Hi Friends!
In case you haven’t noticed this world has changed rapidly and is still on the continuum of change, but I want encourage you today with one piece of practical advice, “Don’t be swayed by the Times”! The next couple of weeks, I will be sending out practical Business Principles that you can utilize in your Business to advance your overall Business impact and success in Today’s society. You don’t want to miss these emails! Subscribe Here so you don’t miss out! These Business principles, much like me, are untraditional and most likely countercultural to the mainstream media messages out there. These principles are practical strategies based on faith based principles that will challenge you to change your mindset and help you to navigate the times ahead. You have more power to sustain, survive and persevere than you know. Now, let’s talk about it!
Today’s Business principle: Steer your Course Rightly
This Business principle is derived from Proverbs 1:5, “The wise also will hear and increase in learning, and the person of understanding will acquire skill and attain to sound counsel [so that he may be able to steer his course rightly].” The word that I want to focus on from this principle is steer. According to the Oxford dictionary, the word steer as a noun means “a piece of advice or information concerning the development of a situation.” As a verb, the word steer means, “guide or control the movement of”. In the midst of a changing economic system, the advice often given is to “follow the trend of the market”. Well, as most of you probably already know by now, trends are not my thing.
I was having an interesting conversation with a business owner a few weeks back. He began to explain to me that some of the decisions he was making in his business was because of what he had previously lost during the pandemic. After listening to his point of view, I responded, “Profit and Loss are two components that are inevitable as it relates to business. However, we can never be emotionally attached to the Loss especially to the point where we are more consumed with regaining the profit and less concerned with providing the service”.
While I understand the popular standard rule of Business, “We are in Business to make money”. I believe that when money becomes the factor that steers your course in business, it has the potential to cloud your vision, hinder your growth, and decrease your clientele. I’ve learned that people will pay more money for the quality of service, peace of mind that comes with being able to trust the producer, and most importantly the consideration of the consumer.
Providing these three qualities will provoke any consumer to pay what you ask, and you will acquire many more consumers without having to raise your prices to compete with “the market”, because the service you provide will speak for itself. “The market” isn’t in control, WE ARE. Greed produces Greed, Prudence produces Prudence, Integrity and Service produce increased Business profits!
3 Strategies to Steer your Course Rightly
1. Be brave enough to do something different! Remember Proverbs 1:5, “The wise will hear and increase in learning.…” We have seen history repeat itself over and over again. Repetition of events or series of events are called cycles. One can only break a cycle when he or she is brave enough to do something different. The problem in our world is that many are not brave enough to go against the grain and operate differently in their business. We see many people start with a heart of service only to later neglect it in pursuit of the dollar signs. It’s not about being the “greatest”, but it’s about being brave enough to forsake fear and abandon the quick money trends and really serve your audience of people. Honestly, if I hear the media say go high, I go low, and vice versa. Wise people learn from previous mistakes or from the mistakes of others, thus why they’re called wise. It’s difficult to learn when you’re running in the rat race of what’s going on. When you see prices rising, find ways to keep your business affordable. How? Well, I’m glad you asked! It’s called partnership. Find others that are in your field of work who are willing to partner with you in making an effort to do something different and meet the needs of your consumers in a way that allows them to keep buying from you and doesn’t rob you of profits because your prices are too high.
2. “…The person of understanding will acquire skill and attain sound counsel”. Skill is acquired through learning and experience. When you learn how to produce the things needed for your business within your business the less subject you are to those who are blinded by the anxiety and uncertainty of what’s going on in our current climate. I’ve learned during the production of the products that I’ve created how to gather people on my team that are skilled in doing what’s needed, in house, as opposed to relying on third parties who are afraid of the current changes and as a result inflate their prices predicated on their fear of change. Build your Business during these times so that you are not subject to being affected by anyone else’s.
3. Attain sound counsel. The word sound means “reasoning, or evidence that’s reliable and sensible”. The word counsel means “advice”. So when business women and men rely on an ever fluctuating market for advice and decisions pertaining to the livelihood and future of their business, this would not be considered sound counsel. It’s more like relying on a system to predict their success or failure. Here again, I emphasize, The Market IS NOT in CONTROL, WE ARE! The market trends are consistently fluctuating and changing which is enough to cause anyone to panic and be double minded during these times. However, when you choose to remain stable and sensible even in the midst of a fluctuating and unfamiliar climate, you not only provide stability for yourself, but for your business and the consumer as well. Longevity in Business is established when people can rely on your consistency even in the midst of changing times.
I challenge each of you reading this post today to consider exercising the 3 strategies listed above and presented from Proverbs 1:5 to course correct and “steer your course rightly” this day!
Talk with you soon my fellow Business colleagues!
And as always, I am praying for the Best in Your Life, Business, & Success,
Sherron
