The number one limiting factor in your business
I mix and mingle with a lot of business owners and I talk to a lot of business owners. I can tell you now that the number one limiting factor in your business is you.
It can be really hard to that or even to accept that because it is about looking internally and going, “what is it about my business that’s holding it back?” Can answer that question..? It starts with an “m” ends with an “e”, it’s a very short word, but it’s a powerful one. So you are your biggest limiting factor.
Having a positive mind set
I thought I’d cover this off… because everyone is looking for that magic dust or that magic solution to growing your business. And it really does start with you and the way that you think. If your mindset’s all wrong, then you’re probably not going to grow your business. It is all about looking at the positive side of things. People say to me, “Hey Ben, you’re happy all the time. Why are you always so happy?” Well I choose to be. I know that by reacting or responding in a negative way to the things around me in my life that things aren’t going to be productive.
So why bother? Why bother doing it? Nobody wants to be around a misery Guts, do they? Think about the last miserable person you met, did you want to hang around with them? Or did you want to run a mile as quick as you can? I know what the answer probably is. You probably wanted to do the dash and get out of there and I can understand that. Most entrepreneurial people feel that way.
Take ownership
So if you’re looking to really fast track the growth of your business it all starts with you and that means you have to change the way that you think. You’ve got to stop blaming other people when things don’t go right. You’ve got to stop making excuses when you’re not getting things done. You’ve got to stop living in denial. Don’t pretend everything’s okay when it’s not. Take ownership. Be responsible and accountable for what goes on in your business and your life, and you’ll see a massive change in your business. It’s that simple.
People want to be around people that do take ownership. Let’s give you a few examples. Let’s say you run a marketing campaign and it cost you a couple of thousand dollars, and you don’t get a single sale out of it. Now we could blame the paper that you put that ad in, or we could blame Google for not showing your ad enough, or we could blame the weather for that week, or we could blame… there’s a million and one things we could blame. We could blame the economy, the Prime Minister, the fuel prices, the interest rates. We could make so many excuses also around those different and you could validate these things to a point where you’re in denial.
Where you go, “Nope, my ad was good, it’s was just, it was the economy, it was the interest rate hike, it was the announcement that happened by the Army on Tuesday.” We could make all these excuses when in reality you need to say, “Maybe I suck at writing ads. Maybe I suck at marketing. Maybe I need to learn to market more effectively.” And once you take that ownership over that, you can get much better at it.
Taking the first step
Let’s put it that way. Whether it’s your business or it’s your home, it’s your relationships, it’s your bank balance; you are in control of all of that. Until you take responsibility and ownership of those things, until you recognize that you are your biggest limiting factor, then it’s going to remain your biggest limiting factor and you’re not going to know what to do about it. So this is the first step. My business advice today is for you to recognize that you are your biggest limiting factor.
How do you work on that?
There is no switch in particular that you can just switch and go, well now I’m going to be a different person. It’s about working on who you are over time. That’s about reading the right books, hanging around with the right people, it’s about going to the right courses and it’s about being mentored by somebody to help you think differently. It’s about catching yourself out when you’re doing things wrong and when you’re reacting badly. But also catching yourself out when you’re responding in a positive way.
Now you’ll notice I just used those two words, “react” and “respond.” And really to me that’s what it’s about. Think about medicine, if a doctor gives you a prescribed drug to make you feel better, if you react that’s a bad thing if you respond that’s a good thing. I believe the same thing is in business. If you react to some news it’s bad, if you respond then that’s good.
Let’s say you’ve just lost your biggest client that you’ve had, they bring in 40% or your revenue. Well you could react, and that’s going to be negative, or you could respond, and that’s going to be positive. We are not going to go into ways that you could keep the client on, but you can probably get the picture.
Something dreadful goes on in your day, respond in a positive manner. If something bad happens to you and you respond in a positive manner, you’re going to handle it a lot differently to how you would have if you’d reacted in a negative way.
So there you go
Really what I’m talking about is you’re taking ownership, responsibility, and being accountable for what happens in your business and in your life, and you’ll see a massive difference in the results that you get.
About the Author
Ben Fewtrell is a sought-after Business Coach, Keynote Speaker and trainer who has featured in Virgin’s Inflight Magazine and Entertainment Portal, SKY Business and “Secrets of Top Business Builders Exposed”. He is also the host of the popular Business Brain Food Podcast where he interviews leading experts on anything and everything business.