Adhering to a standard is not too hard. Anyone that can read (and comprehend) is usually able to do it. Read. Understand. Follow. Repeat. Not too hard. Going above and beyond the standards? Now that’s hard. Too hard for most people. Which is fine, because most potential customers aren’t interested in paying for anything more than an average product. Average …

Once we’ve arrived, getting a new customer is probably pretty easy. We’ve done it so many times before, it’s just another day at the office. But if we’re still waiting to arrive, it’s a whole lot more difficult. Working; struggling; taking our lumps; it’s a painful process trying to figure it all out. Makes you think back to that old …

We all know what it is that we’ve got to offer. We see it every day. We’re intimately involved. We live it. Unfortunately, our potential clients don’t see it. They don’t know us like we know us. They don’t get to see everything we do for our customers. They don’t know how many hours we’ve put in behind the scenes …

It’s difficult for us to deal with things in the future. It’s human nature to focus on the present, to deal with what’s right in front of us, and worry about our future problems when they happen. But the worst way to deal with a dissatisfied customer is to wait until they contact us with a complaint. By the time …

One of the drawbacks to growing our business is that we start to work with bigger numbers. We no longer see each client as an individual, as they all meld together to form our bottom line. No longer a customer, simply a number on a spreadsheet. It happens to most businesses as they get bigger: they lose that “personal touch” …

Most people wish for their lives (and their businesses) to remain static. Everything’s going along just fine. Why can’t it stay like this? The unfortunate truth is that things change. Our clients change. Our industry changes. Our outlook changes. Time marches on, and if we don’t adapt, we’re left behind. Change is going to happen, no matter our wishes. We …

Things don’t always work out the way we want. In fact, they hardly ever go according to plan. And then we get upset. What if, instead of getting upset, we simply built a little buffer into our process? After all, we know that something is going to happen that we can’t predict. Why not plan for it? The true man …

Especially when we first start out, it may feel like we’ll never achieve success. But never is a really, really long time. Maybe if we just changed our point of view a bit, and let “never” morph into “eventually.” Eventually, we’ll find success. Doesn’t that sound a lot better?

“It’s good enough” is the enemy of progress. “I know what I’m doing” keeps us from getting better. “This is exactly what my customers want” is a way for us to hide. Change is risky. Change is difficult. Change is scary. We’re wired to be afraid of anything that’s different, but it’s the only way to get where we really …

We often assume that it’s obvious why we do and say the things we do. And we all know the old saying about what happens when we “assume.” Instead of assuming, wouldn’t it be better for everyone involved (for both us and our clients) if we simply took a few extra minutes to make sure that everything is crystal clear? …