The Risk of Overlooking the Big Picture in Business Growth

The House with No Roof

"I feel like I'm throwing money in hole with no end, something has to change." Exhausted and fustrustrated, Jamie had invested for than a year into improving marketing to reach more clients. Dumping money into a "marketing - lead generation machine" without real direction or a solid plan and little in the way of results. Looking at the big picture, the clients were there, but a bottleneck in delivery and zero follow up had the business burning through clients and leaving $$ on the table. Seeing the Big Picture, Jamie made a few small changes and the business was back on track and ready to scale with confidence.

As a small business strategist and coach, I've seen countless entrepreneurs fall into the trap of investing all their resources into one aspect of their business—usually marketing—believing that it alone will drive growth and fix their problems. While marketing is undoubtedly crucial, focusing on just one area can be dangerously shortsighted.

When entrepreneurs pour everything into marketing, they often neglect other critical components like operations, customer service, financial management, and product development. This imbalance can lead to unsustainable growth, operational inefficiencies, and customer dissatisfaction.

It’s like continuously renovating a house by only focusing only on the kitchen and bathrooms, while completely ignoring the roof.

You would not have much to show before long.

Business growth requires the same holistic approach. Every part of your business is interconnected; neglecting one area can weaken the entire structure. For instance, marketing might bring in customers, but without robust operations and customer support, you’ll struggle to retain them. Financial mismanagement can turn even the most successful marketing campaigns into losses.

Understanding your business goes past focusing on the right issues. it also includes hiring the right specialist to help you fix a problem. Often the consultant is engaged to address a specific problem. And it's not the root issue, but a symptom of something else - not related. Not the consulants fault, but guaranteed to drain you and the problem will not be resolved.

"What gets measured gets managed.”

- as Peter Drucker famously said. However, it’s crucial to measure and manage all aspects of your business, not just the ones that are easiest to see or most exciting to work on.

In my work with entrepreneurs, I emphasize the importance of a balanced, strategic approach. By focusing on the big picture and ensuring all parts of your business are in sync, you create a solid foundation for sustainable growth, with priortized activities and a timelines.

You don't need to have all the answers. You do need to know what your gaps are and where to start looking for help based on priorty.

Remember, true success comes from understanding that your business is a system, and every part must function well for the whole to thrive.

Sara Phelan is a small business expert, advisor, coach and trainer that helps entrepreneurs and leadership teams get strategic, overcome obstacles, and take products to market. Her expertise in business diagnostics and planning has aligned vision with action for over 25 years' of empowering people to maximize organizational performance through strategic planning, leadership, operational efficiency, and training. Sara is an Award-Winning Entrepreneur, Growth Strategist, Operations and People leader who is passionate about setting small business owners up for success.