Hit The Brakes, He'll Fly Right Past Me

Last week, I started this series of posts entitled "Are You Waiting For Your Business To Take Off?" and the things I learned about business from watching the movie Top Gun.

Out here in the business world, it can be overwhelming for the small business owners and entrepreneurs to keep focused on the goal. We've got so much on our plates that sometimes we don't know which end is up. And every business owner's goal is different.

Some are trying to "build a better mousetrap" and develop a product that can change an industry. Some are trying to establish themselves as the go-to service provider in a market. Some are trying to refine their business model so that it can be duplicated in other markets, thus allowing them to franchise their idea and create long term ongoing revenue. Some are just trying to make enough money to pay the bills. And they are all equally admirable, because wherever you are... you are.

But if you remember last week I tried to remind you why You Are The Best Of The Best.

Lesson 2: "...Hit The Brakes, He'll Fly Right Past Me..."

No truer words have ever summarized what can happen in the business world. In the movie, "Maverick" was explaining a risky maneuver he was going to perform while in combat against an enemy aircraft. In the movie, it worked to his advantage. But we all know that movies and real life have very little in common.

In business, however, if YOU hit YOUR brakes, HE (your competition) WILL fly right past you. So you have to stay on top of your game at all times. And you don't slow down or hit the brakes until you are sure that either (A) you have reached your goal, (B) you have the right people in place the maintain your business momentum until you reach your goal, or (C) have effectively eliminated your competition.

DO NOT MISUNDERSTAND ME!!!! I am NOT advocating violence against your competitors.

Simply provide a better service or product at a better price or value and become the company everyone wants to do business with. So much so that the competition sits home at night wondering where their customers went.

So if you are moving forward, you keep doing what's working and don't change it just because you hear about some cool technique from somebody in a webinar or you read about some smooth line to use to close a sale. The people on a webinar or in a book you pick up probably don't know you from a hill of beans. They may be nice people, but have you ever noticed that frequently these "hot tips" have disclaimers attached to them (results may vary, success not guaranteed). Hey, I'm pulling for you. I hope you succeed and succeed BIG. But I don't have a vested interest in your company. Don't mess up your system, if your system is working.

If it's not working, then that may be when you need to invest some time and maybe some money getting access to the resources you need in order to fine tune and modify what you are doing so that you can change your results and find processes and techniques that will work.

Of course, the lawyers want me to remind you that I cannot guarantee your success at any endeavor and individual results may vary.

But, hey, I'm pulling for you.

Next week: I'll let you be my wingman.

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends and followers...