Good at what you do — not so good at running the business

The story of an expat, a great business idea, and a very quiet diary

When Mark moved to France, he thought he had finally cracked it.

A little house in the countryside. Sunshine. Long lunches. A slower pace of life.

And, after years of talking about it, he decided to do something he was genuinely good at.

He started a small business.

Mark was a brilliant tradesman. He knew his stuff, took pride in his work and had spent years building his skills. The customers he did have were delighted with him.

The problem?

There weren’t enough of them.

At first, Mark wasn’t too worried.

“These things take time,” he told himself.

Then three months passed.

Then six.

His phone wasn’t exactly ringing off the hook.

He started wondering whether there was something wrong with his business.

There wasn’t.

There was something wrong with the way he was running it.

Being good at what you do isn’t the same as being good at business

This is something that catches a lot of people out.

You can be an excellent hairdresser, gardener, builder, cleaner, photographer, accountant, tutor, therapist or tour guide.

But running a business involves a completely different set of skills.

You have to find customers.

You have to explain what you do.

You have to price your services properly.

You have to keep records.

You have to follow up enquiries.

You have to ask for reviews.

You have to market yourself.

You have to understand your numbers.

And, perhaps most importantly, you have to make sure people can actually find you.

Mark had concentrated almost entirely on doing the work.

He hadn’t spent much time working on the business.

So, what could Mark do?

1. Stop waiting for customers to find you

This is probably the biggest mistake small businesses make.

Putting up a Facebook page, printing a few business cards and telling friends that you’ve started a business isn’t really a marketing strategy.

Ask yourself:

Where would my ideal customer go if they needed what I offer?

Local Facebook groups?

Google?

A directory?

Word of mouth?

Community groups?

Recommendations from other businesses?

Once you know where your customers are looking, make sure you’re there.

2. Make it ridiculously easy to contact you

Mark’s website had his phone number buried at the bottom of the page.

His Facebook page didn’t have a clear call to action.

His email address was there somewhere, but you had to hunt for it.

That’s a problem.

People are busy. If they have to work too hard to contact you, they’ll move on.

Make the next step obvious:

Call me. WhatsApp me. Email me. Request a quote.

Whatever works for your business.

3. Get some reviews

Mark had happy customers.

Lots of them.

But he had hardly any reviews.

That’s a missed opportunity.

If someone is choosing between two businesses and one has twenty genuine positive reviews while the other has two, which one do you think feels safer?

Don’t be embarrassed to ask satisfied customers for a review.

It’s not bragging.

It’s social proof.

And when you’re a small business trying to establish yourself in a new country, trust matters enormously.

4. Know your numbers

This was another weak spot for Mark.

He knew how much he charged.

He didn’t really know how much he made.

There’s a difference.

A business owner needs to understand things like:

• Monthly turnover

• Costs

• Profit

• Tax and social charges

• Average customer value

• How many customers are needed each month

• Which services make the most money

• Which services take up the most time

You don’t need to become an accountant.

But you do need to understand what your numbers are telling you.

5. Follow up

This one sounds ridiculously simple.

And yet lots of businesses don’t do it.

Someone asks for a quote.

You send it.

Then… nothing.

So you assume they’ve gone elsewhere.

Maybe they have.

Or maybe they’re busy.

Maybe they’re comparing prices.

Maybe they forgot.

A simple, friendly follow-up can turn an enquiry into a customer.

“Hi, just checking you received my quote. If you have any questions, I’m happy to help.”

That’s it.

No hard sell required.

6. Build relationships with other businesses

Mark had been thinking about his competitors.

He hadn’t been thinking enough about complementary businesses.

But imagine a gardener working with a property manager.

A wedding photographer working with a wedding venue.

A cleaner working with a holiday-let owner.

A pool technician working with a property agent.

A language tutor working with an expat-focused business.

Your best source of customers might not be another customer.

It might be another business.

And here’s the important bit…

Mark wasn’t a failure.

His business wasn’t necessarily a bad idea.

And he certainly wasn’t bad at what he did.

He simply had a business skills gap.

He had moved to France with a skill he could sell, but hadn’t yet developed all the skills needed to sell it successfully.

And that’s fixable.

Start small

Don’t try to fix everything in one weekend.

Pick three things.

Get found.

 Make contact easy.

 Start collecting reviews.

Then look at your numbers.

Then your follow-up.

Then your partnerships.

Little improvements can make a surprisingly big difference.

Because sometimes the problem isn’t that you don’t have a good business.

It’s that not enough people know you have one.

And if you’re an expat running a business in France, remember this:

You’ve already done one of the hardest things.

You’ve built a new life in another country.

Now it’s time to give your business the attention it deserves.

Be good at what you do — but don’t forget to get good at running the business that does it.