Some Misguided Fools

That's not you, obviously. But some misguided fools think their business is so different that the things that work in just about every business that's ever tried them won't work in theirs...

Which is daft, but it's good news for you, because it means that there will always be people - your competitors - who are NOT doing all they could do to make their business more profitable and easier to run.

Meanwhile, YOU can do much better, not least by copying whatever good stuff they are doing, as well as taking a peek at what successful businesses in just about any market are doing right. 

In other words, if a business is doing well you can probably learn a lotfrom it, even if it's in a totally different industry to you, just by taking a peek at how it works.

But how do you do this 'peeking' into other people's businesses?

You won't be surprised to find the 'how' as well as the 'why' is all right here.

Unless you're one of those misguided fools you'll understand the best way to build a better business is to learn everything you can abouthow other successful businesses work.

And you'll know by now that the 'how' and the 'why' is right here.

Roy

PS. You don't need a Kindle to download and read Kindle books. Just download the app for your device from the Amazon store. You'll find the link on the page for every Kindle book.  

 

Value Yourself

Resolve to value yourself.

If you don't, you lessen yourself and reduce your value to others.

When you do, your true value soars.

Do not, except by choice:

- Work for nothing
- Do a job you hate
- Spend time with people who drag you down

Do, at every opportunity:

- Accept your true rewards
- Love what you are doing now
- Thrive in the company of those you love

And have a great life!

Roy

To My Surprise, it Sank

We all make wrong assumptions every day. Even when we have the evidence in front of us we easily come to a wrong conclusion - trusting our senses and our instincts. 

In fact we draw on past experience of patterns, connections and associations and then make an analogy with the current situation, but that's not important here.

Mostly, our assumptions are near enough and we just get on with life with no great harm done. 

But by being conscious of how easily we are fooled we can very often bring about massive improvements - in performance, results and even lifestyle and wealth. In business, trusting your instincts all the time will probably mean you perform no better than average.

If you want to do better you have to be better, starting with the assumptions you make and the testing you can and should be doing instead.

For example, you might assume you know who your average customer is and, because of that, you might not try to sell them anything that you think they wouldn't want to buy. But when did you become that omniscient?

There's a famous story of a door to door salesman being chased down the street by an irate householder because he'd assumed - from the state of the house and the old car in the drive - that they wouldn't be interested in what he was selling, and so hadn't knocked on their door, although he'd called at most of their neighbours: 

"Who are you to assume I can't afford it?" was the perfectly reasonable question.

One of the best ways to give your business a boost is to study very carefully the assumptions you're making about your market, your customers and even your own products and services, then challenge them.

Roy

PS. Even the most mundane jobs can make us think again. Today, I was washing up (doing the dishes) when I was surprised to notice that the plastic mixing spoon I was washing sank to the bottom of the bowl, when I'd expected it to float, while an apparently heavier hard plastic chopping board did the opposite - floated when it 'should' have sunk. And I do know about the law of floatation, by the way! 

Even with the evidence of seeing and holding both objects, my senses had deceived me. Only testing gave me the truth.

The Solution for More and More People is...

Losing your job can never be a nice experience, and for many people it's a major blow to their confidence and self esteem.

If you've been hit by redundancy, 'downsizing' or 'rationalisation', or you've been 'let go', you won't need me to tell you how much it hurts.

But every change in circumstances is an opportunity to start afresh. Not having a job means that what you do next is up to you. And more and more people are choosing to take the opportunity to do something entirely new. For increasing numbers of people, that means striking out on their own.

Can you do the same? Is there something you enjoy, are good at (or can learn to be good at), and that people will pay for?

Maybe that's your business, right there. And maybe you should at least give it a go.

Roy

PS. That's how I started Flatpack Assembly Suffolk. Not that I have a real passion for flat-pack furniture, but I knew I could do it, I sensed there was a demand, and I gave it a go in my spare time. It worked - and almost two years later, the business is still running and making money. It's also up for sale, but only because I'm leaving the area.

Religion and Politics

Received wisdom says that the two subjects you must never raise with anyone you don't know well, and especially with potential customers and clients, are religion and politics.

Specifically, you mustn't reveal your own religious and political opinions. Even friends stay clear of these subjects for fear of spoiling their friendship.

Well, for a corporation wanting to appeal to the maximum number of people by offending no one, that might be good advice. For a family wishing to keep relations harmonious against the odds, glossing over differences might be wise. For friends who agree (or agree to disagree) about most things, not airing their differences is probably a good idea.

But can you imagine a political party not mentioning politics?. Granted, politicians have been known to skirt issues to get themselves elected, but the main objective is to attract supporters who agree with them and repel the people who disagree. Having clear opinions and policies and telling people what they are is the only way to polarise opinion in this way. The politicians with the strongest following are always those who polarise opinion.

Likewise, a church needs to be clear about the beliefs it represents. Again, this might be fudged to appeal to the masses, but that kind of support is transient and insincere.

The same principles can apply in your business, especially if you're in a business that involves relationships with real people. If you don't project the real you, how will you attract the kind of people you want to spend your time with? If you sell widgets you probably don't care too much who you sell them to (although you might sell more at higher prices if you concentrated on promoting them to obsessive widget fanciers).

But any business where you're expected to spend time dealing with customers or clients will be a lot more fun when you only have to deal with people who either agree with, or can agree to disagree with, you.

So; my religion and politics?

Atheist and liberal. Feel free to discuss!

Roy

Aim Higher

Any project that is going to motivate you to keep at it has to challenge your sense of what's possible. Give yourself room for half-measures and shortcuts and you'll almost certainly find an excuse to use them.

That's why your mission and your standards have to be higher, purer and more difficult to achieve than other people's if you're going to do better, be better and make more of a difference.

Easy is boring, anyway.

Real success is achieving what you weren't sure you could.

Roy

Synergy - When It All Falls Into Place

When things start falling into place so that each 'thing' supports every other thing in some way, or when you start to notice a common theme in the disparate things you're involved with, when things (and people) start to come together, that's synergy.

You can't really force synergy. Yes, you can look for 'congruence' in what you do, but that's really about consciously cutting your workload by being consistent and repurposing what you do to get the maximum mileage out of it.

Synergy seems to happen more by accident. Or at least, we don't consciously seek it out - but then, the brain is a mysterious thing.

So when you look at your client list, friends list or your interests, can you spot a theme? Interests can be wide-ranging at first glance and yet somehow...

With our client list and ongoing projects we're starting to notice a definite theme. Mainly, it's people and science. Particularly the science of people, from diet to behaviour (more closely linked than we usually realise), taking in motivation, self-esteem, goals and ambitions, 'mentality' and psychiatric and physical health.

And all these subjects involve equipping ourselves with the right tools and understanding how to use the tools we've got. That's why one of our most recent clients struck such an obvious chord with both of us. After all, what could be a better fit with everything we've done recently than the 'Human Toolbox'?

Lindy Wheeler is fascinating, caring and, above all, knowledgeable about the human mind and brain and the 'human tools' we all have within us to change the way we think and act and so transform the results we can achieve. Her workshop on 27th April is a 'must-attend' event if you're at all interested in human potential, and especially your own!

Meanwhile, have a think about what you've been drawn towards recently and what seems to be falling into place in your life, work and career. If you've been wondering what to do with the rest of your life (or the next episode of it), you might well find a clue right there.

Maybe go with the flow for a while...

Roy

Western Science? There's No Such Thing (and why that matters)

"Western Science" is one of those lazy phrases we use almost without thinking. We mean medicine, particle physics, biology, astronomy and more, but we lump it all together as 'western science'.

But science is no more western than it is Martian. It's science. It's science that North Koreans use to build nuclear reactors, and it's science that Japanese use to build communication satellites. How far east to you want to go and still call it 'the west'?

The point is, this is lazy language, and lazy language leads to lazy thinking. Like labelling every unemployed person a benefit scrounger, or every wealthy person a selfish bastard, it just doesn't do justice to the truth. We make similar assumptions about customers, clients, our staff and our bosses.

We all fall into the cliche trap, probably every day. But when we allow ourselves to carry on with lazy, untested untruths, we do ourselves and everyone else a disservice.

The next time you think about anything important - that's anything that matters to you - ask yourself what assumptions you're making that come from lazy thinking and cliched language - and then ask yourself how this affects the decisions you make.

It's not always easy to think, really think, from first principles, especially when we're being bombarded with cliches and stereotypes, but brave, clear thinking is the only way you'll build a brave new world - either for yourself or for the rest of us.

Roy   

Really Brave or Merely Fearless?

Are the people who do the amazing, deliver the extraordinary or accomplish the seemingly impossible different in some fundamental way from the rest of humanity?

That's a question I often ponder, especially when I read the advice of coaches and self-helpers (the ones who have achieved great things) and successful entrepreneurs, who say, in effect, that "Anyone can do it".

The ones who really have 'done it' often seem unaware of the essential difference that marks them out as special, or at least unusual.

I'm not sure there's a word to define this difference, actually, but 'fearlessness' is the closest I can get. Fearlessness meaning 'lack of fear', rather than 'courage' or 'bravery'. If you're not afraid you have no need to be brave, whereas most people are only too aware of the dangers - real and imagined.

But what if you're not like them and you do feel afraid? What if you still want to go ahead and do the difficult thing? Then you need to be very brave, or you need to learn the trick that those danger junkies seem to have learned without trying.

Turn fear into excitement. In Susan Jeffers' immortal words: "Feel the fear and do it anyway", by feeling your fear in a new way, as an energising force, like an actor taking to the stage. Use it to fight, not for flight.

Welcome your fear as a part of your journey, an experience that's as unique to you as the rest of your journey. Because, when you own your fear, it can't own you. 

Roy

When I Fall in Love

We're all apt to do it - falling in love with the idea, the technology, the wonder and fascination of building something new that works.

We can waste a lot of time and money on a more interesting or ingenious way of doing something, without asking ourselves if it's actually a better way of delivering our desired end result to the customer or consumer (which could be just ourselves or millions of paying customers).

Ask yourself if your new 'technology' is about action or distraction, and cut it out if necessary.

Simple is usually best.

Roy

Permission Granted

You don't need permission to plough your own furrow, make your own way or start your own enterprise.

There are no rules to say who can and who can't make a difference in this world with their own initiative, ideas and hard work, so the next person who does that may as well be you.

Be authentic, be exceptional and have a memorable story to tell and you'll have as good a chance as anyone else of making it.

Roy

The Stories I Could Tell

There are some things that should stay private, but everyone likes a good story. That makes storytelling the best way to get someone's attention - and hold it.

So, if you have a need to communicate and share - whether that's selling toothpaste or asking for help - try telling rather than selling.

The best copywriters practise storytelling at least as much as sales psychology. And the most interesting people are the ones with a story to tell, not a product to sell.

Roy

PS. Did I ever tell you the one about the unlit tunnel, the unlit cyclist and the oncoming car?

You, the Expert

So you get a call or an email from a client or a customer, asking for your opinion on something.

Is it a test? Will you pass? Can you evade the question or pass the buck?

No. It's a compliment. It means they value your opinion (even if, from time to time, you don't).

So give them the benefit of your expertise. It's only your opinion, but it's obviously something they value. It's a gift that's yours (and only yours) to give.

Lucky them!

Roy

Tough it Out

If circumstances (like the weather) seem to be conspiring against your plans you have three choices:

1. Give it up as it clearly wasn't meant to be
2. Adapt your plans so you can get somewhere near where you wanted to be
3. Stick to your plans anyway, but maybe by a different route

The first one is just stupid - What does "meant to be" mean, in this context?

The second one is better, but what will you be compromising on?

The third one? Well, you either wanted or needed to do that thing you planned, or you didn't. If you did, go ahead and do it.

Roy

Be There or Be Nowhere

At the risk of sounding like a broken record (remember those?) I was very, very pleased indeed yesterday to see the best ever visitor numbers (ever!) for my cycling blog.

Each day on that blog, I post a cycling tip, aimed at getting an inexperienced (or at least unfit) cyclist to the start line for a big ride or tour in about a month or so. I do this partly because I've set myself a challenge to ride over 120 miles on 6th April - for a very good cause. Every tip is written from personal experience, not just theory or accepted wisdom. That means people might disagree with some of the tips, but that's fine.

But the point is, if you blog daily, or email your list daily, or even just update a Facebook page or twitter account regularly, you need to 'be there' in the content you share. Useful tips are perfect blog or newsletter material, but they're even better when you can include some of your personal experience, character and opinion along with the facts.

If you're worried about people disagreeing with your opinions, don't be. Only you can write about what you know from your experience. And, since you're the one taking the trouble to write it, it's your opinion that counts.

The same goes for any communication.You know what you know.

And when you share what you know, you both contribute and benefit.

Roy

"I Would Like to Thank..."

I was pleased and surprised to be nominated for the Reality Award by Anne Rainbow, whose blog can be found here, and whose explanation of the rules I have borrowed:

"The rules are: visit the blog of the person who nominated you and link to them on your post. Answer the questions, nominate more bloggers and let then know. That doesn't sound too difficult."

If you could change one thing, what would it be?



I would speed the spread of the humanitarian revolution to the rest of the world, removing the oppressive and harmful influence of dogma, dictatorship and superstition.


If you could repeat an age, what would it be?


I'd like to make a better job of my teenage years, but I'm not sure I'd actually want to go through all that again.

What one thing really scares you?


I used to be scared of so much, it was embarrassing. These days I get most upset by conflict and naked hatred. Fortunately, I don't encounter it much.

If you could be someone else for a day, who would it be?


That's tricky. There are people whose jobs I would like to see done better, but I'm not sure I'd be the one to do that. Sir Bradley Wiggins come to mind, as long as I could choose the day. Then it would be the day he won the Tour de France.

Nominees

I don't know if the rules specify Blogger blogs only, but they're hard to find, so...


A blog I dip into quite regularly is one by Randy Gage, who talks about prosperity in all its forms.I would like to nominate John Ravenscroft, who's a much admired writer and wit, but his website isn't quite a blog... 

And I'm sure I can add some more...

To Get More Done, Do Less

If you want to get more done - I mean actually done - try doing less.

Or do less 'trying'. In other words, stop trying to do so much.

It's natural and human to be overwhelmed by a big 'to do' list, and we often react by finding even more things to do, just to avoid tackling the overwhelming list. By distracting ourselves we achieve very little.

So, keep your 'to do' list very small - keep to only three or four tasks per day of an hour or less - and forget the things you'll need to do tomorrow and the day after, and so on, until today's jobs are done and dusted. 

Get things done by deciding what today's things really need to be.

Roy

How to Do Your Greatest Work

The only way you will ever do your greatest work is if you truly love what you do.

It is possible to do 'great' work by trying your hardest, even if you don't actually love what you're doing (and that can still be tremendously rewarding), but your greatest work only comes from genuine love and passion.

Don't worry if you haven't found your passion yet - most people haven't and most of them never will.

But if you want to be exceptional and make a real difference in the world, only genuine passion will be enough to make you do your greatest work.

Of course, being ordinary is okay too, if that's what you want to be.

But if you have the choice...

Roy

Attracting the Right People

On the subject of having the right people in your life, the best place to start is with yourself. In fact, it's the only place to start and finish, since you can't (or shouldn't) control who else comes and goes.

And being the best, most authentic version of you is the best way to attract and keep the people who are the best fit with who you are. Again, this is true in life and in business.

Note 'the best' and 'most authentic'. You can change for the better and still be 'you'.

One thing you need to accept, though: when you change, the people you attract will change, too. But it's better that way around than you forever trying to be someone you're not, to attract or keep hold of the people who don't really fit with the real you.

They don't really belong here, do they?

Roy

Not Targeting But Serving

If 'targeting' an audience sounds a little too calculating for your liking, even though your business needs to be all about making the best decisions in order to survive and thrive, look at it another way.

Instead of aiming your service at a group of people who ought to want it, first decide who you want to serve (for whatever reason) and set about actually serving them.

There are few things more rewarding than serving people you like with what they really want.

Roy