By Guest Blogger, Timi Gleason
Strategic Thinking Coach
It is certainly interesting how something like “faster business growth than was expected” can be just as disruptive to our schedules and minds as struggling with low revenues and slower growth. Why is that?
“Faster growth than what was expected” tends to set us up to be stretched too thin in terms of time and mental energy.
We may not have the resources in place to deliver the level of customer service and productivity that is in demand.
We may become too caught up in tactics and lack the band-width for approaching our challenges with insight and strategy.
We may become too reactionary.
What’s an entrepreneur to do?
In retrospect, scenario planning could have helped. We could have planned out three possible scenarios and considered our back up strategy for whatever actually occurred. By scenario planning in advance, we would have taken the element of surprise out of the actual situation, and we would have had potential responses at our finger tips: laid out and ready to go. Emotionally and physically, we would have been prepared for something we had already considered, problem solved, and rehearsed. Our reactions would be more “elegant” at the very least.
But what if we don’t have any scenario planning in place? What if we never imagined such quick success? When that is the case, we start from where we are.
Here are some “switching gears” questions that some business owners use to stay on track and in control:
In the end, HOW do I want my service/my company to be remembered? Is it so important to be perfect and always prepared, or is it more valuable to be an entrepreneur who makes solving problems a win-win situation? Am I willing to be customer-satisfaction-driven and give up the impossible goal of never making mistakes?
Do I believe that lasting relationships come from working through a creative challenge? Am I willing to partner with my customers and vendors to grow professionally and succeed together? Can I include my customers and vendors in the mechanics of my solutions?
Who is my real customer? Is it the consumer at the end of the line who purchases my product, or is it the middle man who brokers my product for me? Am I at this person’s service?
How healthy is my relationship with my support and back up providers? Can the people at the UPS Store help me out? Can I rely on my bulk mail processing service? Will my I.T. person drop every thing and come to my rescue? Is my family on board with supporting my success?
What kinds of problems can I fix within my customer base? Is there any thing they are doing that is making management of my growth difficult? Are the actions they are taking making sense? Could we manage this growth problem better if I reach out to discuss my growth issues?
How organized am I? Would being better physically organized help? Would organizing my thoughts to think more strategically help me see things coming so I am less surprised and feel less pressured? Do I have people in my mastermind group or advisory board who could help me think out my options? Do I have a mastermind group or advisory board? Do I need small business Enterprise Management Software to help me track and analyze my sales and customer base?
Becoming comfortable with success can get sloppy at times.
What would it take for you to become more insightful and predictive about your role as an entrepreneur?
Don’t we secretly want to exceed our goals every month? How are you choosing to prepare your mind and heart for bountiful success? And when it comes to you, will you be ready?
Timi Gleason is an entrepreneur of products that promote strategic thinking. She has free articles, eBooks and an MP3 interview on her website: www.strategicthinkingnow.com and more information about leadership development services including her book at www.executivegoals.com
Have you ever had your face read? Here is a video of when Timi had her face read – very interesting and since I know Timi – it is so true: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gmihw9PNP9A
