|
Secrets to Success
Deborah Cole Micek
and John-Paul Micek
|
Set your own rules if you want to win
To win in any sports game, you have to know the rules, play by them, and improve your performance within those parameters. This is true in every sports game we play.
It is not true in the game of business ownership.
In the business game, you can set the rules. If you've structured your business on others' rules, you're bound to fall far short of your full potential, since other people have set the rules to play to their strengths, not yours. And you're at the mercy of the rules you never had any input in setting and which, even worse, can change at any time without warning.
Of course, there are some rules in business that must be adhered to - honesty, integrity, customer-centric service and the golden rule.
Others are the ones that are blindly followed in your industry without any significant critical thought. Too many business owners think that just because companies within their industry have always done things a certain way, that's the way they have to run their companies. That type of approach will only get you average or below-average results. You need to think about what it is you do.
Look around at what the majority of other business owners are doing. Listen to how much they complain or blame things on outside influences, like "the economy." It's the same in every industry, niche or profession. How different are your competitors from each other? How different are you from your competitors? Are you offering essentially the same services or products to the same market and experiencing the same financial rewards as everyone else in your industry?
If you don't like your answers to these questions, it's time to make a change. Winning the game of business ownership - playing by your own rules - takes a comprehensive strategy. Get started by answering these questions:
» What could your company provide that your competitors do not, cannot or would not to do - even if they thought of it first?
» What's considered "impossible" by the majority of people in your industry? How could you provide that service/product/solution if it really were not impossible?
» What are consumers regularly complaining about in your industry? How can you provide solutions?
Use your answers to begin to mold your operational systems, marketing and pricing structure. You can boost your profits and your personal fulfillment at the same time - by setting the rules of your own game. You will take a commanding lead in your industry, niche or profession. You'll be setting the rules around what consumers want instead of what companies in your industry find to be "the norm." And when you help enough other people get what they want, you'll get more of what you want.
John-Paul Micek is the lead business coach at RPM Success Group Inc. Reach him at
JPM@RPMsuccess.com or toll-free at (888) 334-8151.
Deborah Cole Micek, chief executive officer of RPM Success Group, is a business success coach and life strategist. Reach her at
DCM@RPMsuccess.com or toll-free at (888) 334-8151.