How do you decide which problem to tackle first?

Any entrepreneur will tell you they have a list of problems to solve. Human nature being what it is – some of these problems get addressed, others will wait, still others will be ignored, and even a few which won’t be recognized as problems.

Deciding which problem on your list to solve first can be a dicey choice if you want a profitable business. You could be working on solving one problem, while ignoring another that has the potential to damage your business more.

How do you decide which problem to tackle first?

The best way to start is to get a handle on all the problems you’re currently facing in your business.

First, list everything you see as a problem. Write them down as they come to mind. Don’t try to organize them in any particular order. It’s more important just to get them out of your head and into a visual form.

Second, take a couple of breaths and don’t get overwhelmed by what you see. Keep in mind that all of these can be solved in time, either by you or will help from others.

Third, as you review these items ask yourself if solving this problem first will lead to more business profits.

Granted everyone will have a different idea of what’s more important and what’s profitable in terms of their marketing strategies.

However, the idea here is to not to find  the easiest problems to solve but the ones that will bring the greatest ROI (return on investment of time, energy and money).

Here’s an example of Margie how has identified 10 problems affecting her business.

1. She’s hosting on a server where her website has recently gone down twice and is thinking of switching.
2. She knows she needs to update to better web security but feels she safe with what she has right now.
3. She’s not sure but thinks her hosting company has a back-up of all files and databases, but hasn’t had the time to check for sure.
4. She dissatisfied with her web theme and wants a theme with more features.
5. She committed to a daily blogging program but finds that it takes too much time out of her day to write one.
6. She just invested in a list building program but hasn’t found the time to start using it.
7. Her newsletter to her list has been sporadic and the opt-in rate has remained low.
8.  She’s dissatisfied with Facebook results and plans to switch to Pinterest.
9. She thinks that video will draw more people to her site but is uncertain what topics to address.
10. She’s figured out her target market but is getting overwhelmed by creating e-book and training products.

Which problem should Margie address first?

If you said back-up files, you’re right. If anything should happen and Margie’s doesn’t know or have access to her backups, she’s stuck having to starting over from square one.

Next, Margie should be addressing security issues. Hackers or malicious malware create havoc on a website keeping away readers and potential customers.

You might think that Margie should find a new and more secure hosting company next. While having down server issues is a business disruption, it’s a temporary problem that is not only affecting you but millions of others (readers and customers understand that). To suddenly switch to a new hosting company, get files moved and get up and running again can disconnect you from your business longer than you anticipate. Better to move to a new hosting company when you can plan for the least amount of business disruption.

The next problem Margie should be addressing is creating consistency in content delivery. Finding ways to add more content to blogs and keeping the list engaged by having a newsletter schedule. As they say …”the money is in the list”.

List building training should be next for Margie, as it will support her content creation as well as help to create content that matches the needs of her list.

Social media follows and should be part of an overall marketing strategy. Don’t give up on one and go to another without realizing that a good marketer is found in as many places as possible.

Once Margie’s website is secure, she’s producing consistent content and working on list building strategies, she ready for all those bright shiny objects. Now she has enough content to repurpose for videos, e-books and webinars.

By focusing first on the problem of back-up, followed by security issues, Margie has the greatest ROI because she will not losing time and  money having to backtrack and recreate her website. Then, by creating consistent content, she meet the needs of her current list and build a greater list with new strategies and re-purposed content to reach new readers and potential customers. Changing hosting companies and website themes can wait.

The key is …

readers are hungry for your information and they are very tolerant so long as they are getting what they are looking for. By addressing the problem that keeps that from happening first, means you stay on track for creating a profitable business.

On your list of problems, which on are you going to tackle first?

Image: Bing creative commons