subscribeThere are a million books out there about starting up your own business. Every community seems to have resources to help you through the process as well. I’ve read them all, attended every conference and tried every angle. It is all very wise and useful advice and I’ve tried to make use of all of it. Yet, after all that growth, learning and start up I still can’t help but ask “Now what?”
Where I have found myself with Guided Discovery is a place where I have to answer some tough questions. I’ve been blessed with some amazing opportunities but I have found it is extremely important to decide which doors you open, how far you open them, and which ones you leave closed. The key to this is “Know Your Business”. I cannot stress the importance of this enough. I think a lot of new start-ups end up starry eyed and focused on everything but their identity. The dangerous part is, if you don’t have a firm grasp on who you are, where you are going and how you intend to get there your company can run amuck on you. Nobody wants to lose control over their hard work or have it evolve into something they never intended. One minute you are trying to help sell a new type of acid free paper, the next your selling porn out of an old underground military compound. How could this have happened!?
So when do you say no to an opportunity? It seems counter intuitive to see a growth opportunity as a bad thing but if you have a firm grasp of what you want this company to become, it becomes clear what you need for that to happen. That’s the real trick right there; what does the COMPANY need? Remove your ego from the equation and see the business as its own organism. If you want it to go from A to Z, it’s going to tell you in its own way what tools, timelines and work it will need to get there. An example would be figuring out exactly how big you want this company to be. Sometimes you will have the choice to grow into a giant Supermart, a machine of efficiency and productivity or maybe you want to keep your business small but franchise at the same time. This way you can keep that intimate feel, but still be profitable. You’d be surprised how many “uuuhmmm, uuhhh’s?” you will get if you ask a new owner about this.
In my personal experience I see business as being a bit like the ball room at Ikea. If you do nothing but throw these great big balls in there, it will fill up the floor fairly quickly, but you will notice a lot of space in between each object. Big business can fill up the floor, but not all the space. It’s up to smaller businesses to find those niches and co-exist in the same room. I can move to other areas, but I don’t need to change the dimensions of my design. If I do, it’s really not my vision anymore.
Now, all that being said, one must be fairly flexible too. Your vision may change and that’s okay. You just have to be clear about where you want it to go. That’s a quality of good leadership. You must be clear about your story and you must know your business and its story. If someone were to stop you and ask what it is you do in an elevator, what story would you tell them? Would you be satisfied with the answer you came up with? Be clear about who you are and what your business is and you will find that when change and growth present itself you will be in a better position to strategically manage opportunity. We all want a legacy that honours who we are. Like the slight edge principle dictates, the small, seemingly inconsequential decisions we make today can accumulate to great change in the future. Be mindful as to the direction you are headed.
****Mat Neale is the owner of Guideddiscovery.ca, a Vancouver based boutique outdoor adventure company that specializes in GPS instruction, corporate team building events and recreational geocaching programs. His clients include Intrawest, the Pattison Sign Group. When he’s not running GD you can find him canoeing, snowboarding or playing one of his many guitars.
Personal resources on the subject matter:
Joseph Campbell: Reflections on the Art of Living (fantastic journey of self discovery through literature)
Michael E. Gerber: E-Myth and E-Myth Mastery (a great business model)
Jim Loehr: The Power of Story (rewriting your destiny in business and life)