How Corporate Thinking is Killing Your Business

Over the past three months we’ve had the honor and privilege of working with a number of clients who have turned to us for help.

Some had problems with marketing in general.  You know, getting folks in the door.  One had a problem with list segmentation, meaning he was spending WAY too much on advertising (we’ll actually use this case study next post).

And most had issues with properly using the internet to GROW their business.

As in make money.

Let’s face it.  We don’t want websites, phone systems, technical stuff, and complicated follow up systems. As business owners what we want is money in our bank accounts, getting there as if on auto pilot.

That’s the point.  And the bottom line.

So how does corporate thinking (or thinking you’re “corporate”) fit into all this?

The “Myth of Big?”

Let me ask you a few questions:

• Why are you in business?
• Why take on all that risk, hard work, long hours?
• To realize your dream?
• To create a working arrangement/structure to support your lifestyle, family, etc.?

So how does that fit into a business model along the lines of GE, IBM, etc?

If you asked enough people, perhaps they think “stability” when asked to name one dominant quality of large corporations…

My grandfather’s idea of “retirement planning,” learned from many sessions around his kitchen table when I’d visit with my dad, was to “get a good job, don’t do anything stupid to lose it, and get the gold watch.”

No doubt, that myth of stability still prevails today.

So how does that ideal match up with reality?  Turn on the news and what do you find?  Layoffs.  Outsourcing overseas.  Downsizing.  Pension defaults.

The list goes on.

Not to mention, here are a number of features of “corporate reality” that do NOT lend themselves to business success…

• political infighting
• rigid organizational charts
• layered hierarchies of middle managers (i.e. “chain of command”)
• lack of flexibility

Put another way, if you’re heading toward an iceberg in the middle of the night, which “boat” has a better chance to avoid the collision:  the SS Minnow or the Titanic?

Business Success Depends on Flexibility

Think about this for a moment.

Dinosaurs once ruled the earth.  Then a comet or meteor crashed into the Yucatan peninsula, and ALL the rules changed overnight.

Small mammals survived.

And the once proud kings of the earth, those large hulking monsters, were reduced to ashes.  And eventually ended up in our gas tanks.

Go figure…

Because sometimes (most times) when things are a changing FAST, it pays to be small.

So stop layering on the complexity with…

• overly complicated “strategic” planning
• layers of “gatekeepers” between you and your potential customer
• phone menu systems (press 1 for yada, yada, yada…)
• treating your potential customer like a “customer.”

Just stop trying to play “catch up” or “follow the leader.”

Simply build the kind of business YOU would like to interact with if you were the customer. Stop trying to be a “CEO” and start thinking like a person.

Ask yourself this question: “as a potential customer/client/patient, how would I want to be treated?”

That, my friends, is the KEY to business success. So just stop acting all corporate, okay?

Because, believe it or not, those large corporations are actually beginning to change the way they do business. They are becoming small (remember the “news” example above?)

CEOs are online, using blogs, twitter, facebook, and other resources to look and act small.

That’s right.

They understand that it’s not about selling to customers, but building community.

Slowly but surely they are adapting.  So what are you copying, anyway?

An Invitation…

At the end of this month or the beginning of next, we are hosting a private 2 to 3 hour seminar for some of our clients and friends. The seminar is called “Blogging 4 Business: How to Effectively Use Social Media.”

The seminar will be captured on video, and each attendee will receive a DVD copy of the talk.

Attendance will be capped at 20, and to be honest most of those slots are already filled.

So why mention this to you? For 2 reasons…

Well, if you can make it to New Haven and would like to attend, please send Rob or myself an email.  It will be held on a Tuesday or Thursday, and once a date firms up (asking all attendees right now what date and time works for them) we’ll let you know.

If you can’t attend but would like a copy of the DVD, they will be available at the end of March for $97 dollars.  It will be packed with enough tips and strategies to return 10 times your investment.

However, if you would like to get on the announcement list and lock in a pre-release price of $49 dollars, just request to join our newsletter and you’ll be on the list.  Does that sound fair enough to you?

Please leave us your comments, questions or concerns about this or any article and perhaps we’ll spotlight you on our next post.  So stay tuned…

Next Steps…

Any questions?  Comments?  Did we hit a nerve?

Drop us a line by leaving a comment.  We will reply (here, and by email if you’d like) as soon as we’re able.  And if there’s a topic you want us to discuss, let us know.

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