You would have heard this saying many times before, I use it a lot with clients, because I believe it sums up the level of knowledge all business owners should have to build a successful and sustainable business.  

What does it really mean? 

G.R.E.A.T 

Get Real, Educate and Thrive.

Simply put, it is about knowing every part of your business processes, systems, marketing, top 20 clients, etc. Because then if you lose critical players, you are not left to fly the plane with no pilot. And crashing the plane is no option. When you know enough to control the plane and caretake a role, your business won’t suffer, or at least not as much. 

I recently saw an example of this. A dedicated manager grew the business and it operated so effectively that the owner decided to take time out escape from the real issues of the business, rather than focus on growth. The manager would go away for days on end and when they eventually decided to leave, the business fell in a heap because the business owner had no systems or processes in place to engage with the customers. This meant the customers couldn’t see value in the company as they had no relationship with the owner and went elsewhere. A sad story but true, and it can happen in an instant. 

Invest in your business emotional and mental strength. 

One of the most important messages I express to clients is the importance investing in your business emotional and mental strength. 

Like most human beings, and a business is no different if you don’t give it love and attention it soon enough drops you. So, think of your business as a living organism, step away, jump on the helicopter and look down on it from afar. What do you see?  

IS IT GOOD, BAD or INDIFFERENT! 

HOW DOES IT FEEL? Does it feel surreal? It might! But this is the best exercise you can do to see where the issues in the business really are. See if you can identify them and take notes. Then, share those notes with a trusted source and get some feedback. 

Now, go to work, learn about the issues, identify them, discuss them and then solve them. So now is the time to invest and learn enough to make sure you are not getting blindsided by staff or external agencies. This time and learning investment will put digits on your net profit.  

Employ with your knowledge 

Now you have invested in the blood flow of the business you will, by default you will be able to recruit with confidence and have vested conversations with the right applicants.

Also, your decisions on selecting the right applicant will be a simple process.  

Fly the helicopter regularly 

Take a ride in the chopper once is not enough! Maybe on the first time, it will wow you. But doing so regularly will help you zoom in to more things in greater detail and be refreshed by what you see. Focus on what is working well and tweak and repeat, look at what is not working and tune, trim or trash and be ruthless, no time for emotional baggage on the helicopter it slows you down. 

So now you should understand knowing enough to be dangerous and using it to your benefit will serve you well.  

Good luck, keep improving your knowledge, have fun and stay true to your values. Get in touch with us today if you need help starting your journey!