Ever wonder what it would be like to wake up one morning and have a successful business?
I think every business owner has wished for that at some point. We've all thought about giving up or finding an easier path, and yes, we've all fantasized about waking up to a large deposit in our bank account after a big sale.
But that's not reality. At the beginning, we all feel like we're struggling, and even when things start moving, it can still feel overwhelming.
We usually don't share the tough parts of starting a business because we don't want others to see the struggles. Social media only showcases the big sales, new marketing materials, or the number of leads we've generated.
But what about the ugly stuff?
Like getting 1,000 leads but only converting 2-5%. Or building out a 21-day sequence with 4 email touches and 2 call touches—by the end of 15 days, that's 4,000 emails sent and 2,000 phone calls made (even if most go unanswered). It’s a lot of time spent in front of a screen. That’s 95 calls and 195 emails a day.
And what about all the time spent creating marketing materials, beautiful content videos, slides, LinkedIn posts, only to see the campaign perform poorly?
There are countless things that can bring you down every day, and those are just two of the many tasks involved in running a business.
But truthfully, what’s the biggest issue we run into when starting a business? Often, we don't set the right priorities. Here’s how most of us typically start:
1. File state documents (LLC)
2. Buy an insurance policy
3. Start social media accounts (which isn’t a bad first move)
4. Purchase equipment (whether it’s materials or software)
5. Invest in a website
These are the top five things most people do to get started, but is that really the best approach?
Over my career, I've been part of five startups, and each time I faced challenges getting things off the ground. It wasn’t until my third startup that I realized I needed to shift my approach. But what does that look like?
Here’s what I discovered. When starting a business, I was always focused on those initial five steps that I was told were the most important, but that’s not necessarily the case. So, what is?
Anytime you start a business, there should be a clear reason behind it. Yes, making money is a priority—no one’s in this for free work. But beyond making money, there’s usually a passion driving us. We might want to make a difference in our community, build something new, solve a problem, or simply be motivated by the process of creation. These are all great values to have when starting a business, but let’s dive into how we can turn them into reality.
Let’s use Ambivo as an example. When we launched it to market, let’s look at how it came to be.
We didn’t initially develop Ambivo to start a new software company—we did it to solve problems within our existing company. We couldn’t afford to pay $200-$300 per agent for the tools we needed, especially as a small business with 30+ agents. That’s $9K a month just in software costs, which could have been better spent on marketing, training, ads, etc. So, we realized we needed a system that provided everything in one place but was also easy for our agents to use.
The most important thing was to provide our agents with a tool that wouldn’t consume too much of their time. The issue with most companies is they implement systems without considering the employees who will be using them. Our goal was to empower our agents with a system that would help them in their operations without overwhelming them with their daily tasks.
Going back to the first point I made: Yes, we’re here to make money, but to ensure that, we need to empower our employees to work productively and make their lives as easy as possible.
As an employer, sales manager, or department head, how are you making sure your team is at the forefront of productivity?
Check out Software Advice and what they have to say about Ambivo.
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