Imagine this business growth analogy: A 50 foot high water pipeline. It takes a huge amount of effort to pump water up to the top.
Then imagine that the pipeline bends horizontally and, because of many leaks, most of the water leaks straight back out again! Would you not be appalled? What a ridiculous waste.
Is your company leaking?
That is exactly what most businesses seem to be doing – their chance for business growth is leaking away.
Consider any industry. Let’s start with Telecoms companies. Choose any of the big names. They make some impressive claims to win your business. Yet the reality is often a bit disappointing. Their automated voice response systems sound the same. Their call centres seem identical. The metrics they focus on are very similar. In fact their business models are so alike that, if you took the logo away, would you be able to tell one company from the next?
Now think about banks. Are they any different? Restaurant chains, hotels, insurance companies…… so the list goes on. 90% of companies are small businesses. A few of those stand out as doing something different but most of them suffer from exactly the same problem as the big companies.
Time to take the brakes off – for business growth
Why are we all copying each other? Who taught us to do so? Do you remember when Tesco was not doing so well? Back in the 1980s was it? Well, their transformation began the day their CEO suddenly realised they were spending far more time focused on Sainsbury than on their customers! Whatever you think of Tesco, their growth since that day has been incredible.
Fast growth firms follow no one
Do you realise that the companies enjoying phenomenal business growth behave in a totally different way?
Their vision sets them apart. Everyone in the company is excited about how different they are. They target a specific type of customer and give their customers what they want to such a degree that they are hooked. As a result the rest of the world watches in awe.
How will your company authentically stand out from the crowd this year? Or will you keep the brakes on?
