It’s a common mistake of new business owners: trying to reach everyone. We figure that the more people we get in front of, the better our chances. But it’s impossible to connect with every single person in your market. One, we don’t have the time (or money) and two, there’s no possible way that we can make a connection with …

If our job is creating a product for our customers, then it follows that the better our product is, the happier our clients will be (and the fewer problems we’ll have to deal with.) Unfortunately, when we first start our business, we’re not going to have a great product. Part of the process of growing our business is providing our …

Since birth, we’ve been conditioned to focus on outcomes. Sit quietly and I’ll give you a cookie. Memorize this information and you’ll get an “A” on the test. Show up here, Monday through Friday, eight to five, and you’ll get a paycheck at the end of the week. Without an outcome to fixate on, most of us cannot focus, which …

Many people believe that they are great teachers, capable to educating even the most unsophisticated student. And they’d be wrong. There is no way that we can force someone to learn something that they don’t want to know. Our best hope is that we’re lucky enough to cross paths with someone who is fully enrolled in learning. Then, a good …

Adhering to a standard is not too hard. Anyone that can read (and comprehend) is usually able to do it. Read. Understand. Follow. Repeat. Not too hard. Going above and beyond the standards? Now that’s hard. Too hard for most people. Which is fine, because most potential customers aren’t interested in paying for anything more than an average product. Average …

Once we’ve arrived, getting a new customer is probably pretty easy. We’ve done it so many times before, it’s just another day at the office. But if we’re still waiting to arrive, it’s a whole lot more difficult. Working; struggling; taking our lumps; it’s a painful process trying to figure it all out. Makes you think back to that old …

We all know what it is that we’ve got to offer. We see it every day. We’re intimately involved. We live it. Unfortunately, our potential clients don’t see it. They don’t know us like we know us. They don’t get to see everything we do for our customers. They don’t know how many hours we’ve put in behind the scenes …

It’s difficult for us to deal with things in the future. It’s human nature to focus on the present, to deal with what’s right in front of us, and worry about our future problems when they happen. But the worst way to deal with a dissatisfied customer is to wait until they contact us with a complaint. By the time …

One of the drawbacks to growing our business is that we start to work with bigger numbers. We no longer see each client as an individual, as they all meld together to form our bottom line. No longer a customer, simply a number on a spreadsheet. It happens to most businesses as they get bigger: they lose that “personal touch” …

Most people wish for their lives (and their businesses) to remain static. Everything’s going along just fine. Why can’t it stay like this? The unfortunate truth is that things change. Our clients change. Our industry changes. Our outlook changes. Time marches on, and if we don’t adapt, we’re left behind. Change is going to happen, no matter our wishes. We …