Business Is Good! Get A New Perspective.

I was driving to a client's business yesterday (Saturday) and took the wrong turn and ended up driving through the Vacaville Premium Outlet complex. As I was driving through to get to my destination, I saw the parking lot was completely full and there were people strolling by the shops with bags. There were so many people, I thought I was at Disneyland! I thought, there is no recession here! It was fun to see just how many people were out there.

I also drove by some popular restaurants in the same area. Their parking lots were full. It's a good thing. So, at least many businesses are doing well. There are others who perhaps are not doing so well. When did that mix ever change? Wouldn't this be true pretty much any time?

So, regarding the businesses who are not doing as well, what is their perspective on their business? Is their perspective on what is wrong, or on what could be? Is their perspective on why things are the way they are, or on what they could be? Truly, there are opportunities in every problem if only eyes are open to see them. I like to ask the Tony Robbins question, "What's good about this?" If nothing else, it forces one to think in a different area and opens the possibility of different ideas.

When things are not going well, there is no better time than to ask outsiders to take a look and see what they see. We have our own perspective of our own business and our own procedures and thought patterns and an outsider would have theirs. The good news is that their new perspective could have a profound effect on our results.

I'll give you an example that we see often. We see a store and talk to the owner or manager about their business. They complain that business is way off and the economy is down and all the other outside influences they can think of. We ask a few questions, like what are you doing to attract business? What methods of advertising do you do? How do you track your advertising versus results? Do you have a website? What do you do to merchandise your wares? Do you have a customer database? How do you promote your business?

The answers we get are telling. They are doing nothing different. They are advertising in the local newspaper and they do not know if it works or not because there is no tracking or thought of it. They are just hoping. They don't have a website, or it is not current and has no focus. They are in the yellow pages and advertise in the local paper or local mail flyers and that is the extent of their methods of advertising. Their merchandising when done, is hit and miss and there is no plan of action and no consistency or creativity. They do not promote their business. They do not keep track of their existing customers. In short, we see them standing in the store waiting for customers to come in while being unprepared to deal with them effectively if they do come in. This may sound harsh, but this is what we see over and over again.

If businesses are operating with their same old perspective, how can they flourish? There is only one way: change their perspective. Get a new look at your business and how it operates. Get a different vision of what your business could be and do. You have to be willing to change. Here's a good very short book to help get your thinking in a better place: Who Moved My Cheese?

Another way is to hire someone to help you see a different perspective. You have only to be open to the possibility of help. Call us at Upward Trend Management Services and we can be some fresh eyes for your business. We guarantee you will have better results, or you don't pay. Does the newspaper offer that? I just talked about the things we see when we go into businesses and we absolutely know how to fix them. You only need to want to change them and be open to help with that. That's a pretty easy solution, don't you think? How many guarantee results of improving your business? How can you lose?

Business is good and if you think it is not, it still can be with a new perspective. Get one today!