“The earth is real. Only a fool, milking his cow, denies the cow’s reality” – Edward Abbey.

One of the realities of business is that it works on an input and output mechanism. Whatever you input, you get the output. For example, if your inputs are productive, productivity shows up as the output. Another example, if your inputs are client-oriented, it stands to reason that you’ll get more clients in return.

On the contrary, if your business runs on the philosophy of only being a money-making machine without reinvesting in its growth, customer service and sustainability then its gears will dry up and it will stop producing as much money as it did in the beginning.

For that reason, reinvesting in your business becomes imperative for its growth. Still, there are plenty of business owners and organizations which do not invest or pump money back into their establishments and as such, run the risk of experiencing a downward trend.

Below you will find 6 signs that you may not be building your business, but milking it. Therefore, should you make corrections in the areas you feel you are lacking; your cash cow will never disappoint you.  

#1 Lack of Lead Generations

 “A mother is not a person to lean on, but a person to make leaning unnecessary.” Dorothy Canfield Fisher

Whether you are a business start-up or a billion dollar MNC, it’s marketing that generates leads for the sales department. Without marketing you are not going to be able to compete on a grand scale. Many businesses do not opt for marketing and are exclusively sales-oriented. In other words, their day begins and ends with selling.

Many that operate their businesses in the above fashion, miss tremendous opportunities that marketing can bring to them. In one of my earlier articles, I mentioned that marketing is like artillery, a defense mechanism for the infantry to move ahead. In the same context, marketing allows sales people to move ahead and close the deals.

Give your business a marketing boost and it will bring you an increase in revenue.

#2 No Target Market Focus

"Understand why you are different and how you help, recognize your target market, and give them something they might not even realize they are missing." Chris Murray

If you ask business owners who is their target market, many of them will reply that, “everyone is my potential customer”. This is where they get it wrong. How can everyone be your target audience?

The fact that you have no idea who your target market is, their interests, where you can find them, their demographics, their existence, or why they buy or not buy your products and services, demonstrates that you are not as involved in your business as you should be and it is the situation of milking, not building.

#3 No Focus on Growth & Expansion

“The only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.” Mark Zuckerberg

Individuals who start their own business usually do so for various reasons, and one of them is certainly financial freedom.

 

However, oftentimes business owners get into their comfort zone where they feel that they are happy where they are and don’t feel the need to expand or grow.

Either they become too complacent or feel that there is no one like them who can be delegated to handle their business in a new city or country.  

However, you are happy about whatever you get in your business and not really concerned about your business growth or expansion. You are yet milking your business and not building it.

#4 No Scope of Growth for Employees

“To win in the marketplace you must first win in the workplace.” – Doug Conant

An individual, who joined a company as a Sales Executive is still holding the same position after 5 years. Are you concerned about his or her growth?

As a business owner, it is your responsibility to ensure that every employee gets an opportunity to grow within the organization.

When your focus is on just an annual raise in the salaries of your employees and not their personal growth, you should bear in mind that you are milking your company.

#5 No-one Knows You except Your Customers

Successful people have a social responsibility to make the world a better place and not just take from it. Carrie Underwood

You are doing a great job with your business and your sales team is rocking. Your cash flow is awesome and you are one of the best companies in your industry. However, when you go out and meet people, no one knows you.

In other words, you have done nothing so that people will recognize you; no corporate social responsibilities, no participation in charitable organizations, no sponsoring of sports teams or any other missions.

 #6 Never Invested in marketing

"Marketing is too important to be left to the marketing department." -- David Packard

Your business doesn’t have a marketing person or an agency to help you and has never invested a penny for it despite doing reasonably good business. To remain competitive, investing in marketing is essential.

Some businesses tend to think it’s not wise or profitable to put money in marketing once it has made a few million dollars.

Big mistake!

Investing in marketing is like food for your audience.

As Peter Drucker put it, “Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two—and only two—basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs.”

Recommendation:

In business, either you keep moving or you fall down. So focus on its growth consistently.

Before it’s too late, make full use of marketing and allocate a reasonably good amount as the budget, or whatever you can, and take the first step.

A simple recommendation is to save 5% of every cheque you receive and put it aside for marketing activities only. Soon it will grow as you register growth in your business, and you will have a big amount for marketing your business that will support you in bad times.

As an option, you can visit our portal for some unique ideas for marketing that are cost effective. You don’t need to have marketing managers; just simple and effective marketing.

Conclusion:

As a business owner should you require additional information on the above or assistance to improve your marketing, please drop an email to me at  dd@deepakdhiman.biz

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