Yesterday afternoon my daughter and I were discussing my business.\u00a0 In fact she was asking me lots of questions about it such as, \u201cWhat do you do?\u201d \u201cHow successful have you been lately?\u201d \u201cCan you give me some examples of your results?\u201d \u201cAre you actively networking?\u201d \u201cCan you make it more affordable?\u201d \u201cWho\u2019s your audience?\u201d \u201cWhat\u2019s your elevator speech?\u201d\u00a0 \u2026<\/p>\n
About two and a half hours into this conversation she had proposed an entirely new business strategy and marketing plan and given me a kick in the pants about making it happen.\u00a0 My first thought was, \u201cI think I need to hire this woman as our newest consultant.\u201d\u00a0 Then I asked her how she got so smart about running a business, and she told me she had a really smart dad who taught her a lot.\u00a0 \u201cOh yeah\u201d, I thought.\u00a0 She just spent over two hours feeding back to me a whole slew of business basics, honed by her own experiences over the last few years, that I seemed to have forgotten, or at least failed to regularly revisit.<\/p>\n
The lesson?\u00a0 Remember the basics; and, if things don\u2019t seem to be going as expected, revisit them. Every once in a while, get a look at your business through someone else\u2019s eyes.\u00a0 Then evaluate your key performance drivers.\u00a0 Are your mission, vision, and values still sound?\u00a0 Does the strategy support the purpose?\u00a0 Do the plans (marketing, finance, operations, etc.) support the strategy?\u00a0 Are your processes still working effectively?\u00a0 Does your organization structure still make sense and support your business activities?\u00a0 Are your people still capable, on the same page and focused on results?<\/p>\n
Many thanks to my wise entrepreneur of a daughter, who looked at my business through fresh eyes and reminded me about the most important better business basic: don\u2019t lose sight of those sound business basics!\u00a0 They\u2019re the essence of success!<\/p>\n
(By the way Sunshine, are you available?\u00a0 Love, Dad)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Yesterday afternoon my daughter and I were discussing my business.\u00a0 In fact she was asking me lots of questions about it such as, \u201cWhat do you do?\u201d \u201cHow successful have you been lately?\u201d \u201cCan you give me some examples of your results?\u201d \u201cAre you actively networking?\u201d \u201cCan you make it more affordable?\u201d \u201cWho\u2019s your audience?\u201d … Continue reading What a Novel Idea!<\/span>