How to Win in Business
“You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, and expect to win” Zig Ziglar
Zig Ziglar was a remarkably motivating speaker whose words inspired millions of people to be successful all around the world in their personal and business lives.
After such a positive statement I hate to have to say that statistics show that 20% of businesses fail in the first year, a further 33% fail in the second year and by the time the tenth year occurs 70% of the start-up businesses have failed.
But back to Zig Ziglar, who tells us we were born to win.
You started up in business so your expectation was to win. So that was how you started in business. On a scale of 1 to 10 what’s your number now? 10 being the highest and we won’t talk about 1.
If you scored yourself less than 8, maybe you no longer expect to win… why’s that?
Whether you are expecting to win or not do you have a plan?
Zig Ziglar also said “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great”.
So that doesn’t mean you have to be perfect, but I can categorically say this, starting without a plan and without an expectation of winning you will undoubtedly be adding to the statistics.
If you have a plan, even if it’s just not going to plan right now, at least there is an expectation of winning.
If you haven’t got a plan how do you know what you want to achieve and where you want to go?
But it’s not just about the plan it’s also about the execution, following the plan. The making it happen.
For some people, and that’s a very, very small number, they are able to stay with the plan and not allow themselves to be diverted along the way. For these people there is a danger of blinkered vision and a failure to see something coming along the way.
Other people have a plan and put it in the bottom draw. Interesting strategy and that’s what I call a 100% failure to execute. Perhaps it could be said “a plan to fail”.
Some people keep the plan on top of their desk, will do what’s easy and then relegate it the bottom draw. And that’s what I call picking off the low hanging fruit and leaving the really good stuff on the top of the tree for the competitors to eat. Maybe it’s got too hard or you just don’t feel comfortable about it.
Generally speaking, if something is outside of your comfort zone there are two reasons for it. Either you don’t know how to do it or you don’t have the confidence to do it. Each reason follows the other like night and day.
If you have ever been in a coaching relationship or talked to anyone that has been coached to success, you will know that there are many benefits of being part of that process.
Coaching has been known to boost confidence, improve work performance, and build effective communication skills.
Coaching gives the business owners an opportunity to define their goals in a realistic way. With the help of a coach, they can set the goals and then actively work towards them whilst being accountable to the coach, their partners and themselves.
But you need to choose a good coach that has had some real business experience and knowledge. Someone that is prepared to listen, to empathise, to question, to share, to give feedback, offer guidance and someone that you feel you can trust to go to and talk through often sensitive issues to gain perspective.
A plan and a coach to keep you accountable you have a plan to win and an expectation to be a winner.
Back