A Week in Transition

This has been a big week for me. Monday marked the first day in a transition that will impact my life for a very long time. Recently, everywhere I turn, people are talking about following your passion. At work, home, and every aspect of your life, there should be passion. There are many different definitions of passion, not all of which apply. Here are just a few:

• any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling, as love or hate.
• strong amorous feeling or desire; love; ardor.
• a person toward whom one feels strong love or desire.
• a strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything.

For a long time I mulled over these definitions, looking for the things in my life that I was most passionate about. At the same time, I tried to identify the things that were inspiring the wrong kind of passion. For instance, I decided I had come to hate my house. The neighborhood had gone downhill, and just last week there was an armed robbery just two blocks from my house. The cops pinned him down in the basement of an apartment complex, and the SWAT team brought him out five hours later. It was cool seeing all this, but didn’t exactly inspire confidence.

What I’m Passionate About

Above all, be true to yourself, and if you cannot put your heart in it, take yourself out of it.

-Hardy D. Jackson

After a great deal of consideration, I had come up with a list of things that I am truly passionate about:

Computers - Nearly every dollar I have ever earned (with the exception of one summer as a lifeguard) has stemmed from the fact that I enjoy working with computers. I have built and sold desktops, acted as tech support, and worked in design, programming, and database consulting. I even had the opportunity to work at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, the birthplace of the first graphical web browser, MOSAIC.

Leading - It was actually at NCSA that I realized just how much I dislike taking direction from others. In any group situation, regardless of my role, I have always had a tendency to take charge and direct the efforts of the group. In situations where I have little control over the direction of a project, as with NCSA, I have a hard time getting excited about it.

As my business has started to grow, I have had to hire employees and freelance help to manage the growth. I found myself more in a project manager position, and found that I really enjoy directing the creative talents of others toward a common goal.

Travel - As far back as I can remember, my parents took my brother and me along on my dad’s business trips. They instilled in me a love of travel that has only grown over time. Since then I have driven from Chicago to both coasts several times, and the southwest twice. I think traveling is a critical part of broadening your own perspective and truly seeing the world for what it is. My business has allowed me to fly all over the country meeting some of the most interesting and unique people I know. Some of the best experiences of the past few years have been on those business trips.

Competition - I’m an extremely competitive person by nature. Even at the most trivial games, I always feel the need to win. This has caused some friction with girlfriends in the past who were equally competitive and didn’t take well to losing. I think this competitive spirit is at once a flaw and a tremendous asset. In business, I think it’s critical in order to be successful. I see other companies doing things and think “We can do what they’re doing, and we can do it better, faster, and at lower cost.” That, of course, can place some pretty ridiculous demands on my time, but I suppose that’s to be expected.

Customer Service - That may sound like a strange thing to be passionate about, but it’s true. I love blowing customers away and turning them into raving fans. Late Thursday evening, a client sent me a database of 150 of their clients so that we could conduct customer satisfaction phone surveys for their business. He asked us to get started ASAP and hoped to get some results within a few weeks. We started the next morning, called all 150 clients by 3:00 PM, and called him with the highlights by the end of the business day, less than 24 hours after receiving the list. At the end of our conversation he said “That’s incredible. Send us the bill and we’ll pay it right away. I don’t care how much it cost.” Clients validating our efforts like that make it all worthwhile.

My Business - I realized that the thing that kept popping up in the previous categories was my business. Even though I have only been able to work at it part time, I spend the rest of my time wishing I was working on it. I often found that it was easier to work on my own business for 15 consecutive hours on a Saturday than to work on anything else for three hours any day of the week. The entrepreneurial spirit is very much in my blood. My dad is an entrepreneur as well, and shares many of these same passions (except for computers). He also happens to be my business partner, which is awesome. His dad and grandpa were entrepreneurs as well. My path was genetically predetermined…

The Right Time

With all these things in mind, I decided it was time to take drastic action in the pursuit of happiness. I didn’t like my house or the neighborhood, so I moved out last week and am still getting settled in.

Professionally, I decided it was time to throw myself into my business full time. April was the best month we’d ever had, and things really seem to be coming together. We’re now developing Standard Operating Procedures and web-based training software in several different industries, and are pursuing others as we speak. We’re working our way into several key partnerships that will extend our capabilities dramatically. Things are looking good.

Before I throw myself into this career full time, though, I decided to do some traveling. On Tuesday, I’m heading to Europe to go backpacking for a few weeks with a close friend. I’m going to see Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Greece, and who knows what else. We decided this would probably be the last chance we ever had to make a trip like this, and we really couldn’t pass it up. Hopefully I’ll come back from this trip with a renewed vitality, a better view of the world, and some awesome stories.

I hope you’ll excuse the somewhat journal-ish post. Things have been incredibly chaotic lately, and it feels good to verbalize everything a little.

With all this change happening at once, as you can imagine, I’m scared shitless. But I don’t want to wake up one day close to retirement and realize that my entire working life was wasted on things I don’t connect with on a deeply personal level. I want to look back and be proud that I always did the right thing, followed my dreams, and left no part of life unlived.

What will you see when you look back on life 30 years from now?

A successful life is one that is lived through understanding and pursuing one’s own path, not chasing after the dreams of others.
Chin-Ning Chu

IDEO on Following Your Passion

I’ve recently done a lot of reading about IDEO, Inc., a Palo Alto, California based industrial design firm. Let me give you a little background info on the company… Full Story →

FINALLY, A Positive Customer Service Experience

I’ve been fairly outspoken in the past about my disdain for the level of customer “service” provided by large companies, particularly in the computer industry. Dell’s customer service, for instance, has been lovingly nicknamed “Dell Hell” by some of its customers. The internet is full of stories from unsatisfied Dell customers, but my experience with the company today was a glimmer of hope.

Delaying the Inevitable

For a couple of months now my laptop had been warning me that my battery was slowly dying. A few weeks back it finally died, and gave me the following message:

A normal characteristic of a rechargable battery is that its operating duration decreases over time. The battery may eventually need to be replaced. Based on this characteristic, consumed batteries may not be covered under warranty.

So today I finally decided to talk to Dell, something I had been avoiding because I didn’t want the headache that generally comes with it. Needless to say I was surprised when a rep was immediately available via their online chat support. We were walking through the troubleshooting process when my internet died, because the internet only goes out when I have important things to do. Now, imagine my surprise when that same Dell rep called me on my cell phone to finish the conversation. In a few minutes’ time, he told me I’d be receiving my brand new battery free of charge within four business days. Wow, what a pleasant surprise.

Fixing Tech Support

I know Dell and many other companies have developed some terrible reputations in the customer service arena, but my experience today gave me hope that maybe they’re actually turning things around. I had made up my mind that if Tech Support screwed me today I’d never buy a Dell product again, so that simple phone call may have saved their company from thousands of dollars in lost future sales.

Others have noted that Dell is working on improving their tech support too. Many major companies like Starbucks and Dell are creating websites to give customers a place to voice their opinions freely. For instance, Dell recently launched IdeaStorm and the Direct2Dell blog to reach out to their customers and solicit ideas and feedback.

What surprised me most was a Direct2Dell blog post about the future of customer service. What I found most interesting is that the comments were in no way censored to paint Dell in a positive light. Here are a few excerpts from this post:

“North american customers want to be supported by North American techs. “

“When calling IBM for service, the entire thing is short & sweet. I’m not left on the phone on hold while the tech does ‘paperwork’. Whatever Dell techs are required to do is apparently many times that of what is required for the IBM techs.

Why is IBM so much more efficient than Dell at handling these things???”

“If the off-shore support staff is incapable of addressing a issue with a FORMER customer (I certainly won’t ever purchase another Dell product and will encourage my sons,high school and college graduates, to puchase other-than-Dell products) they should be taught to transfer the issue to someone capable of handling the small issue - instead of abruptly HANGING UP!”

Rather than censor the communication, Dell representatives posted responses to each of these complaints in an attempt to solve, or at least address, these problems.

Evidently Dell is tapping into social media even further. They now have several customer service reps searching social sites like Twitter for complaints and swiftly contacting those people and addressing the problems.

At the very least, I appreciate the fact that Dell is making an effort to listen to their customers. How do you solicit feedback from your customers? Do you have a means of measuring customer satisfaction? Leave a note and share your thoughts, and subscribe while you’re at it.

Update:

I just received my new battery from Dell, less than 24 hours after making the initial complaint. Color me impressed.

What do You do When Your Schedule Conspires Against You?

You may have noticed that this blog as been completely dormant for nearly a week now. It has been one of those weeks where every client or potential client or potential client I have ever had decided they need something from me immediately, if not sooner. It’s the sort of problem you wish for when things are slow, but dread when it actually happens.

I’ve been living my life this week by the advice outlined in the Million Dollar Leverage post on What to Do When Your Schedule Blows Up, and putting in my share of very, very late nights. Still, there are only so many hours in a day. Chris Guillebeau offers some more great advice in a recent post at The Art of Nonconformity:

Problems:

• Your friends and family members who work at traditional jobs won’t understand.
• The crises are all yours for the managing.

Solutions:

• Simply decide to stop doing stuff.
• Improve your personal productivity skills, including planning and implementation.
• Delegate or outsource

Thanks Chris for the great advice. Really, check out his blog, which is full of great stuff.

The question remains though… how do you handle a sudden major influx of work? Outsourcing is great if you have something lined up or tasks that don’t require much training, but that’s not always the case. Hiring is risky because the fever pitch of work may not last, and then when things die down you end up overstaffed. Granted, it’s a good problem to have, but it’s a problem nevertheless.

Ten Tech Tools for the Mobile Entrepreneur

As a small business owner who loves to travel (both for business and for pleasure), one of my biggest challenges has been ensuring that I’m still easily accessible to my clients and partners. Over the years I’ve found a number of tools that have made life on the go easier. Here are some of my favorites: Full Story →

Achieving Success Requires Risk

“Success comes to those who dare to dream dreams and are foolish enough to try and make them come true.” - Vinod Khosla: Venture capitalist, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, and avid hang-glider.

How do you manage risk in your business? Are you foolish enough to try to make your dreams come true? What good is a life littered with unfulfilled dreams? Maybe we’d all be better off if we did a little hang-gliding…

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” - Andre Gide, French writer, humanist, and Nobel Prize winner

Sun Tzu on Leadership - Part 6 of 6

“Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look upon the as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death.” - Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Leadership - Not Just Management

As a business owner or manager, how do you motivate your troops? Do you manage employees by budgeting, controlling and staffing, or do you lead by setting a direction, aligning people and motivating? George Ambler over at The Practice of Leadership explains the difference extremely well:

• The manager relies on control; the leader inspires trust.
• The manager administers; the leader innovates.
• The manager accepts reality; the leader investigates it.

There’s plenty more where those came from at the above link, be sure to take a look.

John Kotter does a fantastic job describing the difference between management and leadership in an article he wrote for the Harvard Business Review. He drives the point home with a military analogy:

A peacetime army can usually survive with good administration and management up and down the hierarchy, occupied with good leadership concentrated at the very top. A wartime army, however, needs competent leadership at all levels. No one yet has figured out how to manage people effectively into battle; they must be led.

Take Braveheart, for example (yes, I’m seriously going to reference Braveheart in a quasi-academic setting). William Wallace was a leader who knew how to motivate troops to tackle insurmountable odds. Of course, the thing about insurmountable odds is they’re really tough to… surmount. As a business owner, the trick is to motivate and inspire your employees toward a goal that isn’t doomed to fail from the beginning (see my previous post on choosing the path of least resistance).

Inspire, Lead by Example

So how was William Wallace so effective as a leader? There were three main reasons:

• He was extremely passionate and believed in the cause
• He led by example and never asked a subordinate to do something he wouldn’t do himself
• There was a clear benefit to following his lead (in this case, the chance of winning their freedom)

Here’s another story that really illustrates the techniques of leadership. A commentary on The Art of War, written by Tu Mu, shows how a famous general, Wu Ch’i, inspired his troops:

He wore the same clothes and ate the same food as the meanest of his soldiers… and shared every hardship with his men. One of his soldiers was suffering from an abscess, and Wu Ch`i himself sucked out the virus. The soldier’s mother, hearing this, began wailing and lamenting. Somebody asked her, saying: ‘Why do you cry? Your son is only a common soldier, and yet the commander-in-chief himself has sucked the poison from his sore.’ The woman replied, ‘Many years ago, Lord Wu performed a similar service for my husband, who never left him afterwards, and finally met his death at the hands of the enemy. And now that he has done the same for my son, he too will fall fighting I know not where.’

Again, this is probably an example you probably won’t (and shouldn’t) encounter in your own life. There are probably better techniques for removing poison these days, but there’s no question that it would inspire loyalty. Lord Wu lived among his troops, fought beside them, and would do anything to protect them. No wonder they were willing to dedicate their lives to his service.

By comparison, you’ve got it easy. If you’re an entrepreneur like me, your passion should be obvious. Share your passion and your vision with your employees. Include them in that vision. Show them how they’re an integral part of reaching the goal, and let them know that they will be rewarded for their part.

How do you (or should you) inspire your troops? Drop me a comment with your thoughts, and while you’re at it, subscribe to this blog.

Sun Tzu on Adaptability - Part 5 of 6

“Water shapes it course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing. Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there are no constant conditions. He who can modify his tactics in relation to his opponent and thereby succeed in winning, may be called a heaven-born captain.” - Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Learn Good Business Sense from Water

It might sound a little crazy at first, but we could all learn a few lessons from water. How much time and energy do we waste in an uphill battle with ineffective marketing, poor CRM, and ineffective information systems? How many of the tedious chores in your business could be automated and integrated? Isn’t it time to stop fighting the current and look for an easier way? When the water of a river runs into a boulder, it adapts, changes course, and finds a way to its ultimate goal no worse for wear.

Sun Tzu wasn’t the only one who felt we could all learn from the properties of water. A few weeks ago, Harrison at MenWithPens discussed the Book of Water in The Book of Five Rings, an ancient Japanese sword fighting guide. The author, Miyamoto Musashi says “Fixation is the way to death, fluidity is the way to life.”

Bruce Lee, one of the great martial artists of our time had this to say: “Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless–like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can *flow* or it can *crash*! Be water, my friend.”

Of course, they were talking about deadly combat, but the same clearly applies to businesses in today’s economy. Consumer needs and expectations are changing so quickly that being anything other than fluid and adaptive is suicide. Technology has changed everything. Old industries like traditional newspapers are facing extinction unless they can find a new place in the digital world.

How Can We Adapt?

Fortunately, small businesses have a real advantage in this area. As I’ve mentioned before, big businesses are choked by their own bureaucracy. American car makers have faced recent criticism for their inability to innovate and adapt to changing consumer demands. As a small business owner, however, there are probably only a few stakeholders for you to consult with on any decision. You may run it by your partners, employees or spouse, but ultimately decisions are likely up to you. YOU have the power to drive change, to keep your company responsive to your customers’ changing needs and tastes. Here’s how:

Keep Learning

No matter what business you’re in, there are always people you can learn from. First, there are tons of great books out there on managing your business. Pick up a few of these and learn some things you didn’t know that you didn’t know. Or maybe you could teach yourself how to use a new technology, or some of the more obscure features in Microsoft Office. I came across a company called VTC that offers awesome online training videos. I think I’ve even got a 30-day free trial coupon around here somewhere… drop me a note if you’re interested. The web’s full of great resources, just look around!

Watch the Trends

Subscribe to magazines or blogs specific to your industry. Keep an eye on the trends as they develop and ask yourself how you can position your business to take advantage of them. For example, I read an article about the growing impact the blogosphere was having on small businesses and decided soon after to launch OnYourBusiness. With tens of thousands of new blogs starting every day, there’s definitely a trend in that direction. If you’re keeping track of experts’ opinions in your industry, you’ll be ready to meet those changes as they happen. There won’t be any big surprise when consumers start demanding something else, and you’ll be able to react before your competitors.

Talk to your Customers

No one knows how consumer needs are changing quite like the consumers. Ask them what their needs are, how your product or service fits those needs, and what you could do to make things better. Better yet, survey them about the trends you’ve been reading about in your industry and see how they really feel. If their needs are heading in new directions, perhaps your business should too. Or maybe they’re just not in your target market anymore, in which case there’s no sense fighting against the current. Just go with the flow…

What’s next?

The end of the series! I’m getting a little Sun Tzu’ed out.

Sun Tzu on Leadership - Part 6 of 6

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Sun Tzu on Leveraging Strength - Part 4 of 6

“The general who thoroughly understand the advantages that accompany variation of tactics knows how to handle his troops. The general who does not understand these, may be well acquainted with the configuration of the country, yet he will not be able to turn his knowledge to practical account.” - Sun Tzu, The Art of War

An Uphill Battle

We live in an increasingly competitive world, where the top 20% of businesses own 80% of the market. Are you in that top 20%? Probably not. So how do you protect your little business in a market full of giants? How does a local retailer compete with the likes of Wal-Mart? Kmart tried to compete with Wal-Mart’s low cost strategy and it ended in bankruptcy. If Kmart couldn’t beat Wal-Mart in a price war, how can you hope to? Well… you can’t.

Enter the Internet. Suddenly small businesses could reach consumers worldwide. No longer were they limited to a local market. A small business owner’s dream come true, right? Sadly, that knife cuts both ways. In his book, Clear Blogging: How People Blogging Are Changing the World and How You Can Join Them, Bob Walsh discusses this problem, which he calls the “Internet Price.” Sure, you can reach customers everywhere, but suddenly your local clients can access businesses everywhere. Now, rather than a few local competitors, your business is fighting thousands of other businesses worldwide. Businesses that offer the same product at a fraction of the price you might charge. Even service businesses are no longer safe. Software development, IT consulting, and even so-called “knowledge processes” like legal and marketing research are now being sent overseas. Worse yet, a Stanford study says they’ll work for $500/year.

Fighting the Internet Price

“If, on the other hand, in the midst of difficulties we are always ready to seize an advantage, we may extricate ourselves from misfortune.” - Sun Tzu, The Art of War

True, small businesses may be facing an increasingly competitive marketplace. True, mega corporations like Wal-Mart have a stranglehold on the cost leadership segment. So how do you fight back? How do you keep your business from failing like Kmart did? Again, Sun Tzu has the answer: “Carefully compare the opposing army with your own, so that you may know where strength is superabundant and where it is deficient.”

You can’t beat the Goliaths of the world on price, but you can leverage strengths where they are weak. Here’s how:

Differentiate Yourself

Make your product or service stand out from the crowd. Deliver at a quality that your competitors can’t match. Use eco-friendly materials and business practices. Whatever you do, make sure that your marketing focuses on these differences. If your product is better but your customers don’t know it, what good is that? Marketing alone can be a great form of differentiation - get creative! For god’s sake, if Pet Rocks made someone rich, surely your business can do the same.

Be Responsive

In working with a few large corporate clients, I’ve learned one thing: big businesses are SLOW. Once they decide they want to do something, they have to get the approval of 43 different corporate managers, run it by legal, justify it to their shareholders, put in a request for funding, and then justify the project to the new corporate managers because 30% of the original 43 have died of old age since the initial request was made.

In my business, if a client comes to me with a request, I turn my head slightly, run it by my partner, turn my head back, mull it over for a bit, and give my client a response. I can do this because small businesses aren’t shackled by bureaucracy. We can respond quickly and respond to their needs before old age takes them.

Cultivate Personal Relationships

This is a big one. As I’ve mentioned in the past, I hate dealing with customer service reps. I put it off for days or weeks if I can because I know that they’re going to put me on hold for an hour and then someone I can barely understand will ask me to hold again while he accesses my account history. Where’s the personal touch? Big businesses can’t afford it, but we can. I keep all my client data in my phone so when a client calls, I greet them by name. Little things like this make people feel important. Take the time to get to know your clients. Treat them like people rather than numbers. In an increasingly impersonal world, people are willing to pay extra for that personal touch.

From Survival to Success

Most small business owners start out just hoping to survive. Far too many fail because they never find a way to stand out. Their business is just another nameless, faceless company vying for consumers’ hard-earned money. It’s important to develop your business in such a way that it holds meaning for your customer.

Take your doctor, for instance. You might tell people “I go to Dr. ____ because my family has known him for years, he’s extremely capable, and he genuinely seems to care about my wellbeing.” You might recommend a specific tax consultant because he found all kinds of tax deductions and saved your business from an audit. What meaning does your business hold for your customers?

Big companies may own most of the market, but there’s still plenty of room for small businesses. The key to survival is to determine what aspects of their business leave the customer wanting more, and then structure your business to make it happen. Use your small size to outmaneuver your competition. Deliver exceptional service and tell your customer how your business is different.

Remember: avoid your competitor’s strengths and instead attack their weaknesses.

What’s next?

Sun Tzu on Adapting to Your Environment - Part 5 of 6

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Sun Tzu on Business Tactics - Part 3 of 6

“Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.” - Sun Tzu, The Art of War

A Shot in the Dark

Let’s face facts. These days, if you don’t have a clearly defined target market, your business is in trouble. How are you going to reach the people most likely to buy your product if you’re not even sure who they are? Naomi from IttyBiz says it better than I could:

Imagine the target is, um, a target. And you’re the dude with the gun or the bow and arrow or whatever. If you hit the target right in the middle, you get 50 points. If you hit the outside circle, you get 10. If you aim at 50, you might get 50 or you might get 10. If you aim at 10, you might get 10 or you might get nothing.

So why are you aiming at 10?

Your target demographic is your version of perfection. These are the people who are begging for your product or service. They have money to spend and they want to spend it on you. Maybe they don’t know it yet, but you do, and that’s all that counts.

It’s time to start developing some tactics to start bringing in more bulls-eyes and stop wasting energy on shots you take with a hope and a prayer that they’ll hit something.

Know Your Target Demographics

Start by breaking your clients down into demographic groups. Web Marketing Resources defines demographics and psychographics like this: “Demographics refer to statistics like age, income and location. Psychographics refers to preferences, interests and personality characteristics.” It was recently revealed that Best Buy takes this approach to an extreme. They actually create personas for each of their demographics:

Source: The Consumerist

While Best Buy’s methods may be a bit overkill, imagine what having this sort of data could do for your business. Is your marketing plan tailored to each demographic, or is it a One-Size-Fits-Some approach?

Making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of victory, for it means conquering the enemy that is already defeated.

- Sun Tzu

If you know what motivates your customers, what they want and need, you’re well ahead of the game.

Know Yourself

Clearly defining your target market and demographics is a good start. You’ve defined what your ideal customer looks like to you. Now ask yourself, “What does my business look like to my target customer?”

• Is your shop/restaurant/office clean and inviting?
• Does your website look professional, up-to-date, and provide the right information?
• Take a good look at your business’s weaknesses and see if there’s some way to turn them into strengths.
• Are you offering goods or services your target market values? How do you express this to each demographic?
• Do people even know your business exists?

Understanding your business and the way it’s perceived will go a long way. Just understanding isn’t enough though. A successful business is built on continuous improvement. A good owner also knows what they don’t know, creating partnerships and learning opportunities to improve their limitations.

Measurement and Calculation

Here comes the hard part. How do you accurately forecast sales as a new business? As a growing business? As a service business? There’s always going to be an excuse to put off market forecasting. Why? Because it’s hard. It forces you to take a serious look at your business and set some quantifiable goals. For some great advice on this topic, pick up a copy of On Target : The Book on Marketing Plans. It offers some great tips on how to generate those initial sales forecasts. For instance:

• Use census data to determine the number of people in your target market.
• Find out what data is available in similar markets, or what has been gathered by your competitors.
• Build on whatever past data you have available, and go with your gut instinct.
• Most importantly: GET STARTED! Next year you’ll be able to look back on the data you’ve gathered this year.

Set some expectations for your business. Make sure they’re clear, quantifiable, and have a well-defined due date. “I’m going to lose weight” is not a clear goal. How much are you going to lose, and by when? “We’re going to increase sales” is just as useless. Instead, try “We’re going to increase online sales by 20% in the next 18 months by advertising through channels X, Y and Z.”

See how much more clear that is? 18 months from now it will be very clear whether or not you met your goal. By now this should be easy. You should know your customers better than they know themselves. You should know their demographics and their psychographics. You know what makes them tick. Your business is structured to give them exactly what they need in the best possible environment. You’ve set measurable goals, forecasted sales, and you revisit the numbers regularly. With that kind of preparation, you’ve got a tremendous advantage over the competition.

If you know your customer and you know your business, your success will not stand in doubt.

What’s next?

Sun Tzu on Leveraging Advantage - Part 4 of 6