Sometimes You Don't Need a New Business—You Need a New Strategy

Julie Branden
6 days ago
5 min read

I had a great conversation with someone yesterday. They inquired about starting a business, but they already have a business.

There’s nothing wrong with pivoting to something else when what you’re working on no longer serves you. Sometimes you have to recognize when something is no longer working for you.

But what I think is important is this: before you give up, or before you add something else—which is usually stressful when you're putting a business together—find out how you can make your existing business work.

Remember, business is a numbers game. Numbers don't lie.

If you want to make $50,000 a year, decide on that number and stick to it.

You have 12 months in a year. So how much do you need to make each month? How much is that per week? How much do you need to bring in each day?

Concentrate on the numbers.

Don't just say, “I want to make more money.” Put a number on it.

Then ask yourself: Who is my ideal customer?

And let's be realistic—not who you want your customer to be, but who would actually pay for what you're offering?

What are they looking for in a business?

What type of establishment would they go to?

Where would you see them?

What do they spend money on?

Would that type of client actually patronize your business?

Would they actually do business with you?

And here's another question you need to ask yourself:

Does your image match the client you say you want?

As an image consultant, I know firsthand that your appearance, behavior, communication, and digital footprint play a big role in attracting your desired clients.

Your image and your brand are not separate.

What you put out there is your image. What you put out there is your brand.

Think about it.

A potential client may never tell you why they decided not to hire you. They may simply move on.

But maybe they saw you on social media.

Maybe they saw the company you keep.

Maybe they saw how you communicate.

Maybe they saw how you present yourself online.

Maybe something about what they saw didn't align with the type of business relationship they were looking for.

And you may never know.

Let's face it: appearances matter.

This isn't about being fake or trying to become someone you're not. It's about being intentional about what you're communicating.

If you say you provide a high-level service, does your presentation communicate that?

If you want to attract a certain type of client, does your appearance, behavior, communication, and digital presence speak to that client?

Because your potential customer is making decisions about you before they ever pick up the phone, walk through your door, or sit across from you at a table.

Your brand is speaking even when you're not.

So, you have to ask yourself: What is my business saying about me?

Find a product that you are great at and promote the hell out of it.

If you feel that you've given your all to that particular product or that particular business, then you pivot.

And let me be clear: I know what pivoting looks like because I've had to do it myself.

During COVID, I lost a $20,000 contract.

That changes things.

I had to look at my business differently. I had to stop marketing what wasn't bringing in money.

That doesn't mean I stopped offering it.

The service is still available to those who need it. I just don't market it.

Why?

Because I had to make a business decision based on the numbers.

That's what business owners have to be willing to do sometimes. You can't be so emotionally attached to a product, service, or idea that you refuse to look at what the numbers are telling you.

Sometimes the answer isn't, “I need a whole new business.”

Sometimes the answer is, “I need to stop spending my energy marketing something that isn't producing and put that energy somewhere else.”

My greatest flaw is seeing greatness in other people when they don't see it in themselves.

Another thing I'm learning is that I want to help everybody, but everyone does not want to be helped.

It's that simple.

They don't want the help.

What I want to stress is this: learn from others who have done what you're doing or are doing what you would like to do.

I remember in my early years, I would hang around people I wanted to be like. I would hang around people who were making the kind of money I wanted to make. I would hang around people who had the houses, the clothing, and the friends that I aspired to have. My salon was cater-cornered to Ruth Chris Steak House, and I would have lunch there often. I took guidance from people who were in business—mostly men. I would pick their brains on business development. At 19 owning a salon, I just knew I would retire at 30. Jokes on me!!!! But the operative word is guidance.

I wasn't doing exactly what they thought I should do. I was taking in the information they gave me, processing it, and then putting it into my brand in a way that I thought would work for my business.

And that's exactly what I believe business owners need to do.

Learn. Apply. Measure. Adjust.

You can learn from somebody without becoming somebody else.

Take the information. Study it. Look at the numbers. Then figure out how it fits into your business, your brand, your image, and your vision.

And that's exactly what my Accelerate Program does.

Accelerate helps businesses look at what they already have, identify what's working and what's not, understand the numbers, and create a strategy for moving forward.

But it's also about looking at the whole picture.

Your numbers matter.

Your customer matters.

Your product matters.

Your marketing matters.

And your image matters.

The goal isn't to automatically tell you to start something new. It's to help you understand the business you're already building and figure out how to make it work better.

Because sometimes you don't need to start over.

Sometimes you need to stop, look at the numbers, look at your customer, look at your product, look at your image, and look at what's actually working—and make a better business decision.

That's business.

And sometimes, the pivot isn't starting something new.

The pivot is finally paying attention to what the numbers—and your customers—have been telling you all along.