What are your business goals? This is the golden question, the one every public relations firm and advertising agency should be asking every new client. When you started your business, were you excited about the possibilities for growth, of influence, or creating something tangible? As time progresses, every business owner comes to a point in life when they second guess their business intentions. When they reach that stagnant point in business where there is no growth, but no backslide, it becomes monotonous. This is the point when you need to sit down with your marketing team and reevaluate your brand strategies, the market atmosphere, and whether things should be ‘upgraded.’
The Business Bubble
Even advertising firms reach a point where the owners sit back and wonder if their business is heading in the right direction. Are they targeting the right audience? Is their brand message still effective and accurate? Everyone, including the flower guy down the street, has these thoughts. Growing your brand is exciting; it’s full of passion and enthusiasm. And then somewhere along the way, the passion dissipates, the enthusiasm fades, and you fall into a monotonous groove.
Revive Your Business
What better time to shake things up then when you’re stuck in a rut? Right now, when many businesses, if they’re surviving, are in a rut just trying to get through the day-to-day. You need to remember why you got started. You need to feel that eagerness for your brand again, because if you’re not excited about your brand how can you expect others to be?
Sit down with your marketing team and your employees to determine how you can improve your business. This is your opportunity to expand on what’s working, and toss out what’s not working. This is your opportunity to look at the brand message and decide whether you’re the same business you were when you started, and whether the message is the same.
Use Your Experience
If you’ve reached that rut in your business, odds are you’ve been at it for a little while and are pretty knowledgeable when it comes to your specific niche and industry. If this is true, then it’s your time to shine! It’s time to truly establish your brand as the best in the business. Get excited about the possibilities of not just ‘becoming the best,’ but actually being the best.
When you started your business, perhaps you were passionate about becoming the industry guru; creating amazing brand recognition to the point where everyone was buying form you because they knew your brand was simply the best. Perhaps that was your initial goal. Well, it’s time to turn that dream into reality.
When you’ve reached the bubble, take a moment to sit down with your team and establish your next set of brand goals. If you initially developed a flexible brand, it’s time to utilize that flexibility to reinvent yourself with vigor.