Becoming an entrepreneur is never easy. But beyond just survival is the issue of growing the business. Often, the entrepreneur, so bent on making it happen becomes consumed by the business. In short, instead of owning the business, the business owns them!
A great quote from a great NFL coach, Bill Parcells. It's a philosophy that can serve entrepreneurs well because it reflects results - what has happened and where you are. This helps you know what you have to do to change the score.
The phrase "the customer is always right" has been gospel for nearly 150 years. But for entrepreneurs, always trying to "go the extra mile" to please a customer, there are customers who will take advantage. Sometimes, you have to "fire the customer!"
It happens every day. An entrepreneur learns that a former key employee, who left under good terms, has solicited suppliers and customers with a competitive offering. And, without a non-compete agreement, a new competitor and not a legal leg to stand on!
Generating revenue is the most critical part of getting an enterprise solidly underway. No matter how good your product, selling potential customers is difficult without a major track record. The best advice to solve that is to embrace "give to get!"
Business Growth = Change. If you want your small business to grow, you have to continually change. Whether it's pricing, packaging, process, delivery, organization...or just customers' minds! Little or no growth can happen without some level of change.
A Bob Dylan song, "Positively Fourth Street," had a great line in it - "...I wish that for just one time, you could stand inside my shoes, and for just one moment I could be you." Have you ever thought about trying to stand in your customer's shoes?
Good and loyal employees are what underpin success. Making your employees owners may be the smartest thing you ever do. It gives employees a more positive job perspective and an advantage for optimizing value and hedging against business failure.
"Buzz-words" are the stock in trade of big corporations not entrepreneurial endeavors. Lofty words or phrases that, often, become words to hide behind; to put under your pillow to help you sleep better, but don't help you gain the success you seek.
Wasn't this entrepreneur stuff supposed to be controlling your own destiny and riches beyond your wildest imagination? Yet, as each day passes you feel like the proverbial hamster on a wheel, running as fast as you can...mostly in place!
