Beating the traffic (read here) is like playing police and thieves. It gives you the illusion that you're smart for doing something that is against the law or rules and regulations without getting caught.
Such behaviors may give your business a boost so long you're not caught. Like the example of the small eatery that turned off the exhaust fan so that the smell of their food will attract passerby. But that is not going the solve the long term problem.
People get attracted by smell of nice food - that's a fact. If you know that you need to rely on the smell of your food to attract customers and you are not allowed to do so, what else can you do? Are there other ways of attracting passerby? Do you want to consider moving to somewhere? Are there any food businesses that do not rely on smell to attract customers? How do they do it? Are there any ideas from these businesses that you can adapt to your own business?
And what do all these mean to you?
Most of us, including myself, are conditioned over the years to expect people to dress and behave a certain way in different situations, things to work according to our expectations, businesses to be run according to industry norm. Anything that goes against what we deem as normal is abnormal. And that's why we look at people with suspecting eyes if they dress and behave differently from us. And that is the part that we must change in order to stand out from the rest of the competitors.
In business, the most challenging issue for you as business owner is not having not enough sales, lack of manpower, cash flow problems, operations issues, government rules and regulations, though they do give you a headache. The most challenging problem is the mindset you have.
In talking with other business owners, how many times have you come across them telling you that this cannot be done because of this and this and this reasons? This does not apply to me as my business is different? My customers are not going to do this because they have been doing that all these years. No, you can't send out that letter, it's too unprofessional and our customers will be offended. We need to put our brand in as it's our policy.
In consulting with a business owner, I proposed a strategy which runs contrary to what they have been doing all these years. In the end, they decided to stick with what they've been doing because they just cannot accept doing something entirely different, even though the strategy offers them higher saving in costs and a departure from what most of their competitors are doing. Perhaps I've not been convincing enough to address their concerns, but the proposal includes doing a series of tests to ensure the strategy is workable and a positioning strategy to differentiate them from their competitors. I'll share with you on the outcome in the future.
Of course, changing mindset is not asking you to jump in without looking at how deep is the sea. Doing this is foolish and you'll get yourself drowned. Changing mindset gives you the freedom and opportunity to explore the endless opportunities. What if you do this? How will the customers react if we take this away? Where can we do differently from the others?
Bear in mind that while this sounds simple, it is very difficult to implement. You'll often find yourself slipping back to your lizard mind. It takes conscious effort for you to keep reminding yourself.
It's not just one way. It's one way many ways.
Share your experiences dealing with mindset.