It’s Not the Economy, Stupid. It’s You!

I’m going to let you in on a secret. Your accountant won’t tell you, your lawyer won’t tell you. This may not sit well with some readers, but the dirty little secret that advisors to business don’t say in public, and certainly don’t tell you… is that the biggest problem in many businesses is not the staff, not the economy, not the landlord, not the blah, blah, blah. The single biggest problem in many, many a business is YOU, the owner.

Some examples to illustrate:

You have deadbeat clients owing you money 30, 60, 90 or even more days after the service.

It’s not them. It’s you.

You have employees who consistently underachieve or fail to maintain a standard that you’re happy with.

It’s not them. It’s you.

There’s a lack of money in the business to do the things the business needs.

That’s you.

Got employees who aren’t as good as you?

You.

Your business falls in a heap if you aren’t there.

You got it!

Your suppliers are cutting off your stock purchases or giving you no special terms.

You again.

There are customers complaining about their orders not being fulfilled, on time or correctly.

Yup. You again.

You’ve got staff who are doing work but you don’t really know what they do, or why they do it, or if it serves any purpose.

You know who…

Your marketing delivers a result but you don’t really understand what the returns are on your investment.

Well, you get the picture…

If you have things in your business that aren’t working at peak efficiency, walk to the bathroom and look in the mirror because that’s the culprit to blame.

Just in these few (and common) issues above, we see lack of discipline, lack of systems, lack of courage, lack of policy, lack of proper procedure and certainly a lack of vision and overall direction for the business. There are no goals for the stakeholders in the business to work toward. In other words: poor management.

On the positive side (thank goodness there is a remedy to this!) you are also the key to correcting the situation. Only you can do it. It is your business and your decisions are what put you where you are. Only the decisions you make from here on out will improve (or exacerbate) your current position.

There is nothing wrong with making mistakes. We are all human, we can all do that. Where it becomes shameful – and stupid – is to keep doing what doesn’t work, and not attend to fixing the problem while it can still be corrected.

If you allow your ego to get in the way of getting the help you need… the help THE BUSINESS needs to prosper… now that would be stupid.