Budgeting Essentials
Quit Thinking Small - Part 2
Do you find yourself resistant to change because you tried something and it didn’t go well? You need to examine your procedures periodically to make sure they are efficient and effective. You don’t want to limit your cash flow by using outdated procedures that cost you extra time and money. Learn more in this week’s blog.
Last week we talked about the limitations you put on yourself with the “We have always done it that way” mentality. This week we are examining the statement: “We tried that before and it didn’t work.”
“We tried that before and it didn’t work.” This is a limiter that can stop you in everything you do. Just because the first time or any time you try something and it doesn’t work or go well, it doesn’t mean you should stop trying. In fact, the opposite is true... Keep Trying. Until. You. Get It!
Baseball players don’t start out hitting home runs. That doesn’t mean they can’t hit them. They just need to keep practicing to perfect what they are doing so they can hit home runs. Practice to perfect what you do!
The same thing applies to business. The first time you try something, you are probably not going to do a great job at it. But that doesn’t mean you should stop trying. Championship teams perform the basics of their activity on a high level consistently, in both sports and business. What are your business basics? Have you practiced your basics? Have you perfected your basics?
As small business owners, we are busy. We are interested in doing things the best way possible, but often we let our busyness keep us from researching, developing and implementing the changes that we need to make. There can be a number of reasons that limit our success the first time we try something. That is why we practice. Changes are necessary on the road to perfection. Make necessary changes. And practice some more!
You may be trying to implement something that is not technically ready yet. Before the internet became the great tool that it is, I worked for a company that had a campus with several buildings that were spread out over about a third of a mile. In addition to being the accountant, I was also responsible for the technology for the organization.
I needed to be able to network the campus and at that time, the only way to do that was by hard wiring the buildings together. We ran the cabling to implement the solution, but it was a short lived solution. The internet soon became a better way to solve the problems we were trying to address. We were just ahead of the technology.
Another reason that we achieve limited success when we try something new is that we don’t spend enough time preparing for what we want to implement. This could range from not reading the instruction manual thoroughly to not listing out the steps on how to do something so you don’t miss something. You may need to take time to practice the new procedure a couple times before you go live with it. It is worth the extra time you invest on the front end to get better results and reduce frustration.
Another reason for limited success is lack of commitment. Everyone is resistant to change on some level, especially if the change is not their idea. Some employees may even give the change a half-hearted effort so they can tell you that it didn’t work. Make sure you spend time selling your employees on the change so that they understand why they are changing and what the benefits are. Once you get them to buy in to the idea, you are more likely to get good results.
While it may not seem like a procedural change will affect your cash flow, becoming more efficient and ensuring your procedures are the best they can be will allow you to get more done in less time and produce a better result. This will allow you to serve your customers better and have time to help more of them! Most people like working with quality businesses. How about you?
Next week we will cover the third statement that limits our ability to think big enough, “No one will pay that much for my service.”
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© 2019 Dan Heiland 2019 Kat Heil, LLC