If you’ve ever taken a road trip or trekked through a mountain trail, it wouldn’t be all that uncommon if somewhere along the way you found yourself a bit lost or disoriented. Truthfully, it happens to all of us at one time or another. For some, it happens almost every single time (just ask my wife). But if you’re reading this article from your laptop or from your mobile device, chances are nearly 100% that somewhere along the way, you arrived safely to your desired destination. If not, I HIGHLY recommend you place this article on hold and immediately find your way back to where you’re trying to go!
The one element in common for all of us who’ve ever become lost or disoriented, is that some how some way, we finally arrived at our desired destination.
Knowing Where Not to Go
When I find myself a bit lost or disoriented, the first thing I do is rule out the places where I know I can’t go.
For instance, if I’m on a road trip and I become a bit disoriented, I don’t go off-road if my final destination is a 4 star hotel. I may not know exactly what direction the hotel is located, but I know it’s not going to be in the middle of a dirt road (although my home state of Oklahoma does has areas where that scenario wouldn’t surprise me).
The same is true for our businesses. When we own a small business, we encounter so many responsibilities that grab our attention. In fact, a lot of us probably acquired our business skills through trial and error, rather than an undergraduate or MBA program.
Furthermore, whether we’ve had a formal business education or not, most of us learned the management side of our business as we turned each new corner along our entrepreneurial journey.
Knowing Where to Go
At times, it’s easy to become lost or disoriented with all of our various responsibilities, especially for us novice business owners. When this happens:
I Go With What I Know
In my case,what I know is my message. I know that the passion behind my writing and the motivation to run my business by placing people as people first is through the essence of my message.
In your case as a small business owner, I imagine you can completely relate. After all, you’re living out your passion and you’re motivated to run your business. But at times, it can all be overly disorienting.
An example of a disorienting situation is when you spend a few weeks researching a specific marketing tactic and then create a plan to implement it into your daily marketing plan. As you set out on this journey, you all of a sudden encounter a plethora of articles, journals, emails, newsletters, etc. that offer so many new ideas to consider regarding your plan, that you feel almost entirely overwhelmed, or even disoriented.
When I’m facing a similar disorienting situation, I go to my message to help find the solutions.
Disorientation:
Why is XYZ marketing strategy not gaining traction?
Solution:
I filter the strategy through my message.
Disorientation:
Why is my product not connecting well with others?
Solution:
I filter the product through my message.
Arriving at Our Desired Destination
This isn’t to say that having a message behind your professional passion will solve all of your business ills. After all, we have to acquire some business savviness through the infamous “school of hard knocks”.
However, when we have a message for “us to know where to go” when our business becomes a bit disorienting, we tend to approach and solve our problems with more confidence and know-how.
It’s our message that helps us arrive safely at our desired destination, which for most of us is pursuing our passion while enhancing the lives of others. In other words, it’s our message that helps us:
“Go With What We Know.”
So, with that intention in mind:
- What are your current business challenges?
- What’s your approach to solving these problems?
- Have you considered your own message?
- Have you stayed in a 4 star hotel on a dirt road?
Go with what you know and become an expert with a message. You’ll soon find that your business is back on track. Until then…
Newer questions. Deeper thinking. Better stories.
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