It surprises me how easy it is sometimes to see other people’s problems.\u00a0 Of course, since that’s what we get paid to do, I guess I’m in the right business.<\/p>\n
I was talking to a business owner this morning.\u00a0 He was complaining about the success of some of his competitors compared to his company.\u00a0 He said he couldn’t understand what the difference was.\u00a0 He did EVERYTHING the same way they did.\u00a0 Yet they seemed to get more business than he did.<\/p>\n
I listened for awhile and finally asked the question that kept running through my mind, “If you do everything like they do, why would I as a customer choose you?”\u00a0 It stopped him for a few minutes.\u00a0 I told him my point was not to be disrespectful, just to point out the obvious–<\/p>\n
Build your business on what your customers want, not what your competitors are doing.\u00a0 Yes, staying in-tune with them is important.\u00a0 But, if they are already doing something, it’s too late for you!\u00a0 You need to go and find out what your customers need that no one is addressing.<\/p>\n
Further probing brought out that actually this business owner was still running his business like he did 10 years ago.\u00a0 No clear business plan or marketing focus.\u00a0 While his competitors had actually expanded into new services area, offered new products, and generally had tried to stay ahead of the curve.<\/p>\n
I pretty much tell it like it is.\u00a0 Good or bad.\u00a0 So I told him, “you need to change what you are doing.\u00a0 Look at what your core skills are and listen to what your clients have been asking for.\u00a0 You need to get a recovery plan in place.\u00a0 Only if you are willing to make some large changes in how you do business will your situation improve.”<\/p>\n
I can’t say anyone faced with that observation is thrilled.\u00a0 But he took it fairly well.\u00a0 He knows there is a problem.\u00a0 Now, it’s just a matter of if he will act on it.<\/p>\n
We all have choices.\u00a0 He can choose to be the mouse that stayed behind (Where’s my Cheese book reference) the mouse that starved but eventually made it, or the one that accepted the situation and decided to do something about it.<\/p>\n
Stay tuned, I’ll let you know how it turns out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It surprises me how easy it is sometimes to see other people’s problems.\u00a0 Of course, since that’s what we get paid to do, I guess I’m in the right business. I was talking to a business owner this morning.\u00a0 He was complaining about the success of some of his competitors compared to his company.\u00a0 He … Continue reading Building your business 101<\/span>