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Julia TalksIt occurred to me that the current weird weather is a little like the climate for doing business. At the moment (August 2012) it’s almost impossible to tell what the weather’s going to be like in an hour, let alone for the rest of the week.
The unpredictable weather means that you don’t know if you should be wearing a summer frock and sandals, or bundling up in a big jumper and boots.
In business, we don’t know what’s going to be happening later in the week, or next month. We can’t predict when that big order is going to come in, or when that invoice is going to be paid. Over the last couple of years, things have become more and more uncertain for business, as consumer spending goes down, small businesses have become more careful with their budgets, and those of you who sell to big businesses will know how much longer it takes to get a decision made.
Which makes everything much more difficult and stressful. It’s become much harder to be confident about the decisions we make in business every day, just as much as it’s difficult to be sure that we’ve got the right shoes on. And we might end up getting our feet wet if we don’t make the right choice.
It doesn’t really matter
One of the key success factors in business is confidence. I see this time and time again with the businesses I work with – the people who have the confidence to make decisions and carry them out, are the people who are successful. The people who have the confidence to change course quickly are the ones who are growing their businesses.
I think this comes from wearing your cares and responsibilities lightly. Being able to make a decision and carry it through is actually much more important than making the right decision. If you can’t make the decision and move ahead, you’re just standing in front of the wardrobe in a daze, wondering what to wear – just because it might rain.
Well, it might rain. Or there might be beautiful sunshine and you’re a bit hot because you put a jumper on. But that’s okay – you’ll deal with it, just the same as you’ll deal with it if you make a decision in business and it turns out to be the wrong one.
