In a recent article by Rick Johnson in Industrial Distribution magazine called “How to Survive in a Tough-Profit Market,” his first statement is one to remember: “It’s not the strongest of the species that survive; nor is it the smartest.” The survivors “are the ones most responsive to change.”
He goes on to say that we all need “to uncover some of the business sins that may have been covered by profitability in past years and correct them.”
I agree that if you’re not “sweating the details,” there are things going on in your business that are keeping you from being as successful as you could be. I guarantee it. Find them and fix them. And do it now!
It still amazes me when I read letters written to our industry trade publications and even an occasional dealer column in which that free forum is only used to complain about one thing or another. Many readers apparently think their life and their business are “going to hell in a hand basket.” I suspect they might be right if they’re only going to focus on complaining, and not about finding or offering solutions! I really believe that they do have great ideas and solutions for their business problems and that other readers would love to read them. Quite complaining so much and share what you do to overcome the obstacles in your business life. Readers will thank you for sharing your ideas. And you’ll feel more positive about yourself and the future of your own business!
There’s a new book out by Jason Ryan Dorsey for “twenty-somethings” entering the workforce titled My Reality Check Bounced! I don’t know whether to laugh or shake my head.
In the book The E-Myth Revisited, the author Michael Gerber tells the story about what Tom Watson, the founder of IBM, answered when asked what he attributed IBM’s success to. Tom Watson replied:
“IBM is what it is today for three special reasons. The first reason is that, at the very beginning, I had a very clear picture of what the company would look like when it was finally done. You might say I had a model in my mind of what it would look like when the dream—my vision—was in place.The second reason was that once I had that picture, I then asked myself how a company which looked like that would have to act. I then created a picture of how IBM would act when it was finally done.The third reason IBM has been so successful was that once I had a picture of how IBM would look when the dream was in place and how such a company would have to act, I then realized that, unless we began to act that way from the very beginning, we would never get there.In other words, I realized that for IBM to become a great company it would have to act like a great company long before it ever became one.From the very outset, IBM was fashioned after the template of my vision. And each and every day we attempted to model the company after that template. At the end of each day, we asked ourselves how well we did, discovered the disparity between where we are and where we had committed ourselves to be, and, at the start of the following day, set out to make up for the difference.Every day at IBM was a day devoted to business development, not doing business. We didn’t do business at IBM, we built one.”
Wow! Perhaps we should ask ourselves if we’re building a business or just running one.
A reader recently asked why he should bother reading the “Industry Forecasts” found in the January and February 2007 issues of OPE magazine. He was perceptive enough to distinguish PR from fact and opinion. And those opinions from people whose companies and jobs are dependent upon having a successful 2007 are the very reasons why we all should read them. Those OPE business leaders are informed and have up-to-date knowledge on issues affecting this entire industry, no matter what they do or the size of their businesses. I want to know what they’re concerned about, what actions they may take to respond to those concerns and challenges, and how they’re going to know in December whether it was a successful year or not.
How’s business? Drop me a few lines at anonymous.distributor@gmail.com.
He goes on to say that we all need “to uncover some of the business sins that may have been covered by profitability in past years and correct them.”
I agree that if you’re not “sweating the details,” there are things going on in your business that are keeping you from being as successful as you could be. I guarantee it. Find them and fix them. And do it now!
It still amazes me when I read letters written to our industry trade publications and even an occasional dealer column in which that free forum is only used to complain about one thing or another. Many readers apparently think their life and their business are “going to hell in a hand basket.” I suspect they might be right if they’re only going to focus on complaining, and not about finding or offering solutions! I really believe that they do have great ideas and solutions for their business problems and that other readers would love to read them. Quite complaining so much and share what you do to overcome the obstacles in your business life. Readers will thank you for sharing your ideas. And you’ll feel more positive about yourself and the future of your own business!
There’s a new book out by Jason Ryan Dorsey for “twenty-somethings” entering the workforce titled My Reality Check Bounced! I don’t know whether to laugh or shake my head.
In the book The E-Myth Revisited, the author Michael Gerber tells the story about what Tom Watson, the founder of IBM, answered when asked what he attributed IBM’s success to. Tom Watson replied:
“IBM is what it is today for three special reasons. The first reason is that, at the very beginning, I had a very clear picture of what the company would look like when it was finally done. You might say I had a model in my mind of what it would look like when the dream—my vision—was in place.The second reason was that once I had that picture, I then asked myself how a company which looked like that would have to act. I then created a picture of how IBM would act when it was finally done.The third reason IBM has been so successful was that once I had a picture of how IBM would look when the dream was in place and how such a company would have to act, I then realized that, unless we began to act that way from the very beginning, we would never get there.In other words, I realized that for IBM to become a great company it would have to act like a great company long before it ever became one.From the very outset, IBM was fashioned after the template of my vision. And each and every day we attempted to model the company after that template. At the end of each day, we asked ourselves how well we did, discovered the disparity between where we are and where we had committed ourselves to be, and, at the start of the following day, set out to make up for the difference.Every day at IBM was a day devoted to business development, not doing business. We didn’t do business at IBM, we built one.”
Wow! Perhaps we should ask ourselves if we’re building a business or just running one.
A reader recently asked why he should bother reading the “Industry Forecasts” found in the January and February 2007 issues of OPE magazine. He was perceptive enough to distinguish PR from fact and opinion. And those opinions from people whose companies and jobs are dependent upon having a successful 2007 are the very reasons why we all should read them. Those OPE business leaders are informed and have up-to-date knowledge on issues affecting this entire industry, no matter what they do or the size of their businesses. I want to know what they’re concerned about, what actions they may take to respond to those concerns and challenges, and how they’re going to know in December whether it was a successful year or not.
How’s business? Drop me a few lines at anonymous.distributor@gmail.com.
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