Along with walking uphill for hours with a backpack, what I’m obsessed with is market research. In life and work, I’m data informed. I do deep dive research on new cars, holiday destinations, skincare, movie choices, you name it. I have a business strategy even when I’m not doing business.
My goal with investing time and sometimes money in doing my research – my homework – is you need to know what you’re dealing with. Chunk complex things down into understandable parts so you can see inside the big picture.
Which is why I believe any business which truly gets to know its customer is miles ahead of the curve.
Because I’m a research geek at heart, I travel whenever I can. That means I get to see first-hand the data come alive in the shape of fabulous business ideas and trends around the globe. Checking out the latest sneaker collaborations in New York or the unusual secrets behind LA’s most popular family hotel gives me a strong global perspective on marketing.
While I’m away I always love to deep dive into marketing efforts by local businesses because it uncovers interesting, contemporary ideas that I can put into action in my own businesses and share with clients.
But the interesting thing is that whenever I do find a gem – or the opposite, something that’s a good product or service but just isn’t getting traction – I talk to the business owner. And wherever I am in the world and whatever it is that’s being sold, I find small business owners experience the same problems.
They really struggle with working out the best ways to grow their business.
They find marketing overwhelming and don’t know how to stop that overwhelm.
They’re not sure who their customer is (although they often think they are!)
They’re not sure how to reach those customers, how to keep them, how to keep up with technology and AI, how to deal with rising costs.
Seeing those same problems pop up in a really big range of businesses everywhere on the planet has had me wondering about what the golden thread between all the challenges are. Or more, if there’s one solution that could be the business equivalent of a Savlon cream that can be used to treat different woes.
A one stop shop so any time and investment you make in tackling problems is streamlined.
And I reckon the answer is that everyone needs a business strategy. Sounds basic, right? Yet not enough small biz owners have one. I see it so much that I’m not surprised anymore by the lack of a strategy, but what does still surprise me is that people who have the energy and vision to start a business that will fund their family and eventual retirement don’t bother to do their homework about marketing.
One of the major findings of Australia’s first The BIG Small Business Survey in 2022 was that 86% of small biz owners have little or no marketing plan. Huge! If we flip that, only 14% of them do have one. What’s the old saying? Failure to plan is planning to fail.
If I could tell business owners just one thing right now it would be to find an expert marketing strategist who can use the key pillars of research, strategy and accountability to help do a deep dive into the biz.
Research who the customers actually are, where they play, what keeps them coming back, what puts them off. You can’t market to people you don’t understand. Then they can create a bespoke blueprint with you—one that’s easily put into action and that doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand—so you can market successfully to those customers.
Yes, that will take time and money. I get it. But that’s an investment worth making so small biz owners have answers and a business strategy rather than wasting more time and money floundering about without a plan.
Look at it this way: you wouldn’t take out your own appendix if you didn’t understand surgery. So if marketing is something you’re not expert in, why would you tackle it yourself? The patient here is your business. It needs good timely care from someone who knows what they’re doing.
Declaration: yes, I have a horse in this race—seeing the same mistakes over and over prompted me to start Katrina McCarter’s Business Program earlier this year—but my job here is to give advice to small biz owners and this time that is very strongly to have a business strategy.
It’s been created specifically for small biz owners prepared to acknowledge they need help and prepared to put in the work to fix things.
A little checklist I prepared earlier to see if you’d be a good fit:
- You want easy, replicable and proven strategies to rocket your business without relying on a huge marketing budget.
- You totally get that marketing and research are important but they’re things you haven’t mastered or even investigated … yet!
- You’re anyone from a solopreneur to a team leader who dreams of more visibility and flexibility.
- You want to learn data-backed but creative ways to grow your business.
- You trust Forbes’ view that partnerships are a great way to rocket your reputation and reach, but don’t know who would make an idea partner or how to start finding one.
- You have dreams of success but no clarity about the exact steps to take over 12 months to make them reality.
- You want someone with a proven global track record to absorb your worry and provide you with a clear blueprint that balances business success with personal wellbeing.
If you tick three or more boxes, maybe we should talk.
Research is no longer just an option for small biz owners to consider. In a world where tech changes all the time and there are reams of competitors with shiny social platforms and reach, a research-informed strategy is essential to stay ahead of the curve and be successful.