Yesterday I thought I’d been stood up by a potential new, large client.
I was sitting in a hotel reception, waiting to meet him … and he finally showed up … wait for it … 58 minutes late!
As it turns out his car had broken down, but not because of something unpredictable, like a puncture or something … he’d just run out of petrol! He was profusely apologetic and absolutely mortified.
He’d had to walk 2 miles to a garage – then do battle with a Traffic Warden before he could get away.
He was hassled … and all because he’d let his fuel gauge slip to zero. In his words, “There was never a good time to fill up”.
Ironic, isn’t it? He was too busy to do a 5 minute job, and loses an hour as a result!
Anyway, we laughed it off … I mean, we’ve all done it, haven’t we? But it got me thinking:
In business there is usually never a “good time” for anything.
We’re all busy, running around like crazy, headless chickens, but that doesn’t make it okay to skip essential tasks.
Whether you like it or not, filling your car is essential.
And, for that matter, so is growing your market share – especially if, like the analysts predict, there’s going to be little growth in the economy post BREXIT.
Directors often tell me they’d like to crank up the effectiveness of their people, but “it’s just not the right time”.
They’re too busy fighting fires, lurching from crisis to crisis, recruiting new staff, launching new software …. or a million other distractions.
So they’ll look to do it “when the time is right”.
Except that time never comes!
Because, as long as they see taking market share from competitors as some kind of extra-curricular activity – an optional extra that they can take or leave – or they’re waiting for some upturn in the market – there’ll always be some other project that jumps to the front of the queue.
So, if you’re thinking, “It’s not the right time”, I want to stress this point:
Growing market share is not optional, or occasional. These days for any business with growth aspirations, it’s the essential building block!
To continue the motoring theme, it’s the fuel that drives your whole operation. Forget about it, and pretty soon you’ll be running on empty.
No sales. No customers. No revenue. One day, you’ll just break down – then that’s it.
So, before the big red warning light flashes, here’s my suggestion …
Take a couple of hours out of your busy schedule to meet with one of our business improvement practitioners. Together, you’ll run through the challenges that are holding you back, explore your goals and the raw potential of your business.
Then, you’ll have a blueprint for success: a 7-point business improvement strategy, built around our tried, tested and trusted “business improvement programme that never fails”.
That blueprint is yours to keep. We can implement it for you, or you can bring in your own team. Either way, there’s no obligation – and no charge for the meeting.
All we ask is that you’re someone with whom we could work..
And by that we mean that you’re a business owner, or manager who really wants to dramatically improve all aspects of the business – especially revenues, margins, operational excellence and customer loyalty.
We have to insist on that, because you’re going to need a business improvement budget that will give you an “off the clock” ROI.
I’ve posted a video here to tell you all about it. Take a look
Your new business improvement plan will create guaranteed and sustainable growth. So every day you put it off, you’re giving profits away to your competitors.
In other words, if you’re not growing your own business, you’re growing theirs.
Don’t let that happen. Let’s get things moving here
Don’t wait for that perfect time to sort out hitting your targets and objectives for next year, because I promise you it will never come. The best moment you’ll ever get is right here and now.
