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I’m here to warn you about the most dangerous number in your business. No this is not about numerology or some woo-woo nonsense like that.

I’m talking about a number that makes businesses brittle.

That is the number 1.

Does your business have only one source of leads? One major supplier? One major customer? Rely on one type of media? Offer one type of product?

To borrow a computer system term, does your business have “a single point of failure”?

If so, your business is brittle and a small change in circumstances outside of your control could have a devastating effect.

That’s a very tough situation to end up in.

The Google Slap

Many online businesses were hit hard when Google changed its search engine algorithm. These businesses put all their marketing budget and effort into search engine optimization and literally overnight found themselves with no other source of leads.

Similarly, when Google started to make changes to the types of paid ads it wanted to show, even advertisers who were paying Google enormous amounts of money each month were hit with the “Google Slap.”

That is Google started to charge them four, five, sometimes even ten times as much as they did previously. This change forced the advertiser to stop their campaigns and try to fix the issue or find another source of leads. In the meantime their business virtually stopped.

Fax broadcasting was effectively outlawed in the United States and many businesses who relied on that as a sole source of leads went bust.

Build on a Solid Foundation

Some wise words of antiquity recommend that we build our house on a rock mass instead of on sand. That way when the storm inevitably comes, our house doesn’t cave in.

The first step is to identify any scenarios where the number 1 can potentially hurt you. Here are some examples:

• What if your largest customer leaves you for a competitor or what if they go bust?
• What if there is a change of government legislation and the product you currently offer gets outlawed?
• What if your main advertising strategy stops working?
• What if your advertising costs rise dramatically?
• What if your currently high search engine rankings disappear or pay per click rates rise sharply?
• What if your biggest supplier raises prices, has a supply shortage or goes out of business?
• What if you rely on email marketing and the government cracks down further on this strategy?

All of these scenarios can and do happen.

If you rely on one of anything, you are leaving yourself in an exposed position – you’re effectively building your house on a sandy foundation. When the storm comes and the floods rise, the house is going to collapse.

Identify and eliminate single points of failure in your business.

That way, if the laws change, if the advertising rates go up, if all of a sudden one specific strategy stops working as well as it used to, your business will be safe.

You’ll be the one with the power because you are not reliant on one of anything.

The late great Jim Rohn had an excellent philosophy on the matter:

“You’ve got to think winter in the summer. It’s just too easy to get faked out when the sky is blue and the clouds are fleecy. You’ve got to prepare for winter because it’s coming, it always does.”

In the meantime even if none of these scenarios come to pass, at least you’ll have built a more resilient and valuable business.

What is the key to small business success?

If last year was one you'd rather forget then I have some good news for you - it's history. A new year is here and with a new year comes new possibilities.

But there's a caveat - if you continue to do what you've always done, you'll continue to get the same results you've always gotten.

The last year was a difficult year for many businesses and unfortunately many have not made it into the new year intact and some have not made it at all.

I know that some of you wish business was easier, however instead I'd ask you to wish you were better.

In fact, don't just wish you were better - make the commitment to become better. Make the commitment this year to improve your business skills and thrive in a year that is likely to have more changes and more opportunities than any other year in history.

Here's how.‍‍

Do You Want to Grow Your Business Rapidly?

Then you need to market it. But not just any marketing will do. In my Lean Strategy Course, I show you the exact techniques I've used to start, grow, and exit several multi-million dollar businesses, so you can too.

Tell Me More

The Key To Small Business Success

In my observations of and discussions with many successful entrepreneurs over the years, I have discovered the one trait above all others that leads people to build successful businesses.

That trait is persistence - the ability to get up and try again and again after failure.

The formula is: try and fail, try and fail, try and fail...then finally success. Many entrepreneurs take years of failure to become a so-called “overnight success.” So small business success requires persistence.

Would it surprise you to learn that on average the number of times most people will try something before giving up is less than one? This is particularly a problem in sales.

That's right, most people don’t even try once before giving up; while others give it the half-hearted single try. Fear of failure has them paralyzed like a deer caught in the headlights.

It is so rare to see someone achieve spectacular success on their first try, that it can pretty much be discounted or put down to blind luck. More often than not, you'll encounter several failures prior to experiencing success.

Real entrepreneurs are a very different breed from most people. They will try 3 times, 10 times, 100 times until they achieve the result they are after.

This is the single biggest trait that sets entrepreneurs apart from other people. Having failed so many times they start to lose, or at least manage to tame, their fear of failure.

You might also want to check out the Formula For Rapid Business Growth.

Fear Of Loss Is Holding Your Small Business Success Back

The average person is more motivated by fear of loss than hope of gain. My take on the matter is there are basically two options when it comes to deciding whether or not to pursue a desired goal:

• Option 1 - Do it and there is a chance you will not achieve the desired goal
• Option 2 - Don’t do it and you are certain not to achieve the desired goal

To most entrepreneurs it's a no-brainer - option 1. You've got to be in it to win it.

However, while this kind of attitude is accurate, it does not take in to account the corresponding losses that sometimes accompany not achieving the desired goal.

This fear of negative repercussions is what stops most people from even trying. This could be loss of pride, loss of money or what is perceived as wasted time or effort.

So what to do? How do we keep the fear of loss from paralyzing us?

The best way I know is to simply play out worst case scenarios. Playing them out in detail puts you in control. Once you start playing them out, you often also start coming up with possible solutions and countermeasures which make them far less scary.

The last thing to do is ask yourself two questions; how likely is the worst case scenario to occur and if it did occur what could I do to reverse it so I am no worse off than when I started. You’ll be surprised how often this will be enough to neutralize your fear of failure.

Most people play not to lose. You should play to win.

Practice The "Until" Philosophy For Small Business Success

All of the most successful people I know practice what I call the “until” philosophy. This wonderful philosophy drives you single-mindedly until you smash down every barrier between you and your goal.

They've told you the mountain is too high, it's too far, it's too steep, it's too rocky, it's too difficult. But with an unshakeable resolve you say, “You'll soon see me waving from the top or dead on the side, because unless I reach the peak, I'm not coming back."

This is one of the key philosophies that separates the masses from the top 3%. The masses are seduced and distracted by the  that comes along. Their efforts are weak and scattered and their results are the same next shiny new thing that comes along. Their efforts are weak and scattered and their results are the same.

If it takes a hundred different things to try to solve my major problem, why wouldn’t I try every single one? How many books would I read? How much advice would I seek? How long would I work at it? As many or as much or as long as it takes. That is the “until” philosophy.

Adopt this trait and I promise you'll never be the same!

Or consider hiring a coach? Business coaching has massively helped me to hone in on priorities and scale my business. So if it can work for me, it can work for you.

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy our article on Building Business Systems. It will help you to skyrocket your sales and attract investors.

The two make or break activities in every business is innovation and marketing.

Pretty much everything else you do in your business is a commodity, which can (and often should) be outsourced or delegated.

Your time as a business owner is extremely scarce and valuable. As such you should be laser focused on the two highest value tasks in your business - innovation and marketing.

Do You Want to Grow Your Business Rapidly?

Then you need to market it. But not just any marketing will do. In my Lean Strategy Course, I show you the exact techniques I've used to start, grow, and exit several multi-million dollar businesses, so you can too.

Tell Me More

Innovation In Business

Firstly a word about innovation – by innovation, I don’t mean re-inventing the wheel or coming up with something completely new.

In fact, I seldom recommend that, as it is expensive, risky and time-consuming.

I would much rather take something existing, which I know works, and simply replicate it with predictable results.

Innovation simply means having some unique advantage which differentiates you in the market. Something to present you as different so that you are not competing solely on price.

This could include how it is presented, packaged, financed, positioned, delivered or even what sort of guarantee or bonus comes with the product or service.

Marketing Your Way To Success

Secondly marketing. No matter how good or how different your product is, it will make no difference if your marketing stinks or is non-existent.

History is littered with examples of technically superior products that failed to gain acceptance in the market - primarily due to poor marketing. Some examples include Betamax, The Newton, and LaserDisc to name just a few.

Good, even great, products are simply not enough. Marketing must be your other major activity for business success. In fact, it should be what you, as a business owner, spend most of your time on.

I often speak to business owners who are in need of help with their marketing. Often they will start by telling me how good their product or service is - the amazing features and benefits they offer.

I often respond with this question: "When does a prospect find out that you have a great product or service?" After some umming and erring, the penny finally drops, and the reluctant answer comes out: "When they buy it."

So here's the point. No matter how good your product or service is - no one will ever know unless they actually buy it. You need to get people to buy from you so that they can experience how good your product or service actually is.

To really get good at the art of marketing you need a marketing plan. This tells you exactly what to do at each stage of the buyer journey. Make sure you've got your marketing plan locked and loaded.

Marketing & Innovating Your Business Success

So while a great product is vital for keeping your customer. You need to be an excellent marketer to actually get the customer in the first place.

If you are not yet an excellent marketer, I would urge you to develop this vital business skill.

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy our article on How to Create a Lead Magnet that Converts in 6 Steps. As a small business owner, it’s the smarter way to acquire leads for your business and build your authority.