This the fourth post in my series of posts about The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey. It is my slant on each of the habits, and how each relates to being a small business owner. To read the whole series, click here.
Habit #4: Think Win-Win
Win-win is more than an attitude. It’s a concept that will help you grow your business.
Competition is one of the things that often comes up when we are talking about marketing, and just being in business.
We look at our competitors, we study their moves, we want to know what they are doing right and what they are doing wrong.
But keeping your competitors at arms’ length doesn’t always work – perhaps if you are selling products it might be an effective strategy, but not in the service industry.
When you are in a service business, you are selling yourself. So, really, there isn’t any competition. Who could possibly compete with you? You are unique and different from everyone else. Your clients decide to work with you because of YOU, not because of many other reasons. And not all clients will be a good fit with you.
So then we think of our fellow service business owners as colleagues. And they are just that.
Try not to compare yourself to the others who provide similar services as you. Think of them as people to grow with, learn from, and share with.
Doing so will build your confidence much faster, and you will develop better business relationships too.
And by developing better business relationships, your business will grow. That’s win-win.
I’d love for you to share your insights about win-win mentality on my Facebook page.
