News
28 | JULY 2018
News
Read online at www. proinstaller. co. uk
INCONVENIENT TRUTHS IN RUNNING YOUR OWN BUSINESS
Running an installation company is generally hard work and there’ s not much time for introspection. Benjamin Dyer of Powered Now looks at some inconvenient truths that may contain nuggets to help you run your business.
You can’ t be anything you want to be
The American Dream says that anyone can be anything they want to be. While the election of Donald Trump might make us feel this is true, the fact is it isn’ t. The first inconvenient truth is you’ re not good at everything. Recognising that as soon as possible will help your business greatly.
One of my relatives didn’ t believe this. They were smart and did many things outside their expertise, including drafting their own will. The result after they died? Their will was disqualified, then there was a legal case that went all the way to the high court in London. It tore the family apart and cost nearly a hundred thousand pounds in legal fees. All that to save a few hundred pounds in drafting the will. And all caused by over-confidence.
We are at our most successful when we understand our strengths and play to them. Then we need to know our weaknesses and cover them. That’ s usually by working with people who have complementary skills.
Ego can be destructive
Often, ego gets in the way of success. I had to tell someone recently that“ Non-one likes a smartass”. Arrogance is how ego usually manifests itself. This is off putting for prospects, customers and staff. Making prospects feel small is guaranteed to lose the sale. Explaining to staff how this is your business and their opinion doesn’ t count guarantees that they won’ t care about the job. Dismissing or ignoring customer’ s concerns makes negative reviews and being sued more likely. Humility, the opposite of arrogance, is a very attractive characteristic. It must be genuine and not over-played. Ego of course often hides deep insecurity. It’ s always worth taking a long hard look at ourselves to see where we stand on all this.
You can’ t fool people in the long term
In the end, people see what you’ re really like.
Many people who run their own businesses don’ t have the problem of caring too much about their staff, although some do. But if you don’ t care about your people at all, they will realise that over time. Although it might be part of our make-up, we should understand that it is deeply damaging to any business context. Like arrogance, it produces in staff the exact opposite of what you want to see.
Your staff won’ t care about you and your business. In the worst case it may translate into not caring about your customers too.
People can be irrational
People aren’ t entirely logical. They value some things more than others. They have expectations set by history even when these don’ t make any sense. They ignore evidence that says they made a mistake. They feel much more pain from losing something than they feel benefit from gaining the same value. Let’ s look at these in turn because understanding these factors in ourselves, customers and staff can be a big help.