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I’ve been an entrepreneur my whole life, successfully selling two companies by the time I was 26. Today, I’ve helped over 4,500 brands soar with a revolutionary marketing model at a brand I founded called Hawke Media. There have been different iterations of my entrepreneurial endeavors, but not one company I’ve been involved with has failed. I want to help ensure your company never fails, too.
My take isn’t revolutionary, but it’s not something many people will say out loud. When someone’s business closes its doors, it’s a devastating situation and is treated delicately.
If you’re reading this, however, I’m going to assume something about you: you’re probably not reading an article about how to make sure your company doesn’t fail when it’s already too late. You’re here to take preventative measures. And when you’re in survival mode, you don’t need sensitivity; you need someone who will shake you and tell you what you need to hear.
The steps to a successful brand are simple, but that doesn’t mean they’re easy.
Have A Product People Want
At Hawke Media, we’ve worked with every kind of business: B2B, D2C, SaaS, brick-and-mortar, mom-and-pop, global corporations… the list goes on.
No matter what type of business we work with, it is always easier to market if there’s a product or service that people actually want. Look at your own life. Where is there a gap that no other business is filling?
The first brand I started was called Swag of the Month. Before the boom of subscription services, I was just a guy who hated shopping and didn’t care about the details of my wardrobe. I had enough of a sense of style to tell you what I didn’t like, but beyond that, I just wanted someone I could trust to handle my shopping for me.
Remember to distinguish your brand from your target audience. For example, if you have a fitness company, your demographic may not be fit people. For my first company, I was a fashion company designed to help the fashion-impaired.
You need a completely original idea to have a desirable product. Your brand can differentiate itself with price points, quality, mission statements, and more.
When starting those companies, I noticed something in the marketing space. Marketing agencies were all vying for the highest bidder. None were working with the small and medium businesses that needed help. Even those that reached out to start-ups still used year-long contracts and other old-fashioned approaches that don’t fit the start-up model.
That’s why I started Hawke Media. I saw a need to make great marketing accessible to all types of brands. We got experts in each digital marketing service, which brands could pick from a la carte, and offered month-to-month contracts.
When you can offer something people want, you make selling easier. By identifying that want based on your own experiences, you’ve also made your brand more than a business; you’ve made it personal. And that takes us to our next point…
Put Your Heart and Soul Into It
A great way to ensure you never shut the doors is to make your business an intrinsic part of your identity.
This isn’t popular in a culture focused on work/life balance. Work/life balance is great, and essential for your employees if you ever want to grow. But you’re not an employee! You’re the founder, the CEO, and maybe the whole C-suite!
The Rolling Stone Culture Council is an invitation-only community for Influencers, Innovators and Creatives. Do I qualify?
If everything went belly up tomorrow, most employees would bail quickly to find a reliable paycheck. But as the founder, you don’t have that luxury.
If you wouldn’t keep working at your brand even when the money stopped rolling in, it’s probably not the right fit for you.
Promising founders view their brand as an extension of themselves; this mentality is the only way to improve.
Don’t Give Up
Here’s the hard truth. There is no guy with a stamp that says “FAILED” who will just show up one day and deem your venture a failure.
Before launching any of my early businesses, I started in real estate. Unfortunately for me, it was two weeks before the Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy. My venture into real estate was an uphill battle from the jump, immediately facing the headwinds of The Great Recession.
But I knew no one else could stop me. Maybe it’d mean lean living for a while, but only I could stop me.
Now I’m seeing history repeat itself with an unpredictable economy. Customers heard in 2022 to be frugal because the economy would inevitably go belly up any day now.
At Hawke Media, we tightened the purse strings. We cut excess spending and slowed down hiring. Financial companies have reallocated debts.
Why persist even when you’re struggling or not seeing the growth you expect? Because with persistence, your fortunes could change in a heartbeat.
Don’t give up. You’re the only one who can quit on you. Plus it just takes some luck to see your numbers skyrocket.
Now That You Know, You Can’t Fail…
People love the question, “What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?” Well if your answer to that is to start a business, I’ve told you how to not fail. You can’t fail! You’ve got something people want, you believe in yourself, and you’re not going to quit.
Now that you know you can’t fail, what’s next?
Be aggressive in your business. I told you my company Hawke Media got more frugal because of the uncertainty in the marketplace, but that doesn’t mean we ever slowed down. We have aggressively made acquisitions of brands that will help us continue to be the best in the industry. We’ve made mergers that will ensure the best possible customer experience.
Success in your business means not giving up, but that’s more than just a spunky can-do attitude. Create a product that people need, give it everything you’ve got, and stay on offense. Do all these things and not only can your business never fail… it will thrive.
