Without an ongoing marketing effort that creates a constant stream of qualified customers who buy over and over again, your business might be in jeopardy. Because they’re putting out fires, doing paperwork or running machinery, many dry cleaning owners put marketing on the back burner for several reasons. They claim they don’t have time to market, they don’t like marketing or they don’t know how to market their business effectively.
Over the years I’ve learned that no matter how many great ideas I give dry cleaners about marketing their stores and delivery routes, a mere 20% implement what I tell them to do… and those are the dry cleaners who are going to take their business to the next level and prosper. The others do what I call “running up the down escalator,” rather than taking the steps necessary to put their businesses on auto-pilot and enjoy their personal lives more. They’re stuck in the marketing implantation dilemma.
Why Business
People Procrastinate
Procrastination is a “fear that their task performance may result in failure that would reflect stable poor abilities. Even though some individuals permanently claim to “work better under pressure,” many times people avoid doing necessary tasks in order to experience a thrill-seeking sensation – to “jump start their desire to do the task.”
This explains why some people wait until an ad deadline to place an ad, write the promotion in less than ideal creative circumstances and then wait anxiously for the thrill of achieving a good return on their advertising investment. As most people well know, rushing does not always produce excellent results.
In a recent study of influences on behavior, it was found that “people’s behavior is heavily influenced by the behavior and expectations of other people, especially important others.” This is especially true of procrastinators who are paralyzed by fear or negative evaluation or loss of money.
Your relationship with money dates back to your earliest relationships. Family rules play a part in the messages you interpret and fulfill around money. What you learned about money as a child influences your attitudes and actions around money today.
Being in constant, chronic debt can be so debilitating it can lead to depression. People work so hard to achieve their dreams and when their expectations aren’t met, they turn to debt, spending, gambling and unsafe deal making to rescue themselves, often making their financial situation worse, not better.
In some cases, inner feelings of worthlessness, shame and painful deprivation cause a “poverty mentality” which takes the form of an unconscious effort to deprive oneself of even the smallest things in life. Most of the time this deprivation takes the form of debt or not spending money; despite that fact that they have it.
There are others who have a profound feeling of shame around money. They live in fear and despair of ever being able to turn their life around from being in debt. These people grew up in families where “there is not enough to go around,” or “if I take there will not be enough for someone else.” Life becomes a competitive balance between the haves and the have not’s. Under-earners settle for jobs they are over qualified for and end up in debt, not being able to pay their bills. Overachievers are never satisfied with their own accomplishments. Enough is never enough. The belief is “if I don’t have enough I must not be good enough because what I can offer is not good enough.”
These feelings of not being good enough, shame, scarcity and debt easily lead a person to depression and further procrastination.
Some people incur more debt despite negative emotional financial consequences. It is kind of like a person being pursued. Economic necessity does not drive the debtor. Incurring more debt fulfills a compulsive urge, an emotional obligation of sorts which takes on a life of its own. Debt is more than just convenience. It becomes a companion and confidant.
Why do some dry cleaners prosper while others suffer drowning deeper in debt? The answer is control and responsibility. According to Dan Kennedy in The Ultimate Success Secret, “Control = Responsibility, Responsibility = Control. “ You will continue to be prosperous as long as you depend on others to make you prosperous.”
We actually become what we focus on. When we focus on all the negative news about the bad economy, no jobs, no prosperity, the national debt and war, poverty and violence, we give our energy to this negativity. This negativity saps our energy and keeps us emotionally numb, with no hope, no plan and no vision for our own future.
Self-reliance is the key to breaking free from the shackles of debt, striving toward financial freedom. But letting fear control your actions just keeps you further in debt. Procrastination is all about fear; fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of success.
The road to financial freedom begins in your mind, not in your pocketbook. How do you free up the emotional blocks which stop you from achieving your abundance goals? By taking care of people first, including yourself, then money.
People who live in debt with fear, sometimes give up easily, never begin to repair their situation or simply are not persistent in continuing to try different things to succeed, like marketing their business. Anyone can learn to be consistent enough to pay off debt and live a life of financial freedom.
1. Define a purpose for your life, some ideal or value you cherish and want to contribute to society.
2. Desire: What do you intensely desire? Write it down and keep it in front of you.
3. Self-reliance: Believe in your abilities. We are all endowed with unique abilities. Find yours, trust your own intuition and be persistent.
4. Get organized: A sloppy or no marketing plan just leads to more chaos, clutter and weakened motivation.
5. Acquire knowledge: Once you have a plan, insert the knowledge you’ll need to acquire to be the best you can be. Be consistent in learning. This and experience will give you the confidence to move forward in your dreams.
6. Cooperation: Cooperate with others. Show empathy and understanding of other’s plights in life. Encourage and motivate employees to be their best. Reward customers and build a business based on excellence despite your fear.