We have all heard the phrase “a comfortable routine”. And yes, there is no question that we are “creatures of habit”. This routine can be great since we all function better following a predictable path through life. BUT…
This comfortable and yes, even boring routine can easily be converted into a deadly abyss if you get complacent in your business. Sure, hopefully you and your company will never suffer the agony and human tragedy that happened with the Costa Concordia ship wreck on January 13, 2012!
But trust me- while it may not be as dramatic as gashing a 100 yard hole in a 450 million dollar ocean liner complacency can slowly doom your business. So a few thoughts on avoiding the “slow sinking” of your cleaning or restoration business …
1. Know where you are at all times. When the captain of a ship is disoriented disaster looms. In business you may be blithely sailing to bankruptcy just because you don’t know what the early warning signals are. So I urge you to download our free Weekly Flash Report and fill it out every single week. (In my company I wanted the previous week’s Flash Report on my desk by Tuesday morning- NO EXCUSES!)
2. Anticipate the route ahead. Sure, it is tough to see out even one month- much less a year or more. But making small “course corrections” now can save you big money and problems later. For example, are you focusing NOW on your spring marketing campaign? And if your long range goal is to increase your commercial contracts are you planting the seeds NOW?
3. Build a good team at the helm- Even if you are an owner-operator you need capable people helping you steer your ship. (Maybe even more so!) So enlist the services of accountants, marketing experts and yes- even a much scorned attorney! (Remember that many of these people are delighted to trade their services for your services.)
RESOURCE #1: You’ll get 100’s of new hiring ideas and systems in our 3-hour, online SFS: Hiring the Very Best! LIVE seminar. To learn more and/or easily register online click HERE.
4. Don’t build a bigger ship than you are capable of captaining- The bigger the business the more challenging it is keeping it from shipwreck. Especially when you add employees working outside of your immediate control the stakes go up dramatically. So constantly be asking yourself if you are comfortable and in control of your business ship. If not (no sin in this) then you have the advantage of being able to “dial the size down”. Can’t do that with an ocean liner!
5. “Only the paranoid survive”– Andrew Grove of Intel fame famously uttered these words many years ago. So got a few years under your belt? Then it is easy to lose that fine-tuned alertness you had when your business was young and you were “running scared”. Time to rustle up that fire in the belly again and dump complacency! Hopefully BEFORE your business slides into a “slow motion ship wreck!”
WARNING! Don’t get complacent about not booking every single caller! This is why you need our 3 hour, online SFS: Winning over your caller! LIVE seminar. Click HERE for 100’s of ‘Lead Conversion’ ideas and systems to easily book prospects who use text, email, Facebook, website chat or even… the phone! HERE are our upcoming class dates…
Steve Toburen
PS So did my reflections cause any disquieting thoughts about your business? If so, you’ll learn so much in our different online SFS: LIVE seminars! Plus you’ll implement our concepts easily with our turnkey SFS: ‘Business Infrastructure’! Click HERE to see upcoming classes…