Taking time to thoroughly think through what kind of business you want to build, what lifestyle you want to live, and why you want it is essential for your long term success.

Setting clear, specific and measurable goals will change your business because your goals will be clear, specific and measurable!  This is like a magic formula, so simple but so many people miss this off completely.

It forces a decision from you - which in turn leads to focused deliberate action towards your goal, rather than random acts of business.

For example, a client of ours was in commercial HVAC, he examined his financials and looked at his business model, and decided commercial was not where he wanted to be after doing it for thirty four years.

Big decision!

He decided that he wanted to be a service lead residential company, and so deliberately set himself up to offer monthly maintenance agreements.  He focused on his offer, his sales process and service delivery, his training and sales process and his promotional calendar. 

Ten months later he had sold over 1,000 maintenance agreements and was collecting $42,000 a month, and he and his business partner took their wives to the Caribbean for a two week vacation - their first ever in six years.

Your vision and Mission are extremely powerful things - how clear are yours?

You know your numbers and have set some goals, now it is time to get to know your ideal customer.  You need to clearly identify who they are, what their unspoken fears are, their life problems and lifestyle, so that you can build an offer that appeals to them.

For example, if you think your target market would be a young, busy family - the soccer mom for example - then understanding her fears, time pressures, financial limitations, priorities, the stuff that truly matters to her - will help you build an offer that she will find extremely appealing.

The soccer mom has a different view on life and different expectations than the retired couple, the facilities management company or the general contractor.  Each specific type of customer you serve has specific needs and fears and desires - so demonstrating that you understand and cater for them is key to your success.

Your offer is not what you sell - it is more how you sell it and what you stand for.  For example, what comes to mind when you think about Walmart? What about Porsche? Nike? Disney? Red Bull?

Whilst these are global brands, the way their customers and the wider market see them is important.  Each of these companies will run price promotions and various sales offers etc - but the promise they make and keep to their customers remains constant.  

This is your offer.  It is your solution and your promise.  

So knowing your different types of customers, and crafting an offer that appeals to each of them specifically that is consistent with your company’s mission and values will serve you well.

Right now, how do you think improving your offer would transform your business, and what would it be worth to you over the next five years?