What Are the Most Common Threats to Your Business?
Larry Easto
I Help Self-Employed Professionals Market & Grow Their Service Businesses | Marketing Coach | Author of 30+ Books & Online Video Courses | Sharing Practical Strategies for Authentic Business Growth |
Threats to the success, and indeed the very survival, of our businesses can be either internal or external.
Internal threats are those counterproductive circumstances that create for ourselves or otherwise allow to continue.
External threats are those outside events that happen to us…like the COVID pandemic.
2 Major Internal Treats
In my mind, the two major threats are not surprisingly inter-related.
The first is trying to be all things to all people.
And the second is like unto it: lack of differentiation.
All Things To All People
I think that anyone who has every provided any kind of service has tried this approach.?
That’s what happens when we really need income and a prospective client asks for help in an area that is somewhat related to our service.
I first became aware of this situation as a practicing lawyer.?
At the time, the official policy of the law society was that all lawyers were duly qualified to practice in all areas of law.
As a result, there were real estate lawyers mucking around in claims arising from motor vehicle accidents.? It was also not uncommon for lawyers who normally worked in the area of wills and trusts to undertake criminal defense or defended divorce actions.
There was a very high risk of these lawyers messing up big time: can you say negligence and professional malfeasance??
Like these cash-hungry lawyers, service professionals who try to be all things to all people become nothing to nobody.
Ideal Clients
To avoid this threat, take the time and effort to identify who your ideal clients are focus on attracting more of them.
By way of clarification, your ideal clients are those clients you love to serve and are really good at satisfying.
Lack Of Differentiation
As a threat, lack of differentiation is much the same as trying to be all things to all people.?
For better or worse, a lack of lack of differentiation means that everyone in the same service area provides the same service to all clients.
In other words, all accountants are the same all coaches are the same ... and so on.
In practice, a lack of lack of differentiation will get you lost in a crowded field of noisy competitors chasing the same client who might be ideal for you.
Once again drawing upon my former life as a lawyer, here’s an example of the problem of lack of differentiation.
As my personal relationships with clients became more comfortable, many would say something like “Gee, Larry…you don’t act like a lawyer.”
My typical response was to act shocked and ask what I should have been doing differently.
Invariably, this led to a discussion of my clients’ expectations of a lawyers, usually based upon the worst stereotypical behaviors.
Ever the educator, I would explain that at that specific point they were interacting with me in my role as a lawyer.? But there were many other roles for me: husband, father, neighbor, skier, golfer, and so on.
The point of this example is that as individuals, each of has a unique combination of skills, talents, life experience.?
It is this unique combination personal abilities and attributes that not only allows us to serve and satisfy ideal clients in our way, but stand out from the crowd and distinguish ourselves from the competition.
The absolute best way to minimize, if not totally eliminate the threats inherent in a lack of lack of differentiation is to create an maintain a personal brand.
This process includes showcasing your authentic best self, and even better attracting more ideal clients.
Weakened And Broken Relationships
Regardless of the size or nature of your business, your most valuable external assets are the relationships with those people who contribute to your success
These people include:
As circumstances and people change these relationships also shift and evolve.?
Some relationships change for the better, offering more benefits for all concerned.
When that happens, treat it as gift, and keep doing whatever you’ve been doing.
On the other hand, sometimes these essential relationships weaken to the point of breaking.
Given the importance of strong mutually beneficial relationships to success in business, weakened or broken relationships cannot be ignored.
As will be discussed in the next lesson, the appropriate response to weakened or broken relationships is whatever will make the biggest contribution to your ultimate success.
If a relationship can be fixed so that it once again makes a significant contribution your success, by all means do whatever it takes to restore it to its previous functionality.
Realistically, not all relationships can be restored to previous functionality.
Sometime the best approach is to let go of problematic relationships, just as we let go of those non-productive behaviors and tangible products that are no longer serving us.
Economic Or Market Conditions
And finally, there are external factors such as economic or market conditions that despite the best of intentions and efforts we cannot control.
As individuals, none of can control either the COVID pandemic or the unprecedented fall-out from it.
We can and should however, control our response to the pandemic.
If there is a silver lining to the pandemic, it’s a reminder of the key words of the serenity prayer:
Grant to us the serenity of mind to accept that which cannot be changed; courage to change that which can be changed, and wisdom to know the one from the other.
Not sure about potential threats to your business?
Try a SWOT analysis.
Not surprisingly, the Internet is a great source of information.
But if you want a SWOT analysis designed for service professionals, here’s one you might like.
Next Article: The Essential Elements of Professional Branding
Related Articles: