Necessity is the Mother of Invention, Right?
What I've learned and how it may apply to you
ADHD makes running a business pretty challenging. On the one hand, it is great for my clients because I obsess about delivering the best services possible.
However, it makes it incredibly challenging to get my own stuff done.
Lower priority, repetitive tasks and things that I don't like doing were often ignored - even though I knew they were necessary if I wanted to succeed.
It didn't end there though. I'm really good at marketing and I had no problem generating leads. However, I wouldn't follow-up like I knew I should so a lot of the money and effort that I put into lead generation went to waste.
That painful path led me to understand the power of simple automations and systematizing processes wherever possible. These automations either eliminated my involvement completely or forced me to do the tasks I would otherwise avoid. For example, it is really hard to ignore a full calendar even if talking to people isn't your forte.
And I Certainly Wasn't Alone
In speaking with other business owners, I realized that I wasn't the only one with challenges. In fact, most businesses that work on appointments share the same problems. Not enough leads, let leads slip through the cracks, rarely follow-up with leads, appointment no-shows, few or poor reviews, no testimonials and websites that annoy customers more than help them.
Not to mention the stress and frustration in running a business you may no longer enjoy.
I get more into all of these things in my guide, Automated Business Growth but I'm sure you can relate to some of the above.
It Isn't Always About Leads
As a marketing guy, I have a tendency to believe that all problems are marketing problems. Slow sales? Advertise. Campaigns not converting? Come up with a better offer. Leads not qualified? Check the audience targeting and the intake form.
Many of these things do apply but as I dug deeper, the real problem came to light. Most of these clients didn't have the systems in place to handle the leads that were coming in.
They were spending time and money marketing their company but when leads came in they weren't attended to properly. I could totally related because I went through the exact same thing.
Until you have systems in place to handle inbound leads, it really doesn't make a lot of sense to spend money on marketing.
But when you do plug the holes with reliable systems, so much of the stress and monotony is alleviated to the point that being able to scale up your marketing and grow your business is almost a bonus.
Get the systems in place first so your marketing will be more effective and your growth won't be hindered. That is the basis on which my business Simplified Automations was founded.