Do you lack the courage to be a premium pet business?
I think courage is vastly underrated in business.
Call it what you will, daring, guts, moxie, nerve, pecker, or my old favourite ‘ladyballs’.
Obviously, regular man balls are allowed if you are…ahem, a man.
Anyhoo, back to courage.
When I think of ‘courage’ I immediately see a picture of the cowardly lion in the Wizard of Oz.
He taunts Dorothy ‘I’ll fight you wid one hand tied behind my back’
When he picks on Toto she smacks him on the nose causing him to blub like a baby. Then we get this classic line.
“Look at the circles under my eyes. I haven’t slept in weeks!”
Tin Man asks “Why don’t you try counting sheep?“
The Lion replies “That doesn’t do any good, I’m afraid of ’em”.
LOLLAGE.
Courage alone will take you a LONG way in your pet business..
Courage enabled me to charge DOUBLE than my competitors (and the rest of the U.K) when I started my dog adventure business in 2011.
Courage allowed me to charge £20 for a paperback version of my first book.
Courage enabled me to stick 50% on my private coaching services during lockdown.
Without courage you’ll always struggle to charge high enough prices to make your pet business worthwhile.
I don’t mean just being £1.50 more than the competition either.
That’s like being the worlds tallest Chihuahua. You’re still just a little Chihuahua.
Having the courage to charge higher prices than your competition is different to just being confident about the high level of service you offer.
I know lots of outstanding pet business owners who were fantastic at the walking, training, grooming but who consistently failed to charge a high fee that was worthy of their skills.
So, how can you boost your courage levels so you can boost your bank balance?
Well, when you have kick-ass marketing systems working to consistently bring in new leads then THAT can boost your confidence massively, as you’ll be ‘confident’ that new inquiries are always coming in.
If you feel like you currently run a ‘feast and famine’ business model and are always chasing clients, then you DON’T have an effective marketing system. Chances are you are probably just messing around on social media ‘pretending’ you are marketing.
Truth is, you are literally getting in your own way when it comes to making more money.
And no amount of ‘like ladders’, Facebook shares, Instagram hearts or retweets are going to help you fix that.
#sorrynotsorry
Most pet business owners piss fart around doing any number of ‘silly’ things that give them a temporary high, but do NOTHING to help them earn more money.
This is why, for the most part, I’m always against you doing any more ‘dog training’ seminars.
Like messing around on Facebook, or falling down a Youtube wormhole, signing up for a dog training seminar is for most business owners an escape from ‘reality’.
It’s an opportunity for you to escape for a while and ‘forget’ about the difficult decisions you need to make to move your business forward.
Here’s a test to see if you need help with your pet business marketing strategy.
How many times this year have you sat down with a pen and paper and thought of;
Three ways you can increase the number of new leads that come into your business? (That’s getting fresh eyes and inquiries from dog owners in your town)
Three ways you can increase the average transaction value of each client (by adding upsells or bundling in a new service)
Three ways you can increase the life-time value of each clients? (by moving them onto a package or a program of services)
Then, think how many times you posted something on social media that made you feel good (hey, we all like to be ‘liked’) but had ZERO effect on how many new inquiries you got OR how much extra profit you made.
See, being courageous in business requires you to go against the grain and do the opposite of what your crappy competition are doing.
I would advise you to start by trying the exercise above. You’ll find it difficult at first because your natural reaction is to revert to what you did before i.e. ineffective social media marketing.
Stick with it though and if you get stuck then check out my Pet Business Inner Circle. That’s where you can get more personal help and support from me, and the amazing community of kick-ass pet business owning members.
In 2011 Dom Hodgson revolutionised the pet service industry with his first business Pack Leader Dog Adventures, the UK’s first, award winning ‘dog adventure’ company. Now a respected dog trainer, author, speaker and mentor to pet business owners, Doms calling is to help dog walkers, trainers and groomers to excel with their marketing, so they can help change the lives of more dog owners with their amazing skills.
Get a FREE Audio copy of The Ultimate Pet Business Plan by clicking here now
Take that leap today. You won’t regret it.