Occasionally, it’s good for your mental health to take a pause from the busyness and take time to consider the things you love about your business.
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On The BIGG Success Show, we talk about reminding yourself about the things to love about your business. Here’s a summary of that discussion…
Listen to this post! Click play to hear George & Mary-Lynn on The BIGG Success Show Podcast. (Duration 3:05)
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How do I work on my business? We often get this question from business owners. They are confused and even frustrated.
They’ve heard someone somewhere say:
“You should work on your business, not in it.”
It’s a catchy phrase, popularized by Michael Gerber in The E-Myth.
It sounds simple enough. And it is, on the surface. But once you really try to process it, you just don’t get it. You’re not alone!
I want to be my own boss. It’s one of the frequent reasons that people cite for wanting to be an entrepreneur and own a business.
Listen to this post! Click a player to hear George & Mary-Lynn on The BIGG Success Show Podcast. (Duration 4:08)
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FINALLY, they will be free from the stupidity, the incompetence, the rules, the reports and everything else we associate with “the boss.”
The bad news
The bad news is that it will never happen for you. Now before you take it personally, please permit us to explain.
You will never be your own boss. You can’t be.
Not because of anything you lack. Not because something will stand in your way.
It’s not you. It’s everybody. Nobody can be their own boss.
Self-employment may be a checkmark you make to explain your employment, but in reality, it doesn’t exist.
We’ve been sold a lie. The reason is simple…
Boss #1 through ?
Your business can’t exist without customers. You work for your customers. They’re your boss.
Hopefully, you will have a lot of them. But there’s problem with that.
Have you ever had to answer to two managers? If so, you know the problem. One wants one thing; the other wants another. But you’re just one person.
The same goes for customers. While they probably have similarities, they are also all unique individuals.
As a small business owner, this can be your competitive advantage:
So just understand that once you start your own business, you won’t be your own boss. You won’t have just one boss. You’ll have however many customers you have as your boss.
Yet more bosses
We’re not through yet. Where are you going to get the money for your business?
For example – if you go to the bank, they will set limits on what you can do. They call them covenants. You’ll have to report to them periodically (e.g. quarterly). We could go on, but you get the idea.
Of course, if you can fund it all yourself, you’ll have at least one less boss.
The good news
You may not be able to be your own boss. You may start a business and have lots of them.
You may make lots of money. But there’s a reward that’s even better.
Let’s say you had 100 customers who each represent 1% of your total sales. Ninety-nine of them are great, but the last one is completely detestable.
Fire that one! It will cost you 1% of your income.
You see, you can get trapped in a job because it’s 100% of your income. You have all your eggs in one basket. It’s like putting all your investments in one stock.
But when you start a business, you have multiple customers. So you are able to diversify your income stream. You have a portfolio.
So realize that you can’t be your own boss. However, you can have the freedom of working for people you really enjoy serving.
And hopefully the money’s great as well. More freedom. More joy. More money. Sounds like BIGG success!
Why do you want to start a business? Or if you already have, what motivated you to start?
Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00825-083012.mp3
Image in today’s post from stock.xchng
There are two kinds of people that EVERY business needs, even a micro-business.
You may be a coach or a consultant. You need both of these people working for you.
Self-employed sales people – like real estate brokers, insurance brokers, and others – need these two kinds of people if their business is going to be a BIGG success.
Designers, web developers, and other professional service providers have to have one of each in their business.
Even if you’re a solopreneur, you still need these two people.
Couples in business – like us – need them both. And fortunately, we came by it naturally.
Every business needs a Mess Maker and a Mess Mopper. Working together, they form a Mess Master.
Listen to this post! Click a player to hear George & Mary-Lynn on The BIGG Success Show Podcast. (Duration 6:30)
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Because business is messy…at least it is if you’re doing it right.
If you never have a mess, you’re not pushing yourself hard enough. You’re playing it too safe. Of course, you can make too much of a mess.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves now. Let’s come back to this after we talk about the two types in more detail.
The Mess Maker
I’m sure this will come as no surprise to our regular readers – I’m the Mess Maker at BIGG Success.
___
Mess Makers dwell in two places at the same time. They simultaneously live above and ahead of the mess.
Mess Makers are BIGG picture thinkers. That’s the above the mess part. They aren’t so focused on details; they’re all about direction.
And they are always ahead of the mess. They don’t worry so much about the present. They focus on the future.
The Mess Mopper
As you might guess, Mess Moppers clean up the mess created by the Mess Makers. While the Mess Makers are living in the future at 30,000 feet, the Mess Moppers are up to their necks in the here and now.
They work out all the details of the Mess Makers. They take the debris and make all the pieces fit together neatly.
I resemble those remarks! I’m the Mess Mopper of George’s Mess Making. As we said, we came about this naturally. My thing is details. George is more directional.
___
Although, we should probably note two things:
1) Most people have some balance between these two types. You’re not just one or the other.
2) But you probably lean one way or the other. Not too many people are outstanding at both.
That’s why it’s so important to find the harmony between the two types. In fact, let’s even go further – look for synergy, the BIGG idea behind BIGG success.
If you’re a Mess Mopper, you need to allow yourself to be pulled above and pushed forward by the Mess Maker.
If you’re the Mess Maker, you need to accept that the Mess Mopper is your constant reality check.
By working together, you can go further faster than you would otherwise.
What can a solopreneur do?
Okay, so we can hear some of you now. You’re a solopreneur. You’re it. You do it all.
How can solopreneurs make this work for them?
We have two suggestions. You may use one or both:
We know – it sounds a little odd. But bear with us – you’re not going to have to rush off to a psychologist afterwards.
What we mean is that you designate specific times for each of the two roles. If you’re naturally a Mess Mopper, set aside time for Mess Making and vice versa.
For example, if you’re a Mess Making coach, find a Mess Mopping coach. Explore ways to work together. You’ll push each other to BIGG success?
Are you a Mess Maker or a Mess Mopper?
Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00812-060112.mp3
Image in this post from stock.xchng
We witnessed the decline of a successful business first-hand. Some details have been changed to protect the guilty.
Listen to this post! Click a player to hear George & Mary-Lynn on The BIGG Success Show Podcast. (Runtime 5:15)
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She ended up making a critical mistake. She changed to a more mainstream menu and reduced prices.
Unfortunately, this move put her squarely in competition with a number of other restaurants, including several chains.
As in most areas, the restaurant business is highly competitive in our area. We’ve been ranked near the top of dining out per capita consumption. But we’ve also been ranked way up there in terms of number of restaurants per capita.
So when the owner made the changes, she went from being one-of-a-kind to being one-of-many. The result was that she ended up closing the restaurant.
You see this all the time. You can miss the boat when starting a new business. You may get it wrong when running your own business. It’s a critical key to success in business.
Popularity versus profitability
You must keep in mind the huge difference between popularity and profitability.
You can be a success in business without being popular.
But you can’t be a success in business without being profitable.
Profit is not a dirty word! It’s a necessity.
Without profit, you won’t be able to sustain your current level of sales in the future.
You need profit to repay any loans you have.
Profit provides the capital to grow your business.
Without profit, you won’t be able to give your people raises and other perks.
Without profit, the BEST you can expect is to remain stuck right where you are.
As humans, we have a desire to be popular. We want to fit in. We want to be admired and respected. There’s nothing wrong with that per se. But this emotional desire for popularity may kill your business!
Let’s talk about three ways that may happen.
This desire to be popular may keep you from honing in on your ideal customer.
The restaurateur we mentioned earlier had an upscale crowd. She wanted more customers so she toned it down.
Unfortunately, she lost her best customers chasing after customers who didn’t spend as much.
A lower average ticket, coupled with lower profit margins, killed her business.
You can and should love your customers. You want your customers to love you. But you want the right customers to love you.
Wanting to be popular may lead you to charge too little.
We’ve already hinted at this. People are smart. They like a good deal.
If you price your products and/or services below your total cost, you will be popular. You’ll also find that, the more popular you are, the more money you’ll lose!
It’s far better to have fewer customers who gladly pay you what you’re worth.
Provide what a select group of customers want or need and you’ll create more value for them. Then price your product and/or service accordingly.
You may not be as popular, but you most certainly will be more profitable.
The desire to be popular may keep you from making tough internal choices.
For example, entrepreneurial leaders can’t afford to make personnel decisions based on popularity. You must make choices based on who is best suited to help you get to your destination.
It leads to BIGG success!
Want to maximize your profitability? Maybe we can help.
Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00793-032212.mp3
