For those of you lucky enough to be operating your own small business, you will understand just how volatile business really is. As quickly as you rise to popularity within your circles of influence, you can crumble into a big mess of financial difficulty, dissatisfied customers and unsettled staff. What sometimes seems like overnight your dream business venture can become your worst nightmare. And then it happens. The Disappearing Act. The moment in your work life where your influence just seems to vanish into thin air, along with your profits, and you are left wondering what the hell went wrong. What happened to the heydays when everyone was riding the wave, the office was a-buzz with focused and inspired staff who were celebrating every small step of success with you, and your customers were singing your praises?

Lack of Purpose and Passion

Remember the day you first registered your business name? How proud you were to open the door of your first office, or the day you went home with a spring in your step after completing your first contract. And then at some point the enthusiasm drops and you drag yourself out of bed in the morning, less than inspired. There is no greater turn off for a business from a customers’ perspective than a less-than-enthusiastic business owner or staff member. The principle is simple: If you don’t love your business, neither will your staff, and ultimately neither will your customers. Do whatever is necessary to reignite the flame that drove you to open your business in the first place. Focus on the things that will help you get back on track. Connect with other passionate business owners and allow their enthusiasm to rub off on you. Loss of purpose and passion is the number one reason for “The Disappearing Act”

Lack of Consistency

How many times have you cancelled your class and then wondered why people stopped turning up? How many times have you forgotten to answer your customer enquiries and then wondered why people stopped using your services? How many phone calls have you not be bothered to answer and then thought how strange it was that no one is ringing anymore? Have you slackened your standards with your customer service so that your customers no longer know what to expect? Hmm…. Lack of consistency is a very common factor in the death of a business. The crazy thing is, it is one of the easiest things to fix. Implement some new procedures, or revisit some old ones to ensure consistency in every area of your business. This is about restoring customer confidence and staff pride. This is the second reason for “The Disappearing Act”.

Lack of Personal Connection

72% of all internet users are now active on social media. (Jeff Bullas)

One of the greatest changes to the ‘way we do business’ in recent times with the emergence of social media and the information age is that your customers now want to feel a greater connection to the faces behind your brand. According to this recent article that discusses the state of IT trends within Australia, small businesses with high digital engagement enjoy better business outcomes, with a 20% increase in annual revenue. These small businesses also have better growth prospects, more diversified sources of revenue and a bigger customer base.

Modern companies with high social media engagement are experiencing massive growth and riding the wave of influence now created by global ‘Word Of Mouth’ marketing strategies (WOMM). You as a person, and your staff are just as important to your customer now as your product is. This can be especially hard in small communities, or if you are in the public eye quite regularly. Make sure you have a brand management strategy to overcome these challenges. You can’t be friends with everyone, that is true. But you can give people the impression that they are of great importance to you by your level of interaction with them. Connect with your customers, share things that interest them, and build a culture in your business to be constantly and consistently engaging with those you are trying to win over or retain. “The Disappearing Act” number three is a hard one to juggle – Lack of personal connection.

Reignite your passion, implement business procedures to ensure consistency and engage with your customers, staff and suppliers and you will soon find that the rivers of influence and prosperity will again flow. It is essential for you to remember that business is all about people.

It’s not rocket science: Get your bounce back, find your groove, share the love.

Simple. And yet, so powerful.