Do you ever stop and think that you’ve been making things hard and more complicated than you need to? I’ve been going through a phase where I’ve been questioning how I go about building my business. And, the good news is I’m seeing business as a simpler thing than I used to. Maybe this is experience, wisdom or just plan cutting out the crap. Anyway, I’ve come up with a list of three things that I think are obvious to business. Yet most of the time we forget them and make life harder as a result. Hopefully, this will be just plain obvious to you.
1 Business is About People
Sometimes when I’m working away at home on my computer, I get really caught up in what I’m doing. For instance, I’m writing a blog article (like right now) and posting it to my website. My experience in doing this is all about the idea, the technology and getting it done. What’s missing is that there is no people in sight. Sometimes I forget that business is about people. It’s like looking at your email database as a list of names and not a list of people.
Reflection: Who are the people that make your business a business? Who are they as individuals?
2 Business is About Helping People
Sometimes I look at my invoices and my bills and all I see are the numbers and the dollars. And, I think about what it will give me. And, I forget about why someone would give me money. And, I forget that people usually give you money because you helped them with something. Sure, sometimes you help people and you don’t earn money also. And, then there are the people who have helped me. I don’t usually think about what my electricity bill helped me do? More likely, it’s just something that comes in each month and gets paid shortly after.
Reflection: What do you help people do? What do other people help you do?
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3 To Grow Your Business Help More People
Sometimes I wonder what I have to do earn more money or get new clients or sell more products? I live out in the suburbs. I have a high side fence and you can only enter the property via a locked gate. Most of the time the meter readers can’t get in to read their meters. And, I joked about this recently… I haven’t had any new clients knock on my door lately. Sometimes I forget that to help people you actually need to be in contact with people and they don’t just knock on your door.
Reflection: Who are you in contact with? And, how are you in contact with them? Is it a personal touch? or just a bland blanket message to a bunch of names on a list?
Does any of this make sense to you or have I lost the plot?
