Category: New Business Development

Take Today Off

It is important
to take a day off
once in a while.

It re-invigorates us.

It reminds us
what or who
we’re working for.

It puts us back in touch
with prospective customers,
and
with the world
in which we’re building our business.

It allows us to spend time
with family, friends
and other people who love
and support us.
They are important partners also.
We should ensure
they know how key they are.

If I can,
if the business I’m building
allows this,
I like taking major holidays
like today, Christmas,
off.

In North America,
very few people expect us
to work, to be open
on Christmas.
The expectation is
we’re closed.
We’re likely not disappointing customers
by taking the day off.

And our loved ones
are likely to have today off also.

If it is at all possible,
take today off.
Disconnect with the business
and reconnect fully with loved ones.
It could be one of the best investments
you make this year.

The Gift Of Giving

It costs the food bank in my city
$1 to supply someone with a meal.
$1.
Most of us have $1 to give.

That $1 not only benefits
the person needing the meal.
It often benefits us.

When I help another person,
I feel good about myself.
I feel grateful.
I feel generous.
I’m changing the world
for the better,
making a difference.
Someone’s day is happier
because I helped them.

I receive all these good feelings
and more
for $1.
That’s a bargain.

Consider giving to someone or some entity
today.

It could be a free gift
like smiling at a stranger
or holding a door open for them.

But it will make the world
a better place
and might give you
a boost of happiness.

The Trap Of Wanting More

One of the reasons
I like to write down my goals
is because
I have a tendency to move them.

If my goal is to sell 5 books a day
and I do that,
I immediately increase my goal
to sell 10 books a day.

This SEEMS like a good thing to do
except…

1) I never stop to celebrate
the achievement of my original goal.
And because I don’t celebrate it,
I often forget I’ve achieved it.
I feel like I never accomplish anything.

And

2) I don’t stop and ask myself
if I WANT to sell more than
5 books a day.
Does selling 10 books a day
get me closer
to my greater goals?

More merely for the sake
of more
isn’t productive.
It might be anti-productive.

Our time and other resources
are limited.
They could be used elsewhere.

Seth Godin
shares
“the infinity of more
can become
a gaping hole.

Instead of finding solace
and a foundation for better work,
the bottomless pit of
just a little more
quickly ceases to be fuel
and becomes a burden instead.”

Write down your goals.
Then don’t automatically expand
them
once you’ve achieved them.
Think about it
first.

If The Insurance Companies Are Worried

I have strong connections
in the insurance industry.
There’s a business reason for that.

If insurance companies
are concerned about something,
business builders should take note
of that something.

The insurance industry
deals with probabilities.
That is one of their areas
of expertise.
They have models to predict events.
They look at trends.
They track different types
of data.

If they’re concerned
about flooding in a certain area
and increase premiums there,
there will likely be flooding
in that area.

If they’re concerned
about unvaccinated workers
and increase health coverage premiums
for them,
there is a huge likelihood
those unvaccinated workers
will become seriously ill.

We should plan not only
for increased insurance premiums
but also for the actual event.
It WILL happen…eventually.

Your insurance contact’s concerns
should be your concerns.

(And we all have an insurance contact
as we all have insurance.
Many of us merely don’t talk to them.)

Track these concerns.
Treat them seriously.
Reduce surprises.

Employees With No Dependents

My husband and I have no kids.

Employers and other people
often assume
we have no dependents.

My husband is often asked
to work overtime.
Both of us are asked
to complete high risk tasks
during this pandemic.

But we are both fortunate
to have elderly parents.
These parents are frail,
need assistance.

We also have other loved ones
who depend upon us.

If we became ill,
many people would be impacted.

Don’t assume
your employees without kids
have no dependents.

No One WANTS To Do It

I was waiting in line
for my COVID booster
a couple days ago,
chatting with a stranger.

She said one of her friends
didn’t want to get the booster.

I laughed and said
no one WANTS
to get the booster.
I don’t WANT to wear a mask.
I don’t WANT to worry
about loved ones
becoming ill.
None of this
is what I WANT.

I HAVE to take
these actions
to keep as many people
safe as possible.

Some things, some actions
have to happen
whether we want them
or not.

Just do it.

Sharing Ideas

I had a brilliant idea
for a story last night.

The issue is…
I don’t have the tone
(the ability)
to write it
without f*cking it up
completely.

I would never write it
for that reason.

So I posted it
on social media,
hoping someone would be inspired
by it
or use it in some way.

As business builders,
we usually get many more ideas
than we can possibly
implement.

Some of these ideas
might be outside our expertise,
outside our industry,
outside the things we do best.

Consider casting them
into the universe.

Note:
This is an act of generosity,
of giving back
to the universe.

ONLY do this
if you are okay
with someone else taking
your idea,
becoming a roaring success
with it,
and never crediting/compensating you.

Omicron And The Unvaccinated

Very few people
will talk or post
about this extremely concerning
business issue
but here at client k,
we don’t shy away
from the ‘insensitive’ discussions.

In the near future,
perhaps today,
our unvaccinated employees,
business partners, suppliers,
others,
will become seriously ill
and could possibly die.

With the Omicron variant,
that is almost certain.
It is HIGHLY transmissible.

And if Omicron doesn’t impact them,
the variant that will eventually
evolve from Omicron
likely will.

We’re doing a sh*t job
globally
and especially in the US
of stopping COVID.

What does this mean
for business builders?

We have to prepare
for the unvaccinated
to become seriously ill
or worse.

We need backups for that person.
We need them to cross train
with the vaccinated
(preferably virtually).
We need to have copies
of what they are working on.
We need to prepare.

The unvaccinated will require
time off
with NO notice given.
Plan for that.

Have An Emergency Plan

Weather will become
more and more extreme
as climate change progresses.
THAT is predictable.

In times of emergency,
we don’t often think clearly.
That’s why it is important
to have a plan in place
NOW.

What is the safest place
in your office/store
for employees and customers
to wait out a tornado?

Can you make
that safe place
safer?

What is your policy
when there’s an emergency situation?

Do you send employees home
and temporarily close
your business?
(That is usually the best decision.)
Or do you work longer
because your business
is essential
for people to survive
the situation?

Are all your emergency supplies
in one easily accessible location?

Plan for emergencies.
Hope you never need
to implement those plans
but have them in place
in case you do.

Failure In New Business Development

New business development
consists of trial and error.
Very few people
develop the best product or service
for their target market
the first time.

We develop a product.
We test it.
It fails.
We revise the product.
We test it.
It fails a little less.

We repeat the process
again and again
until we get it right.

Seth Godin
shares

“Failure is a way
of discovering
one more thing
that customers didn’t want,
and perhaps,
learning a bit about
what they might want.
By iterating
without tears or fears,
organizations are able
to discover things
about their future customers.”

Expect the first few tries
at new business development
to fail.

Don’t become emotionally attached
to those products/services
and
don’t become discouraged.
It is part of the process.
Failure is supposed to occur.