Don’t look where you are, look where you want to be
Riding a motorbike, ok scooter, each day to and from work in the Cape Town traffic has taught me a number of lessons in both survival and in business. This blog series will cover some of the important ones.
One of the first lessons I learnt about riding a motorbike is to never look at the road where you are, be aware where you are but always look ahead to where you want to be.
This is key to running a successful business: being aware of the current situation is important but looking ahead to where you want to be is crucial to getting there. We work with our clients in setting up and following a Future Focused Framework that details a 3 year plan for both their lives and their businesses. This helps keep the focus fixed firmly on the future and the desired destination, but to also remember where we are at any one time.
The current situation is covered by a number of dashboards, indicators and general perception. But nothing you do now will adjust the current situation, but always pay dividend to your future.
I love the life insurance advert that says “Your future self will thank you for investing today” The same can be said for the future business owner of your business. By keeping your eyes and focus on what lies ahead makes for good business decisions today and will ensure that tomorrow is not lost.
So, ride free in your business, be aware of today, but keep your eyes up and focused on the future you desire.
Take a Look at Your Business
How do new customers see your business? We become so complacent when it comes to looking and not seeing. Once we get used to something we take it for granted and it just becomes normal for us. So many Capetonians live and work close to Table Mountain, but so many of us just forget to look up and see the majestic beauty of what we have on our door step.
The same goes for things that are deteriorating or dirty or broken. We get used to a broken door handle or a blown light bulb or a dirty wall and it just becomes a part of our normal. This is true not only at home but also our places of work. We arrive in the office, mind busy, ready to work and forget to stop and look at things as if for the first time. One of our clients told me that they spend 5 minutes each week on the opposite side of the street to their restaurant just looking at how everything looks. This gave them a new perspective as to how customers see them when arriving for the first time. Simple things like a dirty entrance, weeds, fingers on the glass, crooked signs are just some of things that people pick up, even subconsciously, and rate the quality of the business before walking through the front door.
Take time today to step out of your business and look in as if for the first time. Make a list of issues, no matter how small, and then get things fixed, cleaned, straightened and looking as if the business cares enough about itself to care for the customers. And don’t forget the kitchen, stock room and back door. Enjoy, let us know how it goes.
Elgin Free Range Chicken
Jeanne Groenewald started her business on her farm, because she wanted to eat good tasting chicken. Her friends also wanted some, so she grew more chickens. Today Elgin Free Range Chickens process over 80 000 chickens a week having grown her back yard venture into a world class business. Recognized by the Western Cape Premier, Helen Zille as her choice of Entrepreneur of the Year 2014, Jeanne has displayed the true spirit of a community based entrepreneurial business.
We tracked her down from her busy schedule to come chat to us about how it all began and what her success factors are in developing a successful business.
Where will you be in 12 Months?
The beginning of a year allows us the time to pause, plan and proceed into the next 12 months. Too often we set huge expectations on ourselves, often shared around the dinner table at some party, where we promise to exercise more, eat less and sort out our finances. But this rarely ever translates into any form of action or progress.
So If I had to ask you this: Where do you expect to be in 12 months from now? What would your answer truly be? Could you say with any level of certainty that your would have moved forward in your life goals and be better off?
Watch this sort video to get some inspiration on setting yourself up for the next year.
Share with us some of your main goals for 2015. I dare you….
Who is your sounding board?
A huge part of my work involves being a sounding board for new and creative ideas. It is my job to ask the right questions and to offer the prescribed advice to those who want to venture down an unknown road into the future.
A business coach needs a number of tools in their armoury to pull out and use at the right time when required. But most importantly is the skill to listen and understand what is being said as well as what is not being said.
I had a casual session with Amanda yesterday and we discussed her current ventures and decisions in her business and just be listing and giving feedback, I was able to have a huge impact on her day. To the point that she wrote about our time together on her blog this morning. So I thought I would share it with you to see how important not only a solid business coach is to business development but also a person who can listen and act as a solid sounding board.
Thanks Amanda for the kind words. Read her blog here.