What’s in the way?

No matter how bad it is, there is a way out. It may be a tough choice but it is a way out. From cutting salary to reducing headcounts, these painful actions can open doors to more opportunities. Perhaps even an opportunity for the business to stay alive for a few more months. Some business people like to see tough choices as non-choices. But they are. Tough but not undoable. Don’t let your ego stand in the way.

Let your creativity do the thinking, work your plans and get out of your own way.

Why can’t you find the way?

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Do you believe in yourself?

There are many ways to run whatever business you are running. Just because the industry has done it in a certain way doesn’t mean you need to adhere by it; unless it is regulated of course. You can always steal ideas from other industries. When we first started Roar Point, we decided that we weren’t going to pitch. Having a no-pitch policy is almost unheard of in the industry and it was a sure-fire way to being hungry for long time. We let our conviction and plan do the work and more than ten years later, we are still here.

Can you do it differently?

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What do you need?

Get your priorities right. Decide where you want to play and how are you going to win in the field you have chosen. Then determine what you lack. Some challenges cannot be fulfilled in a year. It may take three years. Lay out the plan for it. Don’t ignore it.

If you need to invest in a course to learn the skill you need, do it. If you need to invest in headcount to help with certain work so you don’t get overwhelmed, you need to figure out how to get it. The opportunity cost may be more than the actual cost you are trying to save.

Will it cost you more?

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How well intentioned are they?

There are many ways to run a business. You don’t need to listen to every friend, relative and guru that you meet. Well intentioned people may not have the knowledge. Knowledgeable people may not know your dreams. The key is don’t listen to everyone and be frightened off your path. Do your research and eventually, you need to make a call based on what you know and the dream that you want to pursue. But also know the limitations that you have and what is the price to pay for this entrepreneurship journey that you will take.

How knowledgeable are they?

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What are you running from?

That period of running alone and waiting for the rest to run with you? That is the scary part. It gets lonely and you get hungry. You want to give up and a thousand voices in your head and heart that will egg you to quit. That you are too small, too stupid, too slow to be a success. That’s when you need to remind yourself why did you start this in the first place. Stopping is always the easy way. Continuing with the seemingly insurmountable challenges will always look silly until you keep doing and suddenly you have made it submit to you.

Make sure you are pursuing something you want. Because the slippery slope of sliding off the path is always there to welcome you with the easy way out. Once the decision is made to go for what you want, you can guarantee yourself that it will only get tougher every day until you get tougher than the toughest day.

What are you running to?

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What do you lack?

If it is a skill that you lack, then go pick it up. A skill can be learned, practiced and be perfected. If it is knowledge, go learn it. If it finances, go raise it. If it is time, learn to prioritize. If it is experience, go get a mentor and give it time. There are no excuses. Making wise decisions and painful choices is also part of an entrepreneur’s job. 

Excuses are a way for you to escape your fears. Only, you do not truly escape. You delay them. Eventually they turn up and when they do, your fears may have grown bigger and stronger. The only way to deal with them is to confront them head on with action. Action melts fear.

What drives your excuses?

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Where should your attention be?

Do not jump from one guru to the next. There are plenty of Mahaguru Master Sifu out there itching to proselytise you the next shimmy shiny sexy tips that work. Learn to focus on a few basic perennial principles, proven laws and concepts. Work on making them work in your business. Execute, reflect, review, rinse and repeat.

Learn to distinguish what are the things that you need to pay attention to and what are the things to ignore. Time is a finite resource. As an entrepreneur, the opportunity cost on time is something you need to watch jealously. 

What’s sucking you dry?

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Are you too afraid to start?

Don’t worry if it isn’t scalable. Don’t be anxious if it is easily duplicatable. Don’t fret if every Tom. Dick and Harriet can claim to do what you do. You aren’t going to be true business owners at the start. You are probably going to be closer to being self-employed. But start accepting the disadvantages of your business idea anyway because if it is something you know how to do; you are pretty good at and passionate about then that is a risk worth taking. That will keep you going and keep you pumping. Soon the momentum will kick in, things will become easier and sometimes it will become very tough. The kind of tough that makes you want to quit but ignore the pain and keep going. Who knows where we will be years from now? Just keep going and see where this journey takes you. 

Think you can keep it going?

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Will you be desperate?

All plans need to be supple, flexible and rational. You are running a business. You will have times when everything you planned is being challenged from every corner. You can’t just stick to the plan when it threatens the very survival of your company. You can’t be dogmatic if cashflow is diminishing every month.

Being supple and flexible is easy to do when the going gets tough. Rational is the tough part. When things are challenging you can get desperate. Remaining rational becomes a challenge in itself. Rationality is what you need the most of when you have the least. Keep this as a reminder to stay calm and rational. Then make the adjustments and execute.

Can you be rational?

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Where do you start?

Start by writing down your vulnerabilities. No matter the stage of your business, you will have a lot of vulnerabilities. You don’t need to overwhelm yourself by tackling all of it. For all intent and purposes, you won’t be able to tackle all of them. Choose the top three critical ones that you can truly handle in the next year or so. Write these as your imperatives. From your imperatives derive the initiatives and implementation you need to execute with datelines to it. Otherwise, 12 months down the road, your vulnerabilities will still be haunting you.

How do you get better each year?

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Do they really know you?

Everyone has something to say about everything. That doesn’t mean you should listen to them. They are entitled to their opinion. But it is your right not to listen to them. Well-intentioned advice may not always be right advice. That Michelin star restaurant with only four tables and 16 seats doesn’t get a comment about it not being scalable, cashflow, worker issues and raw material supplies. If you decide to open a restaurant with four tables and 16 seats, all sorts of comments will come your way. You can bet, that Michelin restaurant got all those sorts of comments until it got itself the Michelin star.

Go ahead and do what you planned to do and do what you need to do.

What will they think of next?

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What can you do?

Spend less time monitoring your competitors and more time implementing your own crucial improvements. If your business is weak, no amount of monitoring is of any use. The strength of your business determines your growth more than what your competitors can do to you.

Is it self-gratifying?

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What’s wrong?

Look for the root cause of your business issue. Dig deep. The deeper the better. First layer thinking will only lead you to tactical solutions. Tactical solutions will almost always give you more problems than your original one.

Always diagnose before developing your strategy. Always develop your strategy before your tactics. Diagnosis first, strategy second, tactics last.

What’s first?

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What did you do?

One way to learn to take responsibility is to inject discipline into your daily life. Yes, even people past 50 years old can do with some discipline. Some people make their beds, others workout. Yet others read. No matter what, they get this done. Day-in, day-out.

Then take that discipline and apply it into other parts of your life that needs it. The secret is in applying it. There are people who has discipline in some parts of their lives but yet fail because they failed in applying.

Do discipline well then apply it.

Did you apply it?

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Where are you growing?

You can be the best seed but if you don’t have the right environment, the right elements, you won’t grow to your full potential. Watch who you hang out with, where you work, what you do, how you strive to better yourself.

Talented people become trash when they take these things for granted.

Who’s growing you?

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Go big or go home?

Go small and get started. What works is getting started. Size is often an excuse.

What are you waiting for?

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Did you listen carefully?

If it has been spoken about a gazillion times, perhaps there is something there? You should listen carefully. If it is something that is forgotten, not spoken about anymore, old fashion, perhaps there is something there too? You should listen carefully.

Perhaps time to improve your listening skills and pick up some life-long skills.

Where are the secrets?

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Do you have the time?

Almost everyone wants short term gains. No denying that it is important. It keeps people excited. At a company level, it keeps the company going. But what is truly remarkable is to play the long game. Not just short term gains, but a long game.

Don’t be a gimmick, be a perennial seller.

How much patience do you have?

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Are you good at it?

If it is a skill, you can learn it. If you can learn it, you can perfect it via practice (and a coach). However, some things we grew up thinking is in-born may actually be a skill. For example, being able to speak well in front of a crowd. Some people think, some are just born public speakers. Not true. You can train to be a good public speaker.

Learning what may actually be a skill can make you be a much better version of yourself. “Oh, they are born with it. Not me.” is no longer an excuse.

Can you learn it?

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Did you jump?

I find it fascinating whenever I meet people during talks that I give; that inevitably someone will say they are there to keep abreast of marketing trends or something along those line. It’s even more interesting that 100% of the time I never cover marketing trends. I am a fundamentals guy. Don’t worry about trends and how you would leverage them if you haven’t got your marketing basics buttoned down. Forget how ChatGPT and Artificial Intelligence will make a difference in your marketing plans. Start with having the intelligence to learn and work the basics. Without the fundamentals, all these trends are just chat at best.

Where should you start?

Let us help. Call us now at +60378901079 or visit us at roar-point.com