For years I've lived in a very friendly, very comfortable apartment complex in West Austin. One
of my nearby neighbors is self-employed with a schedule similar to mine which has
us bumping into each other regularly.
All of this community
connection is warm and wonderful. There’s
just one problem – I can't remember his name.
So, often times I greet him with a huge smile and a, “hi neighbor!” He responds, “hi Penny.” And off we go.
I call it the
Closed Window Syndrome. We've been neighbors
far too long for me to ask his name -and of course he or one of my other
neighbors has told me his name a million times – I just can't seem to remember
it. It’s just too shameful – too much
time has passed – I would feel rude and uncaring to ask. In other words my window of opportunity has
flown away and so he remains, “hi neighbor.”
I'm sure you've been there. You've been in situations
when it feels too embarrassing to admit that the information that should be
right at your fingertips can't be found in your memory bank. Or maybe information has been given to you in
the past but you're still in confusion.
Sometimes it’s not
such a big deal – I mean in this case nobody is going to cart me off to
bad-neighbor jail. But this problem can
have serious consequences.
Through my
experience coaching tons of entrepreneurs I know many, many have the “I-don't-know-what-the-hell-I'm-doing”
secret - sadly living life in the confines of the Closed Window room.
If you've been in
business for a couple of years or longer and have trouble reading your financial
statements or creating marketing objectives or having conversation regarding
pricing platforms or profitability models and feel too embarrassed to ask because you've been in business “too long” you may be living in the oxygen-depleted Closed
Window room. Sadly the room is probably
crowded.
To continue the metaphor
and get you breathing again, I say boldly open that window, shake off the shame
and declare that small business by its very nature is about long term learning. Pretending you know what you don't know is
exhausting and is a road to nowhere.
Decide today there
is no such thing as “being in business too long” to ask small business questions. And no environment to intimidating to act as
if you understand something that you don’t.
The same courage that
took you out on a ledge to open your business is the same energy that can bring
you into the room of understanding and possibly change unawareness into enlightenment.
And my experience
says that enlightenment oftentimes leads happily to increased profitability.
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