Here at Zenneo, almost on a daily basis we get asked:
How can I make a six figure income from my business?
How can I get more clients?
How can I grow my business?
…etc.
To these people I ask, ‘why are you in business?’ At which point I usually get a few stares or comments like, ‘to make money, der!’ So I pause and let them reflect on their comment. This usually follows with a less egotistical response of, “well I actually want to provide a great service or product to the community…”
For many businesses the desire to grow, blinds them from why they are in business and in essence can actually prevent them from achieving their goals of growing. For many businesses the key to growing is in the roots of the business. To these people I adapt a quote from Bruce Lee who said “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times”. I adapt this to businesses by telling people that when they first started out they most likely did one thing really good that helped them start and grow. Many businesses branch out into other fields really quick before anything settles and is able to grow strongly. How long has it been since your last refresher course? Are you aware of all the latest trends in your industry? Do you dismiss industry trends as nonsense because you ‘already know everything that’s important’? Do you want to be the best in your industry? Then maybe it’s time you plan things out, properly. Gather people around you that you trust and that can be a positive influence on you and along with working smart be prepared to work hard, after all this is your business.
For many businesses it becomes hard to grow and the business plateaus at some point within every 2-5 years. At this point many business owners go into panic mode and for some reason the first thought for many is ‘what more do I need to do”? Well the answer may not lie in ‘more’ but rather ‘simpler’, ‘better’ and ‘friendlier’. Everything we do these days has a process (I’m not bagging process) we love to make people wait in lines, cues and grab a ticket. Does your business understand the type of clients you have? Are they in a rush? Do they have time to chat? Do they really care how your day has been? As a business you should complement your client/customer, meaning work with them not tell them how nice their shoes are. Make things simpler for your customers and then review it, get feedback, trust me your customers will tell you if they don’t like something. But act on their feedback don’t just file it away with the cobwebs. To make things better for your customers it doesn’t need to be bigger, keeping it simple can be one of the hardest things to do but your customers will love you for it.
The desire to be bigger, make more money, have more and be more leads many businesses away from their core values and reason for being in business. Don’t get me wrong, businesses should definitely grow and change as society changes, etc. Just continue to build on your foundation and never forget to check your foundation is still strong.