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I’m as competitive as the next guy (or girl). Truth be told, probably more so. But when I switched my focus from corporate branding to small business, one thing I learned quickly is that your small business will succeed or fail based on YOUR business, not the business of your competition.
Last week I visited the eye doctor – one of the last placesI would expect to experience an upsell.
The staff was remarkably friendly and incredibly efficient,both of which go a long way with me as it’s not something common in the medical profession. When it came to dilate my pupils, the upsell began.
This weekend, I was teaching my 7 year old daughter how to make friendship bracelets with embroidery floss. It is basically tying knots but it takes coordination to keep track of several strands of embroidery floss at once. If you get confused or lose your place, your bracelet doesn’t come out the way you want. After watching me do it, my daughter was sure that she could do it too. She started but quickly got tied up in the many strands. As I could see her becoming frustrated, I took a moment to slow down and go one step at a time.
It’s Friday. The end of yet another week. The first quarter of the year is nearly behind us. Wow!
While I’m a perfectionist who loves to achieve and hates to fail, my years in business have taught me that we learn the most from our failures, not just our successes.
Meet Bri. Bri is a cool high schooler who spent her job shadow day with us a week ago. If you want to infuse some life in your business and remind you how much you do really love what you do, always say yes when asked to host a student for these days.
I recently read an article on grit by two of my favorite authors, Chip and Dan Heath, in Fast Company magazine. It got me thinking about how grit (the perseverance and passion for long-term goals) relates to the successful entrepreneurs I know.
Yesterday I wrote about how saying no can fun. But it can also be really hard. Especially when it comes to price if you’re trying to compete without discounting.
Sometimes you have to do it. Even if you don’t want to, your business runs more smoothly when you do. And you benefit from peace-of-mind and a sense of relief when you do it.
What am I talking about?
Telling your customers no.
It’s hard to say no to paying customers as a business owner. Especially when we’re told no all day long from vendors, laws and even our own families.
“We can’t send you this product in 3 days.”
“You cannot pay less in taxes.”
“You can’t drive 50 mph in a 30 mph zone (without paying for it).”
A few weeks ago, we launched the Small Business Marketing Ideas Podcast with our first episode where we shared three alternatives to discounting your products and services. If you missed it, just subscribe to our podcast in iTunes by clicking on the link in this blog post that will take you straight there.
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