Is It Always Your Way Or The Highway? Why This Isn’t Always The Best Approach In Business

ByWomen's Business Club

Jul 1, 2019

You take your business extremely seriously. After all, it’s the means by which you have expressed yourself and delivered your mission statement to the world. It’s the means by which you have eschewed the rat race and asserted control over your career and your livelihood. What’s more, your customers have come to rely on your business for the products or services you provide and you provide a livelihood for your team and a means by which they can achieve their goals. In order to do this, however, you’ve had to establish a strict set of operational parameters. A way of getting the job done that allows you to get the job done in a way that distances you from your competitors.

Image by Anton Petukhov via Flickr

In short, you’ve started right out the gate doing things your way.

It’s great to be able to find a set of operational protocols that works for you, but we can quickly become a little too attached to doing things our way. It can make us reject good ideas out of hand or cause us to eschew help, advice and resources which could make our business stronger and our lives easier. If it’s a case of “your way or the highway”, your business could suffer if you don’t pay attention to the help and advice of…

Outsourced third parties

From digital marketing consultants to supply chain consultants like Paul Trudgian there are a plethora of ways in which you can augment your own knowledge and expertise with those of outsourced third parties. You may feel that this is a compromise or could risk your business losing its identity. But don’t forget that this is a buyer’s market. You have the luxury of taking the time to peruse third party service providers and find one whose vision and operational methods align with yours.

Your customers

Underestimate the value of customer feedback at your peril. Your customers allow you the valuable opportunity to see your operation from their perspective. This can help you to see past any blind spots you may have. After all, your business is your baby and we can be slow to recognize faults in our businesses in the same way that we can be slow to perceive faults in our own kids. Make sure that you have a means for gathering customer feedback and a proactive approach to handling complaints. 

Your employees

Like customers, your employees can bring a different perspective to your business. At the same time, however, they know how the proverbial sausage is made and they know what suggestions are workable and which may be unrealistic or irrelevant. This is why you should always have some kind of suggestion box or forum to allow team members to share their ideas. 

Other entrepreneurs

Finally, don’t forget the value that can be found in the perspective of mentors and business angels. They can draw on their own experience of similar situations and help you to find new solutions to old problems. They can identify shortcomings in your methods which you might be slow to recognize yourself.  

There’s a whole world of great advice out there. But sometimes we need to get out of our own way a little to hear it!

By Women's Business Club

Women's Business Club empowers women to succeed in business through awards, conferences, business support membership, and news. Find out more at www.womensbusiness.club or send your press release [email protected]. Articles and adverts are chargeable, see media pack at www.womensbusiness.club/media-pack