Is Your Business Stuck? Sidi Saccoh Has A Different Approach

For entrepreneurs putting in the work but struggling to see results, the problem may not be lack of effort, money, or customers. UK-based Sierra Leonean entrepreneur Sidi Saccoh explores why in his new book, When Your Business Stalls.

Running a business takes a lot of hard work and determination. There are customers to attract, bills to pay, employees to manage and countless decisions to make. For many entrepreneurs, especially those building businesses with limited resources, every day presents a new challenge. 

But what happens when you are doing everything you believe you should be doing and business still isn’t moving forward? You invest in marketing, try to attract more customers, consider hiring additional staff and perhaps even put more of your personal savings into the business. Yet sales remain inconsistent, delivery becomes difficult and growth seems increasingly out of reach. 

It is a frustrating position that many business owners will recognise and according to Operations and Growth Strategist, Sidi Saccoh, the answer may not be to do more. It may be in understanding what is going wrong.

In his new book, When Your Business Stalls: Find What’s Blocking Progress and Decide What to Fix Next, Saccoh challenges founders to take a closer look at their businesses before making their next big move. 

“Through my work with entrepreneurs, I have seen how difficult it can be to work out what is holding a business back. It is tempting to assume the answer is more money or more marketing before understanding where the problem begins,” Saccoh explained.

“I wanted to give founders a practical way to examine the business they already have,

identify what deserves attention and make a more informed decision about what to do next.”

Sidi Saccoh, author of When Your Business Stalls: Find What’s Blocking Progress and Decide What to Fix Next.

When Working Harder Isn’t the Answer

A business struggling with sales might assume it needs more advertising. Others experiencing delays in fulfilling orders might believe it needs more customers to generate additional revenue. But what if the real problem lies in how the business operates, what it offers or how it manages its money? 

“The first step is to describe what has actually stopped and look for evidence of where it stops,” Saccoh stated. 

It is a perspective that challenges the familiar pressure on entrepreneurs to constantly expand, increase sales, and do more. Instead, Saccoh encourages founders to understand their particular circumstances and make decisions based on what their businesses actually need. 

Image of book, When Your Business Stalls: Find What’s Blocking Progress and Decide What to Fix Next by Sidi Saccoh.

Whether you are building a venture in Freetown, managing a business in the UK or exploring opportunities across borders, founders often have to make important decisions about limited time, money, and resources. In such circumstances, committing money to the wrong solution can be as damaging as failing to invest at all. 

“The book encourages readers to examine what they know, identify what they still need to learn and run a small test before making a larger commitment. That does not rule out investment or hiring; it makes the reason for doing it clearer,” Saccoh said. 

A Different Way to Approach Business Challenges

Rather than offering a one-size-fits-all formula for success, When Your Business Stalls gives readers a structured way to investigate what is preventing their business from progressing. 

“The book takes readers through the customer’s journey, from understanding the offer to buying, receiving and potentially returning for it. It also asks them to look at delivery capacity, the money flowing through a job and the time it takes to complete the work,” he said. 

The book also offers ten practical working sheets, fictional teaching cases, and worked examples designed to help founders put the ideas into practice. 

But perhaps its most interesting proposition is that business owners should not assume every challenge requires another expansion strategy. Sometimes, the right decision may be to change the approach. In other situations, it may be necessary to pause, reconsider priorities, or even stop pursuing something that is no longer working. 

For Saccoh, these are decisions that should be made with a clear understanding of the evidence, rather than fear or pressure to appear successful. 

“I hope it encourages founders to treat growth as a series of decisions grounded in what is happening in the business. More activity does not automatically mean progress. I want readers to see a change of direction, a pause, or a decision to stop, as choices to evaluate honestly, rather than outcomes to avoid at any cost.”

When Your Business Stalls is a useful starting point for anyone who has invested time, money, and energy into a business but is struggling to understand why the results are not matching their expectations. For Sierra Leoneans home and abroad, the book offers an opportunity to step back, examine the bigger picture and rethink the next move. 

The book does not promise overnight success, instead, it offers something equally important: a practical approach to understanding your business before deciding what to do next. 

Because sometimes, the next breakthrough does not begin with another investment or marketing campaign. It begins with asking a better question.

Font cover of book, When Your Business Stalls: Find What’s Blocking Progress and Decide What to Fix Next by Sidi Saccoh.

Get Your Copy of When Your Business Stalls

When Your Business Stalls: Find What’s Blocking Progress and Decide What to Fix Next by Sidi Saccoh is available in Kindle and paperback editions on amazon UK.

• Kindle edition:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0HNYPY7R3 
• Paperback edition: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0HP1X6CYZ 

If your business has reached a point where hard work alone no longer seems to be enough, this book may help you find the questions worth asking.

Get yours today!