DO THE MATH.
How long will it take to use the "word of mouth" method to be successful in business?
We started a t-shirt screen printing business about 4 years ago. We found that one can be very successful in this industry but we were always running out of time. I wanted to be able to print the shirts but I also wanted to conduct sales. There wasn't enough time to do both. I also realized that although I could make a steady income, I was overall limited to the amount of income that I could bring in. I would have to scale and hire people and this ultimately took away from the feel that I wanted to have for my business. We suspended our t-shirt business though it sits in our shop ready to go at a moment's notice.
You have to do the math. If it takes you 30 minutes to get ready for an appointment, 30 minutes to drive to it. One hour meeting with potential client then 30 minutes to get home. That is 2 1/2 hours. What is that time worth? Did you sell $10 in product for that time with a profit of $2?
If you get the client, how much is that worth? Do the math with all of your meetings. Then factor in the clients that you pick up. How much work does it take to provide them the services that you promised. If you sold a "widget" to them, you have to reorder.
Most people realize how much they are losing once they do the math. They are in the negative. Gas, coffee, meals. Some have conferences, airline tickets and hotels to attend direct marketing motivational speeches.
Most people jump into a business without ever doing the math and finally realize that, this is just not going to be worth the time. For those who join direct marketing companies, that is when you call it "a scam." All because you didn't do your due diligence and do the math first.
With every endeavor that we take on, we reverse engineer everything. "What will it take to make $100,000 with this entity?" How many people do I need to speak to per year, month, week and per day and how am I going to reach those people? How am I going to ensure that I have appointments every day? How do I track it all? How much do I have to make on average per client? If you don't have this process figured out, you are literally like a hamster on a wheel going nowhere.
We have the process figured out. We not only do this for our businesses, we do it for our clients. We have to figure out how much it costs in time and money to close a sale. At the very least, you should be pulling out a blank piece of paper and a pencil and doing the math right now. Eventually you will contact us because you will figure out quickly that you will need to be seen by hundreds of thousands and millions (yes millions) of people to get to where you want to be. How will you manage it all? Do you have the time? If the answer is "yes" then you are not doing what you do best. We know how to reach many and at a rate that will not make you go broke. Social media is one aspect of what we do. It all means nothing if you are not getting sales.
Learn more and get a free consultation today.
www.MaestroStrategicSolutions