“Business As Usual” Spells Failure
If you’re not rattling cages,
reserve your business
headstone now!
~ ~ ~
C’mon, Hal, the Halloween season gettin’ to you?
Waiting with tricks instead of treats?
Not me. I rattle cages.
But what about you? Are you depending on others to scare up some new business? Maybe you’ve seen too many stun-gunned tongues (say that five times fast!) and zombie axe murderers on late night TV? Too many ghoulish retail displays? Maybe you almost died?
If every chainsaw you see reminds you of a massacre, maybe you’re running on (or from?) fear? No? Well if you’re not shaking up your business every week, it may be that you’re running on ambivalence and, in turn, leading the county coroner to your business doorstep.
Investing in the status quo with your business is a no-action action that –depending on how secure your finances are– will either provoke a knife plunge into the heart of your enterprise or cause business death by potato peeler. If 2015 means continued business life, it must also mean continuing dramatic action at every level.
If it ain’t broke, fix it anyway.
Stop being afraid of stirring up the competition. The most successful retail businesses are those located in the same geographical areas as their competitors. Competition stimulates consume traffic. Your website’s not up to snuff? Bite the bullet; get some cash out from under the mattress, and pay a professional to polish up your act!
Can’t afford the advertising you want? Stop advertising. Go to (free) Twitter and Facebook and LinkedIn instead. Start doing (free) public relations instead — newsworthy news releases, captioned newsworthy photos, special events (e.g., charity-based, combined with other businesses, educational programs).
Are your employees, suppliers, referrers, investors, community supporters challenged enough? Are you putting out strong motivational incentives to get the (free) word-of-mouth going? Are you running contests that provoke fun and prompt action? (Hint: No need for elaborate or expensive prizes if enough imagination is exercised).
Shake it up!
Have you given presentations at local colleges, high schools, community centers, and then promoted them and followed up with news releases and unusual photos? Have you compiled a media “hit list” of appropriate editors and writers and publishers who would have a natural interest in your business and business pursuits?
Do you have an “elevator speech”? Do you carry business cards and a notepad with you at all times? Do you ask questions 20% of the time and listen to answers (and jot them in your notebook) 80% of the time? Have you collected email addresses everyplace you go? Are you using them to send worthwhile info out?
“Business As Usual” means inactivity, nothing changing, no excitement, no hustle. It will take you straight to the business burial grounds up in the sky (or somewhere?) and you might want to stop off at your lawyer and accountants’ offices on the way to fill out bankruptcy papers. This economy has no mercy.
If you’ve got guts and gumption, nurture them. Stimulate them. Ignite them. Explode them. Make them work for you.
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Hal@Businessworks.US 931.854.0474
Open Minds Open Doors
Many thanks for your visit and God Bless You.
Hal, We need posts like this to give us a kick in the right direction. There are few to none small businesses out there that don’t want to have a better year in 2012 and they may as well start now with some of your ideas.
I like your ideas of improving a website that’s not working and getting free PR by doing newsworthy events that impact the community. I do see the local papers covering such stories.
On collecting email addresses and sending worthwhile information out I’m not sure if you’re talking about personalized helpful follow-up or an informative email newsletter, but then again, why not do both, right? Thanks for sharing this post on Twitter. That’s where I found it and where I’ll share it.
Thank you, Michael, for both your visit and your encouraging words. I truly appreciate your input. I was in fact prompted to visit your site (Good Job!) and to follow you on Twitter. Hopefully, we’ll connect again down the road to share more insights that others can also benefit from. Have a great rest of the week. Thanks again. Regards – Hal
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