If you have owned or managed a business for more than a year, than you have the business you deserve. What is your focus? What are you trying to accomplish? These questions should have an answer that includes “generating customers,” or your business will not last.
When I was starting out in the real estate business, I felt like I had to be the perfect technician for everything that a real estate agent needed to do. I wanted to know the best way to help buyers find their dream home, get sellers top dollar for their investment, write precise and effective contracts and perform at the top in every area of real estate. So, I broke the industry down into functional areas and endeavored to become an absolute expert in each one of those areas.
I owned my real estate company for many years before it dawned on me that I was doing the wrong things. I thought I was in the business of helping people buy and sell homes. At face value that makes a lot of sense, but it turns out that just isn’t the industry I’m in. I am in the business of finding people who want to buy and sell homes, which means my business is generating customers.
Perhaps you own a business as well. Maybe you are an architect, an engineer, a plumber, a lawyer, an electrician, a doctor, or any other type of small business owner that you might find in America. While each one of these businesses has a different set of technical competencies, the reality is that none of these businesses are any different when it comes down to what the owner should be doing … generating customers!
What Is Your Business?
If you own a business, you are in the business of getting business.
An accountant who owns his own firm does not merely account for others, he generates customers who need help with accounting. A lawyer who owns his own firm does not solely practice law, his primary focus is on generating customers who need legal representation. Those of us who own real estate companies do not just list and sell real estate, nor do we focus on recruiting and retaining real estate agents; in actuality, real estate brokers are in the business of generating customers who need to move.
While we might have chosen our profession due to a specific technical competence, the move to ownership requires us to rely upon a skill set that is not unique to our profession. Once you come to realize there is a singular focus common to every business owner, then you could conclude that we all are in the business of marketing and sales, which means the business of our business is getting business.
If we want to guarantee the health and longevity of our organizations, then we need to recognize our essential responsibility of generating customers. In the past, many brick and mortar companies grew local reputations that provided ample business for many years, but today’s digital consumer is empowered to do things differently.
