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Transcript
Hi, I’m Carmen Sognonvi. Running a successful local business is not just about doing the right things, it’s about thinking the right way.
In this video, I’m going to share with you the single biggest mistake you could be making in your mindset and explain why this mistake could devastate your business.
Make sure to watch till the end because I’ll tell you where you can find a bonus video that has a extra power tip just for you!
So what’s the biggest mindset mistake entrepreneurs make? Getting complacent.
Once you’re out of the desperate start-up days and you begin experiencing some stability, it’s easy to get a little bit too relaxed.
You start sleeping in an extra hour. Or taking an extra day or two to call a prospect back.
Trust me, I’ve been there. And it’s a daily struggle for me too.
But the next time you find yourself feeling little complacent, keep this in mind…
Complacency is the kiss of death for entrepreneurs.
You should never take anything for granted. The phone may be ringing off the hook now, but it could stop. The customers who love you today may not be there tomorrow.
The moment you get complacent is the moment you give up on your business.
So how do you stop yourself from settling into complacency?
1. Hold yourself to a higher standard
Don’t just compare yourself to your local competitors.
Your goal shouldn’t be to do a little better than the other guy in your town. You should aim to blow them out of the water – to be in a totally different stratosphere.
So if you own a motel, don’t compare yourself to the local Super 8. Compare yourself to the Four Seasons.
By constantly holding yourself to a higher standard, you’ll prevent complacency from setting in.
2. Market consistently, even when sales are up
Here’s a quick story about that.
A couple years ago at Urban Martial Arts, our karate school, things were really busy. We were signing up so many new students that we could hardly keep up – it was an exciting time.
Then all of a sudden…
the number of phone calls and walk-ins dropped significantly, and new enrollment slowed to a crawl. We were like, what the heck happened?
We thought about it some more and we realized that when we got busy, we stopped doing a lot of the marketing activities we’d been doing before. And we were now seeing the delayed results of that.
So keep in mind that each marketing activity you do is like planting seeds that may not bloom until two weeks, two months, or even two years from now.
When sales are up, it may be tempting to focus less on marketing. If you stop marketing, you may not see the effect right away, but understand that you could pay the price later on.
If you want a consistent stream of prospective customers, you have to market consistently.
3. Never stop learning
The most dangerous trap you can fall into as an entrepreneur is to think that you’ve got it all figured out, that you know all the answers, that there’s nothing left to learn.
Because guess what?
The ground under your feet is shifting. New technologies come along everyday that disrupt entire industries. Changing demographics transform entire communities.
If you want your business to not only survive, but thrive, you need to know what’s happening in the world and keep feeding your brain.
There are so many free resources online nowadays that there’s simply no excuse to stop learning and growing. It’s one of your core functions as an entrepreneur.
If you found this video useful, please sign up to get free email updates! You’ll get more great tips on how to run a successful local business, along with occasional special offers from me. If you’re already on my blog, just fill out the form below. Or if you’re watching this video elsewhere, go to visit www.carmensognonvi.com/newsletter
Now as promised, I’ve got a bonus video for you that has one extra power tip for you on this topic.
To watch it, just head over to https://www.carmensognonvi.com/neversettlebonus
Thanks for watching, and I’d love to hear your tips on how you stop yourself from settling into complacency.
Get free local marketing tips from Carmen
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