In my experience, most small business owners not only don’t have the information they need to manage profitably, but they often don’t seek out that information. Why would these people risk their hard earned money this way? Why are they seemingly at ease with odds for success that rival Las Vegas when they could slant things in their favor? I believe it’s because they have not yet awakened their business mind.
Many entrepreneurs and small business owners believe certain myths about what it takes to be successful:
• If I work really hard, I’ll be successful. Hard work is important, but right work is more important. If you work hard on the wrong things and at the wrong time, your business will lose traction.
• I should do as much as possible myself in order to save money. You actually lose money by trying to do everything yourself. You are not an expert as everything. Focus on what you do best and outsource the rest. You will get much better results.
• I’m smart so I should be able to figure things out. Everyone is smart in their own way. Because of your unique education and experience you have strengths and you have blind spots. You don’t know what you don’t know. You need the support of trusted advisors to point out the blind spots and to help you work through them.
• I’ve always managed by intuition and it works well. Managing by intuition alone is not managing, its guessing. You may have been right in the past, but sooner or later you will crash. Having important management information and facts at your fingertips is critical to your long-term success.
• I’ve got plenty of room on my credit card to finance the business. You might, but then again, you probably don’t. Running a business always takes more money than expected. Unless you have done a detailed financial projection and business plan, then your thoughts about the amount of money needed are just conjecture.
The first hurdle people fail to navigate is opening their mind to the bigger picture and to the possibilities. Until you do that, success will not easily be forthcoming.
