Wellington who has a good track record in growing small businesses rapidly.

Wellington Businesses have been especially keen to take on our $299 BOOST Coaching Lite programme which gives small businesses a good feel what coaching can do for them and how much they are likely to profit from having a good business coach on their team.

Contact BOOST Business Coaching

‘Many small businesses tell us that having BOOST Business Coaching on board is like having a bolt on Marketing, Operations and Finance department’

If you are in Business in Wellington or anywhere in the Wellington Region give us a call and we will get your Wellington Business Coach on the job right away.

Wellington Business Coaching - $299 BOOST lite programe

Can Wellington Business Coaching help me franchise my business?

Palmerston North Business Coaching

Jeff — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 07:22:48 +0000

BOOST Business coaching has expanded its services to Manawatu and Palmerston North

Palmerston North Business Coaching

The Business Coaching Guy AKA Jeff Smith master franchise BOOST Business Coaching says ‘There appears to be plenty of inquiry coming from Palmerston North Businesses looking for simple action oriented Business assistance’. ‘ The thing about BOOST Business Coaching is that we have a reputation for working with businesses on a practical level – in other words we tend to leave the fluff, academics and psycho theory to other business coaching companies to peddle’.

The BOOST Business Coaching programme has been available in Palmerston North and the Manawatu for the past few months however we are now looking to enhance Palmerston North Business Coaching by offering the BOOST system to a local provider or someone looking to join an accomplished company.

We are looking for someone who has previously been in small business and who can talk to Palmerston North Businesses on a one to one ‘down to earth’ level

Jeff Smith says “The Manawatu & Wanganui master franchise is available now and we would love to talk to that special business coach in Palmerston North who has a good track record in growing small businesses rapidly.

Palmerston North Businesses have been especially keen to take on our $299 BOOST Coaching Lite programme which gives small businesses a good feel what coaching can do for them and how much they are likely to profit from having a good business coach on their team.

Contact BOOST Business Coaching

‘Many small businesses tell us that having BOOST Business Coaching on board is like having a bolt on Marketing, Operations and Finance department’

If you are in Business in Palmerston North or anywhere in the Manawatu give us a call and we will get your Palmerston North Business Coach on the job right away.

Palmerston North Business Coaching - $299 BOOST lite programe

Can Palmerston North Business Coaching help me franchise my business?

Three tips for Fathers running your own New Zealand business

Jeff — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:24:49 +0000

After years of holding down steady jobs many Fathers take the leap these days to go into business for themselves.

The reasons for this are many, set your own hours, control your destiny, get paid what you’re really worth however it would be fair to say that these days’ fathers also see spending more time with their Children as a major factor in making this decision

Self employment, on the face of it, offers fathers flexibility and time to spend with families and children. Fathers also see self employment as a way of giving them those choices about Housing, Schooling and Lifestyle aspirations.

The reality for many business people is different to this. Long hours, being at the disposal of clients, cash flow problems and the other stresses of running businesses often compete for time and ends up compromising families and relationships.

It takes a strong man to take on board all these issues and then be with their children 100% fully engaged at the end of a 12 hour day with 4 hours of book work once the children have gone to bed. But this is what we as fathers must do. Fully engage our children – that doesn’t mean going over board – but more an attitude of letting your children know that when you are with them you are fully attentive. This includes engaging with them rather than trying to make phone calls or staring at your laptop, answering questions (over and over again) and doing your fair share around home to give mum a hand.

Fathers and Business

To fulfill the important job of fatherhood there are 3 things you should be doing on a continual basis in you business

Automate the business as much as possible – What tasks can be dome automatically without you. Outsource where possible
Systemising roles, jobs, marketing, and operations – as much as you can. Make the business run without you as much as possible. Its never to early (or late) to start doing this now
Take a day off every week. Business problems and issues will wait for you

The real Business is fatherhood. Dads your business whilst important is just a means to an end. Make it enjoyable and as stress free as possible, especially while they are young and think you are pretty cool.

Try BOOST Business Coaching LITE – $299 – 200% ROI

Chamber of Commerce membership vital for small businesses

Jeff — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:13:36 +0000

When I carry out an initial assessment on prospective clients I always enquire to see if they are members of their local Chamber of Commerce and other networking groups such as BNI.

The reason is pretty clear – a small investment offers so much for small businesses.

Benefits of Chamber of Commerce membership

- Targeted marketing

- Networking Services

- Advocacy & Lobbying

- Business Advice & Referral

- Events services

- Education and Training

- International Services

- Member to Member Services and Savings

It is vital as Small Businesses that we stick together and support the Infrastructure that gives small business a voice

A few years ago I wrote a series of white papers on how to make the most of your membership of these organisations.

The first one of these is ‘Lobbying and Advocacy Services – What are they? How they can help?”

You can get a copy of this whitepaper by entering your details here

In this paper you can see how the amount of legislation in New Zealand has increased over the last century or so. You will also discover how you can contribute to ensure that small business has an effective voice.

Check out the websites of the Chambers of Commerce that BOOST belongs to – Our policy is; Where-ever we do business we belong to the Local Chamber.

Kapiti -www.kapitichamber.co.nz
Wanganui – www.wanganuichamber.co.nz
Lower Hutt – www.hutt-chamber.org.nz
Northland – www.northchamber.co.nz
Porirua – www.poriruachamber.co.nz

Hopefully in 2 or 3 years time we will belong to every Chamber in New Zealand!

BOOST Business Coaching – Try before you Buy $299 BOOST Lite programme

Grow your own skills to make your Business Grow

Jeff — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 08:37:17 +0000

BOOST Business coaching develops the operations and marketing of your business. At the same time we are also working on the business owner to show them new skills and make sure that they keep focused by doing the following to keep their business growing. Most people never think about how they could improve themselves to make their business grow, but there are actually some things you can do to improve yourself and to make your business more profitable as well. If you want to grow your business these may assist you. Stay Enthusiastic

If you want to keep your business going and you want it to grow, you need to learn how to motivate yourself. If you are having problems staying enthusiastic fake it till you make it. Theres nothing like gaining a new customer to get you motivated. This is one of the biggest factors to helping you to grow your business successfully.

Do it today

Procrastination is a personal problem that you need to overcome as a person. If you continue to procrastinate in your life, you can ruin a business, so if you work on this personally, it will help you to grow your business substantially.

Always look on the bright side

OK it’s a bit of a cliché but its also important that you also learn to keep a positive mindset. Dwelling on the negative part of life can cause a lot of grief and pain. Start looking on the positive side and you’ll also improve your business, since you’ll think in a different way, which will lead to growth in the long run.

Toughen up

It’s important that you work on building up your self confidence, which will definitely help to improve your personal life as well as your business life. More self confidence on the business end can help you to confidently take on tasks and to work towards the success and profit that you want through making your business grow. When you toughen up nothing can stand in your way.

Time out

Yeah I know the business is totally dependent on you. One day away will probably mean collapse for your business! This can be a big problem. If you want to see personal growth in your life, you need to allow yourself a break for you from time to time. This can improve your productivity on a business level as well. Breaks are important for you to work your best. Get a good business coach who can make your business system dependant not ‘you’ dependant.

The bottom line is this we can get your business up and running profitably quickly and effectively however the owner needs to put a bit of time in on themselves as well to sustain the business grow program. This is not touchy feely stuff. Work on the five attributes above and you will see a marked improvement in the growth of your business.

BOOST Home

Should I join the Chamber of Commerce

Jeff — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 03:48:41 +0000