The Sweet Lies in Business that Blind Us to the Bitter Truth
To survive in business you learn to regularly lie to yourself. This isn’t necessarily a terrible thing since it is scientifically proven that the human brain will develop its own solutions in times of uncertainties. The problem is that sometimes these lies can be very costly.
In an attempt to wade through the jungle and obstacle course that is entrepreneurship, you have to stay positive and optimistic. Unfortunately, rose-tinted spectacles may blind you to a failing business against all evident facts. You simply choose to believe that tomorrow will yield more profits. This is a slippery slope that could have disastrous consequences. To avoid you falling victim to these types of lies, let articulate the most common lies entrepreneurs tell themselves.
“I can do everything by myself”
It is easy (and understandable) to believe that only you hold the best interests of your businesses at heart. Any other person is there to earn a living and move on. While it might be true that delegating duties may reduce the quality of output, doing all things in the business is simply not effective.
You want to call clients, sign contracts, market products, carry out research, fix computers and while at it take out the trash. Even Christ needed the help of twelve disciples to complete his task on earth. Specialization and delegation of duties improves efficiency. Two heads are often better than one.
“I have no competition”
So you have a fantastic and unique business idea. You are confident that the market has never seen anything like your product before. Anyone you tell about it has to sign an NDA. It is one of a kind, the best there has ever been.
Optimism is necessary — if you don’t believe in your product it is impossible to convince another human being to believe in it. The pitfall is overconfidence. Even though you have specifically identified your niche, tweaked your product to the quality and specifics the market desires, competition almost always exists.
Coca-Cola most recently quoted milk vendors as one of their competitors while Kenya Power and Lighting Corporation (KPLC) identified candle manufacturers as their most fierce.
Under-estimating your competition will be detrimental in your business since you will invest less in marketing, research and development and in time, your product may be rendered obsolete by competitors.
“If it has worked before it will work again”
The dynamics of running a business change quite frequently. In as much as you used one strategy to increase market share, profits or efficiency in your business, this strategy may not always be as effective as it was before.
Holding on to one way of doing things while other variables (e.g. technology, government regulation etc.) are changing is very likely to impact your business negatively. The reason why Nokia lost its dominance is that it refused to change. It simply stuck with its “working” recipe while the rest of the competition moved to a different platform.
The only constant in life is change.
“There’s nothing to learn from my competitor”
Competitive rivalry can sometimes be so fierce that you and your competitors barely see eye to eye. You want nothing to do with them and believe your business should be the polar opposite of theirs.
“Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others.” ― Otto von Bismarck.
The biggest corporations in the world are constantly trying to mimic their rivals in order to achieve their success. Samsung and Apple have been in constant court battles due to this.
As much as you may hate them — believe it or not there are many things that they are doing right that you can learn from. Swallow your pride and identify what these things are and apply them in your business.
“I will recruit cheap to save on costs”
It has been said many times before: you get what you pay for. Cheap labor is good for unsophisticated tasks, but don’t expect a full-fledged marketing campaign from a 2nd year marketing student. When push comes to shove, you will need that highly proficient specialist to develop a growth strategy for your business. It is only the highly experienced IT guru who can design the systems to monitor your progress. Keep in mind, cheap and less qualified individuals can only be assigned tasks with clearly stipulated processes and procedures without much thinking behind. If mistakes do occur, the repercussions should not have a serious impact on the business.
If you want your business to grow, you need skilled personnel with knowledge, experience and motivation. The A team must be on your side. A “B” idea from an A team is still better than an “A” idea from a B team.
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Its high time you drop the lies, move on from the fantasies and unwarranted optimism. Your business requires proper decision making, improved strategy implementation and an overhaul in the running of day-to-day activities. The lies will no longer cushion the losses you are making. It’s time to focus on what is important! Join the ISBI Advanced Entrepreneurship Program to learn more.
