One of the most important questions we’re never really asked is pretty simple:
Where do we start?
A lot of small businesses and organizations come to us already knowing what they think they need. A new website. Better SEO. Paid marketing. Social media.
And they may be right.
But sometimes the thing that feels like the biggest problem isn’t actually where the problem starts.
Are You Asking the Right Question?
We’re having a version of this conversation with an organization right now.
One of the questions posed was essentially:
Is our social media generating an ROI?
Fair question.
Social media is notoriously difficult to attribute directly, but that doesn’t mean we can’t measure what it’s contributing.
Are social posts driving traffic to the website? Are they sending people to specific landing pages? Are those visitors completing forms, making purchases, donating, or signing up for email? Is branded search increasing?
There are a lot of ways to look at it.
But once you start answering those questions, you may find out that social media isn’t really the problem.
Maybe social is generating traffic, but the website isn’t converting it. Maybe people are signing up, but there isn’t a good follow-up process. Maybe social is doing exactly what it’s supposed to do, but we’re measuring it against the wrong outcome.
So the question changes from:
“Is our social media working?”
to:
“How is social media contributing to the result we’re trying to create?”
That’s a much better question.
When You’re Running the Business, You See What’s in Front of You
Most founders and nonprofit leaders are focused on what makes their organization go.
They’re serving customers, managing employees, answering emails, dealing with vendors, raising money, putting out successive fires, and then doing it again tomorrow.
That’s the job.
Having the time, skill, and strategy to step back and identify opportunities for growth or inefficiencies in the business can feel like a luxury, especially for small businesses and nonprofits.
And I think that’s part of why the problem you feel isn’t always the problem that’s actually holding you back.
Sales are slow, so you think you need more leads.
Engagement is down, so you think you need better social media.
Your website feels dated, so you think you need a new one.
And you might.
But you could also be generating enough leads and losing them during follow-up. Social could be driving traffic that isn’t converting. Your website might look dated, but the bigger issue could be that your brand and messaging aren’t clear enough to tell us what the new website should say.
The pain is real. The diagnosis might be different.
Your Biggest Challenge Might Not Be Your Real Challenge
That’s actually one of the most interesting things we’ve found through our Business Growth Assessment.
The assessment produces some pretty obvious areas where you’re doing well and some pretty obvious areas where there’s opportunity for improvement.
But we also ask you something important:
What do you want to improve most?
Sometimes that answer lines up perfectly with the rest of the assessment.
Sometimes it doesn’t.
You may identify visibility as your biggest challenge while the rest of your answers suggest you’re actually generating attention and just aren’t converting enough of it.
You may think you need more leads while your results point toward an opportunity in sales, follow-up, or customer experience.
That’s where it gets interesting.
The assessment isn’t just showing us what scored high and what scored low. It gives us a way to compare where you think the problem is with what the rest of your business is telling you.
The assessment doesn’t make every strategic decision for you. Goals, budget, capacity, timing, and priorities still matter.
But now you have a sense of direction.
And it’s a lot easier to decide what comes next when you have a clearer picture of where you are.
Start With the Right Problem
Sometimes the answer really is a new website.
Sometimes it’s more marketing.
Sometimes it’s SEO, conversion optimization, CRM integration, branding, or several things working together.
The point isn’t that businesses don’t know what they need.
They’re busy running the business.
Sometimes you need an opportunity to step away from the day-to-day, look across the organization, and ask whether the problem you’re trying to solve is really the best place to start.
That’s why we built the Business Growth Assessment in the first place.
Not Sure Where to Start?
See how the challenge you identify compares with what the rest of your business says.
