Small business success isn’t about the pond it’s about how you are fishing in it. Think of the pond as your market. How you choose to fish in the pond will determine the number of fish, or in this case, customers you catch.
In a moment I will share with you a true story about an acquaintance of mine, Floyd. Floyd understood that the pond wasn’t the problem. The problem was how he was fishing in it.
The marketing techniques you use are similar to the different fishing methods you can use to catch fish. Sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it? Yet, I can assure you that coming up with, and more importantly, executing the right small business marketing plan is not easy.
As with fishing it can take trial and error. Once you have hit upon a sound small business marketing strategy the next step is to execute it. The execution is another are where things can fail.
Here’s Floyd’s story. As a young man Floyd was an avid fisherman. He would enter tournaments and never win. It was very frustrating. He could see the fish swimming below the surface but getting them to bite was difficult.
One Sunday morning he was sitting at home watching TV. There was a program on bow fishing. This intrigued Floyd. Here was a guy with a bow and arrow and he was shooting them as they swam just below the surface.
Floyd knew nothing about bows and arrows. He went out that week and bought a bow and some arrows. He started practicing. Then he found out about a bow fishing tournament. He entered it. His friends thought he was crazy.
After he won and pocketed a check for $1,000 they thought he was pretty smart. In running your own business or starting up your own business take a lesson from Floyd.
Small business growth and success are about making adjustments. When it comes to marketing and sales the problem is not the market. The problem is how you are choosing to fish in that market.
