Our limits are set by how big we think.
This was highlighted to me at dinner with my wife on Saturday night when we were speaking to the young wait-person that was serving us. We both agreed that the young person was most impressive with an air of confidence, poise, efficiency and talent that was infectious. Her people skills were outstanding, especially for one apparently so young. I asked if this was her only job or if it was a part-time job whilst she was studying, fully expecting to hear that she was doing a Law Degree or another qualification such as a hospitality management diploma. I was dismayed to hear she did not seem to be leveraging her talents with waiting being one of two jobs that she holds with her day time job being a check-out person at a retail chain. I asked what her plans were and she said she was looking into becoming a traffic control person. She was amazed to hear that I thought she was setting her sights too low and that I believed that she had the qualities to be whatever she wanted to be, especially a professional vocation where she could use her people skills such as law, real estate, hospitality management or any other pursuit that she set her mind to. My parting words to her on the night were: “Think big, don’t limit yourself by small thinking”.
This got me to considering the broader topic of why some good businesses do not reach their full potential whilst others, albeit not enough Australian ones, become global companies. My conclusion was that from the outset, the people running the businesses do not ‘think big enough’. Don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with choosing a ‘low stress’ vocation such as traffic control or keeping your small business small because that is the lifestyle you love. However, if you are running a business and want it to grow, examine the thinking that you and your management team are applying to it.
Here are a few ideas on now to expand your business thinking.
- Write a grand vision. As an example, if you are in fast food and your vision is be #1 in your neighbourhood, you will naturally put plans in place to work toward that vision. You will carefully develop your business and satisfy the vision which means you will limit your horizons. If your vision is to build a category leading global fast food chain starting with your local premises, then you will supply your neighbourhood as you work to perfect your offering, develop the processes and find the resources to continually expand your business locally, nationally and internationally.
- Embrace big numbers. Let’s assume your ‘business as usual’ sees you with an average transaction of $2,000 but you are aware that similar businesses to yours win deals that are $20,000 or even $200,000. If you limit your thinking to believing that those big deals are ‘for others, we are not able to do them’, you will be right. If you set your mind to thinking how you can win the big deals, then going about building the capability and winning them, you are far more likely to win them than limiting yourself by thinking that you can only do the small transactions. I proved this as a salesman. I was allocated a Bank as an account. The Bank were preparing to release a tender for a data communication network solution worth between 5 and 10 times my annual target of $2 million. Despite the seemingly impossible nature of winning the tender due to the deal being too large based on our current ‘run rate’ business, I decided to accept the challenge and worked with the team to win the business. I was even told by the product manager that “the customer will never spend that much and if they do, it won’t be from us”. I lead the team to build the solution, submit the tender and then to go on to win it. The final deal was worth over $14 million back in 1990 ($30 million in today’s dollars) and was one quarter of the total company revenue for the year. Had we not ‘thought big enough’ and believed we could win, we would never have put the necessary effort into the bid and hence proved that we ‘could not win such a large tender’. I have similarly lead major deals since then that ‘broke the mould’ on ‘business as usual’ using the same ‘think big’ approach.
- Educate yourself. You can learn to think big but not in the usual formal education formats. Every major success has a story behind it. Seeking knowledge by reading about others that have successfully achieved their visions by thinking big is essential. We have all heard about the people that have made fortunes. Most will read about these successes and think “weren’t they lucky” or “that’s a unique situation, I could never do that”. The astute person will read the story and actively search for the ‘story behind the story’ on how these people achieved their success. In so doing they educate themselves to think big. Harland Sanders began Kentucky Fried Chicken at the age of 67 from a humble roadside stand. Hewlett Packard began in a garage in Pueblo, California. McDonalds started in a single store in Des Plaines, Illinois. To think big, read the stories about these and your chosen success stories to educate yourself to think big by observing how they expanded their horizons.
- Get good advice. We don’t know what we don’t know – so find out/define what you don’t know and set about finding someone that will help you gain the knowledge you need. Thinking big does not mean knowing everything. Provided you have a great idea and you do not limit your thinking on how big it can be, you can seek input from others on what you need to know to achieve your big idea. It is important to have access to other people that will provide knowledge and guidance on how to make your big idea happen. Of course you need the right professional advice on such matters as finance, law, taxation etc., so be sure to engage with people that have the capacity to assist you to achieve your big thinking in those disciplines. However, do not only get the right regular professional advice. Engage with others that have made their big thinking work or who are working to make their big thinking work. Networking with big thinkers is a great way to ensure that you keep your big thinking fresh and energised, if not expanded.
- Employ/contract the resources you need. As you get your big thinking off the ground you will need expertise in areas that you do not possess. Thinking big extends beyond the vision for your endeavour, it includes putting together the resources you need to ensure that your big thinking will work. If you are a stay at home parent with a big thought to build a substantial services practice but you do not have the time to take care of the family as well as the business, you will need to employ the services of others to cover your family duties. The founders of some of the largest construction companies had no skills in engineering. They had the vision for the tallest buildings, then built the teams of architects, engineers, builders, and financiers etc. to turn their big thinking into reality.
- Imposter Syndrome. This term has recently appeared and applies to the nagging thought of “I’m not good enough” or “How did I get here, I don’t know what I’m doing”. Richard Branson didn’t need to be a musical genius to be the head of Virgin Music or a pilot to be the head of Virgin Atlantic airways. It is important to accept that everyone that attempts a major undertaking will have self-doubt. If you can conceive a big idea and then go about making it happen, you are in no way an imposter. Read more about this newly defined imposter syndrome then alter your thinking to ensure that you keep it well controlled.
- Dare to think big. Thinking big is scary if you decide to make your big ideas become a reality. All endeavours have an element of risk. Some are more frightening than others. Daring to climb Mount Everest is life threatening. Daring to create a global business is potentially wealth threatening but as long as you take care of your health, it is not life threatening. Quite the opposite, it is potentially life enhancing. Daring to become a lawyer rather than a traffic controller is scary too if you are not used to making big plans and if you don’t have people around you that will encourage you along the way. But daring to make the leap to alter your way of life to study and ‘have a go’ will open new horizons that you will otherwise never know exist.
I like to think that I will meet that delightful young person again down the track when she is providing legal advice to a major company or perhaps at her own hospitality venue. If nothing else, I do hope that she accepts my challenge to “Think Big” and reaps big rewards.
Are you limiting yourself and your business by not thinking big?
© Philip Belcher, LSE Consulting Pty Ltd.
Please contact LSE Consulting to find out how we can assist you to execute your strategy and related plans or any other strategic business issues.
LSE Consulting is a specialist management consulting company. The purpose of the company is to assist business leaders to improve their organisation’s results, turn around underperforming businesses/business units and prepare for successful exit. The LSE Consulting method focuses on Leadership, Strategy and Execution, hence ‘LSE’, with a strong emphasis on business strategy aligned marketing and sales. The company was founded by Philip Belcher to assist business leaders through interventions that are based on his 30+ years’ experience in leading, turning around and successfully exiting businesses.
