Tag: business

Talent isn’t everything

Everyone loves talent. Everyone loves natural ability. It’s enticing. “Think of everything that person could do! If they applied themselves, their potential is limitless!”

It’s easy to get caught up in hiring very talented individuals, even if their track record shows that talent doesn’t necessarily equate to performance OR when there is someone else who is nearly as capable, gives better effort, but is less talented. Why does this happen? Because they appear to have a much lower ceiling for what they can achieve. In fact, they may already have “overachieved” based on their talent profile.

But that kind of thinking is where we get it all wrong. Effort, attitude, and fit is what you need to look for when hiring someone. Let’s review why hiring for these three qualities will lead to a better team/company in the future.

Regarding effort…When you hire someone, you want to know that they will try to work their hardest, not just to suck up to you, but because that’s who they are as a person. Look at other actions they take in their lives. Do they do what they should be doing, even when it’s not what they want to be doing? Are they ok performing the mundane, yet necessary tasks, that need to get done to succeed? And are they performing those tasks well instead of just going through the motions? Consistent, high quality effort will take an individual far.

Regarding attitude…What good is hiring someone who is talented and gives good effort, but they have such a poor attitude that nobody on the team wants to work with them? They’re an individual superstar, but to the team they are a cancer. Not only does their poor attitude affect people’s mood and behavior when they are around that person, but sometimes it can suck the energy out of the office just with them in the building. Instead, look to hire people who are optimistic, who are curious, and who are looking for feedback. They should be willing to accept criticism and not allow themselves to get into a bad mood when things don’t go their way.

Regarding fit…Would you be ok spending 40 hours per week with this person? Do they fit into the culture of the team (or can you see the possibility of them fitting in)? If you try to fit a round peg into an oval hole, you might be able to make it work for a little while. But to have the best fit, where there are no gaps and no places that overlap, you need to find an oval peg for that oval hole. The harmony (synergy) in your office will translate to better production because when people try hard, have a positive attitude, and like each other, their co-workers will pitch in when needed and they can all help each other (and the company) grow/succeed.

Talent is great. I’m not saying to not hire talented people. In fact, if you can find a supremely talented individual who also has a great work ethic, positive attitude, and fits with your team, you just hit the jackpot. But what I am saying is that talent is only part of the equation, and too often it is too heavily weighted when making a decision to hire someone. Next time you go to make a hire, don’t be overly impressed by their resume, but instead take the time to interview them, to get to know them and their work ethic, and see how they fit with your team. If they can check off those other boxes, hire them. Talent is overrated. As long as you have a good training system in place, work ethic, attitude, and fit can overcome many obstacles.

8 Tips to Succeed in Business

To succeed in business, you need to do the following:

1) Hustle for new clients…until you’re well-known and have a history of getting clients what they want, it will be very difficult for them to find you. Instead, you have to find them! Be on social media, attend local meetups, go door knocking, cold calling, etc. The bottom line is you have to work to get new clients.

2) Pay…this isn’t always true (depending on the level of “success” you want to achieve), but it is true if you want to be the top in your field. I’m not saying you have to spend frivolously on things that don’t matter, but you do need to pay for marketing and advertising, have a well-built website, etc. You’ll also have your normal expenses to account for (any licenses, utilities, repairs, or big ticket items like a commercial vehicle). Just like the saying goes, “you have to spend money to make money.”

3) Save…once you start earning money, you can’t spend everything you make. If you do this, you’ll soon find out that the government wants their cut. After all, they put a lot of time and money into this business venture and risked losing it all if…wait, no, that was you. Regardless, the government does do some good (update roads, pay firefighters and the police force, etc.), even if they waste a lot of taxpayer dollars.

In addition to saving for taxes, you’ll also want to save for “stormy weather” like a couple of bad months of selling, a slow season, etc. Many financial experts recommend 3-6 months of personal savings, but most recommend even more (12 months or more) savings for your business. Don’t run your margins so thin that you can’t save any money. If you don’t save money and there happens to be a pandemic (*cough* coronavirus) which includes a shutdown of “non-essential” businesses, you’re screwed.

But in order to save money, you need to…

4) Charge what you’re worth. Be fair with your pricing. But don’t confuse fair with free. You have to get paid. Any business that is still in business needs to make a profit, otherwise they won’t be around for long.

On the other end of the spectrum, don’t charge a premium for something you’ve never done before. Everyone needs to start somewhere, but if you’ve never done something and you act like you’re an expert, you’re misleading the client. Eventually come back to bite you in the butt (and with that will come negative reviews), which is why I believe you should always…

5) Be honest…telling the truth isn’t always what the client wants to hear right then and there, but in the long run it is what’s best. You are only as good as your reputation. If you destroy your credibility, you destroy any trust that you may have built up with your existing and potential clients. That is a much harder hill to climb than being truthful from the get go.

6) Show up on time for appointments…This is the easiest thing you can do to start off on the right foot! It takes no skill to show up on time. If you’ve never met with someone before (or even if you have), don’t disrespect them by showing up late. If they made it a point to be somewhere at an agreed upon time, you should be there too. When you show up whenever you want, you’re essentially telling the other person that your time is more valuable than theirs. Call me crazy, but I don’t think that’s the best way to win business.

7) Communicate…set expectations for them, keep them in the loop on what’s happening, and if you don’t have an answer to one of their questions, let them know you’re working on it. When something bad happens, tell them face-to-face or call them if you need to, but never text/email bad news. Yes, it will be harder to do in person, but once again, it goes back to respecting the client. It shows you care and if you were in their shoes, you would probably want them to do the same.

8) Be personable…when everything else is equal with the competition, people buy from people they like. If you can build rapport with them, make them feel like you actually like them/care about them (which you should), and they don’t think you’re being disingenuous, you will win over a lot of potential clients that were on the fence.

Those are my 8 simple tips to succeed in business. There are plenty of other rules, but if you’d like to add any of your own, feel free to add a comment below!

Success, money, and fame

“I’d rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud.” – Sophocles

Don’t trade your integrity for fame, money, or “success.” Those things come and go, but you’ll always have to live with your decisions. Outward success does not mean you’ll feel inward contentment. It may take longer, but if you live in a way where your actions align with your values, you’ll end up happier without sacrificing your honor or time with loved ones. And, to me, that is a truer measure of success than only counting fame or money.

What is the next step?

The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today. Set yourself up for future success by taking action on the most meaningful next steps as frequently as possible. Figure out what it is you’re trying to achieve then reverse engineer how to get there.

This seems simple enough, and the concept really is, but it’s not easy. We get distracted by trivial tasks on our To Do list that don’t push us forward, by other people’s goals that don’t relate to our own, to life’s obstacles, and to extraneous information that may help us in the future, but not right now. But what we need to keep going back to, what we need to keep refocusing on, is what is the next most important action we need to take and then go do that.