Someone recently asked me what was the tipping point in my business in terms of “knowing it would be okay and all work out”.
As with most things, there are lots of answers, lots of little things that, over time, add up to success:
- Consistently connecting with my community
- Providing Extreme Client Care™
- Constantly learning and evolving
Yet when I think of the thing that overall had the most impact, it’s not any one of the above, although they’re all critical.
It comes down to the fish.
Back during my Peace Corps days, one of our mottos was “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach him to fish and he eats for a lifetime.”
I began my business teaching people “to fish”. Business was good, but I was unintentionally ignoring a huge percentage of my community – those who didn’t want to learn to fish themselves, they just wanted the fish delivered to them and were happy to pay for the service.
That’s when we added the “Team” division. It’s been about 9 years and we haven’t looked back.
As Independence Day arrives for those in the U.S., ask yourself “How can you deliver the fish?”
A few ideas to get you started:
- Massage therapist (nail technician, chiropractor, fill-in-the-blank) who sees clients in their homes so they don’t need to travel.
- Café that delivers lunch to local businesses or that runs out to your car with your order and a credit card swipe machine to save you time.
- Social media strategist (marketing strategist, etc.) who teaches and then offers to implement.
- Accountant who offers bookkeeping services.
- Clothing store that offers personal shopper followed up with in home fitting/accessorizing.
You get the idea. . .think outside the box about what you can offer your community. What do they want most and how can you combine that with saving them time and effort?
Hit “reply” and let me know what you come up with, I’d love to hear.
Enjoy the process and, as always, please let me know if you have any questions.
In full and unwavering support of you and your business,
Sandy 🙂