The Need for Speed
This week, we’ll be talking about a topic that I’m really highly motivated, energetic and passionate about: increasing speed in your business.
There seems to be a lot of confusion out there in the business world, in the entrepreneurial world. I really wanted to take this opportunity to give you a methodology on how you can increase speed in your business, because most of you are probably working from home. You may still be trying to find routines, trying to find habits, even six, seven months down the line, since the pandemic is here, it can be extremely difficult to wait for normality.
I’ve worked with numerous companies, small and big. There was one particular company that I remember working with a couple of years ago, that was based in Scandinavia. They drafted me in because they saw that we had written a few articles and published them on LinkedIn. One of the partners of the financial firm contacted me and told me that they love the content that we’re creating right now. They wanted us to teach their senior management about how they could increase speed in their business. We sent out a questionnaire, did some due diligence and preparation, and asked what the real reason was for me to be there. They told me that, being a financial firm, they didn’t seem to be as productive as they could be. They didn’t seem to be making fast decisions like they should. They didn’t seem to be moving at the speed that they were happy with.
One of the foundations that I teach a lot of my clients is about going back to your core vision. A vision is essentially what you want to achieve in the long term. It should be a 10-year view. This gives a business a structure gives people a direction or a goal to move towards.
The financial company that had contacted me didn’t really have a vision and a lot of the values were completely disproportionate to each other. They also weren’t aligned to the company. Partners were bickering and arguing, not respecting each other’s opinion. It was a toxic culture between these guys, but they just weren’t gelling, they weren’t connecting, they weren’t clicking.
I suggested that they go back to the vision and to the foundations. I think what a lot of companies overlook the core foundations. What is the big long-term goal? What is it that you want to achieve? What is your mission every day? What is it that that your staff, your workforce, your team do every day? What gives you this motivational energy? And what are the values?
I like to practice what you preach at the end of the day. That’s so important.
Some really great examples of companies that became complacent are Tower Records, or in the UK HMV. Tower Records and HMV, back in the heyday, especially around sort of the 70's, the 80's, were juggernauts in the music industry. They represented big artists and you’d go into a HMV, or a Tower Records, you pick up your records, LPs, or CDs. But then Spotify came in because they could anticipate people going online more. There, you could get a free account and listen to people’s music. Tower Records don’t exist anymore and HMV have one or two stores. And the reason why they failed as a business is because they didn’t adapt to the climate. They didn’t take the consumers’ habits into consideration, they were too slow to move and adapt with the times.
It’s exactly the same with Blockbuster Video, for example. Blockbuster Video was big in its heyday, right back in the 90's. We would go down to the local video store, pick up your VHS, pick up your popcorn and your soda and go home and watch a movie. Two nights later, you take it back.
What changed Blockbuster Video? Again, they became complacent, they failed to adapt and learn about people’s shopping habits. This is when Netflix came in. Netflix wiped Blockbuster off the planet.
The same is true for Woolworths in the UK. What was a big juggernaut offering convenience products and food products. I love the Ladybird clothing line. But again, they failed to adapt to consumers’ habits. When Amazon appeared on the market, they understood how people’s habits were changing. They’re a big juggernaut. They’re one of the biggest and wealthiest companies in the world.
For these businesses, it wasn’t just because they failed to adapt. There are a number of reasons why a lot of smaller companies also don’t survive.
Bureaucracy and politics do not pay the bills. Neither does perfectionism. If you bring those things into a business, they’re going to slow your company right down. It is important to eliminate those things straightaway. If you eliminate those things, I can personally guarantee you will get natural speed.
Speed: I love creating new ideas. New ideas are great, but implementation is even better. This year, for example, we created the Game Changers Summit
You also need to focus on work ethic — creating a culture of hustle and working hard is going to trump anything in business.
There is a lot of confusion in the world right now, and some people are waiting for normality, whatever that looks like. There’s no such thing as normality. Some are waiting for everything to be perfect; a perfect world, perfect people, perfect products. If you’re waiting for the perfect opportunity, whatever that looks like, it’s made up in your head. There’s no such thing as perfection.
It’s all about how quickly you can implement and adapt to the market and stay ahead of the competition. It’s about what it is that you can do differently. What is it that you can bring to the table? What are you identifying in terms of the market, the needs, the anticipation.
One of the things that we did back in March is some due diligence and some market research. We wanted to find out what people’s pain-points were, what is it that kept them up at night. As soon as we found that information out, we then came up with an idea for a summit. We essentially went back to those people and explained the idea and the benefits that they would reap from it, and asked whether they would be interested in participating. Of course, 98% of people agreed.
With so much going on in the world right now, including distractions, pandemic, economy, and things like that, we have to remember that those are things that you cannot control. What you can control is how your business is going to thrive in these times.
There are businesses that are absolutely thriving right now. This is possible because a vision has been created. I’m in a massive mission right now to inspire people so that they can create the clarity they need, so that he can take fast and decisive action. I love working with small business owners and entrepreneurs If you start creating speed in your life, it creates momentum and increases your confidence. When you increase your confidence, you start to see results. And when you start to see results, you start to get excited. You start to get that energy, you start to think about what gets you fired up.
Make sure that you take these ingredients into consideration, because then you can add it to the recipe that you’ve already got. You can then create the speed that you need in your business. Speed crushes limitations — if you have limiting beliefs, are distracted by different things, speed helps you focus. I don’t worry about what’s happening in the world. What I worry about is what impact I want to create. What value can I bring to the table? How can I help people? How can I make people’s lives easier? What is it that I can do differently to inspire and motivate people.
You’ve also got to create a culture of speed because if you execute quickly, if you take action fast, then your team members, your staff members are also going to be inspired by your fast action. And in these times, you don’t have time to sit around, procrastinate or worry about what’s happening in the world and the economy and the pandemic. You cannot control these things. What you can control is how you show up every day. What you can control is the difference that you can make to people’s lives. What you can control is how you give value to people and how you show up, and how you can effectively take action.
I hope this article has helped you. Remember, if you have any comments, feel free to reach out to me on social media or on the podcast, where we love seeing comments.
