Last night we were playing some family basketball. The Teams were my 7 year old son and I versus my wife and our 3 year old daughter (my 3 year old insisted on these pairings). My son is not an aggressive type – more a thinker and planner. He would run to the hoop, I’d pass the ball to him. 9 out of 10 times, he would dribble away from the basket, turn run around, dribble, dribble more, look for a shot, then pass the ball back to me. Meanwhile I’m yelling “TAKE THE SHOT!”. He took a few more shots – but still was apprehensive about just shooting the ball.
Afterwards, I asked him why he wouldn’t take the shot. He said, ”Dad, I wasn’t ready, I wanted to make sure the shot I took was going to GO IN.” After a hug, I explained to him that not every shot you take is going to go in. In fact, I said, if you never take the shot – it absolutely cannot go in. By taking more shots you will increase the amount that go in, because you will get better and better. A head nod for “Yes now I get it” a hug, and off we went to practice.
I see this a lot in the companies and executives I consult with - in all sizes of companies $100k to $700M. People will procrastinate “taking the shot” or “pulling the trigger” on a project because the fear of a “miss”. They will have meeting after meeting, planning session after planning session, read book after book, study, think, ponder – but never take action. Does any of this sound familiar?
Actions create reactions
I know a great innovator – a real dynamite at ideas. She has so much potential, but she has never pulled the trigger on one of her ideas, and made them reality. Why not take action? Maybe because she is great at innovating – but bad at EXECUTING. If this is the case, then a logical step is to GET HELP. Get someone that can hold you accountable, drive the action process and help you move forward. Otherwise many of her (and your?) great ideas – that could turn into millions of dollars – will never have a chance to come to fruition.
At some point you simply have to take action. It’s the ONLY way to create reactions, either positive or negative. If the reactions are negative, then you know what not to do again (see NetFlix). Practice more, study more, but eventually again, you will have to pull the trigger, take the shot and take action. If they are positive, then you can keep building on those actions and produce wonderful outcomes. Either way – NOTHING WILL CHANGE unless you take the shot. Get help – and get moving!
SHOOT THE BALL!
Steven Placey
Rock Your Business® President and Best-Selling Author, Steven Placey is an Innovative Business Strategist, a Big Idea Guy, who has helped hundreds of Entrepreneurs, and CEO’s of 1st and 2nd stage companies develop millions in new revenues, getting their companies unstuck, and growing through Innovative, high ROI strategies.
Here with some amazing people at the RYB CEO Forum in Tampa.
Top Business Trends and Predictions of 2012
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What color do men paint the Den? CIL Paints is betting it’s not Butterscotch.
Recently, the Toronto-based company’s managers looked at the marketplace and saw an opportunity: Paint-color names are all pretty ladylike.
If your industry is full of sameness and you’re having trouble figuring out how to differentiate your products, here’s an idea for how to inject something fresh.
Sometimes, all a product needs is a new marketing angle. CIL they held a contest on Facebook to rename some of their hues for an Ultimate Man Caves collection aimed at male shoppers.
More than 15,000 responses later, Fairytale Green had become Mo Money, and Butterscotch became Beer Time. Plateau Grey was 5 O’Clock Shadow. Juliet’s Potion is now Zombie Apocalypse, Lexington Park is Dirty Socks, and Classic Liberty Red is Rust on my Truck. In all, 27 colors were renamed.
CIL then created a manly dream book of bars, bathrooms, bedrooms and media rooms decked out in the new colors to show how they could style up a man’s domain. What do you imagine they can charge for these newly named colors? I’m betting, whatever they like. After all, there’s no other paint being marketed this way, to this customer.
This isn’t just a clever marketing trick. This is recognizing a market segment that’s not on your competitors’ radar and getting them engaged and interested in your products. Yes, women make most paint-color choices, but CIL’s research showed men often give the final nod. And if a room is primarily a man’s domain, why should he paint it Bone White when he could adorn it in Beer Foam?
In appealing to men, CIL didn’t just man up its colors. It made them funny. It brought a different attitude to a pretty staid industry. The company is betting that will be a hit with younger male homeowners who’re just starting to decorate. This could be a chance for CIL to land them as lifetime customers.
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If you look around your business right now, what do you see? Are you tired of looking at it? Does it excite you anymore? Do you feel stuck in neutral? If you are – then you are probably VERY frustrated because you KNOW that what you do is great…it just needs some new energy.
Well, if you aren’t passionate about what you do, then no one else will be either. So you need to fix it NOW – before stale becomes GONE! But how? Here’s few things you can do RIGHT NOW to turn stale into Remarkable!
#1 – STOP, DROP and ROLL.
No don’t set yourself on fire then put it out! You have to STOP the hectic daily grind, DROP what you are doing, ROLL out of the office – and LOOK around. Look, listen, smell & feel what is going on around you.
· How is your customer base changing?
· Are their needs the same now as they were a few years ago?
· What will their needs be in the near future?
· Are you positioned to be a player in “what’s next?”
· Do you know exactly WHY people have used you in the past? Does that still apply?
· What is your competition doing?
· Is there another emerging market (that you don’t target now)?
· Could you create something new to tackle new markets? (see below)
#2 – New Ideas = Goldmine.
NOTHING generates more excitement than fresh new ideas. Remember how excited you were when you first started your company? You can get that excitement back. The difference between a company that is sustaining to one that in ROCKIN can be one simple, fresh idea.
Hold a brainstorming session with your Team (or better yet, have it facilitated with an outside professional). The brain is amazing – get many of them focused on one task – new ideas for growth. You will be surprised how many employees bite their tongue – because they are never asked for their ideas. It can produce brilliant results.
Don’t have a staff? Get into a Mastermind Group or Innovation Group. Surround yourself with experienced CEO’s and entrepreneurs that will help you innovate (and re-ignite YOUR fire!) It can save your business!
#3 – Know When to GET HELP!
Not sure about #1 and/or #2? Wildly successful entrepreneurs know when to get help. Long gone are the days of being the lonely ship in the ocean – alone – starving.
START HERE!
If you would like a free phone consultation with me regarding innovating some new growth strategies for your business, or scheduling me to facilitate a mastermind session with your Team, simply call 321-248-7233 or visit www.RockYourBusinessNow.com and get ROCKIN!