Everything you need to know about the opportunities for you and your business in 2012, can be found in a small, hardly covered news story that appeared yesterday, the third day of our New Year.
The story was that Starbucks is increasing its prices.
They’re starting in areas of the US so some of us are OK at the moment if we have a fondness for caffe late. But we can pretty much guarantee that the UK will follow soon.
However, the issue isn’t what you’re going to pay for a coffee. The issue is what this says about you doing in business in 2012.
If you have the right business, with the right product and the right marketing and the right customers – AND you’re clear that you only want to reach the customers who are happy to invest in what you have to offer, price starts to become irrelevant.
Most business owner you know would be terrified at the prospect of starting the new year with a price increase. What’s the difference between them and Starbucks?
Starbucks customers are raving fans. Theirs are not. Starbucks customers do not compare their prices to the competitors. Theirs do. Starbucks have succeeded in disconnecting the commodity (coffee beans) from the price. (Compare the price of a coffee in starbucks with the price of a tea spoon of coffee that you’d buy in the supermarket and you’ll see what I mean.)
Finally, Starbucks have absolutely no interest in trying to reach the vast majority of the population who wouldn’t dream of paying that much for a coffee.
Simple differences – but profound. And they sum up everything that it takes and is going to take to be profitable and successful in 2012.
I want more than a Happy New Year for you. For an Entrepreneur, that’s too vague. I want a profitable new year for you. I want a new year where you have between five and ten profitable sources of new customers, making you immune from the economy. I want a new year for you where every month your sales, conversions and online sales increase as a result of you implementing some very smart marketing strategies. I want a new year for you where you can charge the prices you deserve. I want a new year for you where the struggle is replaced with ease. That ease is going to come from superior marketing, superior internet marketing and a superior sales process.
Wishing and hoping is not a very effective new year strategy. Decisive action is. Making a commitment to immerse yourself in the leading edge of Entrepreneurial excellence in 2012 is not only a smart thing to do – in this economy it’s essential.
Finally, I want to urge you to do something. And I do mean ‘urge’ because the necessity to do all of the above in this economic climate is urgent.
Make that decision to sink or swim!!
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