Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter

I got a call yesterday from a small biz owner here in town. She loves what she does, believes she’s providing a high-quality, high-value service, and knows how to run a business (she’s held management positions in other companies). And yet, the revenue just ain’t there for her. She’s followed her dream and the money hasn’t come.

As we talked, she noted that “I know my business but I simply don’t have the marketing expertise to know what to do next.” The good news is that she recognizes she needs help and isn’t afraid to ask for it.

The life of an entrepreneur is exciting, exhilarating and - yes - hard. Unfortunately, a lot of the tools that are available to would-be entrepreneurs focus so heavily on positive rah-rah reinforcement, the realities get short-changed. Fundamentals like lack of capital or market understanding can sink even the best idea. And, business planning (and marketing) simply isn’t as easy as filling in the blanks on a form. If it were, we’d all be billionaires (and I’d be writing this blog post from my private island.)

Two quick sanity checkpoints:

1. Don’t mistake boilerplate for brilliance. Sure, get something that walks you through the basics for business planning and marketing strategies. There are any number of good basic texts and templates available for free on the Web or at your local library. But as you read and type your way through the materials - if you’re not sweating a little blood you may be missing a key competitive point. And, you could well have a blind spot about economics, competition, or customers that you just cannot see (that’s why it’s called “blind spot” after all.) That’s where that basic biz text and easy-to-follow template can’t help you (And may actually hurt you. “Hey, that was easy!”)

This happens in even the biggest companies. The corporate structure substitutes forms and process for creative (and critical) thinking.

2. Get it out of your head and/or out on the road.

Ask somebody besides your family to give you their perspective on your new idea.

If you’ve got customers, run it by them before you start spending money on a prototype (or ad campaign or web site updates.)

If you’re a marketer in a large company - take your idea on the road and let the field pick it apart. Yes, this can be a little scary. I’ve done it and it’s not for the faint of heart. But, you get a lot of good data, people are far more likely to get onboard with the idea (even if they don’t totally agree) and you’ll find some of your blind spots.

By all means - think positive, be passionate. But, also keep in mind that there are reasons small businesses often fail and major corporations make huge, bone-headed blunders.

Tags: marketing, entrepreneur sanity check, strategic planning, business planning