If you don’t drive your business, you will be driven out of business. – B. C. Forbes
I make it a practice to design my learning products to match what I’m seeing that people need in the market that I serve. I see people stall, compromise their success, or fail without understanding why. Awareness is a primary leadership skill and it’s very lacking.
The Ballou Principle, the “10-90 Rule,” states that our skill, our products, our services, etc., are only 10% of our business. Yes, our IP is only 10% of what we need to succeed! The remaining 90% of what we need is mostly comprised with what we don’t know and what we don’t realize that we need. It’s this 90% that makes the 10% happen!
Everyday, I meet leaders who have a great product or service and think that the power of the product or service will provide the success that they need – mostly, that’s not true. Leadership is not a skill that comes naturally and certainly is not inherited. There are many things to learn about leading teams and building successful businesses. There’s a sequence and system for creating a successful business. Just because you have a great idea or a product that will change people’s lives, that does not ensure success. There are many failed products on warehouse shelves, in storage containers, in second-hand stores, etc. Lots of time and money were dedicated to launching an unsuccessful business.
If you look at the history of Apple, you will see that they had many products that failed. Even with their substantial reputation, tribe of fans, and marketing expertise, many products didn’t get market traction.
I’ve created products of all types that didn’t shake up the world. I created what I saw that entrepreneurs needed, but they didn’t know that they needed those products. Some got it and some didn’t. Some took the courses and then went back to doing what they were doing before and continued down a pathway to failure. Dunn & Bradstreet did a study in 1995 of failed entrepreneurs and found that 90% failed because they didn’t have the skill to run the business. Now, that’s a pattern.
I meet lots of people and interview them to see if they could be a good fit for one of my programs. Many of them do not have the self-awareness to know what they need, so it’s not a good fit for me. If I am going to be effective with anyone, then they must be willing to work, first on themselves, and then on the business they have or hope to have. There’s no short-cut to success. It’s hard work; however, just hard work doesn’t equal success. Many people I meet who say they are stuck work as hard as they possibly can. Working hard and smart is my answer.
To be the most effective leader, first look for patterns. What’s working and what’s not working? If you have a product or service, then determine who needs it and why they need it. Is there a pattern of need and desire? Maybe your desired product or service isn’t what people think that they need. So, design what they think they need or find a way to share why they need what you offer.
A successful business makes money by filling the needs of customers. I work with business owners, helping them to develop a strategy and system for filling those needs and providing value to customers. More often than not, there’s a strategy of discovery (learning what people need, rather than assuming what they need), testing (finding out if anyone will buy it), and scaling the production or service delivery so that there is life after business. Our macro strategy is creating the life that we want and the business to support that life.
I serve as coach to people who have ideas, products, and services that change people’s lives. Much of what I offer is free. Take advantage of my free report, “How to Build the Business of Your Dreams,” at http://www.theleaderaccelerator.com There’s a free report and a series of video lessons that will help you rethink things if they are not going well, or to ramp up your progress if things are good and your goal is to get better.
Enjoy!
Hugh Ballou
The Transformational Leadership Strategist TM
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