Plan the work then work the Plan
2010 not only marks the beginning of a new year but also a new decade. However that means to you, I say make it count! Christopher Gardiner once told his young son, “Hey… don´t ever let somebody tell you, you can’t to something. Not even me… alright? You got a dream, you gotta protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they wanna tell you that you can’t do it. You want something? Go get it. Period.” I agree. I agree completely!
At the start of this decade, I want to remind you that whatever it is you set your mind to do, DO it! Life’s got plenty of knockers and some of them may even be as close as your own family members but if you’re determined to do a thing I want to encourage you to make a plan and then work the plan to achieve it.
It doesn’t have to be a global world changing plan (unless that truly happens to be the scale at which you work and operate) but it can be YOUR world changing plan for YOU. If you can only bring yourself to have a small dream, then so be it, have YOUR small dream. Make a plan and then work your plan to achieve it and when you meet challenges along the way, because you will, adjust your plan. Plans are living documents, they needn’t be set in concrete. It’s YOUR plan afterall! Make it work for you. Redefine.
Think through the new challenge, fail to succeed early and you just may end up really being able to see HOW to achieve your ultimate goal. Don’t be afraid of failing. Failing can bring clarity, even if that clarity is something as simple as admitting to yourself you need to stop with this plan. There’s no shame in that. The GREATER shame would be if you never sat down again and rethought a new, perhaps more realistic goal for yourself. Win small until you get the hang of how that feels. Am I making sense? Yes? No? It’s all as clear as mud?
Let’s face it, even the best laid plans of men and mice can come unstuck and for all the most unforseen reasons, that’s a really good point at which NEVER to give up on a dream. Rework and rethink your plans. Effect the dream even when it seems impossible to, why? Because everyone has it in them to BUT not everyone will push through a challenge or challenges to ultimately achieve it. Bottomline, you gotta believe in you. Back yourself.
When my New Zealand business partner and me decided to make a premium wax product for the business we imagined the possibility for ourselves even when no-one else could have imagined us having one. I mean to say, who were we? When it was all said and done, we were us and actually we decided to back ourselves.
We’ve just come off the back of a mind-boggling Christmas foray. We backed ourselves by making a set number of Christmas Packs showcasing a Trio and Quartet of our therapeutic massage waxes. We sold all the units in nine days without once spending a cent on advertising anywhere.
In small business it’s important, we believe, to know where the money is. For that reason alone, for us, it’s C.O.D. and the money goes straight into the business account. No money, no product, it’s a fairly simple money model. We try to help everyone understand it. Our experience is they’re all fine with it. Do we use that financial model because we’re simple, some might say so. No, we use that model because it works for us AND the proof is in the pudding. The business bank account is in the black, big time!
When you’re a small business and you’re just starting out, you can get some wonky thinking on stuff, like who’s running your business. Many small businesses get lead around by an invisible ring-in-their-noses by bigger more established business because they feel they have to kowtow to them for being the new kid on the block. We say, wrong!
We don’t offer anything on consignment. It decommissions our inventory and puts our capital in cold storage until future sales by the other business creates a thaw. That’s not in OUR business interests, so why do it? Believe in yourself, particularly if you have a good product and good quality customer evaluations support that.
Be fearless enough to walk away from a more established business that puts you over a barrel by insisting on consignment. Keep the importance of YOUR livelihood firmly in YOUR control and sights. C.O.D. has allowed us the luxury of maintaining that control and focus and the money in the bank is proof it’s a positive financial outcome for the business.
Are we rolling in it? Not as much as we’d like but like I said, win small until you get the hang of how that feels. We’re feeling it! And remember, whatever it is you set your mind to do this year, DO it! Plan the work then work the plan.
