The first article in this series listed more than 25 tactics to increase your business success, all of them based on my experience. I started with nothing and didn’t get to college, so I know you can achieve maximum success, regardless of your education. E-mail me to get the first article (or any of the other articles) in the series. Each takes a closer look at one of the tactics listed in that first article.
Get over it. Life isn’t fair, and you can’t change that. But you can make it better. I found in the early days that many didn’t attend association meetings as they didn’t want to share information. Of course, they also didn’t learn anything.
At the time, everyone was worried about competition. I reckon there was a time, long ago, when we owned the marketplace, but the constant evolving nature of the auto salvage business is much faster and more powerful than any of us can imagine. So what is the best mindset to take in seeking to maximize your success in getting some of the pie?
My philosophy has always been that you are always going to be farther ahead when you share, participate and learn. Let’s get real. There are very few, if any, secrets in our business.
It’s mostly about execution. As an industry, whatever industry you are in, you are stronger working together than as an island. You are stronger because you contribute and share and you also take and learn. Consider how much faster yard owners who use peer benchmarking grow when compared to the yard owner that innovates in isolation.
Don’t be too afraid of your competitors. Most simply don’t care; they are always in a reactionary mode. I wrote the original article about the pie conspiracy in 1990, and it’s still true today. A lot of people are afraid that they will lose out by sharing what they know.
As individual business owners trying to work with others, we spend a lot of time making requests like these:
- Help me get a bigger piece of the pie.
- Stop them from getting any piece of the pie.
- Their piece of pie is bigger than mine. (That’s not fair. Make new rules.)
- The person cutting the pie is not being fair. (Make him cut it differently.)
- The new pie is not as good as the old pie. (Stop the new pie!)
Do what is right for you and your business. Don’t be myopic about your competitors. Always have positive energy, with a positive dissatisfaction for results, while being honest, fair, and transparent whenever possible. Offer pie to everyone, and you will always be a winner.
Remember only you can make business great!
Ron Sturgeon, Mr. Mission Possible, has been a successful business owner for more than 35 years. As a small business consultant, he can deliver wisdom and advice gleaned from an enviable business career that started when he opened a VW repair business as a homeless 17-year-old and culminated in the sale of several businesses he built to Fortune 500 companies.
Ron has helped bankers, lawyers, insurance agents, restaurant owners, and body shop owners, as well as countless salvage yard owners to become more successful business people. He is an expert in helping small business owners set the right business strategies, implement pay-for- performance, and find new customers on the web.
As a consultant, Ron shares his expertise in strategic planning, capitalization, compensation, growing market share, and more in his signature plainspoken style, providing field-proven, and high-profit best practices well ahead of the business news curve. Ron is the author of nine books, including How to Salvage More Millions from Your Small Business.
To inquire about consulting or keynote speaking, contact Ron at 817-834-3625, ext. 232, rons@MrMissionPossible.com, 5940 Eden, Haltom City, TX 76117.