Tweet

Business Survival Tips from "WILD THINGS"

Written by: Michelle Pippin

Article Overview: Perhaps the "solution" to many business survival obstacles can be found by watching the "wild things" of nature! What do they DO that we DONT? What can we learn? business growth, small business marketing, small business success.... Let's take some ACTION today!

Business Survival Tips from "WILD THINGS"

"I never saw a wild thing feel sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself."

- D.H. Lawrence

I talk to small business owners and entrepreneurs everyday who have a laundry list of reasons why their businesses aren't succeeding.

"This economy is killing me."

"No one is buying right now."

"We just can't seem to get ahead."

"We didn't have enough funding when we started"

"It is so hard to find reliable employees these days."

"I can't afford to buy anymore advertising or marketing."

"I just don't know what else I can do to make a difference."

While the "reasons for failure" can run the gamut of excuses, the pessimism permeating their "stories" is palpable. The unfortunate thing is that PESSIMISM shuts out all creative thinking. It literally shuts down your biological computer when you need it the most. When we "shut down" like this, we stay "stuck" in DEFINING our problems rather than creating solutions. The best news - for the world, that is - is that we are the ONLY mammals who would rather describe, detail and commiserate our problems rather than take action to solve them.

One of my past mentors is Sam Beckford, The Small Business Millionaire. He says, "There is no such thing as a lack of money... only a lack of creativity." (I realize this sounds a bit utopian, but when you hear all that he has accomplished with NO money, you will stand amazed... inspired...and convinced that his statement is true.) Anyway, business in any economy requires us to be FULL participants... creatively and strategically meeting challenges. This is the exhilarating rush of being an entrepreneur. In any economy, our customers are always changing, our market is always changing. The most successful entrepreneurs are the ones who are also willing to change... to do things DIFFERENTLY, because they want a different result.

But, when I am asked to speak or when I meet with entrepreneurs throughout the week, I meet many who are very committed to the SAME. Regardless of how ineffective the SAME has proven to be. If they got ZERO response from a paid advertising ad, they choose to buy MORE advertising. If they haven't gotten much response from their networking efforts, they choose to do MORE networking. Einstein said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. There's a LOT we can take from that quote.

Often, after hearing about the "impossible" situations my fellow entrepreneurs will describe, I will ask them one question, "What are you willing to do differently?" You see, if we want different results, we will have to do things differently. More often than not, success will require you to do things differently than you have done in the past AND differently than other business owners you know. CREATIVITY is key. OPTIMISM is king. ACTION is the fuel that makes all things possible. What ACTION are you taking today?

Related Articles
  STRESS-- A NATURAL RESPONSE?
  Tips To Guide Your Work Life
  Lesson #2: Don’t Try to Tame a Wild Duck
  Sales Courage and Resilience
  Monkey See, Monkey Do

Article Tags: best news, biological computer, bough, creating solutions, creative thinking, d h lawrence, gamut, laundry list, mammals, mentors, millionaire, pessimism, sam beckford, small bird, small business owners, span style, style text, text decoration, unfortunate thing, wild thing



Related Forum Posts
Business Tips - How about: Tips for managers to handle employees more effectively? Tips on how to deal with difficult customers? Tips on how to deal more effectively with suppliers? The only three I have in mind right now, but will try to come up with something else. Chris
My entry - 1. The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Business Books You'll Never Have Time to Read - this is a fascinating book about the history of Business theory, and I'd recommend it to anybody. 2. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants, by Tom Gegax. Ditto. 3. PADI: The Business of Diving Book Okay, so this book won't be of use to anyone who doesn't want to start a scuba store, but I did, and this book was of course invaluable to me in reaching that goal.
Exclusive: Interview with Results - Hi Forum Members, I'm helping start up a Business Coaching and Consulting company here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (a Subsidiary of RSC Business in Los Angeles). As a Research and Development Intern I am required to practice my listening and interview skills by surveying Small and Medium Businesses on thier Business. This Survey is designed by RSC Business to also assist the Business being interviewed more insight into their own business. I am looking to interview about 30 businesses across North America over the span of 3 months. At the end of these interviews I will be publishing a report of the results and they will be made available for free to the Interviewees. The Report data will include responses from a minimum of 100 interviews. I would like to extend this opportunity to members of the Forum. If you would like to have this short 20-30 minute interview conducted on your Business and you reside in North America please send me an email or PM. Please contact me at andy[at]jvprosperity[dot]com to arrange our interview and to get free access to the results when they are published.
Re: HOw to market a B2B consulting company - [quote="zohahunt77":428owzbi]Hi, I was wondering if anyone can tell me the difference between B2B and B2C. I don’t know about b2b marketing but I have done marketing so know things about it. I will suggest you to take online services which will spread your business all over web network. Online marketing is the best way to market any business.[/quote:428owzbi] B2B = Business to Business - You are marketing to other businesses. B2C = Business to Consumer - You are marketing to consumers.
Patent Walk-Through - Hello everyone! My name is Alex, I'm 18 years old and I'm constantly drawing up new ideas and inventing stuff. I sketch stuff down everywhere I go and on anything I can write on. I'm a big member of our local Future Business Leaders of America chapter (FBLA). In the future I hope to work my way up to being a Venture Capitalist. I think of myself as a pretty creative person who is very motivated. Some of the ideas and inventions I come up with are pretty far out but others I consider marketable and to have great potential. Being 18, I have little to no connections and no resources. I've been surfing this site pretty frequently for the last year and have finally decided to join the forum group. Anyway, here's my question... Basically, I have no idea how to get a patent together the costs and the overall process. As of now, I think I have a great idea that, as far as I know has not, ever been done before. I'm really excited about this idea. I'm a total novice at this and am willing to learn all that I can. Any information that you can provide me with would be great. Again the main things I want to know are: 1.Overall Process. 2.How Long It Takes. 3.Costs. 4.Anything That You Think I Should Know. 5.Tips/Experiences. 6.Confidentiality. 7.Must I Make A Physical Model of My Idea? Thanks guys! -Alex


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Clues to Increase Sales -- Listen to the Buyer

Selling On Ebay The Good The Bad And The Ugly

A Guide to Franchise Financing

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.