In times like these, where we have significant economic changes, it’s easier to accept that businesses aren’t growing because of a recession.
But is it due to an economic downturn? Why are there businesses that still thrive even during these times?
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What is a Bottleneck?
There are often misconceptions around the word bottleneck. However, when used appropriately, fixing a bottleneck ensures that in almost all seasons, your business is growing because you’re doing the right thing.
So I want to walk you through this idea of bottlenecks…or should I say bottleneck?
When you think of bottleneck, you got to also think of a sequence of events.
There’s phase one, phase two, and phase three – all three phases need to happen to achieve the ultimate success. And when you say sequence, there’s a reliance.
What I’m pointing out here?
Think of assembly lines.
You put in the raw materials, then they get heated up, flattened down, chopped up, resized, painted, and at the end, you have the product. But the product isn’t the ultimate goal (surprise!).
The ultimate goal was the throughput – the completion of the series of events.
And in this mini-story about bottlenecks, it becomes clear that if you think about improving one part of your system, it will improve the whole machine.
So a bottleneck is the single point of constraint on a system such that when you improve that point, the entire system improves.
Therefore, if you’re talking about one system, you can’t have multiple bottlenecks. Bottleneck should be singular.
Improving a Bottleneck vs. a Non-Bottleneck
Now we know that a bottleneck is a single point of constraint, you’d probably ask, “But, Matt, I have multiple constraints. Should they all be considered bottlenecks?”.
Good question.
But my quick answer is NO. There’s no such thing as bottlenecks.
Yes, you can have multiple constraints, and that’s totally fine, but one of them is your bottleneck. And the rest? They’re going to be a fast follower to being your bottleneck.
That’s why understanding that only one thing deserves your complete and undivided attention and that fixing a bottleneck will improve the entire system is both liberating and terrifying.
Why do I say so?
It’s terrifying because it means that your very first important job is to discern (really hard) which one to fix. And if you happen to improve a non-bottleneck, then you’re not improving anything at all.
In fact, improving a non-bottleneck creates inefficiencies. It’s like you’ve done nothing at all.
And that’s what businesses that don’t see any growth fall into. Businesses don’t grow because they don’t fix their bottlenecks first!
So the next time you blame recession or any significant economic changes as your reason for not growing, think about the bottleneck concept.
How to Fix a Bottleneck in Marketing
How does this bottleneck concept apply to marketing?
So let’s look at the first three of our business throughput as the following: 1) lead generation, 2) nurture, and 3) sales marketing.
In most instances, especially smaller agencies, they’re always looking to solve number three by hiring a salesperson.
And when you ask them how their leads and nurture are, they’re like they don’t want to do it because they need a salesperson.
My answer: Fix the first problem first!
But which one is it – lead generation or the nurture phase?
If you answer that you can 10x your leads in 30 days. Awesome! Then what about your nurture?
How does someone experience value from you before spending money on your business? Would providing value to your audience before becoming your customers make them early promoters? And would solving your nurture first somehow improves your lead generation?
Think about that.
To get an in-depth lesson about bottleneck, how it applies to marketing, and some practical tips for growing your business, watch or listen to this week’s episode of Marketing with Matt HERE.
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Marketing with Matt is a podcast dedicated to entrepreneurs and business owners who are looking for more margin in their business through marketing and sales and eventually profit more and work less.
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