Sometimes business owners need to get out of their own way.
How do we get in our own way?
Rick Solomon, the CEO for the Center of Enlightened Business says it well:
The world doesn’t care what you think, it just reflects it back as the truth.
This is not a new concept either, Shakespeare said:
There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.
Rick and I believe that the biggest barrier to business growth is the self-limiting view and beliefs a business owner holds. Sure they also have some great beliefs and points of view as well. The problem is: it’s hard to see yourself being in your own way.
This is because what we see is our reality – it doesn’t look like a belief – for us, it is very real. As an example, when a client tells me their customers are price sensitive – they mean it!
The trick is not to ask yourself whether these barriers exist, the trick is to ask someone else.
Here are a couple of common potential barriers to explore:
“I can’t find good employees.” – Approach your advisor, mentor, good friend, key employee, best customer, whoever and have the following conversation:
Hey Joe, in my business it is impossible to find good people. Do you think this is an absolute truth in my industry or could this be just my own point of view developed from my real-life experiences? Do you think me holding this belief gets in the way of finding good people?
“Customers are price sensitive. There’s no loyalty anymore.”
Hey Susan, my customers are really price sensitive. This must be true for all my customers and all the customers of everyone in my industry, right? Do you think the fact that I think my customers are price sensitive gets in the way of a better pricing strategy?
There is also a second way to validate or invalidate whether your beliefs are true or not: collect data.
We would love to have a business owner challenge us to validate that his or her customers are price sensitive. It could be true.
We have run many experiments to collect this data. The previous data doesn’t matter to your situation. But if you really want to know if the only thing between you and more profit is yourself, just reach out. We will gladly help you validate or invalidate this belief! paul@thebusinesstherapist.com
