[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1548289356400{background-color: #bcbcbc !important;}”][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”4620″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1753488932619{padding-right: 19px !important;padding-left: 19px !important;}”]What got you to where you are currently in business may not get you to where you want to go. You have to think differently. In order for your business to grow, you need to grow.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]
Chapter 14: Beyond Limits to Results
Years ago I was chief operations officer for the largest deciduous shade tree nursery in the United States, located on four thousand acres in Oregon. We also had 85 acres in container-grown trees, or trees in plastic pots. We would plant fully-grown trees from our fields into containers and finish them for up to one year before we sold them.
If we didn’t sell all of those trees at the end of one year, they would often become too large for their containers. When a tree becomes too large for a container, the growth slows dramatically and the tree may even stop growing altogether. It does not matter how much fertilizer and water you give the tree, the growth is limited by the size of the container. Left for too long, these trees would actually start to deteriorate.
The same principle applies to your business. When you start your business, you plant a seed in a flowerpot and your business starts to grow. You continue to work hard in your business, and the business starts to get larger. The business continues to grow and as it does, it becomes more complex.
The problem is that eventually you are trying to grow this larger business within the small flowerpot you started out using. The systems and processes you used to start your business are no longer adequate to sustain its continual growth. It does not seem to matter how hard you work, the business will not grow and could very well become stunted. Left unaddressed this business will start to deteriorate and could eventually die.
To prevent your business from deteriorating or failing, you have to start thinking differently. You have to grow your systems and processes in order to grow your business. Stop flying by the seat of your pants. It is time to think more strategically about the systems and processes that you use to run your business on a daily basis. You cannot grow a large tree in a small flowerpot. Develop systems and processes that allow your business to continue to flourish.
If you are not getting the results you want in your business, you need to look internally. Your business is YOUR business. If it is not doing well, the responsibility is yours. To change your results, you need to change. For your business and personal life to be better, then you need to get better.
Do you need help getting out of your comfort zone to take your business to the next level? Be courageous and ask for help. What are you waiting for? You often cannot think outside the box when you are stuck inside the box. You need to get outside help.
It might seem far-fetched, but you can set yourself on a course to make a 1000 percent improvement in your business and personal life. Such success will not just fall into your lap. It does not take luck; it takes a dream, responsibility, and consistent effort. If you make a 1/10th of a 1 percent improvement in your business and your personal life every day, that adds up to a 0.5 percent improvement each week, which equals a 2 percent improvement each month. That is a 24 percent improvement over the course of a year, and that is a lot. If you look at it like compound interest, then that improvement (if you keep at it) would double every 2.7 years. This means in ten years you would have 1000 percent improvement in your business and your
personal life.
Think about it this way: Gaining 0.5 percent a week, 2 percent each month, and 24 percent a year in improvement will get you highly motivated. It is like going to the gym and seeing that you are losing weight and looking better after putting in the effort. Why do you think there are so many mirrors in the gym? They are there so you can see your progress. This motivates you to keep going, to work out harder and more often. Results generate motivation to keep going. If you put these principles to work in your business, the results will generate the motivation to keep up the hard work.
Accountability
In order to achieve the level of success you desire in your organization, you often need someone who will hold you accountable to a higher standard, someone who is not emotionally involved in the business and who sees it from the outside looking in. You cannot read the label on the water bottle from inside the bottle. Sometimes you need someone from the outside looking in to be able to see and understand clearly what is going on. Though we wish we could, we often cannot hold ourselves accountable properly or provide the necessary insight. We need a coach, mentor, or consultant with outside experience.
It is similar to joining a gym. It helps to be held accountable by a trainer, someone who expects you to show up. Of course that same trainer also provides you with one-on-one coaching and support. The presence of a trainer demanding accountability increases your dedication to performance, and therefore increases your success. It is not any different in business. If you want to improve your results and create greater success, find a coach, mentor, or consultant who will hold you accountable.
Success Steps
- What legacy systems and processes are you using that are holding you back? Take steps to identify them and eliminate them.
- Consider how you can make a 1/10th of a 1 percent improvement in your business and personal life each day. Write down your plan.
- Commit to implementing your improvement plan daily. Incorporate improvement as a habit into your day.
- Keep the pressure on. Work hard, expecting good results.
- If you need help, get help!
Why would you not want 1000 percent improvement including in your bank account? These are serious results, and you can get started on achieving them today. If you need help, I am a phone call or email away: 503-312-3145 / garyfurr@garyfurrconsulting.com.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
It’s Not Hard, It’s Business
Fundamental Steps to help business owners learn what it takes to grow their business and increase their revenue.
As the former GM and COO of a $40 million company with seven locations I have learned what it takes to be successful in business. In this book, I share some keys to sustainable business growth and acceleration and the way to close the gap between your performance and your dreams.
You didn’t go into business to just get by, you got into it to succeed. Follow our series on the website and get your desktop reference copy from Amazon.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”4271″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]
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