Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life

 A Perspective on Business Development

 

Getting Your Business to Work for You

Some days does it feel like you have the worst job in the world and your boss is out of his or her mind? It’s one thing if you’re an employee. Most of us have been there and done that, at least once. But it’s totally another when you own the business and “the boss” is you. Your business probably is not at all what you dreamed of when you started it, is it?

“When you’re the boss there isn’t anyone to look to for guidance and at times it seems that Chaos reigns supreme. Employees don’t seem to care as much as you do, and the buck never stops anywhere, but with you.”

There is help, we have been exactly where you are. We have changed businesses and improved lives. Change isn’t easy, but it is simple. It takes a change in your ideals, the standards by which you live your life and it takes a change in your perspective.

Consider this story from “The EMyth Approach In Action”.

Just outside a small village, on a hot day, an old man is sitting by the roadside. Soon, a traveler from another village stops to rest. “Old man,” says the traveler, “What are the people like in this village?” The old man asks the traveler, “What are the people like in your village?” “They are mean-spirited, vindictive, and selfish.” “Ah …” sighs the old man. “I am sorry to say the people in this village are also mean-spirited, vindictive, and selfish.”

A while later, another traveler stops to rest and he, too, asks the old man what the people are like in this village. The old man responds as before, “What are the people like in your village?” The traveler smiles warmly and says, “They are the most caring people I have ever known. They are warm, open, and will go out of their way to help you if you are ever in need.” The old man smiles back and says, “The people in this village are some of the nicest people you will ever meet. They are warm, outgoing, and kind.”

Both travelers were going to the same village and both were coming from the same village. Each traveler found the old man’s description to be true because each traveler saw the world based on their own perspective. The way each traveler thought, directly affected their impressions of the people they attracted and those with whom they interacted. Their basic perception shaped their reality. If this is the case—and it is—doesn’t it make sense to adopt the approach that works best for you?

Our aim is to have your business work for you. To have that, you must change your perspective. Change what you do. If you really want to change what you do, you’ll have to change how you think. If something’s not working in your business, it’s likely a manifestation of your beliefs and attitudes about people, money, the world and yourself.

“Your business is a reflection of you.”

That’s good news. Making it about you gives you the power to produce the change that’s needed. It takes understanding how your beliefs may not be serving what you want to accomplish in life. It takes a change in perspective, a change in how you see the world. And it takes changing what you do.

Work On It, Not Just In It

To have a business that works for you, will require shifting your perspective about your business. “Working on your business” is not about delivering well-manicured landscapes, great design or efficiently managed construction. It’s about getting your business to deliver great work to your customers, without you. It becomes possible when you recognize that landscaping isn’t your product. The product you’re working on as the owner is your business.

Most of us started businesses because we got tired of working for somebody else. We were good at the technical work of landscaping, we wanted to make more money, and have more freedom working for ourselves. “Working on your business not just in it” is a quote from ‘The EMyth Revisited’. In it, Michael Gerber describes The Technician, The Manager and The Entrepreneur as necessary personalities that are required to have a successful business. The Myth in the “EMyth” is that Entrepreneurs start businesses. In fact, you probably started your business because you were a good Technician. Too good to be working for a boss.

 The Entrepreneurial Perspective

Once you started your business, after you got it going fairly well, there probably came a time when being a good technician just wasn’t good enough. It gets tough to juggle onsite work, customer service, subcontractors, employees, the books, selling, etc. With phone calls, emails, and texts that start early in the morning and go on past evening, keeping up can get pretty frustrating not to mention exhausting.  Getting on top of it, takes a shift in perspective. Shifting your perspective is the first step towards a business that works for you.

When you see your business as the product you’ll be “working on your business” to:business-man-chilling-on-beach

  1. Provide customers a valuable high-quality experience. – Your business will be dedicated to delivering consistently, whether you’re there or not.
  2. Produce predictable results – without you.
  3. Operate consistently, profitably, and self-sufficiently.
  4. Effectively serve your customers – sell your product and services, and deliver it consistently with the support of your proprietary systems.
  5. Work less, earn more – sell your company at a premium price.

 

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