Get the lay of the land
Entrepreneurs are modern day trailblazers.
Imagine the early explorers of your ancestry. The courage, faith, determination and even desperation that got them to leave behind everything they knew – to risk the hazards of the unknown for the mere possibility of a better life – is etched in your DNA. The strength it took to survive and succeed is part of your heritage.
As a business owner exploring new territory, there is information you want as well as essential facts you need to not only survive, but thrive. What can we learn from early pioneers to help you successfully cross your next business frontier?
1. Send Scouts – Knowing as much as possible about what’s ahead is invaluable. To avoid putting the entire group (ie: your company) at risk and know how to prepare for the next segment of the journey, advance scouting parties were dispatched. The scouts traveled light and fast to gather intel and report back. This tactic helped travelers make critical decisions and better prepare for the road ahead.
- Who are your best scouts?
- What training do they have/need?
- Where do you send them and when?
- What intel do they need to gather?
- How you will use the info they bring back?
2. Map the territory – How you traverse rolling hills and lush green pastures is different to crossing rattlesnake-infested high desert or rugged mountain range. Knowing the terrain helps determine what to avoid, where to set camp or establish an outpost and which way safe passage is most likely.
Assess resources:
- What supports your success and is available for your use?
- How accessible is it?
- Note obvious shortages/disadvantages:
- What’s missing?
- How do you compensate for that?
- Hurdles/hindrances:
- What could block your path or slow you down?
- Map your route accordingly:
- What can you prepare in advance?
- What supplies do you need to take with you?
3. Read people – The quest for new opportunity exposed the adventurers to a variety people: tribesmen, trappers, and traders, settlers, soldiers, and sinners (those who would willfully do them harm). They had to quickly distinguish ally from adversary.
- Trust your gut: If something doesn’t feel, sound or look right to you, it probably isn’t.
- Listen and observe: Action trumps talk every time! Do the efforts you see align with the commitments you’ve been given? Look for visible, tangible evidence.
- Choose excellence over expediency: Being desperate for a solution makes you vulnerable to hiring the wrong people. Step back; take a long-term view. What skills and character traits are needed in this role to take your company to the next level? Is this person a good fit?
Your Maverick Move
Dispatch your scouting parties. Gather intel on a sector of your current market to assess expansion options and scope out new territory ripe for settlement.
Power question
Is there a missing skill set needed to get you to the next level?
Who in the organization has the aptitude and character for it?
Let your unconscious chew on it for a bit!
Campfire Stories – Strut Your Stuff!
What trailblazing moves have you made and what have you learned from them? Let me know in the comments below.
© Copyright Deb Battersby All Rights Reserved.
