Excellence Means Needing Help

No matter what your business is, it deserves to be communicated and marketed with professional excellence. No matter if you own a restaurant, auto repair shop, beauty salon, spa, or whatever you do; you started your business because you're great at the products & services that you offer. The reason business owners do all these other things is not out of greatness of skill in them... but out of necessity to get things done. Am I right? But doesn't your business deserve greatness at everything it does? Shouldn't everything that your next potential clients see be done with absolute excellence? Then why do we settle for less? We settle for less because for 2 reasons: 

Pride 

Like the old adage of the stubborn man that is too proud to ask for directions... most local business owners are too stubborn and prideful to ask for help. To be fair, it is a very humbling experience to have to ask for help in something. Most business owners are "self made" and rarely have had to ask others for help. We've all heard the old saying "If you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself". And while that can be very true, the fact of the matter is that this attitude is not one of leadership nor business growth. It is one of control and sometimes pride. This attitude will control the quality of what you're doing, but will also hinder the future growth of your business. There is an old saying: "Pride comes before the fall". Let this be a sobering warning to you: Many small businesses close because the leader does not allow it to grow and succeed. You could become the bottleneck of your business' potential growth if you do not learn to trust certain tasks and projects to other people and professional partners. 

Fear 

The other reason we settle for less than excellence in areas that we aren't great in is because we wrongly assume that we cannot afford to partner with someone who is great at these other things. We don't bring experts to our weak (or not as strong) areas because we assume the cost will be too high or we simply fear we will lose our profit margins. Consider this long standing truth: Local business owners typically make decisions based on 2 things: Pride & Fear. This second point about price is not usually about pride as much as it is about fear. Fear of losing our hard earned profits. Fear that if we invest in our business in areas where we need help, we might spend up our profits and not be able to pay our bills, provide for our family or simply continue to do business next month. Sound familiar?

The truth is, most local & small businesses fail because the owner doesn't have the vision nor the courage to grow the business in daring ways. I don't mean this to come across as rude. It's actually commendable. We are scared to not be able to supply for and provide for our family. But there is the catch 22! We need expertise in areas like advertising, marketing, website design, etc. in order to grow our business but we are scared to invest to get such greatness from an outside partnership. We aren't daring enough! Now I do not think you should just throw your money at anyone who claims to be a "guru". I am saying local business owners need to be daring enough to take calculated risks with people and agencies that are passionate about helping them grow and reach the next level of success. 

There is a lot of talk about leadership these days. Go to any bookstore and you will find that a wealth of knowledge in a huge assortment of books written all about leadership. We would be wise to read more from wise men & women who have much to teach us all on leadership. In life, one mistake that I see often is: When we see someone doing a lot, we wrongly think they should be made into or promoted to the role of a leader. Why do I disagree with this? Because a doer is not necessarily a leader. A true leader is not necessarily a doer but a delegator. A real leader finds, appoints, trains and partners with the right people and organizations to take his organization to the next level. Leadership is less about doing and much more about delegating. Leadership is about raising up other leaders. 

Leadership is about building trust and making strategic partnerships. A true leader is not the person who does everything. That is the workhorse! We need workhorses and we would get nowhere without them... but they should not necessarily be put into a leadership role. Leaders involve others and build teams. Leaders are much more about building teams rather than just forming committees. Leaders empower others and shine the spotlight on the workers, not themselves. The leader's role is not about "doing" as much as it is about "equipping" and "empowering" others to do more. When the job is done well, the leader makes sure that those whom were trusted to accomplish the work get most, if not all of the praise for it. A true leader invites, trains, empowers, encourages, equips and applauds the doers. A leader is a delegator more than a doer. 

As a local business owner, you should do what you are passionate about. Do what you love to do. If you opened a pizza restaurant, chances are that you love to make delicious pizzas. If you own an auto repair shop, chances are you're a wizard with a wrench. Whatever your strengths and skills are, focus on them and do them well. Do what you love! As for your weak areas, and we all have them, you should fill those gaps with other people and/or partnerships. Do an honest assessment of what you're good at and maybe more importantly, what you're not good at. Whenever you find a weakness, find a way to compensate for that. It might be hiring an employee that is skilled in areas where you aren't. It might be forming a partnership with a company that will handle that aspect for you. It might be finding software or even an app on your phone that can help you with that. 

Whatever you do, don't settle for sub-par. Your business deserves to have as little weaknesses as possible. When you find a weakness, fill it with excellence! Utilize staff, partners & technology to fill the holes in your game. I'm terrible with scheduling, so whenever someone wants to book an appointment with me, I kindly ask them to schedule it using my booking software. When someone asks me a question that I don't know the answer to, I tell them honestly that I personally do not know the answer, but I will get in contact with someone who is an expert in this particular area and get back to them. 

One of my favorite stories was when I had a newer client ask me about future updates for his business's new website from my company, Web Wisconsin. His name is Mike and he owns an auto repair shop here in Wisconsin. When I told him that either he could update the site himself or we could do it for him, he responded "I'll fix cars and let you fix websites". This wise and savvy business man knew his strengths and hired (our company) for his weaknesses! We would do well to do the same. 

Growing your business and aiming for excellence means being OK with admitting that you need help. It means laying down your pride and forming teams and partnerships that will contribute to the future success of your business. I love the old saying: “Do 3 things well, not 10 things badly” . Oh how America's local small businesses would all grow if we just took that simple saying to heart! Excuse the crudeness, but I still find it funny when Ron Swanson, the lovable gruff fictional character from Parks And Rec TV show said "Don't half ass two things... Whole ass one thing". Do what you love and do it with complete excellence. You may not be comfortable with it right now, but growth means doing less... not more. Employ and empower others who can do your weak areas with an excellence and passion that you might not have in that area. Do what you do well and do it with zeal. Bring in others (staff or partnerships with other companies) who will make your local business amazing in your weak areas. 

Sometimes taking your business to the next level involves some investment of money to ensure that excellence is brought to an area where you want to improve or add to your organization. Let me start out by saying, if you are not actively investing in the future growth of your business, you may not have a business for much longer. This is a crucial tip in being a successful local business: Invest in your success! Let me warn you by telling you that "Cheaper is not always the best option". You've heard it said: "You get what you pay for". We all know this is true. 

The reason most businesses don't invest financially in their business is sometimes because of a lack of vision. The book of Proverbs tell us: "Where there is no vision, the people perish." We need to have a greater vision that just right now and we need to want to do more than just "get by". You need to look with wisdom to make strategic partnerships to empower the future growth of your local business. The best way to do this is to attempt to calculate the ROI or "Return On Investment". Business owners need to take calculated risks to ensure that your website, marketing & advertising will help to bring a greater profit for you in the next few months and years. Invest in the success of your business by making smart partnerships in areas where your company is doing just "OK" in. Your business needs to thrive, not just survive. Delegate more. Do less. Be your own best friend! Next year, make yourself thankful that you made wise yet courageous, daring risks to grow your audience, customers and profits. Invest in the future success of your business.