Are You Flexible Enough to Survive
Posted On: 2011-01-10
Ok so here I am and only just a little wet and muddy despite all the rain and flooding we've had in this part of the world. I was supposed to be down in the State capital this morning but with the highway cut in three places and no alternate routes (because they are flooded too) I've had to change my plans.
While there might be times that a change of plans can be quite a nuisance this time it wasn't so bad. I had been working a little harder on client work last week so that I could take today off but that extra work hasn't been a waste, now I can spend today doing a little work on some of my own projects and getting one or two projects for clients even closer to completion.
And right there is one of the things I like about running my own small business ... I can be much more flexible than big business can when something impacts my plans. When things change ... things like the weather or consumer demand it takes time for big business to respond but most small businesses have the flexibility to adapt to those changes and keep on working.
That certainly applies here online even though the weather rarely has a major impact on us. However not every small business owner ... or webmaster ... is that flexible. Many of us get very set in our ways or very focused on what we're doing and making changes can be all but impossible for those people.
They see the goal they're aiming for ... they think that they know what they have to do to attain that goal ... and nothing is going to deflect from achieving that goal. The world may be changing around them but they simply don't see that ... they have a goal and that's all that matters as far as they're concerned.
Of course, if the world has changed, that goal that they were pursuing so blindly may no longer have any relevance at all. They might have worked really hard to achieve that goal ... a goal that once may have made them squillions ... but now all they have done is wasted their time, money and effort.
So how flexible are you? Do you set yourself a goal and then become so focused on it that you lose your ability to change if conditions around you change? Or are you able to remain objective even though you may be focused on a particular goal?
If you are able to remain objective you can look at the way the world is changing around you and you will be able to measure the impact those changes will have on whatever your goal may be. You will be able to assess what other webmasters are saying ... what true experts are suggesting ... what your stats and third-party data is showing you ... and you will be able to make adjustments.
If you can be flexible as you work towards a particular goal then instead of achieving your goal only to find that it's not longer relevant you'll end up with something that is relevant and likely to make you money.
Along the way you may have had to make quite a few changes and the finished product may bear little resemblance to what you were aiming for when you first started out but does that really matter? Is it so important to remain true to whatever your original vision might have been if it means that few people will buy what you produce when you have achieved your goal?
On the other hand it is possible to be too flexible ... to be like a branch blowing in the wind. You can be so focused on what everyone else is saying that you're forever making changes to whatever it might be that you're working towards achieving.
You can find yourself in the situation where you never achieve your goal because you are always making changes and never producing anything like a finished product. You may want to achieve your goal but, because you're spending too much time listening to what every guru and expert has to say, all you end up doing is becoming trapped in an endless loop of changes, adjustments and fiddling.
Sometimes the difference between being too focused and being too flexible can be a very fine line but it's one that you will need to discover for yourself if you want your business to grow and prosper.