Thursday, July 14, 2011

Where Are You Going?

There are some great lessons in life that everyone can learn from taking flying lessons, shooting lessons or learning how to drive a race car on the track.  All of these lessons apply to business as well.  Paul Newman was a great actor and race car driver.  John Travolta, a great pilot and actor.  Many business owners that are very successful race cars, fly airplanes or hunt.  Is there a connection here?

I think there is.  All of these skills, running a business, acting, flying, shooting and racing require planning and practice.  In the end they all have a target of some sort.  The actor wants to make you think it is really happening to him, whatever it is.  The pilot has a plan of where he is going before he ever gets in the airplane.  The race car driver knows every corner of the track and the fastest way around them.

So how does this relate to the business owner?  There is an often over looked or mis-applied rule of success.  Successful people have a direction and an aim point.  When was the last time you saw someone you thought was successful and said "he can do anything?"  I would guess never.  The best heart surgeon is a heart surgeon, not a podiatrist that does heart surgery on Saturdays.

The businesses that are the most profitable with the least effort are those that have a definite direction and aim point.  Look at any major business.  Dominoes Pizza for example.  No live music, no bar, just pizza, hot and fast.  It doesn't matter if you make the worlds best pizza if everyone thinks that you are running a bar.  And if you are running a bar, you better have some really cold beer and don't worry too much about the pizza.

So what is your direction?  If you aren't sure, I got a deal for you, I just dropped the price of my book on the Kindle to $2.99.  I wrote it to help more people figure it out, and with the economy the way it is, I figured I can reach more people at $2.99 than $16.99.  Find your direction, pick an aim point and go find success!