Precept: a general rule intended to regulate behaviour or thought.
All of your actions will have a corresponding reaction.
For each move you make as a business owner, especially those that propel your business forward, your competitors will react. Much like a chess game, strategic moves that result in your business jumping to the forefront of your niche, will result in a likewise counter move from others who compete, with their products and services.
Expecting perfection is self defeating.
The more you strive for perfection in your business, the less happy you may be with your progress. Have you ever noticed the business owner who refuses to bring out a new product until everything is just right? The advertising, the messages they would like to get across on social media, their website – all of it must look just right, be the right color, have perfect wording, come across a certain way – all in the name of perfection. In the meantime, your competitors have already moved ahead with the same or similar services and products and are now the leaders in the same market.
Even when you fail, there is a lesson to be learned.
Without failure, there would be no risks. By taking risks, entrepreneurs innovate and this is how some of our greatest companies have come to exist. With risk, there is also the chance of failure and this is the way you learn what to improve, which things to change and how not to be complacent. Failure doesn’t necessarily mean that your product has bombed or your services are unneeded. It can also mean that your marketing campaign wasn’t quite right or that you are a little ahead of your time. It gives you a chance to stop and think…and improve.
Plans are made to be changed.
No one likes change. Though many say they thrive on it and apparently it is good for us, it still doesn’t go over well, especially with your customers. Marketing change as improvement has long been one way many large companies have managed resistance in their customers. Changing your plans doesn’t mean you slow down or become less productive. It means you have a better idea and want to move forward with it.
Measure success through your own eyes, not through the eyes of others.
If this is your first business, you know how far you’ve come. You know what you have learned since striking out on our own and though you may not know why everything is going well, over time you’ll learn that also! Don’t let others tell you how well you’re doing unless those others are your customers. You’ll know which of your actions have created the most welcome response from them, as all of your actions will have a corresponding reaction!
© Chris Draper, DemGen Inc. 2013
Image courtesy of firstefc
