The Hidden Barriers to Small Business Success

Why are small businesses struggling to achieve their goals? This episode delves into the hidden barriers that often go unnoticed yet significantly impact small business success. We discuss how over-reliance on external help can lead to disinterest and lack of effort from entrepreneurs, emphasizing the importance of financial investment and a strong, growth-oriented mindset.

We highlight the significance of separating personal ideologies from business strategies to avoid hindering your business's growth. Learn the critical differences between branding and marketing, and why a clear marketing communication framework is essential.

Join us as we uncover these hidden barriers and provide actionable insights to help small business owners navigate the complex landscape of entrepreneurship more effectively.

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
The Hidden Barriers to Small Business Success Why are small businesses having
a hard time achieving their goals?
I believe there are so many new avenues in helping people that there is a loss
in identifying the source of the problem.
I believe in a helping hand, but I notice in small businesses,

(00:20):
if you help someone too much or you provide free services in exchange for equal
value, you, what happens is they grow disinterested and do not place effort
towards their business goals.
What I've seen is if they invest financially, their attention is more focused on the task at hand.

(00:41):
I say this because I see a lot of organizations and coaches offering help in
things that should not exist for certain types of industries.
It is too much hand-holding for people who don't have the grit to weather out
the entrepreneur's storm.
It is not about having endless ideas, but having the grit to deal with the many

(01:03):
issues that come with it.
That is why I talk a lot about mindset.
It won't matter how many courses, certifications, or coaching sessions you spend
if you have a terrible mindset as an entrepreneur.
And people choose to have a fixed mindset, and there's no changing that decision.
I mean, once that is identified, then why keep insisting on pushing something that won't work?

(01:28):
I mean, if they don't have it, then they don't have it.
All it does, skew numbers and data, and that data is used to make more terrible decisions.
And when you talk to some of these entrepreneurs, they do not talk like entrepreneurs with ideas.
They are using someone else's business model as their own or citing a business

(01:49):
advisor who never owned a business.
This is where innovation is the most crucial.
Ideas and persistence. I mean, I have seen some entrepreneurs with no college
background and some with less than in high school education who are putting
in the work of persistent and succeeding.

(02:10):
Then you have some who are 3,000 knee-deep in certifications and do not have
the mindset to deal with the issues.
I mean, with so much YouTube, YouTube Shorts, IG Reels, Pinterest,
Pinterest Graphs, Pinterest Videos, free webinars, and AI, if you can't do the
basics of business without hand-holding, then I don't see it ever happening.

(02:34):
Entrepreneurship is literally the epitome of a self-starter.
It embodies the entire definition.
I mean, I remember years ago staying up until 3 a.m. watching videos,
pausing videos, learning software.
There was no webinar for this software. I had to Google it and create my steps to learn it.
To that point, I can create a webinar because I figured it out. I am a self-starter.

(02:56):
Another issue with small businesses is that there are a lot of underdeveloped
personality traits that cause it sabotaging and it has nothing to do with either
business ROI competitively.
Bet in an ego manner.
People will sabotage you in every way possible, then play victim or will behave
naively to get away with behaviors.

(03:18):
They will try to figure out ways to get to your weak points and exploit them
to their benefit or their leverage.
People will become attracted to you because of your leadership stance and strong convictions.
If they have a fixed mindset and you have a growth mindset.
This is a recipe for jealousy and sabotaging. It could be a colleague,

(03:38):
a spouse, family member, or a friend.
This is why picking the right people around you and the environment is important
to continue to expand on your goals, which are outlined by your definition of success.
You need to find people with the same goals outlined by your definition of success
and vet them word for word through their actions. As an entrepreneur,

(04:01):
we incorporate entertainment and education into our content.
But when you do too much entertainment content, you end up with fans and not customers.
You end up with a lot of followers and no buyers.
It's a good idea to place entertainment, but not too much.
Other issues as entrepreneurs are things that have nothing to do with your business.

(04:23):
Do we have a personal ideology that we feel strongly about? Absolutely.
Some of us started our business on those ideas, but for those who didn't, it's a bad mix.
A business is an idea to solve a problem, but where it gets a little off is
when we put too much identity politics into your branding message,

(04:44):
which has nothing to do with the actual business or solving problems to your demographics.
It is great that you want to go into philanthropy, but create a separate space for it.
Make it your volunteer contribution to your cause and separate those things
and where it does not affect your revenue so you can have the funds to put more

(05:05):
time into your philanthropy.
You are literally taking away from you and the people you can help with your
philanthropy by mixing the two.
Ask for support of your business so you can support a charity cause.
It will free your time and give you money to help more.
This is where logic will supersede the heart and getting things accomplished.

(05:29):
Last but not least, it's the marketing communication framework that has been
misplaced over the years.
People go right into marketing and forget that branding is where marketing stands.
Marketing should follow branding guidelines, but marketing is not branding because
marketing is paired with sales and not branding.

(05:51):
Again, marketing has to follow branding guidelines, but it is not branding. I can't say that enough.
There was a time in where you could not get a marketing job without sales or
customer service experience.
Now, all I hear is marketing professionals talking about branding.
They should be talking about sales.

(06:13):
And not all content should have a call to action, especially if it's not a sales content.
Public relations, publicity, and some ads are more about branding.
Think about the Nike commercial.
They don't have a call to action. They have a tagline, just do it.
And slogans like, I believe.

(06:33):
The tagline is an action of mindset and not a call to action.
Though not every content needs a call to action. That is only for marketing.
Think about it like this. Have you ever bookmarked a brand to buy them later?
Then you end up having 30 bookmarks that you will never go over again.
Well, now you have forgotten about the brand. Not everyone will buy from you immediately.

(06:56):
You also have to create a familiar brand with people so they can get comfortable with buying from you.
Branding also helps nurture and maintain attention.
So some of the hidden barriers to small businesses and their success is not
being a self-starter, not having a growth mindset,
mixing philanthropy with business to the point it affects your ROI.

(07:22):
Not removing people who are not productive for your growth, Not finding your
fit as an environment to maintain your mindset.
Not creating the right marketing communication strategy.