How’s business?
Is it running like a speed skater gliding along on a sheet of freshly smoothed ice? Or do things feel more like you’re dragging a hundred pound weight through knee-deep mud?
Are you making the sales you want? Signing up the customers you’re after? Generating the traffic and leads you need to grow?
Or are you faced with too many objections? Feeling too much resistance (from outside AND inside your business)?
If you’re experiencing friction in any area of your business, I’d like to share an idea about why that may be the case for you.
But before I do, I need you to do something if you’re going to get the most out of this post. I need you to suspend all your beliefs about “business success”. (Just for a minute.) Let go of all your preconceived ideas about what’ll make your business a success.
Because what I’m going to share with you is going to sound a little crazy.
Heck, maybe a lot crazy.
Ready? OK. Then let’s go…
Asking All The Wrong Questions
One of the biggest mistakes I see entrepreneurs make, is in the way they think about their business. More specifically, in the questions they ask about their business they think will help them achieve the success they’re after.
Pick any random entrepreneur and ask them to tell you about their business and they’ll immediately start in talking about the “WHAT” of their business.
What they do. What they sell. What benefits they provide. What what what what what…
Who cares?
OK, I’m not saying that thinking in terms of what your business does is unimportant. But in the bigger picture, it’s probably the least important consideration where running successful, money-making business is concerned.
Face it. It’s the way everyone thinks about their business. (And if you’re thinking like everyone else in the crowd, you certainly can’t expect exceptional results.)
Then there’s another question you can ask about your business.
It was posed a few years back by writer and consultant Simon Sinek. And this question is a significantly more important one.
He maintained businesses should ask “WHY”. They need to understand the “why” they are in business before anything else.
In his book Start with Why, he gives an example of concentric circles. The biggest outer circle is the “what” circle. Like I said earlier, it’s the question that every business can answer about itself.
The next inner circle represents the “how” approach to business. How you deliver whatever value it is you deliver. In marketing-speak this can be considered you USP or UVP. The thing that makes you great and unique and THE person or business that everyone should be doing business with.
Fewer entrepreneurs have a clear answer to this question.
But at the center of his circles is the question WHY? Why you do what you do?
It is a great question. One that will drive businesses toward success much more powerfully than asking “what” or “how” about them.
But in my opinion, that’s still not the most important question you want to answer.
The Only Question Left…
And it’s the question I want you to consider in this post.
And that’s the WHO of your business.
More specifically, WHO YOU ARE in relation to your business. Understanding “who you are” relative to your business will make all the difference in terms of the success you experience.
Few entrepreneurs, if any, ever ask themselves that question. Because most entrepreneurs work on an assumption they just know who they are. I’m the owner. The president. The CEO. The Big Kahuna. Whatever.
But that’s NOT who you are! Those are just titles.
I’m willing to bet you’ve never really asked or considered the possible answers to that question. I’m willing to bet that you’re operating from a pre-ordained picture in your head of who you are relative to your business. Relative to your prospective market. Relative to your partners. To your employees.
Who you are is what really drives all your success.
Your success you experience is greatly influenced by who you are in your business. It’s who you are that will make your business great. Because it encompasses your behavior. The way you act. The way you perform.
And if you’re not achieving the success you want, you need to think about who you need to be.
Let Me Know “Who You Are” In Your Business
Don’t be discouraged if you’re struggling with this a little. It’s a tough question. But it’s the kind of question that will make a huge difference in your business… (The kind we’ll be addressing in this weekend’s transformation workshop.)
So here’s your exercise for today…
Ask yourself, “Who am I relative to my business?”
And then ask, “Who do I need to be?” if things aren’t working the way you want them to.
The Only Question Left…
I’m interested to hear what you come up with. Let me know in the comments section below.