Firing was by far my least favorite part of owning a business. That being said, my first responsibility was to the health and well-being of the company, including the employees that remained. So although I always felt empathetic, I knew that I was doing the right thing for my company and those of us who remained. That didn’t remove the empathy, but it helped assuage the guilt.
No idea how much you should spend, but I would urge you to consider reading The 3 Minute Rule by Brant Pinvidic. It will help you clarify what should and shouldn’t put in your pitch deck.
To me a business is like money—nothing more than a tool. It will usually bring out what’s in you. If you’re not an evil, greedy bastard, business ownership won’t turn you into one. But if you are, you will be, whether you own a business or not.
On the Road by Jack Kerouac is a book about his travels across the US in the late 1940s. This book really spoke to me in a way I’d never felt before. It’s about a guy and his friends who live for adventure and refuse to settle for a dull life. They’re always on the move, hungry for new experiences, and they don’t let society’s rules hold them back. They follow their dreams, even when it’s tough. The story is full of surprises and teaches you to embrace life as it comes. It’s all about action and diving headfirst into life’s adventures. This book changed my life. It inspired me to chase my own dreams, to start a business I believed in, even though I wasn’t fully ready, and to keep pushing through every challenge that came my way.
For context, I grew up in the 70’s and 80’s, when the world was far less connected and models of possibility weren’t as common. Now we have great examples of people doing their own thing and making a difference everywhere, but back then they were fewer and farther between.
Novel: On the Road Personal: No Bad Parts Business: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. Completely changed the way I managed my company (50ish employees).
I think it’s business-dependent but I’d be cautious. I’ve tried almost everything over the years and billboards did not produce much traffic at all. I owned a health care business in the US.
Find out what’s important to your customers/potential customers and focus on that. You’ll know what’s important by what people buy, not what they say. Adjust accordingly. It’s a hard pill to swallow, but some people just don’t care about quality that much. They want convenience. Or status. Or a million other things.
That being said, I would take a look at how you’re communicating your value proposition. Does your audience really understand that you provide superior quality? Everyone can say they provide superior quality, even if they don’t. You might need to revamp the way you present your products and/or your company if you want to reposition your offerings.
Good luck!