Turning Busyness into Business means Balance

By: Stan Washington
Date February 28, 2015

Busyness versus business is a matter of balance. The "Busy" owner hopes their efforts will be noticed by the stratosphere and sometimes spends a ton of time building great products and services, meanwhile no one knows about it. "Busy" person number two spends time coming up with marketing gimmicks instead of producing quality products or services. And "Busy" person number three misses out on actually selling their product after telling people about it.

Missing out on one aspect of the business can instantly turn the entrepreneur into a very "busy" person without growing their business. If sales are lacking then it is possible the business is "imbalanced."

Imbalanced businesses tend to focus on one part of the area they feel comfortable with. If the business owner is shy they tend to focus on their product while the extrovert may focus on the story before their product is complete and there is a third person who is so sporadic with their messaging their audience cannot understand their brand.

Sales is not Marketing. After developing the product or service, many entrepreneurs begin marketing and sit by the phone waiting for it to ring. What they are missing is a sales approach that compliments their marketing effort. Sales is very different than marketing. Sales is the process that moves your prospect to the point of purchase. Marketing invokes a feeling, emotion or positive attitude towards your brand in a memorable way to drive loyalty to your product or service.

Stop or Start Building. Some people are on opposite ends of the spectrum. Some are not confident in their brand and are in, what I call, "The Infinite Building Zone." This person feels they will be discovered and focus most of their day building "stuff." While it is great to focus on R&D, at some point the product or service has to be released. A strong Marketing plan alone with Sales techniques will bring that product to fruition.

Conversely there are those who begin selling a concept without having any thought behind their business. I call these people the "Vapor-ware Dreamers." It is great to have an idea, but it is better to understand if you have a consumer base who will buy it. Are there some minor adjustments that could turn your product or service into something that becomes a household name? Take your time and make quality.

Leverage Technology. Facebook and LinkedIn are great tools but business automation should be the goal for business owners. I'm amazed that entrepreneurs think they have the time to keep track of all hundreds of potential clients, hundreds of clients, tracking invoices and building their products, all while juggling with one hand. 

Automating processes gives business owners control of their time freeing them up to go after more sales. A balanced business uses automated technology, compelling marketing and purposeful sales efforts. If all are done well then growth can be exponential.

.