It never ceases to amaze me how often, after seminars and work shops, small business people approach me with questions about how they can apply what BIG business does in their small businesses. My usual reply is a bewildered "why on earth would you WANT to?" What is there about BIG business that any small business would want to have, except for its abundant resources?The inescapable truth is this:
When small business knows what to do, BIG business literally cannot compete with it. The problem for small business is that, when it comes to actually running a business, it rarely knows what to do. Instead, it chooses one of these three dangerous options:
It does what everyone else does
• the "Safety in Numbers" approach to small business management. Management by Imitation. It guesses
• the "Reverse Russian Roulette" approach to small business management. Management by Guesswork. It shoves its head in the sand, hoping it will all just go away
• the "Ostrich" approach to small business management. Management by Wishful Thinking.
Why are these "options" so dangerous?
1. Safety in Numbers (Management by Imitation)
For a start, 90% of all small businesses fail. That's the cold, harsh reality. So it makes no sense at all to do what everyone else does! In fact, you'd probably stand a better chance of surviving if you do the exact opposite of what everyone else does. The problem with that, of course, is that so few know what the exact opposite is, either! Instead, they choose the counterfeit!
2. Reverse Russian Roulette (Management by Guesswork)
Managing by guesswork is like playing Reverse Russian Roulette. Instead of putting a gun to your head and pulling the trigger, with only one chamber of the gun loaded, you do the same, but with only one chamber of the gun empty! You may get lucky a few times but, inevitably, your luck will run out. The outcome of this approach to small business management is predictable, but only desirable whe.....Click here for access to the rest of this article ->
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