Page 95 - 101 Ways to Market Your Business

101 WAYS TO MARKET YOUR BUSINESS

had paid me a visit and said that I wanted his help as fast
as possible. Of course after I paid him (cash up front I
might add) I started to have deep reservations.

My new found saviour came to the shop and spent a
few days hanging around and writing things down furi-
ously. He didn’t say a word, he just observed. A week later
he handed me a small document with a few pages of
suggestions for what I should do to turn my business
around. As I read through his recommendations my heart
sank. His ideas and recommendations were crazy and I
thought I was gone.

A few months later I was really on the verge of closing
down. I pulled out the document that I had been given
earlier and read through the recommendations. The main
ones are listed below:

• halve the amount of stock that we carry;
• double the price of everything;
• paint the shop sky blue and hang artwork from the

walls;
• introduce a 100 per cent money back guarantee on

everything;
• get rid of the ponytails and earrings and put all staff

in a suit and tie;
• start selling dive gear on finance;
• offer the absolute best service for everything we do; and
• offer SCUBA tank refills free of charge.

By this stage I had nothing left to lose so I did
everything on his list. Basically I turned the store from a
dive shop into a ‘dive boutique’. Our turnover tripled in
the first month. The change was remarkable and I learned
probably the most valuable lesson in my business life—the
ability to look from the outside in at your business instead
of from the inside out (like a goldfish).

Unfortunately I had partnership problems a few months
later and the business ended up closing anyway but I knew

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