All Good Things Must Come to an End

                     by Dr Greg Chapman

Over 18 years I have helped thousands of small business owners, showing them how they can get the results they deserve from all their hard work, through conferences, books, seminars, lectures, webinars, programs and of course with private coaching, but now I have decided to move on to other things in my life.

Shortly the Australian Small Business Blog will soon be going quiet. But, before that I provide one last offer for a limited time:

A 50% discount on all my products, books and programs with the coupon code: EOB

In addition, those who give advice to other businesses can acquire White Label rights to my intellectual property. Find out more details here.

In the meantime…..

May Your Business Be –As You Plan it!

To receive a Free preview of Dr Greg Chapman's best selling book "The Five Pillars of Guaranteed Business Success", Click Here.


Subscribe to this Blog to be notified about more Small Business news and tips as soon as they are posted.

Share this article: All Good Things Must Come to an End

Tweet
 

Over to You. What do You Think? Post Your Comments Below. [Note to those seeking a free ride on our google ranking, blog spam will be deleted, but genuine contributions will be happily approved.]

Dr Greg Chapman is the Director of Empower Business Solutions and is Australia's Leading Advisor on Emerging Businesses and provides Coaching and Consulting advice to Australian Small Business Owners in Marketing & Business Strategies Planning & Systems. He is also the author of The Five Pillars of Guaranteed Business Success and Price: How You Can Charge More Without Losing Sales.

Promote Your Business on our Facebook Fan Page

The Australian Small Business Blog

Top Small Business Articles of 2021

by Dr Greg Chapman

With 41 posts this year on the Australian Small Business Blog, it is now time to reveal the top post as ranked by Google for page views.

3. How Steve Jobs Prices Products   In this post Dr Greg Chapman deconstructs Steve Jobs use of Price Anchoring to maximise the price of the first iPad.

2. The Five Pillars of Business Success: Pillar 4: People Systems In this podcast Dr Greg Chapman discusses how to get the most from your people.

Ad of the Year 2021

by Dr Greg Chapman

Each month over the past year, the Australian Small Business Blog has presented ads or items about advertising which illustrated specific strategies that are critical for success. Now, as voted by the number of views as recorded by Google, here are the top three ads of 2021.

3. Joy Making a boring but necessary product fun - this is my personal favourite.

2. Changing old traditions If the only reason we do something is that's the way we have always done it, perhaps it's time to change.

A Matter of Taste

by Dr Greg Chapman

The Gallo brothers were one of the pioneers in the Californian wine industry. They are now the largest family owned wine business in the world. But it was not always this way.

Ernest Gallo once called on a customer in the midst of the depression. He gave him a tasting test, one from a 5c a bottle wine (this was the depression) and the other from a 10c bottle. After tasting both, the customer chose the 10c bottle.

 More...
 

Fast Tracking Your Reputation Strategy

                     by Dr Greg Chapman

For any type of business advisor, whether an accountant, coach or consultant, reputation is everything. A number of factors are crucial to this, but one of the most important is how you demonstrate your expertise to buyers of your advice.

There are many ways this can be done including presentations, online or in live events and publications where you can showcase your expertise. Unfortunately it can take some time to accumulate your own intellectual property, but there are ways to fast track this.

Ad of the Month – It’s all about the Sizzle

by Dr Greg Chapman

There is an old saying in advertising – Sell the sizzle not the Steak. It’s all about building anticipation. The odour of the steak as it slowly cooks. The herbs and even the sizzle itself, heightening your senses to the point where you just can’t wait to take your first bite and finally savour the flavour.

Obviously in an ad, you can’t taste the steak, or even smell the odour, but you can hear the sizzle. This ad with Daniel Craig is an excellent example of selling the sizzle.

Are You the Last to be Paid in Your Business?

                     by Dr Greg Chapman

The way most people run their business, they are the last to get paid. Their wage is what’s left over after they have paid their bills and their staff. If there’s not enough to go around, they take a cut, or even worse, have to chip in from their own pockets to make sure that everyone else gets paid.

Is there another way? Yes.

Are You Big Enough to Trust?

by Dr Greg Chapman

When selecting a new supplier for a product or service, particularly for a more complex sale, there is always a risk that you might not get what you want. So you look for clues to give you confidence.

Who recommends them? Do they have a guarantee? What sort of after sales support will they provide? Are there independent reviews? Who else has bought from them? What is the quality, or does the low price indicate it won’t last?

These are questions you ask to give you the final confidence in making the buying decision, when you have checked out all the other product attributes, because we all know what it says on the box is not necessarily what we get inside. We need to be reassured that we will get what we pay for.

 More...
 

Pricing Strategy Secrets

                     by Dr Greg Chapman

Are you confused about Pricing Strategies?

Are you struggling to make ends meet in your business or practice?

If you’re just scraping by, then perhaps you’re not charging enough for all the hard work you put, day-in, day-out, into your business.

If your business runs on tight margins you’ll struggle to have a successful business, as so much energy has to be focused on you just ‘staying’ in business.

In the video below I reveal some important secrets of pricing.

Ad of the Month – Unbelievable

by Dr Greg Chapman

This month I cover two ads, both of which use an unbelievable narrative in quite different ways and for quite different purposes. I think one works and one doesn’t. Let me know what you think.

Covid’s Impact on Small Business

                     by Dr Greg Chapman

The following is an interview with journalist, Steven Nguyen, on the impact of the Covid restrictions have had on small business.

 

How do you think the recent snap lockdowns have affected businesses and their workers?

At What Price?

by Dr Greg Chapman

When marketing a product or service, businesses find it difficult to set their prices. Too high, and no-one will buy, too low, everyone will buy, but you go broke. So how do you set your prices?

The basic principle of pricing is that you should set your prices as high as the market will allow. But what does that mean?

This means understanding the value you offer compared with your competitors.

 More...
 

Should you take Business Advice from a Rock Star?

                     by Dr Greg Chapman

The music industry (pre-Covid) is very big business and in staging a major tour, there are many moving parts and even small lapses can end in disaster. One of the biggest and most ground breaking bands of their era was Van Halen with their frontman David Lee Roth, who encapsulated the stereotypical rock and roller. Hard working, hard living and a brand designed to outrage their elders and delight their fans.

That’s not orange juice they’re drinking.

A Great COVID Guarantee

                     by Dr Greg Chapman

Due to the high uncertainties in this time of COVID, people are extremely risk adverse about booking anything requiring in person attendance more than a few days in advance, let alone an interstate conference in November. The risk of lockdowns, lockouts, enforced quarantines is just too great.

However, I received this invitation from the Family Business Association that almost eliminates the risk for attendees.

Ad of the Month – The Story

by Dr Greg Chapman

Suppose you want to convey a lot of information in your ad. Just listing all the features of your product would make a boring ad which most would turn off before they got even halfway through. But if you create an interesting story, and better yet, set it in the old wild west with shades of Blazing Saddles, you get an ad that everyone will watch to the end.

Will you be there when the planets of your customers' universe align?

by Dr Greg Chapman

Some people believe when the planets align, that the world will end. (While planet alignment is rare, it happens fairly regularly, so I think we can ignore that.) Others believe that the extra gravitation pull can result in earthquakes and other violent phenomena, but there is little evidence of that either, although you may see some unusually high tides.

Still others believe that the alignment of the planets can cause craziness amongst humans, although I wonder how you could tell the difference. Whatever you believe, I like to think of the alignment of the planets as a special event when a series of coincidences occur that change people's behaviours.

Compare this with the factors in the life of your customers.

 More...
 

Married to the Business - For Richer or Poorer

                     by Dr Greg Chapman

Luke and Anna have their own business building homes. Luke is a registered builder, and has a high level of technical skill, but Anna is the person who manages the finances. She also knows the business is not as great as her husband tells everyone it is.

While she tries to explain to Luke the cashflow problems, he is not that interested as they always seem to be able to scrape by. Nothing gets Luke quite as excited as seeing his projects transform from the drawing board into bricks and mortar reality. He is the technician and a perfectionist. The clients love him.

Anna is always worried about the cash on hand to pay their suppliers, their employees and sub-contractors, and if there is anything left over, themselves!. She is the Manager.

Ad of the Month - Buying a Customer

by Dr Greg Chapman

Lots of businesses give a free trial of some description as an introduction to new customers, but this is usually for a non-physical product or service. It’s somewhat harder for the seller of physical products where there could be some loss involved.

This clothing retailer found a way of doing this for their target market, while at the same time getting great publicity for supporting those who really need it even before they can become a customer.

How to Stop the Firefighting in Your Business

                     by Dr Greg Chapman

A key reason that most business owners don’t ever find the time to work ON their business is that that spend far too much of their time fighting fires. They lurch from crisis to crisis. No sooner than a band-aid fix has been found for one problem, than their biggest customer rings up to say they haven’t received their urgent order. This means that the time you had put aside to review your monthly sales performance is lost. The urgent takes priority over the important.

What if you could get out of the firefighting business? That you didn’t get continual surprises from your staff or contractors. That things worked the way you expected 95% of the time. (100% would be nice, but as long as human beings are involved, that can’t happen!) What I am about to recommend will appear to some as just extra time that takes them away from the fires they know should be dousing. There is only one way of getting out of the firefighting business. Unfortunately most business owners believe the answer is to get better at firefighting. All this will do is over time wear you down and exhaust you and your staff. The correct answer is below:

When is a Sale not a Sale?

            

 

                       by Dr Greg Chapman

 

The upmarket department store, David Jones used to say, rather snootily:

 “As you know, David Jones don’t have sales, but we do have Clearances.”

Regular sales can cheapen a brand. People will hang out for sales to get bargains.

Don't Charge at Elephants

by Dr Greg Chapman

In every sector there are 2 or 3 big guys, the elephants. Everyone knows them. They have marketing power. They have buying power. And yet, elephants are afraid of mice.

But don’t try to beat an elephant by playing an elephant’s game. You can’t beat them on price. You can’t out-advertise them. You can’t offer the same range. Your distribution network will never be as extensive.

So how can you be like the mouse? The mouse scares the elephant because the elephant feels something happening between its feet, and it can’t see it or stop it.

 More...
 

The Five Pillars of Business Success: Pillar 5: Taking Action

                     by Dr Greg Chapman

Last month I covered the fourth of the Five Pillars of Business Success: People Systems.

In this post I discuss the fifth of the Five Pillars of Guaranteed Business Success: Taking Action.

So you have just had this fantastic business idea, or learned of a great new strategy. What is the most critical barrier to success?

Back in the early eighties I had this fantastic business idea. At that time I was working in the US for another company. Whilst there, I noticed that they had home delivered pizza. This was especially great in the winter when there was snow on the ground and there was no way I wanted to go out. It was then I first heard the Domino’s pizza slogan – delivered in 30 minutes, or its free!

Small Business Solutions in the COVID Era

                     by Dr Greg Chapman

The following is an interview with Liam Webster of Channel 31 on the impact of COVID on small business and some strategies that they may able to use to recover as we move out of lockdown mania.

How badly were small businesses affected by COVID?

Ad of the Month – Comparisons with the Competition

by Dr Greg Chapman

I love this ad. Made me laugh out loud.

Imagine you have a low cost competitor whose products don’t last. But they’re cheap. How can you get customers to value your superior products? By showing them what happens to the cheap ones.

Do You Really Sell a Quality Product?

by Dr Greg Chapman

I often ask business owners, do you sell a quality product, and most tell me they do. I then ask do they think that is a reason that people should buy from you, again most say "Yes".

How did you answer these questions? If you said yes to both, I hate to disillusion you, but everyone says they have a quality product. Have you every heard anyone say:

"Buy from me, my products are lousy?"

 More...
 

How Steve Jobs Prices Products

                     by Dr Greg Chapman

When Steve Jobs launched the iPad some years ago, before the launch, the big question was how much to charge for it. The major existing brand digital reader, Kindle was priced at $259. Apple believed the iPad was superior technology and so should have a higher price. But how high? The answer was as high as their marketing can push it!

They decided to charge $499 for the basic model – almost twice the cost of a Kindle. The only question was how to justify it.

The Five Pillars of Business Success: Pillar 4: People Systems

                     by Dr Greg Chapman

Last month I covered the third of the Five Pillars of Business Success: Marketing Strategy.

In this post I discuss the fourth of the Five Pillars of Guaranteed Business Success: People Systems.

One of the biggest impediments to growth in most small businesses is lack of people systems. When there is poor alignment between your staff’s and your business’ objectives, this becomes a major obstacle to your success.

Ad of Month – You are the product

by Dr Greg Chapman

It’s always interesting to know how others see us, especially if we are the product. How are we sold to others? How is the pitch made? What is the conversation that takes place behind your back to interest potential buyers? Possibly not what you would think.

In this ad, the product is Australia and the buyers are all Kiwis.

One Size does not fit All

by Dr Greg Chapman

Henry Ford once said about the colour range of his cars “They can have any colour they want, as long as it is black”. His strategy was built around price. Choice was a cost to his business and he wanted to mass produce so he could get economies of scale.

If you have a low price strategy, you may also offer a one size fits all solution as introducing choice also increases cost.

If, however you wish to increase your margins, having a wider range creates value for your customer.

 More...
 

The Economics of a Sales Pipeline

                     by Dr Greg Chapman

 
It is not enough to understand the numbers in your sales pipeline (see “Mathematics of a Sales Pipeline”) you also need to understand the costs.

Let’s start with the example in the earlier article:

The Five Pillars of Business Success: Pillar 3: Business Systems

                     by Dr Greg Chapman

Last month I covered the second of the Five Pillars of Business Success: Marketing Strategy.

In this post I discuss the third of the Five Pillars of Guaranteed Business Success: Business Systems.

Answer the following questions honestly:

• How many hours do you work a week?
• When was the last time you took an uninterrupted holiday?
• Do your staff have a better job than you?

Ad of the Month – Breaking up is hard to do

by Dr Greg Chapman

You have a deep relationship with your existing partner and to leave is actually complicated because of your long standing arrangements, but you’re attracted by another partner who is much more modern and in tune with your lifestyle.

Wouldn’t is be great if you could keep the security of your old relationship but get all the benefits of the much more fun and exciting one? And just to make things clear, I’m talking about banking.

How I lost a Sale

by Dr Greg Chapman

A short while back I lost a potential client. Now its not the first time it happened. And I am sure it won't be the last.

Sometimes I am very happy to lose a client- you know the type, the time wasters, the freebie seekers, or people who are just totally unqualified to buy.

No, the client I lost wasn't anyone of those. In the initial stages of my discussion with him, he seemed pretty qualified. In fact, highly qualified.

 More...
 

The Mathematics of a Sales Pipeline

                     by Dr Greg Chapman

There are two key components to a sale: the technique and the numbers. In this article, we will discuss the second of these components, the numbers.

“Using the Five Profit Drivers to Double Your Business’ Profit” referred to the second Profit Driver as “Increasing your conversions to sales”. That is, we took the number of sales and divided it by the number of enquiries to calculate the conversion factor. This is a very blunt instrument to analyze your sales effectiveness.

The simple sales conversion factor measure assumes a single sales step. Someone calls you and after a conversation, they buy, or they don’t. Most sales processes are far more complex. Consider an example of a typical sales pipeline:

The Five Pillars of Business Success: Pillar 2: Marketing Strategy

                     by Dr Greg Chapman

Last month I covered the first of the Five Pillars of Business Success: Your Plan.

In this post I discuss the second of the Five Pillars of Guaranteed Business Success: Marketing Strategy.

What is Marketing? There are hundreds of definitions of marketing, but I like to keep it really simple.

Definition: Marketing (noun): Finding and Attracting people who want to buy what you want to sell for the price you want to charge.

Ad of the Month - Joy

by Dr Greg Chapman

Suppose you run an investment fund and you want to appeal to the average person who might only have small amounts that they can contribute regularly? The typical approach might be to explain how small amounts over time will add up to a large amount in the distant future (boring) or you could make saving fun. This is what this fund did.

Do You Market Like a Lion or a Spider?

by Dr Greg Chapman

The lion of course, is the king of the beasts. Standing there on an outcrop surveying the plains with a gentle breeze blowing in his mane. He spots a heard of antelope and climbs down and starts to make his way towards the herd.

He approaches from downwind and starts to stalk his prey. Once the herd comes within sprinting distance, he begins his chase. The herd dashes to the left and then to the right to avoid the lion. Finally the lion spots an antelope that is lagging behind and he marks his target. It is as magnificent to watch as it is brutal.

The lion has his meal. Tomorrow he will do it all again.

 More...
 

How Leaky is Your Sales Pipeline?

                     by Dr Greg Chapman

Does your Sales Pipeline leak? Hopefully your answer to that question is “Yes, but just in the places it’s supposed to.” Every business’ Sales Pipeline leaks to some extent. The question is: Have you done everything you can to ensure that it does not leak excessively? Do you even know what your Sales Pipeline looks like?

Very simply, a Sales Pipeline starts with an initial enquiry and ends with a sale. While the Sales Pipeline looks different in each business, there are still some similarities between them. In all businesses, there is a need to generate enquiries. This can be done through advertising, cold calling, public relations or word of mouth. This enquiry may be a phone call in response to an ad. Or, in retail, a customer may walk in your front door attracted by your shopfront marketing. This is the first step of the Sales Pipeline for any business. However, there are usually a number of steps from receiving an enquiry to generating a sale.

The Five Pillars of Business Success: Pillar 1: The Plan

                     by Dr Greg Chapman

Last month I revealed the 5 reasons businesses stay small.

In this post I will discuss the first of the Five Pillars of Guaranteed Business Success: The Plan.

When I speak about plans what I see are generally business plans created when the business was first started, that read like novels, and if they were in libraries, they would be classified as science fiction. They are filled with the optimism of the inexperienced, but once exposed to the reality of the market place, these plans regularly get forgotten on the shelf gathering dust.

General Truman once said “Planning is essential but plans are useless”. Perhaps this thought was prompted by a 19th century German Field Marshall von Moltke who said “No plan survives contact with the enemy.”

Top Small Business Blogs 2021

by Dr Greg Chapman

Once again The Australian Small Business Blog has been ranked in the Top 100 Small Business Blogs Globally and in the Top 10 Small Business Blogs in Australia by the blog aggregator Feedspot.

Thanks again to the Feedspot team for the recognition.

Ad of the Month - Changing old traditions

by Dr Greg Chapman

Old traditions die hard. We do things at certain times because everyone else does it and we get used to it and even like it.

I admit I love an ice cold beer on a hot summers day. Doesn’t everyone? Well apparently not.

How much are You worth?

by Dr Greg Chapman

The past year has been difficult for everyone, except perhaps Zoom shareholders. As we start to come out the other side of this, the confidence of many has been shaken causing them question their value. If you are a business owner selling products and services, do you get what you are worth? Most people will answer no to this question. They believe that their clients do not value their services and won’t pay what they are truly worth.

Here is a calculation you can make.

  More...
 

Five Reasons Businesses Stay Small

                     by Dr Greg Chapman

This is an edited extract from the best selling award winning book “The Five Pillars of Guaranteed Business Success”

The biggest risk for most businesses, if they survive the first year, is not whether they will fail. Most won’t. The biggest risk is that they will stay small. Whether by design or not. Recent ABS data show that 98% of micro-businesses stay that way. That is, they are Micro-Stayers.

There are a number of reasons that businesses may stay in the Micro-Stayer group. It could be a lifestyle choice. Work-Life balance is becoming more and more important to many people. It may be because they don’t have the knowledge to take their business to the next level, and become frustrated Micro-Stayers. Or they may have progressed from frustrated to resigned Micro-Stayers and have adjusted lifestyle and ambition in recognition of this.

Businesses that involuntarily stay small, the Micro-Stayers, do so for five key reasons.