Taking a Buzz Saw to the Trees (Figuratively)

June 17th, 2008 Chris Posted in General | 2 Comments »

I have a laundry list of issues that make me dangerous in our business. One of the top ones is that I have strong focus on execution. While on the surface that can be good, it does represent a major risk. I get so focused on the closed loop of the plan, execute, measure and evolve process, that I sometimes miss the ideas out of left field that can represent real break-throughs in the business.

In a bigger company this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Some folks are head’s down get ‘er done people and some are more strategic planners. They complement each other.

In a micro business, there just aren’t that many of you. So you can’t afford to be one or the other. If you keep your head down and focus on execution, you’ll miss major opportunities to learn from what others are doing and those crazy ideas that make growth go non-linear.

So what’s the best way to take back out of the forest and explore some new ideas? I find the best way is to get together with others in small businesses – out of the office. Not that it was easy for me to do this…

Colleen, however, is great at it. She is part of a marketing group targeting entrepreneurs called Glazer-Kennedy (www.dankennedy.com). When she first joined, I had a major fit because it was expensive to join (I’m also a cheap bastard). But I’m now a convert.

It’s not necessarily that everything I hear is directly applicable to our business or even that I agree with evertyhing – but it does force me to think outside the box. I find that even 1-2 days out of the office, listening to others talking about stuff that does and doesn’t work leaves us with pages of ideas for Colleen and I to try.

Even just one or two of the things we learn make major differences in our business. A couple of months ago, it was a tip for our web site that more than doubled our newsletter sign-ups. This time, we’ve got a number of suggestions for making sure that members in our coaching program understand the benefits of upgrading to high levels. Just one or two ideas more than pay for the investment to be part of the group and are critical to getting our revenue to ramp higher.

But you don’t necessarily need to go and spend money and join a group. I also have a group of friends who get together and brain-storm on each other’s businesses over breakfast (or occasionally a beer). I believe this concept is called masterminding but I refuse to refer to it as such as I think it’s the goofiest name I’ve ever heard… But the result is the same – one or two great ideas that emerge that could take our business to the next level.

If you’re like me and can get trapped in execution mode, you need to force yourself to take a step back at least once every 3 – 6 months and expose yourself to other perspectives. That fresh look could make the difference between micro business success and failure.

C.