We often spend our days overwhelmed by the amount of work we’ve got to get done. It seems like we’re forever running, falling behind, never reaching the end of our pile of “important” things to do. But the truth is that, all too often, we’re simply hiding. Doing all the little things, the busy work, that we can find to …
Make Some Noise?
We’d all like to be noticed. “Look at me” is an often repeated mantra in today’s world, and seems to be the default setting for too many of our businesses. We imagine that if we could simply get more eyeballs on us, success wouldn’t be far behind.. Instead of simply screaming more than the next loudmouth, why don’t we try …
Hiding
Business owners spend a lot of their time hiding. Designing a logo. Thinking up a cool company name. Working out their color scheme. Coming up with some crazy tag line. Redesigning their website again… for the ninth time. It’s all hiding. Wasting time on things that don’t really matter that much, just so they don’t have to do the hard …
Might As Well
We may like where we are, and fight hard to keep things from changing. We may have worked hard to reach our goals, and be satisfied with the way things turned out. We may resist upgrading, changing, or doing something different. We may try to resist the future, but it’s coming anyway. Might as well embrace it.
Keep Doing It
Persistence is an often underrated trait. Quite often, the win doesn’t go to the business owner who’s the most talented, best looking, or incredibly crafty at marketing. It goes to the person who never gives up. Who, even when things look the worst, just keeps on going. Nike tells us to “just do it”, but “just keep doing it” may …
What We’ve Always Gotten
Many small business owners are hesitant to initiate change. They reason, “If what I’m already doing is working, why should I do anything else?” It’s a “don’t upset the apple cart” mindset, so to speak. But if we keep on doing the same thing we’ve always done, what makes us think that we’re going to get anything different from what …
Trust Through Association
If we’re working in a service based business, we’re in a unique position. We’re not offering a product that our clients can touch, see, or feel. We’re offering an asset that, though not a physical product, our clients want and need to maneuver through a seemingly difficult step in the process of their lives. Not surprisingly, trust is one of …
Plain and Simple
Could the key to running a successful business be boiled down to just one simple statement? How about this one, from Seth Godin: Make promises, keep them, avoid surprises. That’s what most people want. Just about says it all.
Who’s to Blame
It’s easy for us to blame the customer. Maybe they didn’t read the emails. Maybe they don’t understand what we’re trying to tell them. Maybe they can’t be bothered to actually follow instructions. But is it all their fault? Maybe if we were just a little bit better at our job, none of this would have happened.
Something In Our Imagination
We are all very good at something. It may not be exactly what we need to succeed in our business, but it’s something. With enough imagination, it’s likely we can use that something to our advantage. All it takes is for us to do something better than the next person for us to stand out. Isn’t that something?