You will Go Nowhere if you do not want to go Anywhere.

Once the business is stabilized, we lose the focus on growing the business. Most of the things get streamlined and then complacency creeps in. Everything becomes routine. If you are looking to grow constantly then mere routine will not help. You need to do one exercise. 

The exercise is Goal Setting Exercise. If you hit the road and do not decide where to go, you will not reach anywhere. You will just roam around. But if you decide that you want to go to certain place, you will do anything to get there. Even if you cannot find a way, you will make one. You will have the mission to reach there and your every step will be towards that Goal. Whenever you set Goal, you find the energy to jump over obstacles and reach your goal.

Whenever you set a goal, you should also do the back calculations. Say, if you decide that you want to go from 10 units to 12 units in 12 months then what should you do. Would your current portfolio of products take you there? Would your current portfolio of clients allow you to grow to that level? Do you need to add machines or services, etc. 

Decide your goal now and grow at the speed that you want.

I have one good video explaining Goal Setting. 

Dealing with Stress

Everyday tensions in your business give you different types of stresses. Entrepreneur is a kind of animal (I do not literally mean that) who will not stop when one thing gets settled. He will try to do different things when one thing settles. So stress relieving becomes as important for you as your Business is to you. There are some tensions which will be in your mind and they will make you feel tired without any work. Even if you do all the medical tests, you will find nothing wrong in your body. It’s nothing but Stress. You need to relieve it. 

You can do different things to reduce your stress. The immediate things that come to mind are: Music, Meditation, Nature, Silence, Pets, Hobby, etc. You can try any of these things and you will feel fresh. Soothing music relaxes your mind. You can go for a walk around nature especially in the morning or evening when it is somewhat cold & silent. It takes you away from the immediate problem. We will come back again on these stress relieving things. 

And Last thing. Smile will take you far away from stress.

Delegate & Give Responsibility

I distinctly remember one phrase written on the School Notice Board where they used to write ‘Daily Thought’. It was something like ‘Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it as Everybody thought Somebody will do it’. You got the message! 

If you say that keep the place clean in general, nobody will do it unless it is a culture in company. But if the responsibility is given to somebody that every hour or every day morning half hour/full hour is to be devoted to housekeeping, then it will definitely be done. If you see that it is not done, you know exactly who should be asked. 

Or take another example. You discuss in a meeting with 3-4 persons and find that you have to bring some stationary. As it is not specifically told, there is a chance that all will bring and the work will be duplicated. ‘Time waste, money waste’. 

So, next time when you delegate work to someone, remember to specifically give the responsibility.

Stop Chasing...Attract Instead

There are times when you are always chasing something and find that you are not getting that thing. It becomes elusive. It might occur to you at times that whatever you do, you might not be able to get it & that it is destined like that. It might be similar to the Musk Deer. The Deer likes the smell of the Musk and is after it. But even after running after it, it finds that it is not able to get it. 

It also reminds me of the great legendary Keshubhai Patel of Nirma, who famously brought Unilever to its knees. It is a big case study among the Business Students now. He first chased many dealers for his product Nirma. He was using the Push Strategy. It caused him some anxious moments as the Credit cycle was large. He then thought of the doing the ‘Unthinkable’, which made him the legend. He first withdrew all the material from the market. Then he advertised Nirma on TV. And it literally created a ‘Pull’ from customers. His USP was low cost. After seeing the Ad on TV, people started asking for it. This in turn made traders to queue before Nirma for getting the product. This put Keshubhai in commanding position and he chose the dealers and as you rightly guessed, No Credit. 

I would like you to think on those lines. As a famous Chinese proverb says – ‘Do not waste your time chasing after the horses. Instead plant grass. Horses will automatically come to you and you can choose the Best amongst them’. 

So, what you gonna do? Plant grass or run behind the horses??