Some business lessons can only be learned through pain.
But if you’re a good student, your pain-point can become your breakthrough.
My partner and I launched our online coaching business by following conventional advice that we should hire a web designer to create our website.
We hired a webmaster and with our assistance, he created a brand-new WordPress website.
At first, we were excited to have the project completed. But we began to have issues any time we needed updates on the site.
He would promise to get them done, but he was frequently late.
This became his pattern. It seemed that after collecting the money to build our site, he was far less responsive to our ongoing needs.
Soon, our communication broke down entirely.
We moved on, but not before having a fight about who owned our data and even the site itself.
After flexing my business litigation muscles, he backed off. But not before causing us needless stress and delays with our marketing.
Did we give up?
No way!
We’re entrepreneurs!
We licked our wounds and found another “webmaster.”
As the esteemed philosopher, Yogi Berra once said, “It was déjà vu all over again.”
Webmaster 2.0 was as bad as the first. 😖
Poor communication skills.
Poor response times.
Poor follow-ups.
Still undaunted, we tried a third vendor, who was more pleasant to work with, but still out of the loop at critical times when we needed him.
That’s when we began looking for an option that,
✅ Didn’t require a third party for updating and upkeeping.
✅ We could easily maneuver without knowing any code or web lingo.
✅ Was readily expandable as we grew our business offerings.
We eventually found a “drag and drop” website builder which enabled us to eliminate the middleman and build our website ourselves.
We took full control of our site, and we’ve never looked back!
The next challenge came as we started to grow our business.
We needed to create sales funnels, landing pages, email sequences, courses, and membership communities.
Rather than figure out how to accomplish these functions on our own website, we once again followed marketplace advice.
We began acquiring programs and apps for each of these functions.
Need a sales funnel and some landing pages?
We bought Click Funnels.
Need to write email sequences?
At different times, we owned Constant Contact, AWeber, and Active Campaign.
Need to schedule content marketing posts on social media?
We ordered Hootsuite, Buffer, and Loomly.
Need to host a course or membership community?
We purchased a subscription to Kajabi.
Need to create a webinar?
We turned to GotoWebinar, then Zoom.
And there are others for graphics, calendaring, project management, etc. The list is endless.
Each of these apps had annual or monthly fees and did not always work well together.
Thus, we ended up with several pieces of uncomplimentary software that steadily increased in price each year.
Several years and thousands of dollars later, we finally said “Uncle” and began closing these accounts.
We went on a journey…
In search of simple.
Because complexity is a trap, and it’s an expensive one.
You can add thousands of dollars to your expense column before you see any profit on your bottom line.
I understand that your business requires tech, and your business requires your financial investment.
But it shouldn’t mire you into running multiple (sometimes incompatible) and expensive programs.
Take it from someone who’s tried many of them.
Simplify.
Technology is a big part of this equation because that’s where we tend to add complexity, and also where something new premiers each month to challenge your quest to keep things uncomplicated.
But it’s not just tech.
Take a step back and consider some areas where you may want to simplify your business. I’ve listed a few below as food for thought.
· Your messaging.
· Your marketing.
· Your service or product offerings.
· Your buyer’s journey.
· Your customer service and retention.
Is there a way to decrease friction in any of these areas?
Can you simplify?
In our case, we sought one hub to run our online business.
Our hub needed to cover the core functions we purchased through other systems mentioned above and had to integrate well, at a reasonable cost.
We now run our business, including our websites, email marketing, hosting courses, events, prospects, leads, and contacts under one roof.
Lean and mean. 😊
Our system may lack bells and whistles, but small business owners need simplified solutions, not expensive, shiny new objects.
Remember, complexity is a trap, and if you are in one, please free yourself.
Or send me a message, and I’d love to offer you a complimentary call to help you navigate your way out.
Until then, Let’s keep it simple.
PS. Click the links below to check out some of the ways we can work together.
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