As I write this from home I’m looking out the window at blossoming trees, grass seeming to grow as I watch it, and weeds taking over our garden.
It strikes me our businesses are a lot like my yard. The things we don’t care about, weeds, don’t need fertilizer or care. The things we do care about, flowers, vegetables, and grass, need constant care.
In our businesses we have to pay attention to our:
- Customers, or they leave to do business with a competitor.
- Employees, or they goof off, get bored, leave, etc.
- Culture, or productivity drops, the good people, who have many options, leave so we are left with a “C” level team.
- Equipment, or it breaks, makes bad a product, or slows down.
- Marketing, this being as or more important than any of the above because if we don’t do it we don’t need to worry about our customers, employees, culture, equipment, or anything else.
The owner of a $20MM company recently told me he feels there’s a tremendous amount of resources available to help him and other owners. The problem often is we (individually and collectively) are often too stubborn to think we need or to ask for help.
One resource is my book If They Can Sell Pet Rocks Why Can’t You Sell Your Business (For What You Want)? (At www.amazon.com.)