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Your Baby's Ugly |
by:
Steve
Baker |
Your Baby’s Ugly…
and
you’ve got bad breath
By Steve Baker
I’ve got good
news and bad news. The good news is that 98% of businesses are
small businesses. That bodes well for the entrepreneurial spirit
that has made our nation great. The bad news is that 80%, that’s
right, four out of five new businesses will fail in their first
five years.
After years of building my own companies and
consulting growing businesses, I’ve come to the realization that
too many business owners can’t see their business through an
objective eye, which often leads to their demise. It takes an
incredible amount of intense drive, determination and a strong
ego to breathe life into a business and create products from
scratch, but it’s also that same ego that won’t let a business
owner be objective about what their business needs to succeed.
The business is up and running at light-speed and management
doesn’t have the time or willingness to stand back and take a
real look at what they have created. They are too close to the
problems to see them. Just like a proud parent, they have spent
sweat and time creating this “baby,” and they refuse to believe
that it might be less than perfect.
I call this the
“business parent trap.” It is in this trap that business owners
often create and introduce products that would not test out in
the marketplace. There’s an attitude of “Hey, it’s gotta be
great because I thought of it.”
I’ve found that there
are usually two basic things wrong with a business: the product
(the Baby) and the management (the Breath).
So how do
you assess your business? Are your employees going to tell you
that you’re headed in the wrong direction? Not likely.
Occasionally a consultant will
be brought in to review the
company’s performance in a given area. Unfortunately, when
management does bring in a consultant, they often are really
looking for affirmation – not straight-forward constructive
criticism.
Sadly, some consultants are more than willing to
“affirm for a fee.”
If you’re going to succeed, then
someone needs to tell you if your baby’s ugly or you’ve got bad
(corporate) breath. So here are some blunt yet truthful thoughts
for your business, and perhaps you:
•GET OVER YOURSELF:
Know yourself, trust yourself, believe in yourself...then Get
Over Yourself. You’re really not the smartest person in the
world. You built the business and know it better than anyone
else, but no one else really cares how much you know.
•SPECTATOR SPORT: Conversation with you should not be a
spectator sport for others. Remember that there’s a huge
difference between listening and merely waiting for your turn to
talk. You hired your employees and perhaps a consultant because
you assumed they had brains, so let them use them. Ask questions
and listen to answers.
•JUST ANOTHER PRODUCT Realize
that even though you think that your new product or service is
the greatest thing since the flip-top beer can, the world just
sees one more product and must be convinced. You created this
product and you know every function of it, but customers do not
buy functions, they buy only benefits. Whether your product is a
high tech internet service or office furniture, you must show
how it is uniquely beneficial to your customer. Functionality
makes your products work, Benefits make them sell.
•PAPER
WEIGHT: If you have the high tech inventive skills to create a
product, chances are that you don’t have the skills to market
and sell it. Many small business owners think that marketing and
sales are the simplest part of their business, so it is almost
an afterthought. There is only one reason that inferior products
outsell better ones; and that is successful marketing. Think of
your marketing plan as the complete story book that sells your
product. If your story book is a best seller, then your product
will be a best seller. Without the right story that will build
sales and distribution, your wonderful product is just another
paper weight head for a land fill.
•STAND BACK: Your
competitors are not all stupid. Guess what? They think their
babies are cute too, and they may tell better stories that make
them look even better than yours. So stand back and look at
yourself and your baby and try to look through the eyes of a
disinterested party, because believe it or not, the world is a
disinterested party.
Remember, there‘s an 80% chance
that you will not be in business in 5 years. As busy as you are,
and successful as you think you are, you must set your ego aside
and realize that there are things beyond your control.
Successful companies know that the secret to success doesn’t lie
in knowing everything; it lies in knowing what you don’t know,
and finding those who do.
I wish you good luck and great
success.
About the Author
Steve Baker is a business advisor who specializes in market development. He
founded a company that did $500 million the first year and he was sued for $1.4
Billion. He speak on How to be a Successful Failure, and he is the author of the
award winning book, PUSHING WATER UPHILL With A Rake; Memoirs of a Successful
Failure. He lives in Colorado where he is an avid poor golfer. He can be reached
through his website www.PushingWaterUphill.com
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