Swallows or Hedgehogs...

Hedgehogs are one of only three UK mammals that have the ability to hibernate. They will hibernate through the winter depending upon the availability of food. When times are tough they roll into a ball and hibernate – waiting until things improve and their food supply becomes available again before they wake up.

Hedgehogs will even change their diets according to what is available and frequently eat foods that are high in fat and sugar although their metabolism is designed for low fat protein rich foods. This leads to cases of fatty liver and heart disease being quite common. 

British Swallows spend their winter in South Africa, covering up to 200 miles a day at speeds of up to 35mph. Swallows value consistency and understand that in order to achieve it they have to go somewhere different in order to achieve it. The journey is hazardous and sometimes they will die of exhaustion as they fly over the Sahara, but they value consistent temperatures and food supply above the hardship of making the actual journey.

In business and life we have a choice – we can be either a Hedgehog or a Swallow.

The Hedgehog business is cyclical; the results look like a roller coaster, when times are good life is good, when times are tough a Hedgehog business will roll into a ball and defend itself, and if sales dry up it will go into hibernation – we call it denial or insolvency.

The Swallow business endures the same cycles as the Hedgehog but the response is different. The Swallow takes the risk of changing its environment, leaving what is comfortable and embarking on a journey that whilst dangerous, has the potential to deliver abundance and security; and most of all, continuity…

So what type of business does the best – when the markets are good, business will be good and staying put and reaping the benefits of an abundant harvest looks like a sensible and easy option. When winter arrives in the form of a recession, staying put is not an option, and success will be achieved only by taking the risk of doing something different; metaphorically flying over the Sahara.

The business environment has changed, it is not that is any harder than it was before, it is just that we need to change what we do and where we go in order to achieve the same levels of success. The Hedgehog mentality of hibernation in the hope that things will get better doesn’t work, the recession will last longer than you reserves of cash.

Swallows will win the day. They always did, just that Hedgehogs justified their behaviour when times were good because it seemed to work for them. Looking for new markets, innovations and customers, taking the risk of the new and daring to take the journey is where the Swallows business attitude will win.

Plus, if I am going to fall over - I would much rather do it soaring over the African Plains than hiding under ahedge in West Bromwich. Its a choice...

R is for Recession...

It is unfortunate that when business is good we believe that it is due to our knowledge, passion and entrepreneurial skills, however, when business is not so good we blame the recession, the government or our customers.  On an incoming tide,  all boats rise and so it is with companies in a strong market; whatever we do will probably work, and sometimes a business can be successful in spite of the owners knowledge passion and skills…

When business is tough we realise that what we used to do simply doesn’t work, the tide is flowing against us and we have to find “new” ways of attracting customers and growing our sales. In reality we don’t need to find any “new” ways at all – we just need to go back the basic principles that the levels of our previous success had afforded us the luxury of ignoring.

R is for Results – there are 5 Principles to follow to get Results…

1.       Philosophy – be clear on your goals, standards and values. Your business will be a reflection of you and it may be that you need to change, learn new skills or think differently.

2.       Product – is your product or service truly excellent? Is what you do attractive and valuable to your clients, is it unique and different from your competition?

3.       Process – does your business only run when you are there? Remember, it is not what you supply but the context in which you supply it that makes the difference – is excellence systemised, or is it a lucky random occurrence?

4.       Promotion – are you marketing your business effectively? Are you sending compelling messages to your defined target market and can you measure the results you are achieving?

5.       Profit – is not your objective. Profit is a symptom of everything else that happens in your business, the outcome of the first 4 Principles. If your profit is not where you need it to be, simply look at your Philosophy, Product, Process or Promotion to find the solution.

The 5 Principles should be approached in sequence – it is no good having great Promotional activity if your Product and Process is not up to scratch for example. In my experience, we must start with ourselves – challenge ourselves to learn adapt and change at the same pace as the environment changes around us; only then will everything else fall into place.

It's the Recession Stupid...

One of the most frequent questions I get asked by business people, whether it is when I’m on stage, with a client or at an event is – “how can we grow in a recession..?”

Even when I reached out to my network and asked for ideas for a title of a new event, EBook or workshop – the instant response was the same – “how can we grow in a recession..?”

So this Blog is a prelude to an EBook a Workshop and a Business Master Class event that will seek to answer this very question. If you’d like more details on these events, see the contact information on our website – or simply email me on davidholland@resultsrulesok.com

First, there are two harsh realities of business, the people that manage them and the environment in which they operate – I will explain both realities by telling a couple stories that I hope will bring clarity…

Harsh Reality # 1 – It’s not about the Recession it’s all about You.

When the market is buoyant, cash is available, companies are expanding and recruiting, confidence is up and life is good – businesses do well. In fact under those conditions, just about any business will do well regardless of how it is built, run and managed. All boats rise on the incoming tide…

When business is good there is a tendency (and I know this won’t apply to you) for some other business people to associate the business success with them; it’s their ideas, direction, inspiration and business intellect.

When business dips and the results stagnate or decline, it is these same other business people who blame the market (recession is such a convenient term), the Banks, the Government, Customers, Employees – in fact anything is blamed rather than the unfortunate Harsh Reality that they simply do not know what they are doing. More to the point, they never did – they were successful in spite of themselves, the historic strength of the market simply masked over the cracks in their ability and lulled them into a false sense of security; their self-belief and ego being massaged by the returns on the balance sheet.

So the first Harsh Reality is to recognise, or of course for others to recognise, that the Recession is just an excuse and that the results in any business are a direct reflection of the ability, knowledge, passion and skills of the people who run it – if you want better results, get better ability, knowledge, passion and skills.

The challenge here is that this is a potentially huge slap in the face to the ego of these other business people. Admitting that we need more knowledge and passion suggest that we are not as clever or grand as we thought we were and have to adapt our identity from being the “know it all guru..” to become the eager student…

Harsh Reality # 2 – It’s not about the Recession and it’s not about anyone else.

In the USA a business owner who happened to be a reasonably recent immigrant there was being interviewed about the success he had achieved in developing a chain of Coffee shops in a large east coast city. From humble beginnings, in spite of English not being his first language, and with little money he had built a successful and thriving business that was the envy of others in the sector.

The interviewer introduced him onto the radio show and the first question was.

“so tell us, how you built this thriving business in the middle of the deepest recession since the 1930’s..?”

His answer was perfect and in my view should be printed on not only the mind but the business cards and store fronts of every business owner. 

“I didn’t know there was a recession, no one told me…”

This simple story explains exactly why some people have struggling businesses – they are told that things are tough, they focus on it and guess what; things get tough…

Harsh Reality #2 is that you absolutely must keep focussed on your business, not listening to the news, reading the headlines, or having pity parties with the poor souls who read the Daily Mail, Express, Mirror etc. There is only one page in a newspaper that is factual – and it is at the back, it reports the actual scores recorded in the football.

It could also be argued that the statistics on page 3 of The Sun are accurate but that is a different discussion…

Remove from your network all negativity, speculation and hearsay – this may involve not talking to certain people – and you know who they are; yes you do..!.

Put into your network bright intelligent enthusiastic people who believe in you, will help support and guide you. Build clarity of your vision, focus on you customer and the experience they have when the trade with you – focus on simply being the best there is and then it doesn’t matter what the market is doing, you will be doing great…

Sometimes ignorance is indeed bliss…