There are 3 broad ways you can guide the direction of a business.
- You can aim for stability.
- You can aim for impact.
- You can aim for stability through impact.
Here’s how those 3 options pan out, and why one of them gives you the best chance of fully unlocking your maximum potential.
Primary focus on stability
Business owners with a primary focus on stability, plan and act with a safety-first mindset. This often blocks them from making the improvements they need, even when their business isn’t growing. If something ‘kind of works a little’, they’ll hold onto it tight. They do, this rather than try something new with an infinitely greater potential to help them.
They want things to improve. Of course they do. But they want things to improve, without them making any meaningful changes. Change equals risk. And risk feels scary. Too scary.
Primary focus on impact
Business owners with a primary focus on impact, plan and act with a mindset that’s driven by the desire to make a meaningful difference. They have a vision of the impact they seek to create and are motivated by the desire to see that vision become a reality.
Within this broad group are business owners who are well-prepared, with a thoroughly researched idea, which they are passionate about. However, this group also contains business owners who have a deep belief in their idea, but their idea hasn’t had the necessary rigour applied. There’s no market for it. The numbers don’t stack up.
We see this all too often, when a new business opens with an expensive launch, lots of bold claims and in no time, they’re gone. It’s heartbreaking.
Focus on stability THROUGH impact
The business owner whose primary focus is stability through impact understands something, which the vast majority of people totally miss.
They’ve figured out that a balance needs to be achieved.
They know that hunkering down, avoiding change and hoping things will magically improve is a terrible strategy. You can’t hope your way to the top. Or even the middle. At best, you’ll go broke slowly. (which is a lot more painful than going broke fast, as it traps you for years in a stressful, under-performing business).
They also know that stability is essential. If you’re only focusing on making an impact, without ensuring you have a stable foundation, you’re very likely to fail. Nothing of value can be built on flimsy foundations. You need that stability. It’s a must.
So, what do they do?
They decide what impact they want to create. In other words, they choose the thing that they want to be known for… the difference they want to make to their marketplace (or the world). Then they do the research and put a plan together. A realistic, costed and robust plan.
Then, they work the plan.
With the stability of working to a solid plan, and fuelled by the motivation of making an impact, you can fully activate your maximum potential, whilst minimizing risk.