Growth. The golden word.
Every founder wants it. Every marketing agency promises it. And every late night Goolge search is basically a variation of “How do I grow this thing before losing my mind (or my marriage)?”
But there is one mistake we see over and over again made by smart, capable business owners with the best of intentions. It feels productive but it’s sneaky and can stall your momentum faster than you can say sales funnel.
So what is the #1 mistake?
Trying to grow without being clear about who you are.
Clarity is not optional. It’s oxygen.
When you are gasping for air and feel like you are drowning in your business, it’s tempting to jump straight to marketing tactics.
• “If I post more on social media…”
• “Maybe I should start a podcast…”
• “Let’s run a Facebook ad. No, google ad words. No, SEO. Or all of it…”
• “Should we redo our website…”
Sound familiar?
You start doing more – more marketing, more content, more services/products, more, more, more! But without clear direction, all that effort just starts to feel like noise. Disconnected. Exhausting.
You can’t scale what isn’t solid.
That means:
• You can’t turn up the volume on messaging that isn’t true for your brand
• You can’t grow a brand that doesn’t reflect your future
• You can’t solve your customer’s problems without the right offer
Without this kind of clarity, growth becomes a dart board in a dark room.
What clarity actually looks like:
Ok so clarity is starting to be one of those buzz words. I bet you’ve been hearing it a lot more lately. But what does it actually mean?!
It means you know:
• Who you serve (it’s not everyone – sorry)
• What you want to be known for (it’s not just what you do)
• Why someone should choose you (not just because you’re “better”)
• How to talk about what you offer (in real words that make sense to the people you want to serve)
• Who your competition is (it’s not no one – there is a lot of it nowadays)
This kind of clarity doesn’t just help you show up, but it helps you stick in people’s minds so that when they come across that problem, they will think of your brand as the solution. Clarity helps you make decisions faster too. So when you need to write that 105th TikTok caption, you won’t second-guess it, you’ll just write it and move on.
Growth isn’t about adding more.
You don’t need to do all the things in order to grow. And growing into something doesn’t mean you do all of the things. Not everyone needs a podcast. Not every brand needs social media (yeah, I know, we said that!). There are some givens that everyone does need but the businesses that grow sustainably aren’t the ones doing the most. They are the ones doing what matters the most with purpose.
That kind of growth doesn’t require you to be louder. Just clear.
Are you stuck trying to grow?
If so, ask yourself:
• Am I clear about who I’m talking to and why they should care about me and my business?
• Does my brand reflect where I am headed as a company?
• Do my offers make it easy for the right people to say yes?
If the answer is “maybe”, “kind of” or “not really”…. good news. You’ve taken your first step towards clarity and you’re on the edge of creating something better.
We’re not here to sell you anything but if you want to grow with intention, we can help you get clear, grounded and heading in the right direction. So let’s start there!