Flexibility is your friend

The year my husband and I met I was almost 30 and focused on increasing my dating pool. Where prospective suitors hailed from or how they got to the NY/NJ metro hadn’t crossed my mind. Neither had the idea that I’d move 1,000 miles from home within the next 3 years. Things don’t always work out the way you think they will or should.?

I achieved my desired end result - I met a great guy, we fell in love, and got married. It turns out it was good that I could be flexible about how it happened (blind date) and what it would mean to marry this particular guy (moving!)??

It’s normal to have an idea about how things are going to play out in life and business. I counsel my clients to think about their specific growth strategies and related tactics - to design a plan for how to achieve their revenue and profitability goals. The benefits of planning are multifold. And every plan is subject to change. Which is why it’s important to be crystal clear about your desired end result and flexible about how you achieve it.?

2025 promises to stretch everyone’s comfort level with ambiguity and uncertainty (that’s saying a lot given that we survived a global pandemic not too long ago.) Ambiguity isn’t always a precursor to change but most people think it is. So the fear we have about change is actually a fear of not knowing what change will be required. Your job is to help them ride that wave of uncertainty and practice being open to changing tactics to stay on course.?

You may not have any more information than your employees, vendors or customers do about how things will unfold throughout the year. What you can do is stay flexible and?

• Talk to your team about what flexibility is and why it’s necessary
• Talk to your team even when you have nothing to share - simplifying reminding them about what you know and that you have no new information will help keep them from making up stories about what ‘might’ be going on
• Demonstrate flexibility by remaining calm when unforeseen things happen - pause, grapple, select a course of action, act and learn?
• Lean into your plan - having made a plan you probably considered different options and may have already thought through what to do in the event things don’t go as planned
• Relax - no one expects you to have all the answers and most want to help you find solutions
• Phone a friend - mentors, coaches, peers, consultants and other trusted advisors are valuable resources that you need to leverage

Reach out: You can schedule a call to talk about planning, flexibility, managing change, or whatever is on your mind.

One more reason your marketing plan matters

When an owner decides they want to sell their business, buyers will evaluate a lot of criteria including

• The quality of monthly recurring revenue (MMR)
• Customer concentration (lower is better)?
• Brand and reputation
• Market share?
• Competitive positioning
• Capacity to grow revenue and profitability
• Barriers to entry

Businesses that have annual marketing plans aligned to sales goals, current marketing materials, and active marketing activities are generally better positioned for a higher valuation than those that don’t.

Think about it. If all your marketing and sales are being led by one person (usually the owner) then when they leave so does all of that internal knowledge and capacity.

If the marketing plan isn’t documented and results aren’t being analyzed, how can the seller or the buyer know they are working?

If the business has not been making regular investments in marketing and advertising, the buyer may need to factor that additional expense into the price they are willing to pay. The more money they have to spend to grow the business, the less they will want to pay.?

We want to help owners accelerate their growth to increase revenue, improve profitability and build value. We help you build a plan that focuses on all three, not one at the expense of others.

Take time to

• Write down your marketing plan and align it to your sales goals
• Align financial resources to specific marketing tactics
• Measure the results of your activities?
• Train other people to market and sell (especially if those functions are only performed by one person)?
• Stay current on trends in your industry that impact your competitive differentiation and market share?

Doing this positions your business to make you more money today. This should lead to you having greater freedom to step out of day-to-day operations, achieve your financial goals, and make the business less dependent on you.?

If/when the time comes, a marketing plan that is actionable and measurable will showcase how your business attracts, retains, and grows its customer base effectively, which directly influences profitability and long-term sustainability, two critical factors in determining a company’s valuation.

Interested in a no-obligation valuation or want to learn more about growth acceleration and present-tense exit planning?

You may have caught my post about taking time off at the end of the year. As someone who has always had trouble relaxing, it's a huge win to turn my brain off for 2 weeks. I think I’ve always been afraid that if I turned it off (my brain that is) it wouldn’t turn back on. That I’d lose some sort of edge.?

I know, all the research says that it doesn't work that way. That rest and recovery is the key to building strength and resiliency, sustaining creativity, unlocking novel answers to persistent questions, and physical, emotional and psychological well-being. So I’m proud to report that I crocheted, read, napped, ate, doodled, visited friends and loved ones, and cuddled with my pup to ring in the New Year.?

Happy New Year to you and may it be filled with rest, relaxation, fellowship, and prosperity.?

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