When a solution that would make life better for everyone is right in front of a person’s face, and they won’t reach out and grab it, it’s beyond perplexing! Obviously, they don’t see it, when they see it! I call that BLIND BUSINESS. This mystery happens in small businesses every single day of the year. Some business owners walk around as if they are blind by design to errors, miscommunications, employee turnover, excessive waste, cluttered offices, and production pandemonium. WHY DO THEY NOT SEE IT?
Are they so busy in their business and personal life, they can’t see the proverbial forest for the trees? Do they think those actually life-changing business solutions may work for others, but NOT for them? Or, are they just so lazy they won’t make the effort to change; not for themselves, nor for those around them—those afflicted by the disorganization and clutter? Surely, OTHERS see it!
What They See, but Don’t See | Blind Business
When a small business owner visits a local, well-known franchise that normally operates with precision, do they bother to see and appreciate the countless things functioning RIGHT there? On the other hand, if one of these franchises makes the smallest mistake, like NOT putting the ketchup on their hamburger, this same business owner might complain, “Terrible place! They don’t know what they’re doing.”
That small business owner might consider—that so-called “terrible place” processes a thousand times more orders than the small business owner does, in one day. Moreover, they are processing orders CORRECTLY at a thousand other locations.
One business owner to another, rather than finding fault, small business owners are wise to STOP, open their eyes, and notice the thousands of things that are going RIGHT in many of the businesses in their town. Hopefully, they will SEE or LEARN something that would help their own business.
Truth to tell, small business owners who quickly complain about other companies are often drowning in their own errors. Fact is, a continual lack of organization in a company is offensive to all who DO see it—customers, employees, vendors, etc.
Rest assured, things that are going RIGHT in great businesses are NOT ACCIDENTAL!
Spoiled by Systems that Work
As an owner of a print manufacturing company, at times, I would often have to remind our employees of the thousand things in our processes that go RIGHT! Fact is, we were shipping orders on-time, every time at a rate of over 99 percent. In addition, our rework errors were less than 1.5 percent. That’s pretty darned rare for print manufacturing.
Yet, I would sometimes hear a supervisor become frustrated when ONE order shipped late, as if that was the norm. Talk about spoiled! However, I was patience because I knew, we addressed systematically the root cause of why ANY order shipped late.
How did we consistently process jobs at such a high-level? Simple! We had quality control systems at every stage of production. We left nothing to chance in our production process. As a result, we saved thousands of dollars and allocated those savings to improving the work environment for employees.
How to Get Those Who See, but Don’t See, to See?
Behind the scene of every great franchise, or well systemized independent businesses, is an array of business systems operating automatically. To emphasize, easily seen are the positive effects of these systems, by anyone willing to notice. In other words, you SEE these systems, through the eyes of consistent, high quality and service.
The frustration of business coaches, whose goal is to help small business owners organize and grow, is this… One day, a small business owner seems to “get it,” in that they need a complete change, admitting they have no mapped-out processes. They give the coach the impression they are willing to do whatever it takes to bring their business to order via systems. Then mysteriously, only days or weeks later, the small business owner—still steeped in chaos—will proclaim their old way of doing things was “okay,” after all.
The truth is, the way they are doing things now is NOT “okay!” They are just not willing to pay the price to fix the messes in their business. They’ve determined it’s just too much work, it takes too much time, they say, and it’s not worth the effort, even for their employees, family or themselves.
You see, people don’t see, what they don’t really want to see!
Did I mention? Great systems work!
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