Nearly ten years ago, the DIRECTV “Settler” commercials gained significant popularity on television. These ads motivated me to write this article about the challenges of settling in business. Although the commercials are now a decade old, I still notice many small business owners who are “settling” far too frequently. Check out the commercials at the end of the article for a nostalgic look back.
I love the new DIRECTV “Settler” commercials. They have made me consider the possibility that there are small business “settlers.” These operators continue to run their businesses as they always have, unwilling to change, set in their ways, and possibly accepting less-than-optimal outcomes.
Here are some examples:
- Profitability. Are you settling for marginal profitability in your company? Perhaps it’s always been that way or it’s considered an industry norm? In his new best-selling book, “Scaling Up,” Vern Harnish suggests that a 25% net profit should be the goal for all growth companies.
- Talent. Are you “settling” for less than A players? Superstars. I believe many business owners have convinced themselves that the best talent is already taken and that they must settle for B and C players on their teams. Nonsense! There is plenty of exceptional talent available for your business. Are you looking in the right places? Are you fishing in deep enough waters?
- Collections can often be frustrating. It’s easy to accept slow payment terms from even our most valued clients. This can significantly impact your cash flow. Have you thought about alternative collection strategies? How about offering an early payment discount? Implementing a late payment fee? Or encouraging electronic payments?
- Innovation. Is your business operating as it always has? Are you just “settling” for what you’ve always done? When was the last time you tried to innovate your design workflow? Look for efficiency. Streamline processes. Eliminate waste. Outsource. Go lean…
- Vendors. Are you still using the same vendors or suppliers you always have? “Settling” for what you always have gotten from them before. Sometimes it’s a healthy exercise to shop for your vendors. Look at new and different options. Avoid complacency in your sourcing practices.
- Disruption. Sometimes, I think we “settle” to avoid disruption in our business—to avoid chaos and keep everything straightforward. Yet we understand that a certain degree of disruption can be very beneficial for any business. It keeps your team and your competitors alert. Consider asking this question at your next team meeting: “What are we willing to stop doing?”
- Fighting Goliath. Many of us face a much larger competitor—a “Goliath.” It’s easy to fall into a mindset that we can’t win this competitive battle. Malcolm Gladwell suggests in his book, “David v. Goliath,” that Goliath wins on average 70% of the time. Moreover, he reports that those odds shift dramatically in our favor when we are willing to surprise our larger competitor with a new strategy, just as David did when he fought Goliath.
- Cash. Are you “settling” for having just enough cash to run your business? Living on the edge? Jim Collins found in his best-selling book, “Good To Great”, that the best companies carried 5-10x more cash on their balance sheet as average companies. In a good economy, like now, it’s a great time to be accumulating cash. When the economy softens, as it always does, you will want to be ready to buy.
- Happiness. Are you merely “settling” for being just okay in life? Some days are better than others. Are you accepting the notion that happiness is not in your future? I firmly believe that your happiness is the top driver of success in small business. Dr. Shawn Achor, in his well-known TED talk and book, recommends daily meditation, regular exercise, random acts of kindness, journaling, and expressing gratitude as the keys to happiness.
Action Item: Stop “settling” in your business today. Present the commercial to your executive team this week and ask them: “What are we settling for in this business right now?”