Chapter 28 - The Final Countdown

Thanks for joining me on my journey. If you missed the previous chapter, you could read Chapter Twenty-Seven,?"An Alternate Reality".

(If you are joining us for the first time, this newsletter roughly follows the timeline of my business from the beginning to the present.)

After a break for the last couple of chapters to discuss more personal aspects of my life and these impacted my business (when running your own company, you can't escape this), we are now back on track with our timeline.

This chapter starts dissecting Year Fourteen (my current business year) and could mark the beginning of the end of this newsletter.

(But, more on that later. ??)

The Final Countdown

This chapter looks at the first six months of my current business year (April 1st, 2022 - March 31st, 2023). This year I started with hope.

Over the last couple of years, I have;

• Weathered the COVID-19 storm.
• I saved enough cash reserves to support my business during the quiet times.
• And I had just become a consultant for a new ITI programme.

After the success of the E-Merge programme, which I discussed in Chapter 25, ITI released a new ongoing support programme to help businesses with the digital aspects of their business.

" I had hoped this would bring me success like my previous consultancy row but it did not. "

The Dry Well

Unfortunately, I didn't get a single client as a consultant on the new ITI programme.

There were several reasons for this (which I won't go into in this newsletter), and I also expected this to happen (again, for reasons I won't go into), but part of the problem was my website.

So whilst ITI was not to be the Whale that it was last time (which I alluded to in Chapter 24), it was a success, and I will discuss that briefly in the next chapter.

Now, don't get me wrong, even though I wasn't expecting any consultancy revenue on this occasion, it wasn't very pleasant and not just because of the money but because:

• I really enjoyed helping businesses on the previous programme.
• New connections were made.
• And most importantly, I was able to genuinely help people and see tangible results within the programme period.

A Return to Normal (sort of)

I missed all of those things, so it was business as usual.

With that in mind, I expected my revenues to return to those of Year Eleven, and we will review that in the next chapter.

" The first six months of this year were tougher than expected with revenue down 22% from the same six months of the previous year. "

Now that's not the end of the world, considering at the same point last year, I still had income from my ITI consultancy work (which, remember, I, unfortunately, didn't get this year).

But I noticed two things as I reached the end of my second quarter:

1. The number of new leads was declining as the year went on.
2. None of the new leads I qualified and submitted proposals to started a project with me.

Time to Review

Typically when those two trends above occur, it's time to review;

• Processes/Marketing.
• Pricing.
• Products/Service Offering.

My marketing always needs to improve (I've discussed that before in previous chapters), and I was confident with my product/service offering.

So, was my pricing the problem?

For some prospective clients, yes. The response was either;

1. My rates were too expensive.
2. They wanted to work with me but didn't have the budget yet.

Let's talk about that first point. ??

Raising My Rates

Every September, I review my rates. I examine various factors, sources and data points to determine if I will adjust my rates and, if so, by how much.

(I "might talk" about this more in another chapter)

It's essential to consider the current economic climate (which has been rocky, to say the least, for the last three years).

Another significant influence is the rising costs of suppliers, software and tools I use for my business. Some of these impact my clients directly, others indirectly.

It was this last factor that forced me to raise my rates.

" My average running costs for the business had increased by between 20 - 30% per supplier from the previous year. "

When you raise your rates, you might lose some clients, or you might not, and it is always a difficult decision, so good and clear communication with your existing client is critical!

I decided to hold off on raising my rates for three more months until January 2023 to see if I continue to absorb these costs or find efficiencies in other business areas.

That is where we will pick up next week as we look at November to now and discuss;

• More on pricing changes.
• Losing and gaining clients.
• ITI again.
• And possibly, bringing this newsletter to a close.

Before You Go

Due to St. Patrick's Day and my climbing some of the Mourne Mountains. The next chapter won't be coming out as scheduled on March 17th.

This also gives me some extra time to think about the future of this newsletter, as the next chapter will bring you up to date with the current point in my business. ??

We've come a long way together. ??

Thank you.

Until Next Time

If you enjoyed this chapter, please?like and share it?or drop a comment below ??

Your support?means a lot?to me?and is helping grow this newsletter.

Chapter Twenty-Nine drops on March 24th, and a bonus chapter on March 31st.

Happy weekend everyone!

Simon

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