Wouldn’t you like to see your business grow?
What if it was not just bigger but more profitable?
Pete Williams (“The Kid Who Sold the MCG” and serial entrepreneur) knows quite a lot about business. What I love about Pete is that he makes things simple – but not simplistic. There’s no reason why anyone who studies his 7 Levers and acts on them can’t achieve visible results in a relatively short time. What’s more, when you break down the numbers they’re achievable, not alarming.
The steps require action – but they’re not overwhelming; they call for measurement – but they involve things you should be doing anyway. Most importantly, they promise results that are independent of the economy, the government, or any other outside factor – YOU control the result.
So what are the 7 Levers?
- Traffic;
- Opt-in;
- Conversions;
- Items per Sale;
- Average Sale Price;
- Transactions per Customer;
- Profit Margin.
By focusing on just one of these at a time, you can double your business.
“Nothing new here,” you may be saying – and you’d be right.
The beauty of this is not its novelty but its simplicity, and its proven effectiveness. An innovative idea, a unique approach is a great foundational IDEA for a business, but it’s not such a great plan for business growth and sustainability. By focusing on each of these levers in sequence and systematically implementing just one change you can expect your business to grow exponentially in a fairly short period.
Many small businesses find that hiring a business coach transforms their business. It’s not because the coach has secret knowledge – it’s because a good business coach helps you develop a plan and holds you accountable for its implementation. The 7 levers are like that. They’re like a business coach for those who are not yet ready to hire one, and a ‘best practices’ list for those who are already moving forward. You really can’t take any action on each of these areas systematically and NOT grow.
The math is startling! A 10% increase in each of these 7 Levers will increase your profitability to almost 95% of your current levels. Would that make a difference to your business? It certainly would to mine. It doesn’t matter if your business is large or small at present – a 95% increase in profitability is hard to turn down. The really exciting thing is that a single run-through can yield 95% growth, but you don’t need to stop there! Once you’ve run through the 7 Levers you can go back to the beginning and begin another cycle for another 95% growth!
Focus. Making Wise choices.
As a business owner you’re probably distracted by the many good things you need to accomplish in your business, and there are always new and shiny objects coming along to tempt you to invest. Focusing on each of these 7 Levers in turn provides you with a filter to simplify your decisions about what to do – and what not to do. Let’s face it, most of the time you’re not choosing between good and bad options, you’re deciding whether or not a GOOD thing is actually RIGHT for your business. As far as I’m concerned, anything that clarifies those decisions is definitely a useful tool.
Measurement. Giving you a sense of progress.
It’s true that not everything can profitably be measured, but sometimes that has to do with our decisions about what to measure and how to measure it. In business terms, you can measure a lot of intangibles simply by focusing on some surrounding indicators. Customer loyalty is one intangible that it’s hard to measure – but what if you re-frame it as ’Transactions per Customer’? You can certainly measure that – and if they’re not coming back themselves, or referring others, then you can take steps to change it – and measure the impact.
Growth. Creating value for yourself and your customers.
I happen to believe that flourishing business have a positive trickle-down effect on the whole economy. That means that when your business is growing it’s not only good for the customers who benefit from your products and services, it’s also good for the community and country. So when your business is growing, and you see the positive results of your hard work, everybody profits.
