I recently spoke at an event to an audience of small business owners on the importance of including social media in the marketing mix.
What amazed me was the number of people in the audience with their arms folded, shaking their head and scowling at me as if I had just told them their cat had been run over.
I wasn’t there to force them into it; I was there to educate them on how the communications industry is changing and how they can communicate directly with their customer like never before.
I may be a small business owner, but I always like to think my company punches above its weight. I want to learn more, raise the bar and push boundaries. I thought it was sad to hear a few middle-aged business owners express what I believe are ignorant views and it reminded me of a very good lesson – you can never be comfortable in business.
The second you think you have made it, the market will crash. The second you think your team is stable, people will up and move overseas. The second you reach you budget, you will lose a significant account. The second you think you have nothing else to learn in your industry, new technology will emerge.
That’s just the way the world works.
As a business owner we don’t have the opportunity to continuously climb the corporate ladder and see that promotion as the next goal. But we do have the chance to see every challenge in business as an opportunity for growth and internal promotion. If we don’t embrace those opportunities why are we in business? Social media is just that opportunity.
Being direct is both my biggest strength and my biggest flaw, as is being passionate. So at the risk of sounding both, I say this: small business owners, help yourself and start learning again. You will be amazed by the growth in your business when its leader is prepared to accept the challenge.
