In this article, we will dissect the causes of stagnation and failure in the business world. Applicable to those of you who have their own business, or are also planning to build their own business.
There are so many variables that causes a business to stagnate. However, if condensed into the most fundamental variables, business stagnation is often caused by only the following two elements. Let’s check them out!
1. The Product or Service Doesn’t Have a Clear USP
USP stands for Unique Selling Propositions. This means that the product or service you are selling has a unique and attractive offer for potential customers.
In fact, so many businesses are stagnant and ultimately fail because their products or services do not have a USP that kicks them, which can make them rise above the crowd.
This means: the product or service being sold does not have advantages. Both in terms of the main function of the product, product features, benefits, and price aspects compared to other products from competitors.
If the product you are going to sell does not have any advantages, uniqueness or advantages, then how will it sell and sell well in the market?
Solution
The solution is to make sure that your business product offering has a valuable USP.
Specifically, there are three steps worth taking in this USP mapping process.
The first step is to make sure that the market for your business product or service is quite broad and has a high potential for demand. Or at least there is a niche market that is worth entering, and suitable for the product you are selling.
The second step, find the specific advantages of your product over competitors’. In this step there are three options:
- Product leadership
- Value for money
- Price advantage
If you want to focus on product leadership, then determine the features or benefits that stand out the product or service that you are going to market. Devote all your energy to actually be able to present products with premium quality.
Value for money is taken as an option if the product or service you are selling is able to provide good benefits but at a reasonable price.
Meanwhile, in price advantage, you can get low product costs so you can sell products at competitive prices, but you can still get a profit even though it may be thin. Price war often occurs in this option. That’s why value for money and product leadership are actually better choices.
The third step in USP mapping is that you really have the capability in the USP choices you have made.
In other words, you can deliver the products or services you sell according to the USP promises. This means that if you choose a value for money approach, then the quality of the product you offer is really worth it, or comparable to the price charged.
Even if you become a reseller, then make sure the product you are selling also has a good USP. This way you will also find it relatively easy to make sales. Don’t be a reseller of products that don’t have a kicking USP and can be a differentiator among thousands of other competing products.
2. The Marketing Process Is Not Creative
In the first stage above, we have to make sure that the product or service that we sell really has a pretty wow USP. The goal is for our business to have a chance to survive, and not get stuck in the middle of the road.
However, the USP alone is sometimes not enough, if it is not accompanied by an aggressive and creative marketing and promotion process.
Many of those who start their own business fail because they are not good at selling.
In fact, selling skills is a key skill that can make us rich, but unfortunately not widely taught in college and school.
In this digital era, many businesses are stagnant because they fail to promote themselves cleverly. This marketing mistakes lie in two arenas.
The first is the mistake of not being able or not being able to do online promotions on all online channels, either through Google Ads, SEO Marketing, Facebook Ads, Instagram Marketing to YouTube Marketing and WhatsApp Marketing.
Today everyone is busy staring at the cellphone screen. If the products and services that you sell cannot appear on their cellphone screens through clever online marketing, then your business will stagnate.
Unfortunately, there are many independent business people who do not master SEO Marketing, FB Ads, or Instagram Marketing solidly. Maybe because you are lazy to study, or maybe because you are reluctant to spend online promotion costs. Or even both.
Professional product photos, graphic design of cool online promotional posters, and strong copywriting – all are basic skills that today’s business people must possess.
Without the skills to create attractive advertising and promotional materials, your business sales can remain stagnant for a long time.
Solution
The solution to this second fundamental causes of business stagnation is quite easy. You can slowly start learning independently (self-taught) various techniques about online marketing (Google Ads, FB Ads, Instagram Marketing) to effective copywriting techniques. In this whole process, self-learning capabilities and resourcefulness (or persistence to find solutions independently) are needed.
Bottom Line
Be resilient. Be resourceful. Don’t be spoiled and lazy. Don’t expect instant results without hard work and without studying online selling skills diligently.
On the other hand, there are now also many services available that provide an effective online marketing process. Do not hesitate to invest in this field, because the impact can make your business sales skyrocket. The principle is: it is better to spend 1 million in promotion funds, in order to get a profit of 5 million than zero promotion funds, but also zero sales.
So, the two fundamental causes of business stagnation, as well as workable solutions.
In every problem, there is always a solution. In every failure, there is always room for improvement.
