Addicted to Speed – Why we like hacks instead of strategy.

For those of us who spend a lot of time on the internet speed is ingrained. We want faster broadband speeds and tools to help us post out to social media; we’re constantly being bombarded with quick-fix tips and the 5-step blue print – all designed to appeal to our need for speed. Growth hacks are small bite sized chunks of application/execution of your main strategy to kick things off against an agreed plan. They are quick steps towards a goal, not a substitute for good effective planning.

Growth Hacks – Do they exist?

Growing your business profitably is the core of any business. Whatever you use to promote growth it’s essential that your focus for MOST of the time you are working in your business is on sales and income. Hard to do we know, but essential. So how and what the heck are Growth Hacks? We define them as little bits of marketing and sales-know how to move you forward really quickly, the stuff you could spend hours on but really want to cut to the chase and get to the end result fast. A step by step process which means you don’t get bogged down in the details and can jump start the action.

Been Trying but Not Getting Very Far?

A lot of our clients have come to us when their business had been really busy but they can see their marketing efforts going by the wayside as their time is spent coping with all the business that their previous marketing campaigns have generated. These clients know that marketing yesterday brings in work tomorrow but unless this continues there will be no work for the mid and long term future. Marketing is really a ‘sow to reap’ activity, but we know and understand how it can get put on one side. We make it easy for you to take quick fast smaller steps each and every day to achieve your goals.

STOP

Research is core to business success. It’s essential to your future to conduct research because, if something does not work when you have spent £500 – £1000 building and testing, its probably still not going to work when you have spent £40K on it. The thing is we tend to get blinded by the light of the potential of our own ideas and sweep under the carpet the negative areas of the product or service. We become very involved in the beauty of the new web site and the initial rush of adrenaline which pumps through our veins and makes working late into the night seem great. Fast forward 12 months of working 18 hour days 7 days a week and you start to feel very differently about the idea.

Little step-changes. Tiny little changes as a result of good clear market research can make the difference between success and failure. You might have a wonderful product or service which works well, but when you test it with a focus group their feedback tells you they would not buy it and give you 5 reasons why not. All of these 5 reasons can be solved by a relatively minor fix, but that fix is needed before you sell to a wider audience. The costs of proper market research tend to be significantly lower than alteration costs post-launch with a product or service that misses the market’s needs.

Who are you selling to? Chances are that, without research, both your target market and price point will be based on what is already out there – the ‘ I’ll copy A, they are making money’ approach or what you believe is a good price for you to make a profit, based on figures pulled from thin air. Neither will get you very far, as both are based on perceptions not facts. ‘A’ might be selling millions of their stuff, been in business 30 years and undergone restructuring 4 times. You need to tread your own path sensibly! Follow us on social media or sign up to our newsletter for free help and information about practical and affordable proof of concept research, before you put your house on the line. There has to be a minimum viable product or service or you won’t have a business. It’s not what you want to impose on the market it’s what the market will accept and be keen to buy.

This is not about me preaching to you from a lofty position either, I spent many years and many £1000s trying to push water uphill in business terms to get someone to buy what I thought was a cracking idea. Turns out my idea needed a lot of work and that meant asking the marketplace what it wanted. I liked the change those many conversations brought about so much I built this business around it. I only wish someone had told me earlier, a lot less grey hair would be in evidence now.