During my time at the Automotive Training Network I worked very closely with Mark Gilbert ATN founder who was an incredibly strong inspiration for me and who showed me a lot about the ways of the business world. One of the things that Mark used to always teach me was that in reality, business is very basic, and it is important in business to always remember that, and not get carried away with the smaller details of the business. With this in mind, I wanted to do a quick piece today which will hopefully help all of the business owners out there to get themselves back to basics, let’s take a look.
What’s Your Modus Operandi
I can always remember the chairman of a very profitable grocery store, which was also multi-channel, saying that at the end of the day, they are just a store that sells canned goods. The point which he was trying to make was that regardless of the thousands of products which they sold or the additional things that they were taking on, the MO of the business was actually very simple, and that is something important to bear in mind. It can be easy to lose track of what your business should be doing, get back to that center point before trying to do too much.
Be Kind
One of the most important lessons in both business and life on the whole is to just be kind, be kind to your staff, your customers and your partners. There is always a time to be strong and aggressive of course, but the most sensible option is to just be kind to other people for the most part, and in doing so you will be able to achieve a great deal more than if you decide not to be kind to people.
Be a Customer
When you spend so much time in your business it can be very easy to lose sight of what the customer sees, which is why it is essential that from time to time you learn to look at your business in the eyes of the customer. Take a day off, arrive in your place of work as a customer and just notice the details, the small touches which aren’t quite right, as there will be some. Only when you take a step back like this can you appreciate the customer experience and therefore understand where to improve and how.
Remember
Something else that can get lost is our reasoning for setting up a business in the first place, so it always nice to give yourself a timely reminder of that. If you are working 100 hours per week and missing out on family time, then you need to understand why you are doing it and what your goal is. The key here is to recalibrate and get back to basics.
Simple tips which will help boost your business, remember that the basics are where the money is.
