Edition 541 – Not Wanting To Learn
Running a business is tough. Not the stuff you do or the skills you have. That’s the easy part. The toughest part is the “how to” of running a business. Then making a success of it.
Some business owners are great technicians. They make the best stuff. Or are really good at the advice they give. It’s just, they’re actually quite awful at running their own business. Really bad!
One business owner is asked the same questions each week. Every week. For two years. It’s a variation of:
- What’s the last week’s invoicing?
- What’s this week looking like?
- How is the month going to end up?
- What have you quoted?
- What have you won?
- What’s the pipeline looking like?
- What are the issues confronting you right now?
Each week, it’s like pulling teeth.
Some vague numbers are quoted.
Some enquiries that aren’t quoted are given a rough number. Not defined. Not refined. Rough as guts, actually.
The pipeline? It might be this. It might be that. It might be something in between.
Whilst you yourself might have access to the numbers in their MYOB or Xero, or some other convoluted accounting package, it’s the story behind the numbers that I’m looking for.
How those numbers come about?
How the enquiry ended up on your desk?
How the customer or the client chose you, over someone else, to solve their problem?
Except, some business owners are so stuck in “technician” mode, they never progress any further.
To the point that they should never have gone into business in the first place.
Because they really have no f…ing idea!
They wing it. And wing it really, really badly.
There’s always a drama. There’s always someone else to blame. There’s always something that was unexpected. Except, if it was so often unexpected, don’t you expect it?
For two years, the same questions. For two years, the same pulling of teeth. Until you say “I’ve been asking these same questions for two years… why don’t you have this information at your fingertips before we get on our weekly call?” Weekly. 104 times. To not have the answer to the same questions.
They’re really good at what they do. They solve problems brilliantly. They’re experts in their field. But they should never be running their own business. As an adviser, it’s an exercise in beating your head against a brick wall, then reaching for the Panadol straight afterwards. Except you’ve had to progress to Nurofen.
If you engage someone to help you in your business, it’s your responsibility to both learn and to want to learn. To be better in business. To better understand what it takes to make money in business. To become as good at business, as a business owner, as you are as a technician.
Otherwise, why bother?
This Week’s Tip
“Seeking advice is about two things –
being shown what needs to be done, then being shown how to do it.”