Peter Drucker's advice for business. He said that the business
enterprise has two, and only two, basic functions, innovation and
marketing.
Today I want to discuss the very first question I ask my
consulting clients. Whenever a client approaches me for
consulting work I first send him or her a list of questions about
them and their business.
The very first question I ask is "What is your goal in life?"
Most often this question really surprises them, and they have a
hard time answering it.
You as a business owner, should have goals. Business goals,
personal goals, family goals and health goals. Only once you
know your life goals can you develop your business goals.
A life without goals is like driving in a car without a map.
You're just driving round and round without a destination to
drive to.
This point reminds me of the scene in Lewis Carroll's classic
book Alice in Wonderland. One day Alice came to a fork in the
road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree, the conversation went
something like this:
Alice: "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from
here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the
Cat.
"I don't much care where -" said Alice.
"Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat.
As a consultant I can't help someone who doesn't know where he or
she wants to go. In fact I sometimes refuse to take on clients
who are not sure about what they want out of life. I'd rather
deal with success oriented people.
Different people have different needs depending on their
circumstances. For example, a young man in his early twenties
might have ambitions of growing the business and opening new
locations and eventually franchising regionally, and then
globally. Whereas a mother of three in her forties might just
want to have a business part-time which she can go to in the
mornings when the kids are in school.
A man in his fifties or sixties might have worked hard all his
life and is now ready to sell his business. He may want to spend
more time with his grandchildren and pursue his hobbies. Each
case needs to be treated differently. It is vital therefore to
know what you want out of your life, and consequently out of your
business.
Researchers in the US conducted a very interesting long term
study on the effect of goal setting. If memory serves me
correctly the study was done between the 1950's and 70's at
Harvard. In the early 70's the researchers interviewed a group
of graduates they had interviewed 20 years earlier while they
were still in university.
The study found that only 5% of the students had set goals for
themselves, and that that 5% was more successful than the rest of
their colleagues combined!
That's the power of goal setting.
So here's today's lesson. Develop goals for yourself. Business
and personal goals. Then write them down and re-visit them
regularly. Once you've established your goals you can develop a
strategy to obtain them.
Personally I have my goals planned out 20 years in advance. Goal
setting is such an important part of success that I dare say you
will probably never succeed without them.
I hope this was useful . In your next Radical
Marketing Strategy email I'll talk about the Three Secrets to
Making Money.
Dedicated to your success,
Suhail G. Algosaibi, MBA, MCMI, AP
http://www.RadicalMarketing.
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