Business can be challenging. We're here to help.

You have what it takes to run your business.

Will you fail? Probably. And then you’ll get up and try again with more tools in your belt.

The more important question is, “What if you succeed?”

This isn’t too hard for you to overcome. Today you can take the first step by evaluating your marketing needs.

You don’t need a giant, content-filled website in order to get clients. You really just need a landing page with extremely clear, effective messaging and simple SEO-rich content right now. You can build on that later (while continuing to keep your messaging extremely clear and simple).

You don’t need a big team to make this happen. You need a small team or a single owner and just get it done because time is of the essence here. As your small team is working, they can get the feedback of others relevant to pieces, as needed. Again, the goal is to work fast and get it done (GETMO).

Basically, you need a fast website, strong messaging, basic SEO, privacy policy, web accessibility and pixels.

A single landing page can make a huge difference when done well.

It doesn’t need to be hard or confusing and it is very much worth the effort because of the impact a well-messaged website can impact communication.

The very fact that this task can be hard and confusing means less people are doing it well and therefore you must do it and do it well.

Schedule a website analysis with us here.

When have a working, sustainable method to keep communicating with the leads you pay for, your advertising budget can be even more effective. 

This doesn’t need to be complicated but it does take planning and time. 

This step is important so don’t skip it. 

Remarketing is important because it keeps communication open with the leads you’re paying for. 

This is a good place to keep things simple because it needs to be sustainable.

Why do this? Buying traffic is expensive no matter where that traffic comes from (TV, social media, print, radio, etc). You’ll be using cheaper retargeting methods to keep talking to the traffic you buy so you can get more from your ad spend.

Buying more leads when not nurturing the ones you have is a waste of money and time. 

Don’t gloss over this and move on to the next step too quickly. It’s a system you’ll put in place to use for years to come.

I’m sure you’re doing this already but you’ll get really intentional about this here. Choose a traffic source or sources and start sending eyes to your new website/landing page with your set-up re-marketing method.

You may be able to keep their favorite off-line traffic source but send online traffic to your website, too. 

It doesn’t need to be complicated or feel expensive if you’re wisely using available traffic sources to send people to your sales-focused landing page and then re-marketing to them.

If you don’t know who to contact to set up new traffic sources like Facebook ads, we’re here to help.

On Action Step 4, you’ll also look at the ROI of your traffic sources, your ‘creative’ and your messaging to analyze and plan the best use of your advertising dollars.

Make a plan to balance your traditional and online spend. 

Remember, all advertising is getting eyeballs on your message/product/service. Go where the eyeballs are at. Find a guide who can take you there. 

You don’t need to understand every part of individual traffic sources to be able to make clearheaded, confident decisions. You just need to know enough to be able to watch over the various people you hire to run your advertising. 

Thriving family businesses need accounting that is organized for actionable decision making by the CEO or other relevant leader(s).

You need accounting software and bank accounts to immediately show you where you stand financially at any given moment in order to make profitable business decisions.

If you don’t do this, it’s like you’re driving down the interstate at 70 miles an hour with foggy windows.

A healthy bottom line isn’t just about making more money.

We’re taught this in our personal lives – that those who always seem to not have money, never do. It’s never enough because expenses keep increasing. The same can then be true of business, correct?

Fear can often get us stuck on our path to having a Thriving Family Business and this is one step where that fear can rear its ugly head. There could be very real reasons why this Action Step is painful and scary for a business leader. That’s the very reason this step is so crucial. You can do this.

Is there a simple way to get your company’s finances organized? We think so. In addition to whatever accounting software you choose, Banowetz Marketing is also a huge advocate for the theory behind the book Profit First by Mike Michalowicz (affiliate link). We use this methodology in our own business to help stay out of debt and grow wisely.

It’s essentially the envelope system for businesses with an ‘envelope’ for profit and you put that cash into your business profit bank account by percentage as soon as you earn it (not at the end of your expenses). You make your expenses fit your profit – not the other way around. It’s business-changing, to be honest.

Tip: You may end up changing banks/credit unions when working to implement because you’ll want a bank or credit union that has an excellent online portal. Our’s has a portal/website where we can see every account clearly on the main screen after login with a pie chart at the bottom that tells us immediately our total balance of all accounts (ie: ‘envelopes’).

By the way, one thing that is different than personal use of cash envelopes to budget is that you may only have ONE account for all your business expenses (your OpEx Checking account). That is where your accounting and managerial teams can manage the nitty-gritty of their budgets but you as the owner can see a birds-eye view of the company while also reducing the size of the OpEx ‘plate’ your company can ‘eat’ from.

Honestly, this is a GETMO situation where your business may choose to modify things, as needed. The book is recommenced to help give you tools in that direction. It can be surprisingly easy and you may end up wanting to tell all of my business friends (like what we’re doing here)!

Your main goal here is to work with at least 5 business mentors monthly. Personality styles are different so the ‘how’ is not as important as the why.

Having a thriving family business hinges on how well your staff is taken care of, trained and performs. This is true regardless of your company being a service-based or product-based business; a B2C or a B2B.

Most business leaders have no idea just how important this step is to the health and profitability of their companies.

Your company may need extensive work in this area or it may just need tweaking. Either way, you need to focus on your team until they are excited about the way the business is being run (and then keep this up).

Don’t skip this action step because it does effect your bottom line.

When overwhelmed, you will find assistance if you look for it.

This is the Action Step when you’ll learn about personality styles, communication methods, leadership principles and put those into action.

It is necessary because by not doing these things, moral goes down, turnover is higher (which increases costs and decreases customer satisfaction and retention), and stress is higher. All of these things effect the bottom line AND your ability to help change the world for the better.

Yes, this is a very hard Action Step to implement which is also why it is one of the later action steps. You got wins with the earlier steps and now it’s time to use that momentum and business health to tackle the deeper issues and create a positive movement inside your company.

You can do it!  This is where true impact in the workplace happens. Not just in your leadership impact but also in the impact your team has on each other and your customers. This naturally leads to community impact.

Your employees are not there just so you can tell them what to do because you’re paying them. There is a better way.

What if you had team members who take your vision, run with it and implement it even better than you’re able to do on your own.

That is completely possible.

Serve your employees well (with firm boundaries), create a flourishing work environment and your company is set up well to thrive along with your team.

It’s not too little, too late. If you haven’t started on your Thriving Family Business Guidepost Action Steps yet, start with Action Step 1 right now. Today. While you’re moving through your Action Steps, keep an eye on EntreLeadership (various channels) in order to start changing your mindset to prepare for the work you’ll do when you get to Action Step 6.

Trust that you’ll be ready when you get here!

At this point your business has peace, direction, healthy growth and now it’s time for community impact and continuing the work of a healthy bottom line. 

Your business isn’t just about you or even your own life. You have a higher calling, as a business leader: to create jobs, to sustain families, to impact communities and to fight for good.

You may never be famous and that’s okay. Just serve those around you and pass on what you’ve learned so that upcoming generations of business leaders can continue the legacy of hard work, tenacity, ethical decision making and creativity in the market which you’ve been creating this entire time.

Enjoy the freedom of a well-run, THRIVING family business!