It’s funny how the idea of New Year’s resolutions can be so polarizing. While some are inspired by the notion of some part of their lives, others offer their own version of .
Imagine you’re speed dating and have 30 seconds to impress the total stranger across the table from you. Should you go with the basics (your name, where you were born, what you do for a living) or open by sharing that you were recently on an episode of Man vs Wild with Bear Grylls?
You see the difference, right? The second approach instantly lets the person across from you know that you are adventurous, curious and brave. It also makes you stand out from the other people, many of whom probably went with the first approach, leading to a boring conversation that didn’t really go anywhere new.
Now think about the style of that second approach and scrutinize your own brand. What kind of conversation does your website start? Does your brand personality shine through? Is it interesting or run-of-the-mill? Are you communicating your ?
Can you delight your customers in a similar manner? Analyze your customers’ experience with your company from beginning to middle to end. Where can you inject some added value?
A weak spot in any business can be a growth opportunity if you apply your creativity. No, that’s not a cheesy motivational line.
Take, for example, bakery in New York City. In the cupcake shop’s early days, they suffered slow Monday nights. One of the owners had the idea to host classes where they taught customers how to bake and decorate their own cupcakes. Sounds cannibalistic, right?
Wrong. Only two short years later, more than 10,000 people have now been a part of “cupcake classroom.” The business owners created a significant new revenue stream, said goodbye to slow Mondays and even expanded their company to a second location.
Sara Blakely, founder of , has said her father used to encourage her to fail when she was young. If she didn’t have failures to share at the dinner table, he would be disappointed.
Look back at your company’s 2012 and create a list of what didn’t work—you know, the exact opposite of those newsletters people send with holiday cards. How many failures are on your list? Would you make Blakely’s dad proud?
The point here is to embrace your failures and use them as jumping-off points for the next great idea. Failing doesn’t mean you’re a loser; it means you need to make a few more tweaks before your idea is at its best.
People who analyze their mistakes and learn from them become smarter and savvier. Isn’t that just the kind of entrepreneur you want to be in 2013?
Nidhi Thapar helps small business owners and solopreneurs make money and do good. Follow her insights on her or check her out on .
In “cocktail party” mode, circulating around the room, half of the people were directed to ask a question and the other half to say NO 9 times and YES on the 10th query. So as you asked your question, you got many rejections but randomly a YES!! A great way to train your brain to keep trucking no matter how many failures you experience.
I loved the “creating value in unexpected places” tip. I often try to do this for people in my network, whether it be sharing a quick note via email with someone whose webinar inspired me, or sharing an article with someone who I think may help the and their business, I try to make sure that I am adding to the lives of the people in my network. Thanks for this post!
Great tips, Christina. Don’t you find that when you give more, you get more?
Absolutely! I love it. Some of these value-added relationships actually turn into great friendships.