Summary
Whether you need to downsize your operations (get the right size glass) or increase your activities to fill the glass you have depends on your goals, resources, and plan of action. So, is your glass half full, or do you need a different glass?
One of my friends was telling me about a discussion she had with her eighteen-year-old son. They were talking literally about a glass of Dr. Pepper. “Is the glass half full or half empty?” she asked her son. He said he thought she just used the wrong glass.
From his perspective, if she had used a smaller glass, then she wouldn’t be thinking whether the glass is half full or empty. It would be full. This difference in perspective makes an important point for businesses when it comes to capacity, staffing, and all the elements of running a business. Perhaps the scale of your company does not align with the reality of the market you have chosen to serve. Maybe you selected the right market with ample opportunities (prospects). Still, you haven’t been able to capture the desired market share due to internal constraints. Those constraints, such as your sales and marketing processes or business systems and processes, are determining the glass size.
Perspective: Do You Need a Different Glass?
Whether your glass is truly half full or you need a different glass (larger or smaller) depends on several factors, including the market you serve, the problem you solve, or the need you
fulfill. The market message: your brand and how you communicate what you do for a customer—I call this the C.O.R.E. message when working with my clients—customers, operations, results, and execution, which you provide. The mechanics of the business operations: how you serve the customer and deliver on your promises. The ability to execute and use your business systems, deploy your team, and do business from identifying prospects to converting them into clients (making the sale) to delivering the solution and getting paid! External factors: regulations, access to funding, economic factors, and competition.
Conclusion
Whether you need to downsize your operations (get the right size glass) or increase your activities to fill the glass you have depends on your style, goals, resources, and plan le=”box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;”>of action. So, is your glass half full, or do you need a different glass?
Copyright ©2016 Lea A. Strickland, MBA MA CMA CFM CBM GMC
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