So your business venture didn't go too well, now what?
When I started my business, I entered like many others, with big ambitions and huge dreams. The kind we have always been taught to search for. We are told to set our goals high and shoot for the stars.
No, it is not true that small businesses are just tinier versions of larger corporations. In fact, if you are starting out with this in mind, I can already tell you that you are in for a very painful experience. What's worse, is that many who think like this tend to focus on processes and operational efficiency of their business. This is normally the focus in a larger corporation (Obviously because that is what big corporations do).
It is a complete waste of time… save your time, save money.
We don't often realise it, but we have to learn to ground our understanding in basic human nature and connect with people as our most authentic selves. Sound a little profound?
Let me place it into perspective for you…
The person who you were when you were a little kid, with the big dreams and the silly ambitions before the world started laughing at your choices. Yes, that one! That is your most authentic self! You see… The world of people is filled with perspectives. Each person has their own view based on the way they grew up and their own experiences.
In short, our experiences and interactions with people will always be laden with non stop misunderstandings. Expect to find yourself explaining yourself over and over again trying to convince someone of your point. No matter how apparently obvious it may be. Now, couple this with the fact that us humans have an innate need to be accepted and a deep desire to be understood, we usually do one of two things.
We either argue our point vehemently to the next person in an effort to reshape their understanding and perception to one that suits ours, or we assimilate and blend in, aligning our outwards selves with the opposite parties perception of us to maintain harmony and avoid conflict. Both of these routes undoubtedly will lead you down a path of unhappiness. You either argue to the point of near violence or become submissive to the point of self-oppression.
Well simple, it has to do with PEOPLE. A business exists, because people exist, and without people, there is no business. You are a person, your staff will be people, your competition will be people and even your clients, believe it or not.
Now if we translate a business into being a group of people forming one fundamental entity, essentially, a “Super” person, we are faced with the same problems. Only this time “Super” problems. Businesses interact with clients and other businesses and together meet with the same misunderstandings over and over again. Why else would they need dispute resolution?
As an Entrepreneur, or founder of a new business, it is important that you understand these fundamental truths.
I’m sure by now you have an idea where this is heading. For you to survive in business, you simply cannot allow the perceptions and misunderstandings of others to alter your authentic self, and you have to accept both the good and the bad of people as it comes. This is the ethos of my leadership philosophy.
Once, you begin to accept that you cannot change what is around you and that you can only change yourself, you begin to become content with who you are and what happens. It will all become part of one journey that is your life. Ignore the people who dislike your authentic self and focus on the people who do. This simple advice when applied to business has the same profound effect.
The world is full of customers and in today's age, public opinions too.
A vehicle dealer will often tell you, “Most of the people who walk through our doors are tyre kickers”. It is true that most of the people who walk into a car dealership will not walk out with a car. Most of them are only browsing around, and some are there just for a few selfies to post on Instagram (You know who you are).
If a dealership has on average around 30 walk-ins per hour, with a 15 minute stay each,
If your focus were to be on, let's say, service and entertainment in a situation like this, your salespeople will likely spend at least more than half of the visit time entertaining conversations with as many walk-in visitors as they can. The goal here would obviously be to maintain a good image and minimise service complaints.
Now, considering the odds again, you simply cannot afford to allow the one person who is there to actually buy from you to walk out because you were too busy with people who were just “Tyre kickers”.
So, lets revert back to our example. As a person, when we meet with people who don't align with us, we do one of two things. We either argue our point vehemently in an effort to reshape their understanding to one that suits ours, or we assimilate and blend in to maintain harmony and avoid conflict. In the case of the dealership, this would be…
Either spend your time trying to convince each and every walk-in to buy a car, or keep them entertained to avoid complaints about poor service from your dealership.
Does it click now?
In your business, you are paying for your salespeople. They often come at an hourly cost, so therefore, each hour carries value to you. By spending your time on people who don't matter, you are essentially wasting your own money. They were never going to buy a car anyway. You have to accept that not everyone will be happy with you or what you do. There will always be someone who thinks they either know better or that you don’t.
Understanding yourself will help you better understand others and make you a better business leader. Spend time with the people who matter, or in this case, the customers who matter, and those who don't like it are welcome to leave in my opinion.
So now what to do if you already started wrong?
Don't despair. Take your time and reflect upon yourself and your direction you are going to take. Business mistakes are often costly, I know, I sunk over R300k ($20k) in under a
Enough about that…
It is human nature to look at this as failure and to cling onto your actions and efforts as though they are a part of who you are.
Failure and the fear of what others will think ultimately drive this type thinking and is part of what I am trying to iterate here. Forget about what others think. The best universities are often the most expensive, and a lesson in self is the most valuable of those in business.
The expense, is only but the cost of finding out, and you should probably look at it that way too.
Nearly all entrepreneurs go through this, and it is absolutely normal. If not, all entrepreneurs go through this. The painful experience is what eventually will bring about a paradigm shift in your thinking. You need this shift to move forward towards your most authentic self and towards success.
Important note here, this shift will not happen if you quit... So keep pushing even through the pain. For those who understand psychology, to shift one's paradigm, it often takes a life changing event to take place. When you are all in and your business is not, that is a pretty life changing event.
Another note here, if you are not all in, why are you even in?
So look at it this way.
There has never been a pass criteria in business, except for what you have been taught to believe. The very terms pass and fail was taught to us throughout school.
Just think about why you don't want to fail.
That's right, because your friends will get ahead and you will stay behind, isn't that so. Isn't that what you were told? It is this very conditioning that is following you around. Failure is not the end, it is how the best and some of the most successful people learnt to succeed.
You don't solve a complex problem without several drop tests(breaking something).
After all, that is why they invented the word pivot (Change in business direction), and you will often hear it used by many successful CEO’s and business owners. Nobody pivots something that is doing well, just remember that. The pain is something that no one is safe from. The only ones who deny it are lying. Or perhaps they have learnt to not speak about their painful learnings as failures, and instead, challenges that they needed to overcome.
So to us they appear almost superhuman and as though they have never had any difficulties with their lives. Believe me, they did. So, if you are there already, keep pushing. If you are looking to enter, be mentally prepared and go all in. You are either finishing off school and looking to become and entrepreneur, or you are just sick of the corporate world and want to gain your own freedom and flexibility. If your mind is there, then, trust me, you have what it takes.
In the words of Rocky, “It ain't how hard you can hit, it's how hard you can get hit.”