Working on your Business

Most business owners are so terribly busy working IN their business they never have the time to work ON their business.

As you know, this is a very hot topic for all business owners or managers. Being swept away by the day-to-day, many important areas of a business are simply neglected. A business quickly becomes busyness.

Precisely why there is a fundamental lacking of proper brand development among the majority of small and medium businesses.

Working ON your business is key to cultivating and fortifying your brand-centric mindset. This is critical to your business’ creativity and quality because it fuels your drive, vision, and unique aspects that make your business more than just the product or service you offer.

Just as a restaurant suffers if they only focus on the meal and neglect the plating, cleanliness, ingredient sourcing, timing, interior design, music, etc. (For more info on this, see this article) — your product or service simply can’t be the “best” due to subjectivity. It is pointless to waste all of your time and energy working IN the business. As the leader, you must step out and maintain the vision for the business and navigate the ship. Whether that means getting the ship safely to shore or setting sail on a new voyage to explore undiscovered islands.

Working ON your business takes a change of perspective. Part of this perspective is stepping out of the day-to-day busyness and viewing the big picture for the business. This “big picture” is directly connected to the overall experience, vision, and perception of your business (AKA your brand)

These elements help make up the cocktail we call “brand” — the important thing here to note is perception. “Perception” is completely subjective to each individual your business interacts with. When working on your business, it’s vital to keep this in mind and remember that depending on who you wish to communicate with (and sell to) these attributes of the brand experience must tailor to bring value for that particular individual.
It’s impossible to have everyone love you. Focus on those who align with your business and see the value you provide.

Lean in and listen to them. Then lean into this perception and leverage it.