Last week we saw a stark example of the fine line between winning and losing. The hopes of a nation dashed by a few goals in a penalty shootout.
Sometimes, in business, there is also a clear distinction between success and failure. One business survives and another fails. This clear line, is in many ways, easier to deal with than, the much more grey and unclear form of failure, failure to achieve the businesses potential.
This type of failure is the worst because it is so difficult to measure. You may be running a business but are you running the best version of it?
Your potential is limited by your own imagination. Your ability to imagine what your business can achieve.
“Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine, and at last, you create what you will.” ―George Bernard Shaw
I have had many conversations with business owners who self-limit their own potential, for example, these are actual statements made to me:
“We only want to operate in Kent”.
“We don’t want to grow; it just causes problems”.
At least these business owners are self-limiting, and they know it but so many others want more but do not actually know how to achieve it.
In our series, the 12 barriers to growth, we discuss the things your business needs to overcome to grow and outline what steps the owners need to take.
These are practical things, an owner can do, but they miss out three important items that I have grown to understand, in my time in business, that business owners need to have in order to actually achieve the potential their business has:
- A deep desire to grow and build the business.
- The ability to learn, adapt and increase knowledge on the subject.
- Some key advisers to help along the way.
- A Deep Desire.
I have learnt, from bitter experience in both my personal and business life, that you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink. You cannot change people unless they want to change. So, the business owner needs a deep desire to develop and grow.
I suppose this is what separates those owners who are self-employed to those that are running a business. The former is the business, and the latter recognise that the business is its own thing to be developed, nurtured, and grown.
- The ability to learn and adapt.
Your business is a reflection of you and therefore you need to be well skilled at the core things that make the business grow. You need to have a good understanding of 3 key areas in your business Marketing, Finances and Operations, and all things that these contain, to make sure you are leading your business: in the right way.
To lead the business, you need to have a good understanding of every aspect of your own business, how it runs and where it is not being efficient or where the bottlenecks are that are preventing growth.
The final element of this triangle is Self; you need to develop yourself to become proficient in these three areas.
Self goes a bit further than just self-development though it is also about mental and physical health. Keeping the right mindset and being physically fit is also important if you are going to run the business and help it achieve its full potential.
We call this the Triangle of Success and it is what makes the difference between success and failure.
- Some Key Advisers.
Even if you become proficient in the Triangle of Success you still need help of those who are professional experts.
People who have taken the time to specialise in areas you cannot. You need to be able to have a good conversation with them and hold them to account but you do not need to specialise yourself.
Buy your experts in but be proficient enough in the areas you need to cover in order to be able to converse with them and hold them to account.
Your Business Deserves More
If you are serious about growing your business, then you need to master everything we have talked about in this blog. There is no if’s and no buts. I have seen many businesses fail and to many failing to achieve their potential for the reasons outline here.
If you want to talk about this with me then give me a call because if you are serious about growing your business, then we are too.
