When The Exceptional Becomes The Expected

A loved one calls his Mom
EVERY day.
That’s exceptional.
Not many people do that.

He’s been doing this
for so long,
however,
that it is expected
by his Mom.

She doesn’t praise him
for calling every day.

She worries and berates him
if he DOESN’T call her
every day.

Because she is
no longer comparing him
to other people’s sons.

She’s comparing him
to his past exceptional behavior.

Exceptional isn’t exceptional
when it is provided to customers
EVERY time
in the exact same way.

It becomes expected
and any failure to provide
that exceptional
will be punished.

Mix it up a bit.

The Perfect Business

I know an aspiring business builder
who is searching for
the ‘perfect business.’

She has a long list
of attributes
this business must have.

It must have the ability
to be run
out of her home.

But it also has
to have face-to-face
interactions with customers.

It must give her income
quickly.

But it has to require
NO start up funds.

The products have
to be handmade.

But she doesn’t want
to hire employees
or spend much time
herself
making these products.

The list seems endless.

And I believe it is an excuse
NOT to build a business.

She likes the dreaming part,
not the doing part.

There is no perfect business.

If you’re waiting for perfection,
you’ll be waiting forever.

Disconnecting From Reality

My Boomer Mom carefully curates
everything she sees and hears.

She doesn’t want unhappy news
so she deliberately
filters it out.

She lives in
a happy alternative world
where war and pandemics
and climate change
aren’t threats.

She is vaguely aware they exist
but she doesn’t believe
they will impact her
and she doesn’t want
to hear about them.

She’s not alone
in doing this.

As the world becomes
more and more challenging,
more people will try
to disconnect from it.

As business builders,
we don’t have that luxury.

Remaining connected
to the world
and to reality
will be key
to our success.

Resist the urge
to disconnect from reality.

The Possibility Of World War III And Building A Business

I’ve discussed many
of the other external threats
currently facing humankind
and our budding businesses.

Why haven’t I
discussed the possibility
of World War III
and its impact
on our businesses?

That’s because
there isn’t much more
we can do to prepare
for a world war
than what we’re already doing
to deal
with the pandemics
and climate change.

We build our businesses
to operate
without a lot of employees.

We consider storing
extra supplies.

We build systems
so our customers
can order directly from us
and, if at all possible,
they can order from their homes.

We might also consider
how we would react
if our businesses were forced
to temporarily shut down.

And we hope
World War III doesn’t happen.

Yes, the rich
tend to get richer
during times of war.

But small businesses
are usually decimated.

Skilled Tradespeople Are NOT Project Managers

On the solar installation project,
there was no on site, active
project manager.

They relied on their teams
to manage their parts
of the project.

The solar panel installation
was outsourced.

The team that arrived
was headed
by one of the founders
of the business.

He was skilled at project management
as he actively managed his own business.

That part of the project
went very well.

The electrical part
of the project
was given to
two electricians.

Those electricians were skilled
at being electricians.
They knew f*ck all
about the project management.

That part of the project
was a complete mess.

They had to run
to the store
to buy parts every couple hours.

They installed
random, not-at-all thought out parts.

They did work
out of logical order
and then had to redo it.

The project WAS
eventually complete
but it cost a lot more
and it took a lot longer.

Project management
is a separate skillset.

Don’t assume someone skilled
in other areas
is able to manage a project.

Politics And Leadership

A buddy shared
that the government
isn’t worried about bird flu
or COVID or Candida auris
or any of the other health issues
floating around.

Why should we be worried?

Government leaders
and heads of government agencies
are concerned most
about being re-elected
and/or keeping their jobs.

That is their number one goal.

Protecting the average person
including the average small business owner
is secondary…at best.

And voters don’t want
to hear about pandemics
or wearing masks
or taking other precautions.

So leaders,
intent on being re-elected,
aren’t going to talk about it.

We have to make our own decisions
for ourselves
and for our businesses.

The government
will advise doing the bare minimum.

Do that bare minimum.
But also consider
doing more.

Because the government
won’t bail out
our small business a$$es
if employees or customers
sue us into the ground.

Protect yourself.

The Things We Can’t Change

According to weather forecasts,
it is going to rain
in my area
every day
for the next two weeks.

That is…disappointing.
I had things to do outside

But I can’t change the weather.
That’s not my area of expertise
or my business model.

I have to accept it will rain.
And adjust for it.

I might erect tents
so I can work outside.

Or delay that work.

Or try to bring it
inside.

Or make another tweak
to my plans.

In your business,
there are things
you can’t change also.

Accept that
and work with or around them.

Shaming The Trolls

Dealing with trolls and bots
is part of the social media experience.

Some people try to shame them.
They share the troll response
and ridicule it.

And that is exactly
what the trolls and bots want.

They don’t care
about the ridicule.
They drop a comment
and run.

They care about reach.
And by shaming the troll or bot,
that reach is expanded.

Instead,
I block the trolls and bots.

I’m not going to change
the mind
of a computer
or of a human
paid to cause chaos.

There’s no point
in arguing with them.

I simply sever their reach
and remove them
from my feed completely.

Block the trolls and bots
and move on.

Business Builders Craft Their Own Schedules

We all know the joke
about business builders.

We’re lucky.
Business builders don’t have to work
from 9 to 5.
We can work any 24 hours
we like.

But many business builders,
especially those of us
whose careers
were started
by working for someone else,
often keep the standard
9 am to 5 pm business day
as our core hours.

We forget
we can work
any hours we want,
as long as those hours
are fine
with customers
and business partners.

For example,
I was having electrical work
done on my home.

The electricity had to be turned off
from 10 am to 4 pm
every day
for about a week.

At first,
I was irritated as f*ck.
How would I get any work done?

Then I realized…
I could sleep from 10 am to 4 pm
and work from 4 pm to 10 am.

My readers wouldn’t care.
My editor wouldn’t care.

I switched to that schedule
and it worked out well.

We are the masters
of our own schedules.

Remember that.

Verifying Customers

Every week or so,
when I log into an often used site
from my usual home computer,
it asks me to verify
my identity.

Why?

I’m using the same device
at the same location
on the same network.

And the asking site
should be tracking
all that information.

That they are asking
for further verification
doesn’t make me feel
more secure.

It makes me feel
less secure.

Because the site,
if functioning properly,
should know it is me.

If you ask your customers
for more information
to verify their identity
than is needed,
that will erode trust.

It won’t strengthen it.

Consider dialing it back.