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Clarity, Hope and Risk – growing a successful business.
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This article was published on August 28, 2009. So far, 3 people have left their thoughts. Share your own thoughts.
In the big picture there are really only three things we need to grow a Mature Business.
Clarity
Successful business owners know where they are going and when they intend to be there. They have a vision for the future that drives everything they do. Do you know where you’re going? What does your business look like at Maturity? Get clarity on where you’re going – it’s the first step in growing a Mature Business.
Hope
When we get Clarity on where we’re going, that creates Hope. We know where we’re going and we have something to begin to invest in mentally and emotionally that gets us excited about the future. He who aims at nothing hits it every time, but those who have a clear direction are busy getting after it. Do you have Hope for your business? If not, you need more Clarity on where you’re going and when you expect to be there.
Risk
Clarity brings Hope, and Hope allows us to take measured Risks to get there. Bob Parsons says “Get and stay out of your comfort zone.” It’s the only way to grow a business. Ray Krock was a little more blunt – “If you don’t want to take risks, get the hell out of business.” If you aren’t taking Risks, you don’t have Hope, probably because you don’t have Clarity on where you’re going.
Clarity creates Hope, and Hope allows us to take Risks. Successful business owners have all three.
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Thoughts
Ravi
08/29/09
What an interesting way of looking at successful businesses !
Chuck
08/30/09
Thanks, Ravi. Too often we think the business is built from the outside in – build a business and it will change me. It’s always the other way around. Businesses are built from the inside out – how do I view the world, my future, the end-game for this business? The business I build will always be built in my own image. So clarity, hope and risk become very important for building a great business.
Bob
09/01/09
I struggle with how simple you’ve presented a successful business. Not being a marketer (with a marketing degree), I don’t have an outline clarifying the fact that I want to target small businesses with less than 10 employees and I want to get 100 customers in the next three months. Because this is what I want to do. Would you consider this “clarity?”
To me it must be more difficult than this. Is what you propose deeper than what I wrote?
Chuck
09/02/09
Bob,
Great questions. To get started on something, we need real clarity on what it looks like when we’re done. So knowing you want 100 customers with <10 employees in 3 mths is GREAT clarity.
What I didn’t say (hard to say much in a short blog) is that after you get clarity, come up with the beginnings of an action plan – Where can I find these types of companies? How will I get to know them? Clarity about the end game is crucial because it allows us to begin to put together a great, simple way to get there. And then GET MOVING.
Here’s the key for me – before starting I need Clarity about the end game, but NOT about the process of getting there. We paralyze ourselves trying to figure out how we will do something before we ever get started.
So Clarity is not about figuring out the process before we start, but it is about knowing exactly where you want to end up (100 customers in 3 mths). That is great Clarity.
Every time we put together a plan and put it into practice, the real world interacts with it and messes it up. So don’t torture the process before you start – get a reasonable plan very quickly and move on it. THEN start perfecting it!
The mantra I use – Implement Now. Perfect as You Go. We get it backwards. We want to perfect before we implement, but we can only perfect as the world interacts with our plan and helps us change it until it is a really good plan.
Bottom line – we love complexity – we love to study it, research it, hide in it, find comfort in it, etc. But nothing in the real world indicates that creating complexity and figuring out every possible issue BEFORE we start is a road to success – it’s not.
The road to success is to have clarity about the end game, and spend just enough time to figure out the first few steps for getting there, THEN perfect as you go.
I’m a huge fan of perfecting things – but only while they are in motion. Clarity about the end game makes it easy for me to make constant mid-course corrections to perfect the plan.
Sorry for being long-winded – would love your (and others) feedback on this. These ideas are part of the 2nd book I’m writing.