Business consultants love to talk about best practices because it makes their job easier – and they are not alone.
Many contractors, educators, and salespeople do the same. They have a few solutions that they have perfected – then they apply them to problems that may or may not fit that solution.
That’s the problem. Best practices may be well-practiced by others, but are they what’s best for your small business?
What Needs to be Fixed
The one question you should ask yourself every day is: What does my business most need right now? Then ask that same question looking down the road a little, and again while gazing even further into the future.
Leading companies in every industry have developed practices that are working for them. You can and certainly should learn from them. Though you will also want to consider some especially relevant factors that are unique to your situation – such as your company culture and the customers you serve.
Ideal is Better than Best
If you follow the best practices of your industry, you may well succeed. Though there is a risk in following the leaders in your industry. You are now a follower that may not be thinking about how to make your practices even better.
Sometimes when you are a little ignorant of the right or best way to accomplish an objective, you come up with one that is innovative – one that is ideally suited to your business.
Best practices will increase your odds of succeeding, but innovation that leads to ideal practices could make your business wildly successful.
And guess what? Now you have become the leader.
Congruency is A Form of Innovation
Most businesses, and certainly most small businesses are challenged with the one habit that undermines their success – consistency. The ideas you are now reading are the result of my efforts to build more congruency, and therefore consistency, into my work.
Most of us have developed the habit of consistency in at least a few areas of our businesses. Yet, it’s difficult to achieve that across the board because not all of the pieces fit well together. Look for ways to achieve congruency among the various disciplines in your business and you will greatly simplify your work.
For example, take a look at the topic areas in the secondary navigation menu of this blog (the bottom row). Small business, SEO, social media, content marketing, online marketing, social business, and small business trends are not just the focus of this blog.
They are congruent with my consulting work, the book I’m writing, and my presentations for small businesses.
How about you?
Can you identify those areas within your business that if you innovated and made them more congruent would better serve your customers or clients – and make you more successful?
In my opinion, the biggest lie in marketing is one size fits all. Why?
Because we all know it’s never true.
Collaborate with your customers and then innovate to create practices that will ideally serve them better.
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Until tomorrow, Jeff
Photo Credit: sylvar
