This morning I received a phone call from a small business owner in my community.
During the course of the call he starts telling me all the reasons his business isn’t doing as well as it could be doing. Every one of the reasons involves a failure on the part of some other human being. Failure of suppliers to send him business, failure of referral sources to give him quality referrals, and on and on and on.
So I ask him what steps is he taking to improve his business, to get around these seeming hurdles. Then comes the excuses…
Give me a break!
I didn’t ask why he wasn’t taking any steps, I asked what steps is he taking. While listening to him bleed his heart out to me, I finally had to interrupt.
I asked if there were a proactive way to bring in more business, to increase referrals, to turn his business around through smart marketing — without spending money on advertising — would that help him out?
“Sure, but…” then he goes on to explain why now is not a good time. Why smart marketing won’t work for him. Why he’s too busy to do anything more than he is already doing. Why he can’t afford help.
None of which did I ask. Nor did I ever define or explain what smart marketing is. The dude immediately just started spouting out all kinds of excuses why nothing will work.
For him the problem isn’t poor referral sources. It isn’t excessive competition. And it isn’t a poor economy. The problem is his closed mind. That more than anything else is why his business is failing.
He is too focused on the operations side of his business. And he’s too wrapped up blaming others for the non-existing marketing side of his business. The sad thing is, he’s blaming people who are not even part of his company. Wake up dude!
I believe these same attitudes are the main reason MOST small businesses are failing. They mistake being busy with operations as the same as being busy building a business. Sure, in a fairytale, lollipop, rainbow world maybe…but in the real world marketing is the lifeblood of a company. Without marketing you don’t have a company. You have a job. And in most cases a failing one.
If this describes you, there’s a reason your business is failing, and it’s mostly your fault. Either some choice you are making or failing to make has gotten you where you are. Making excuses, pointing fingers, and blaming others isn’t going to turn that around.
But I know nothing I say will matter. Owners of failing businesses have brainwashed themselves into believing the same lies they tell to others. They’ve hypnotized themselves into submission to a lie.
I am NOT a turn around specialist. Though the strategies I use will work in a big way for any company, for the most part I won’t work with failing businesses. Working with these people is just too much headache. A constant battle over what is and isn’t possible. Tug-o-war between their hypothetical what-ifs and reality.
So here’s the thing…if you’re in a failing business ask yourself are you the reason your business is failing? are you putting more effort into blaming others (or the economy) and more effort into making excuses for the condition of your company than the effort you are putting into fixing things?
If you find you’re among those who are putting more effort into blaming others, don’t call me. I’ll call you… when pigs can fly.
