I know — you’re in business to sell something — sounds like such a basic principle. It’s so simple that it deserves a “duh” and forehead slap. And yet, it’s amazing how many small business owners don’t take the time to understand it, don’t practice it, don’t think it applies to them or lose sight of it. Owners who don’t follow this primary tenet are the rule, not the exception.
There’s a logical reason for that. The average owner starts or buys his company because he has experience with, expert knowledge of and/or an interest in the product or service. He feels comfortable and competent producing the product or offering the service. He sees self-employment as enjoyable, interesting, financially beneficial and liberating.
But, for the typical owner, selling the product is out of his comfort zone and uninteresting. In addition, he believes he doesn’t have the knowledge, skill or experience to put together an expert sales team. He ends up not dealing with it, because, after all, he went into business for himself so he “wouldn’t have to do the stuff I don’t want to do”.
He does what most people do; he ignores it while citing the excuse that he’s too busy to address it. Understand the irony here — he’s too busy to focus on selling the product he’s producing to sell. He doesn’t make the connection that he’s not in business to produce products — he’s in business to create revenue, which comes from producing the products.
Being unable to make this shift in perspective, and many owners aren’t willing to make it, is a primary reason why many small businesses fail. Being unwilling is a basic flaw in human nature; we focus on what we’re comfortable with, enjoy and are interested in. This narrows our mental field of view and creates tunnel vision. We become single-minded and too focused on limited goals or restricted points of view.
This tunnel vision, “All I have to do is put out a good product and the customer will find me” has bankrupted an incalculable number of businesses. Active, vigorous selling is the best way for the product or service to get to customers. Small business owners who understand and prioritize this simple principle always have a better chance of staying open than those who don’t.
