Is your destiny in your own hands?

When I listen to business owners I think the answer for most of them is no. It’s the economy. It’s the lack of credit. It’s the ___________ (put your favorite reason in the blank).

The great thing about America is we are free to choose our own destiny. For some of us that means being a business owner. If that’s the case for you, you indeed can control your own destiny. Here are some of the lessons I’ve learned over the past 25+ years as a business owner.

If you’ve been a business owner for more than a year you’ll recognize many if these.

• Your product or service really doesn’t matter as long as it’s consistent. McDonald’s doesn’t have the best product but they deliver their product consistently which gives their customers great peace of mind.
• No matter how bad it gets, it can always get worse. As a business owner there are 100s & 1000s of details and decisions every month each of which have the potential to take you out of the game. Intuition and self belief are your only weapons that keep you moving forward in the right direction.
• Selling is where the rubber meets the road. When in doubt, start selling. Far fewer businesses fail from too many sales than fail from too few sales.
• The money is in the system. Regardless the type of business you own, 90% of it is predictable. Having planned and documented resolutions to manage the predictable allow you the luxury of indecision (just follow the system) and the ability to hire a team who can consistently deliver and maintain your product or service quality level.
• You gotta be your own #1 fan. My dad had a plaque in his office “When you’re up to your a** in alligators it’s hard to remember your objective was to drain the swamp”. The fact is we’re up to our a** in alligators everyday and it’s our belief in ourselves, our vision and our dream that keep us focused on our objectives when no one else can see it.
• Cash is king. Bootstrapping and keeping your overhead lean works best for most small businesses. This is especially true during your proof of concept.
• Get the word out every day. It’s easier and more affordable than ever to get the word out about your business. A website with a WordPress business blog, social networking and email newsletter allow you to directly address the needs and concerns of your target market and niche. More importantly speak directly to them.

I titled this article “Give us the day our daily blog post”. If you take on this simple practice you will start the process of truly controlling and managing you’re own destiny. When combined with about an hour a day of strategic social networking you are on your way to business success and abundance.

Enjoy and keep on blogging.

If you need help setting up your website and business blog use the contact form to drop us a line and we’ll help you create and implement an effective business blogging strategy.