In this series of posts I’ve been focusing on 9 challenges that every business faces.
This is my final post in this series. These are challenges that I’ve seen as I’ve begun consulting various businesses over this last year.
The more I’ve thought about it the more I’ve come to believe that these are the same challenges that any/every business faces – no matter what product or service they sell.
I also believe that successful businesses in any arena are successful BECAUSE they have overcome each of these 9 challenges.
Each post in this series will give a brief description of one of the 9 challenges that you face as a business owner.
Let’s look at the ninth challenge and final challenge that I’ll be talking about in this series.
9. You need to add new customers or reinstate former ones.
There is a local restaurant in a small strip mall that is very popular with senior citizens. I don’t know how or why it’s become popular with this niche, but it has.
I was just driving by it the other day and realized that if they don’t add new customers to their business, then eventually all of those customers will no longer be around and able to eat there.
I don’t mean this to be morbid, but since this business deals with people in the later stages of life they will eventually lose all the customers they have.
But before you think, “Yeah, they better do something about that!” It applies to YOU and YOUR business too.
What this business and ALL businesses need to do is to add new customers or reinstate former customers.
Why? Because of a simple fact:
No matter what you do, no matter how great you are, and how great your product or service is, you will eventually lose customers.
Why? There are many reasons, but here are a few:
- Your customers move out of town. They no longer live close enough to make buying from you feasible. If someone moves to another state they’re not going to use your gas station anymore.
- Your customers no longer need your product or service. They are in another stage of life. A parent whose child grows up and moves away no longer needs your child daycare service.
- Your customers had a bad experience with your customer service or with your product or service. If someone has a bad experience with your product or service they could easily decide to just stop doing business with you – without ever letting you know. But if they do come to your business with their complaint and don’t know feel like they were taken care of properly then they will also be gone.
- Your customer dies. This is a fact of life. Sooner or later all of your customers will be dead. That is not good for your business unless you’re a funeral director!
Do you see why I say that no matter what you do and how good you are you WILL eventually lose customers?
The mistake that many businesses make is they begin to rely and expect their current clients/customers to always be around.
They don’t do anything to ensure that they will be around. They just expect them to be.
They don’t do much to gain new customers, because they assume they’re ok with the amount of customers they have.
Successful business aren’t foolish enough to believe these lies!
Successful business do everything they can to continually add new customers. They set up systems and programs to do this on “auto-pilot”.
Successful business do everything they can to make things right with any customer who feel like their business has let them down.
Successful business keep a relationship going with their current customers and don’t take them for granted or just assume they’ll always be around.
If you want your business to have a chance of succeeding whether the recession is over or not, then you have to do the same!
You have to remember you always need to add new customers or reinstate former ones.. That’s your 9th challenge.
This is the last post in this “9 Challenges That Every Successful Business Overcomes”. I hope you have enjoyed it and that it’s helped you to think of challenges you might not have thought of or realized.
(You can click on the “Category” called “9 Challenges Every Successful Business Overcomes” in the right side bar to read any of the posts you missed.)
My New “9Cs Business Success System”
I am currently working and developing something I’m calling “The 9Cs Business Success System” that will give business owners a system they can implement to address and overcome each of these 9 challenges that are common to all businesses.
If you’re interested in more info about it and when it will be available, then email at recessionsolution (at) gmail.com.
What are your thoughts about this ninth challenge? Post them in the comments.
- What do you think?
- Do you agree?
- What has your experience been with this challenge?
Post your comments, thoughts and even questions – if you have any!
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I’m a business strategist, consultant, content creation specialist, and speaker. I’ve been studying effective marketing and business methods (both online and offline) since 1999.
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