Fortunetelling 101 for Your Business
Written by Wendi Kelly - April 23, 2010 6 Comments
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could sneak into a brightly colored tent at a carnival and have the mysterious person staring into the crystal ball tell you if your business is going to be a success? Or what if she could tell you what aspects of your business were going to bring in the most money, which ones were going to fall flat on their face and which ones were going to be greeted with a murky mixed bag of reviews?
Would you gladly pay her the requested coin and tell all of your friends too? Would twitter be a buzz with the latest ‘How To’ trick to figuring out how to get more clients on the web?
Well gather round then, I’ve got my crystal ball and just for the occasion, I pulled out my only slightly moth eaten Grateful Dead skirt. It’s the closest I can come to gypsy- fashion at a moment’s notice, it will have to do. The price is cheap too. All you have to do is pull up a chair and take notes. A comment or two wouldn’t be out of line if you feel so inclined either. (That’s to bring back the comment-luv, we are starting a comment revolution in case you haven’t heard.)
Fortunetelling 101
Business Consultants act as Business fortune tellers in a way. It’s our job to listen to you and hear not what you are actually saying, but what you don’t say. Anyone can listen to the words coming out of your mouth. There isn’t a lot of great skill or training involved in that trick. Although some people would argue that the skill of engaged listening itself has become a lost art, what we do has to go beyond the point of engaged listening into something called empathic listening. We listen beyond the words and dig deeper for the emotion behind the words. We listen for the passion. We listen to find your focus.
Find the Focus, find the Future.
If I can find your focus, if you have a clear, concise detailed map carefully thought out that points to a pin-point place in the future, with a time line on how you are going to get there, if your tone is filled with passion and desire, if your eyes glow when you speak and your hands are animated and your step brisk, well then… your future is easy to read.
You are going to be a success. One way or another, no matter what the world tries to throw at you, my money is on you. You will rise above the tide, toss aside the excuses, put your head to the grindstone and keep your head on the goal. We can check in from time to time, mostly for a drink or a cup of tea. but you don’t need me. I’ll meet you at the finish line and we’ll celebrate to both of our mutual success. Cheers.
The Creative Dance in Wonderland
If when we talk, we are all a glow about your next new idea, better than the last, which was also good and you are going to finish as soon as this new one is done, unless this one takes off and is the REALLY big one, which you suspect because you can just feel it inside, differently then the last ten really big ones…then I can easily tell you what your future will be. Your future will be more good ideas all started and mostly unfinished and those that are, will be started and built up and maybe even gotten off the ground with a flicker and a bang until they fizzle and lie forgotten on the ground while you get excited by the first start-up company that comes and offers you a job or you start one yourself. You are in dire need of someone to help you with follow through. It isn’t that you need another great idea or that your last great idea suddenly wasn’t as great as you thought it was. The trouble is you lost your focus. You forgot what made it great in the first place. You misplaced your passion, forgot to write out a carefully detailed plan and got lost along the way. The good news for you is that you had a great idea that got you inspired. You can get it back. You just may need a little help along the way. We can sit down with you and help you remember why you fell in love in the first place and teach you how to get from the beginning of a plan to the final success.
The Long and Winding Road to Nowhere
If when we talk, I am hearing a resigned tale of day to day to do lists with no passion, no goals, no forward focus and a series of endless reasons as to why things aren’t quite the way you had always hoped they would have been when you started, or even worse, you are just starting out but you have no plan at all for where you are going and can’t even really imagine what you will do beyond opening the front door and saying ”Oh customer, here I am, yoohoo, want to come in and buy something?” If you are still waiting for that magic day when the grow up fairy shows up at your door and hands you the certificate that tells you what you are supposed to be when you grow up…Well, sorry honey, your future is the easiest of all to predict. You will be out of business within a year beyond a shadow of a doubt. Honestly? I don’t give you six months. But!!!! Your future isn’t sealed in cement. There is hope for every wayfaring wanderer trying to sell his wares. Your passion is there, its just buried. We might have to bring out the shovel. Perhaps even a blast of dynamite if you’ve crammed an entire lifetime on top of it. But it’s in there and we know how to get it out. More importantly, we know how to help you create a plan to turn it into a straight and narrow road that leads right to the tower of success.
So Many Services, Nothing For Sale
If when I stop by to check out your business and I see a menu of services that looks like a random list of everything but- or maybe even- the kitchen sink, but then when we get to talking about them all , your body language and confidence level begins to squirm and you deflect and change the subject and point me back to the one or two items on your menu of services that you actually seem to know something about, my crystal ball gets cloudy.
It may be that you will be very successful with that one or two items. Or it may be that you loose so much credibility with all of the other items that you aren’t taken seriously as an expert even with the items you are really good at. It may be that you have so many things on the clearance rack at all times that your clients have learned to put their feet up on the counter and wait you out and wouldn’t think of paying full price for anything. Your words may have lost their punch. Let’s talk. You need a strategy. Or maybe a garage sale. Probably both. We can help.
As a Man Thinketh So He Is
James Allen said it best. It has been paraphrased a thousand other ways, but the key to fortunetelling doesn’t lie. It’s simple How you think, how you focus, what you pay attention to will determine your future. In your personal life and in your business. In your business, you can’t afford to let your thoughts and your focus run rampant with your empire. Its the basis of your entire structure. It’s where it all begins. We get coaching for all types of areas in our lives. Can we afford to let our businesses slide by without being sure we are on the right track?
That isn’t a full list by the way. There are many variations on those categories, but chances are, if you are running a business one of those categories was close enough to sound familiar. Or there might be another one and we’d love to hear about that too. So, now that you know how to tell the future, what does your fortune look like?
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Read the Comments
6 Outstanding Responses to "Fortunetelling 101 for Your Business"
Davina on April 23, 2010 at 11:58 am | Permalink
Wendi, can I borrow your slightly moth eaten Grateful Dead skirt?
All kidding aside, focus is important, I agree. And I’m thinking the idea-oholic could recognize which ideas will support, rather than replace the previously discarded one. Some people are pretty quick to cast away a good idea before giving it a chance, or just adding to it.
Friar on April 23, 2010 at 12:30 pm | Permalink
I’m pretty sure my future involves bacon, in some way or another
As for pursuing ideas….when summer time comes, my plans take the back seat to fishing and canoeing and being outdoors.
But canoeing and fishing and being outdoors are my passions. When I talk about them, my eyes glow and my hands are animated. And there’s nothing I’d rather be doing at that given moment…nothing! .
So I THINK I must be on the right track…at least some of the time!
Deb Dorchak on April 24, 2010 at 1:04 am | Permalink
@Davina: If there’s one thing we don’t do around here it’s casting aside any idea. Sooner or later, that idea is going to have its place in the spotlight. Idea-aholic, huh? Yeah, I’d say that was me. And you’re right, whenever one idea hits you can bet there’s an earlier one to compliment it.
Instead of calling them “bad” ideas, why not half ideas? They’re like socks in that respect, there’s always got to be two of them.
Just don’t go putting your ideas in the dryer. That’s a sure way to lose half of them.
@Friar: *lays the cards out on the table and studies them* Hmm…the Three of Little Piggies followed by the Angry Chicken. This could be trouble, however we have the King of Free Range Beef right here counteracting the Broccoli of Doom card so it looks like tomorrow you will definitely sing the praises of Bacon (All Hail!) at least once before the sun sets.
Seriously, you’re on the right track. Many Great Ideas are born out there in the wilderness. You sound like me when I’ve gotten a new idea (or when I’m discussing the merits of bright, shiny steel). There’s that moment of “OH! Listen to this…!” And then Wendi is knocked off her chair as the brilliance spills forth.
Friar on April 24, 2010 at 6:11 am | Permalink
Three of Little Piggies…Broccoli of Doom?….
(*pfft…snicker*)
I can honestly say, that that’s the best, and the most accurate Tarot reading anyone’s ever done for me!
Deb Dorchak on April 24, 2010 at 8:32 am | Permalink
@Friar: Well, I AM a professional!
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