“A sum can be put right: but only by going back till you find the error and working it afresh from that point, never by simply going on.” – C.S. Lewis

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Since launching my B2B marketing services in 2021, I've had over 100 conversations with business owners about booking my services, and I frequently encounter similar questions:

• Can you help me get [X] followers on [X] social media platform?

• Can you help me get more traffic to my website?

• Can you help me grow my channel / newsletter?

• Can you help me get more leads?

At first, I was eager to get clients, so I'd simply say "Yes!" and dive into the project. Then a few weeks down the road, the customer would cancel out the project or ghost me. Every time, it would be for a similar reason:

"I was hoping that this would help me make more sales, but it doesn't seem to be working, so I think I'm going to wait on this and try something else."

Sometimes, I'd take it personally. I'd ask myself, "What the hell is wrong with me? Why do I suck so much?"

Over time, though, I started to see things from a different angle.

Here's the thing: when business owners, entrepreneurs, and creators are struggling to generate cash flow in their business, they often falsely assume they have a marketing problem.

Then, in an attempt to kickstart their income flow, they throw money randomly at different strategies hoping to drive short-term revenue, only to end up disappointed when things don't go as planned.

As a result, they get distrustful of marketing as a whole, and in the worst cases, they drain all their resources and the business folds because they can't sell enough products or services to stay open.

This happens because they are trying to solve a problem they don't actually have.

They think they need a better marketing strategy, when really, they need a better business.

Ouch.

So, why does this happen? Why do most businesses struggle to become profitable?

Most businesses fail because they're trying to sell something their target consumers don't perceive as valuable.

Stop and read that again. ☝️

Now, let’s break that down:

Most business owners take a product or skill they have, wrap it in fancy branding, pop a random price on it, and start pitching it to anyone who has a pulse and a wallet.

They have poor targeting and weak offers, which makes it really easy to ignore them – no matter how much money and time they sink into content, paid ads, and outreach.

This is a failing strategy.

So, what should you do instead?

Build your business around the “3 Foundations of Business Value”: 

• What problem do you solve?

• Who do you solve it for?

• How do you solve it?

If you cannot answer these three questions in 30 seconds or less, you don’t have a business – you just have a product.

The 3 Foundations are what give people a reason to buy your product, and they also shape your customer acquisition and revenue generation strategy from the ground up:

• How you build out the UX of your website

• How you write your sales page copy

• How you generate leads with content, paid ads, and outreach

• How you nurture leads after you’ve captured their attention

• How you frame your conversations with potential customers

• How you fulfill your services to ensure customer satisfaction

• How you make your customers so happy they tell their friends about you

• How you build out supplemental products and services to make more money from each customer

• How you evolve your offer overtime to serve a changing market

So, don’t be like most failed business owners and jump in with zero revenue generation strategy.

Instead, spend some time – possibly a few weeks! – defining your 3 Foundations of Business Value.

Then you can build a go-to-market strategy that will actually drive results.

Recap for Memory

If you want to build a successful business, you must begin by identifying your “3 Foundations of Business Value”:

• What problem do you solve?

• Who do you solve it for?

• How do you solve it?

By starting with these three Foundations, you can position yourself in a “Category of One” to break through all the noise from other advertisers and creators.

This will allow you to spend less money acquiring customers – who will pay you more for a longer time – so that you can finally break out of the “danger zone” of low cash flow and emerge as a thriving, profitable business.

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