Becoming Successful
I’ve read my share of business and management books. I’ve also sat across the table with hundreds of business owners. The books provide great theory, the experience talking with business owners, great insight.
Business owners have this thought that, somehow they will become successful, and then they will do great things.
My clients consistently balk at our proposals to use technology tools to increase profits. We can do that by lowering costs, creating more sales, or by making more efficient processes.
The response is always, “Oh we’ll worry about that later, right now we just need to focus on making money.”
Hmm. Cart before the horse, I see.
My answer is this: your business will only be successful when you are doing successful things.
Being organized, diligent, and informed come first - they are not a byproduct of being successful. Success is rewarded to those willing to pay their dues and be organized and informed, so they can be diligent in their pursuit of success.
Look at any organization that’s truly profitable and growing. They have invested in the tools and training that their people need. They are not necessarily on the forefront of technology, but their people have the tools which exist today in order to be more effective, more often.
Wildly successful companies are also that way because they realize their greatest asset is information - and they give as many people as much information as they can and allow those people to share information. Organically, teams of people grow and begin to manipulate and create a new paradigm from that information. Something now exists where nothing existed before.
So, hate technology all you want. Realize that’s wasted energy and that you need to get the tools required to be successful. Technology = tools and you’d best get them, and learn to use them, in a hurry. Your competition likely already has them.