Research Shows Passion and Legacy Goals Drive Business Success

According to Infusionsoft’s recent Small Business Market Survey, there are four distinct types of business owners—Freedom Seekers, Passionate Creators, Struggling Survivors and Legacy Builders.

Most of your business owner clients fall into one of these four areas and chances are so do you. As you help clients build out their retirement, wealth preservation and charitable giving plans, it’s important to understand how they like to be marketed to. While the researchers didn’t go into as much detail as we would have liked, our experience is that successful business owners tend to be most receptive to the marketing techniques that they themselves use.

Let’s take a closer look at the four business owner profiles and see if any remind you of yourself:

1. Freedom Seekers
These small business owners started their businesses because they wanted the ability to control their fate, decisions, work environment, schedule and revenue. They are more likely than the other segments to place high  importance on “living the life I want”, “being in control”, “reducing the amount of hours I have to work” and “having flexibility in my schedule.”

With time management being their biggest challenge, Freedom Seekers are more likely than other groups to use email marketing automation, bookkeeping software, ecommerce, project management and CRM systems.
Infusionsoft’s Lindsay Bayuk said Freedom seekers want the autonomy that comes with being their own boss and that money isn't the only measure of success for this group.

2. Passionate CreatorsThis group loves what they do. Running their business or firm gives them a sense of accomplishment and pride. They value the impact they are able to make for their customers and the world at large. Passionate Creators are the most likely of the four profiles to mentor other entrepreneurs and to speak to audiences about small business.

• Nearly half (48%) said they always knew they would run their own business.
• They believe passion is one of the most important qualities for business success and are motivated to serve a target customer well.
• They showed the most longevity and success, ranking as the most likely to have been in business more than 10 years and to report revenue of over $1 million last year.
• Passionate Creators are most optimistic than other types of business owners—71 percent expect their revenue to be ‘somewhat’ or ‘much’ higher than last year.
• They demonstrated the most marketing sophistication, with the highest rates of marketing spending and involvement in digital marketing, social media, email lists and content marketing
• They are the most likely to track financial performance vs. budget, and 70 percent use analytics to support decision-making, the highest level of any segment

3. Struggling Survivors
This group is motivated by fear that’s rooted in the very real challenge of running a business.

·         Many believe that traditional jobs are more secure, and feel that corporate careers garner more respect than small business ownership

·         51% are “solopreneurs,” the highest of any category

• They are least likely to report achieving many of the benefits associated with owning your own business, from financial security to time with family and friends.
• They are the most likely to have considered closing their business (53%), and the most pessimistic about their five-year outlook.

According to the study, half of Struggling Survivors (51%) are the sole employee at their company. This solitary management leaves little time to implement a sound marketing strategy.

4. Legacy BuildersBusiness owners who fall into this profile see small business ownership as a practical economic choice. They believe that small businesses are more ethical than larger corporations, and believe most people would start their own business if they could. They started their business to bring something new to the marketplace that no one else offers. They take tremendous pride in the business they’ve created and plan to run it for the long haul.

• They are the least likely of the four profiles to have a website, and even those that do have a site are least likely to use email, content marketing, SEO or marketing automation to generate leads

Researchers said “Legacy Builders are pragmatic. For them, marketing tech may be fairly new and may not be the most practical investment of time and resources.”

This group is the least likely of the four to have a website (45%). Many legacy businesses are driven through word of mouth. 

Conclusion

Fortunately, most of you are Passionate Creators and Legacy Builders. Successful people tend to surround themselves with successful people. Chances are your clients are, too.

Our blog has more, as does the FREE Resources page of our website.

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TAGS: Infusionsoft, Passionate Creators, Legacy Builders, Freedom Seekers, Struggling Survivors