I have this book of quotes that I read every morning when I wake up... I just pick it up, close my eyes and open it up to a page and read the quote.
Well, for the last three days in a row, I have opened the book to the exact same quote so I figure there is something I need to learn from it. It says:
"The world makes way for a man (or woman) who knows where he (or she) is going"
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
You see, things haven't exactly been going as planned lately. Many of our new projects are WAY behind schedule and seem to be at a standstill... When people make promises and don't follow through on their word, it reflects poorly on the business owner.
I sent out my newsletter a few weeks ago asking folks to take a survey in exchange for a free trial subscription in our new membership web site that I was expecting to be ready to launch in October.
Well here we are almost in the last week of October and, you guessed it, it's not ready yet.
So what do I do? I guess the only thing I can do is look for the lesson and learn from it.
After all, my goals of providing the best, most up to date information & resources for growing a painting business, haven't changed... I still know where my business is going and like Emerson said, the world will make way for me to do that.
However the lesson I've learned and want to pass on here is simple.
Try not to promise more than you can deliver. ALWAYS under promise and OVER DELIVER.
I have met a lot of "fly by the seat of your pants" business owners, who talk a good game and will say YES to every question a customer asks (even if they know nothing about the skill needed to deliver the result).
They figure, "I'll land the job and figure it out as I go..." But the problem with that approach is that most of the time, in the end, it's the customer who suffers most.
Save yourself the aggravation and never refer anyone based on what they say they can do...
Make them prove to you that they can deliver the goods, because after all if you vouch for someone and they don't deliver, it is going to reflect poorly on YOU!
The membership site (and all of the other projects) IS going to launch and it is going to be AMAZING, but it is going to be a few more weeks until it goes live and for that, I apologize.
As of right now I'm still waiting for a progress report and time line.
I'll be sure to post updates as soon as I know more.
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