Focus on What Matters
A big part of my job with Ohana Enterprises has been getting some of my small business clients operational during these chaotic #COVID times. One thing I’ve found myself reinforcing repeatedly is the concept of “Focus on what Matters” i.e. Sales, Customers and Revenues.
Ironically, in recent weeks, I’ve spent hours (for which I still get paid) with multiple clients making changes and tweaks to:
· Fonts on websites
· Shades of colors in logos
· Cropping of pictures
· Finding slightly different clip art to use for an email blast
As a small business consultant, most of my customers have been shut down or limited for months. Their entire lifestyle hinges on the success of their business. Without sounding dramatic, their ONLY
focus should be on generating business and revenues, yet we get bogged down in minutia.
So why does this happen? It’s twofold.
First, for most small business owners, they truly care about their business. It’s almost a personal extension of themselves. As a result, they want to make sure that everything about everything is PERFECT. Often times this quest for perfection cripples their ability to accomplish their business goals (but that’s a future diary entry!)
Second, in these chaotic times, things like fonts and colors and pictures are CONTROLLABLE. All of us right now are searching for things we can control, in a time a when so many parts of our life are out of control. So, while we can’t control what customers will or won’t do, and we can’t control the effectiveness of marketing … we can control what shade of orange we use on the website and THAT makes us feel better.
Believe me, I understand the need for consistency and brand image. If Coke or Disney uses the wrong font in their logo, it costs millions to correct and will have an effect on their business. However, for a small business, the clip art on a flyer or the font in the header of a website really won’t impact the bottom line in the least and that’s the crux of all of this.
Small and Family-owned businesses tend to have limited time & resources to grow their businesses. A big part of my job to make sure they maximize that time and energy to get their business to grow and thrive. Not just now, but for years to come.
Jamie Jamitkowski
