It's time to grow up - literally

08 Jan

If you always do what you've always done, you will always get what you have always got. Henry Ford

It's one of my favourite sayings and yet it is so true.

I was thinking about one of my friends the other day and they keep doing the same old things over and over again with the same result. He keeps thinking it is everyone else, yet the common denominator is him. So without standing up and taking responsibility for their actions and where they are in life, they will no doubt continue down the same path. It's sad but true and you always want the best for them, but you know that ultimately, perhaps they would be happier if they made a change. That's certainly what I keep telling my friend Andrew anyway.

In business, if you are not where you want to be, then take stock. Is it because you keep repeating the same mistakes? Are you not learning lessons from one failure after another? Can you dissect how your business has run over the past year and look at ways you can improve upon your businesses performance?

If you liken it to a man in their 40's or 50's that is single, who says they want to be married, but for some reason they just keep churning one girl after another - then maybe the picture of where your business is at can become much more clearer. We all have male friends who are in this predicament. They seem to be on every block.

A man in this situation obviously loves being single, yet they tell all of their friends and occasionally the women they date, that they want to be married and have a family. They say one thing and want another. The reality is that they live for the 'chase' and are often insecure about themselves and therefore can never truly get to the next stage in their lives. What they need to do is make a decision that it is time to 'grow up' and that there is more to life then chasing skirts. Yes, growing up will be different and it won't have the same addrenelin rush as going to bars night after night or looking for the next pretty girl, but what it will have is experiences you never imagined possible. There are pros and cons of both situations, but ultimately one wins over the other - otherwise why would so many people chose this path.

The business take on this is that its great running around meeting new prospects, employing new staff - but at some stage you need to take stock. Where is your business heading? Is everything in place for growth? Do you have a product or service that is unique and has value to your target audience. Do you want your business to move from being a start up business with all that that encompasses and into a mature business ready to build sustainable growth and profits year-on-year? Are you insecure as to what will happen if everything actually does fall into place?

How can you pull yourself away from the adrenelin of early stage business and set your business up for the next phase where you build and expand in a manner that gives you profits, greater employee and client loyalty but yet, doesn't keep you up at night.