Are You Honestly Ready for Growth?
To create a fresh new website and update a menu is one “thing.”
To spend tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of dollars on a growth plan with paid ads is another “thing.”
(We’ll get into the matter of “branding and marketing are 2 entirely separate subjects later.)
There are plenty of effective ways to reach your desired target with an offer they can’t refuse. There is available evidence to support the spending will achieve certain results based on past performance, frequency, reach, and measurable results which will show, “The dollars spent on a campaign put x amount of dollars directly into my cash register.” Every penny of an advertising budget can be quantified.
However, before I begin going down the path of growth planning, I observe the business in motion for 2-3 days. Throughout my career, I have noticed around 75% of the businesses I observe are simply not operationally aligned for a successful growth campaign. It would be a tremendous waste of money, energy, and resources at present.
For decades I was on the creative end creating beautiful campaigns that cost a lot of money to put out there and ultimately went nowhere and did nothing for the business other than burn cash and make a few higher-ups feel good; they could say, “We’re on TV!”
Let’s not do this.
I’ve seen this before, plenty of times, and it hurts my soul.
Why the failure? The business was not organizationally designed to handle anything new other than business as usual. Internal staff was not properly informed, calls to action went unanswered, orders piled up, and business reputation went down.
For my beach clients, sure, we may increase sales in one summer by 15%, however, your customers may be disgruntled by a chaotic ordering system, out of breath employees, long lines, insane wait times, sub-par service, and a shitty product. Is this what you truly want? A one-time boost of 15% only to lose much more once you’ve left a bad taste in your customer’s mouth. Is that what you really want?!
I don’t think so.
A comprehensive growth plan involves all stakeholders in your business. It involves proper collaboration with every department of your Company, proper communication with your Collaborators (staff, supply chain, distribution), and proper communication with your Customer. (The 3 C’s.)
We must think through the following:
Have we clearly communicated the growth plan to all 3 C’s?
Are we internally ready?
Are we 100% correct online and have plenty of materials at hand for the crazy summer?
Is our paid ad strategy and budget set with controls ready to pivot?
Is our staff aware and ready?
Is our operational process ready and streamlined?
Are we still using pieces of paper flying everywhere?
Is this push going to the right target? Do we want these people?
Are you “business ready” for the summer?
Are your digital properties up to date, correct, and do you have plenty of marketing collateral at hand for the crazy summer?
How are we handling customer satisfaction after the sale or service?
How are we handling reviews?
How is our Google Business Profile?
Is this what you’re Google Business Profile is saying?
If you want a one and done tourist season and get the people in and out as fast as you can, you’re making a mistake. You’re not building your business correctly. The correct way is to treat each customer like gold. Treating customers well will end up having them market the business for you, for free. It’s call word of mouth, and it’s the best type of marketing on the planet.
Contact me and I would be happy to come and do an observation and digital audit for free.
I charge $100 an hour for further consultation, design, digital improvements, and proper growth planning.
Let’s not wait until Memorial Day 2025, let’s get this done before April 1st.
Let’s get your shit together and have the best 2025 possible.