The post was previously published on Forbes.com.
Last year I spent over $17,000 with one contractor on my ecommerce business with zero conversions. When it came time to finalize my business’ P&L for taxes at year end, I didn’t even want to look at the numbers because I didn’t want to acknowledge the fact that I had basically wasted close to $20,000.
I consider myself an intelligent and savvy business person, and yet, in this particular instance, I acted like an ostrich with its head in the sand. I didn’t want to look the problem in its face so I ignored it.
It’s a powerful example of how blind we can be when it comes to bad news in our business.
Literally every week I was spending hundreds of dollars with no increase in sales, and I was receiving feedback that my contractor was not producing results and that the methods we were using were ineffective.
Why did I choose to ignore this bad news? I felt intimated. I didn’t know how to create conversions with my new product; I was scared that I might not have the ‘right’ answer, so I decided that maybe if I threw enough money at the problem, it would fix itself. Sadly, this is not how it works. As an entrepreneur, whatever you focus your attention and energy on in your business, this is what will grow and prosper.
If you ignore one area and try to outsource it without creating an effective structure to measure results and readjust as needed, you will fail. At least I did.
The question I have for you today is: are you currently ignoring bad news in your business that is staring you in the face? Is there something you are not addressing for fear of acknowledging that something is clearly not working.
Right now, I have an online class priced at $597 that has zero sign ups. Clearly, something is not working. Either the marketing strategy needs to change, perhaps the price point is too high, or we need more testimonials on the product page, or, or, or…who knows. I don’t know the answer right now, and the thought of trying to figure it out is daunting, which is why my tendency is to ignore it.
However, if I want to grow my business, I need to be willing to acknowledge the situation and then do something about it.
I took action with that contractor who I spent close to $20k on last year and things have improved dramatically. First, I got very involved. I upgraded the team by hiring a solid A / A+ person who had helped grow businesses like ModCloth and was based locally here in Silicon Valley. This new hire cost $200/hour as opposed to my current contractor who was $50/hour, and it was a scary move, given how much I had already wasted.
But I knew I needed talent and high quality support executing this vision. Within a very short period of time (less than two weeks), it was clear that the new hire was at least 10x more productive and the quality of work from the original contractor was seen for what it really was, and that person was let go. I have spent significantly less money with the new hire in total thus far, despite a higher hourly rate, and have already made back the investment with increased sales.
Finally! After working with the new hire for a month, it became clear that there were a few basic tasks that were not a fit for him given his high hourly rate, and I outsourced those more basic functions on elance and odesk to someone who runs his own online marketing business and charges $50/hour and another person who charges $12/hour. This combination solution has been working very well, and I’m currently expanding the roles of all three hires as they continue to add value.
It’s important to take risks and try new things, and it’s equally important to assess the results and make changes as needed after an appropriate trial period.
Here are three questions to help you get started:
1. What is one area of your business where you are the most frustrated right now?
2. What are you not willing to acknowledge about this area of your business? What is it that is not working currently?
3. Come up with an action plan containing at least three new solutions for this area of your business and a timeline that includes a ‘by when’ date that you will experiment with each of these solutions.
The truth is that the facts are the facts. If something isn’t selling, it isn’t selling. If your ad copy is ineffective, it’s ineffective. You can ignore the truth because your ego doesn’t want to hear it, you’re scared, you don’t know what to do, it’s easier to avoid, and a million other reasons. But that doesn’t make the truth go away.
If you want things to change, you need to start by acknowledging what isn’t working.
Get curious rather than judgmental about it. Then do something about it.
I’d love to hear your responses in the comment section below. Have you ignored bad news because you didn’t want to face the facts? What did you do to turn things around?
