Remember that great class you took? What if you focused just on implementing what you learned? Photo by Becky McCray.
I’ve been thinking about how we have all we need. We don’t need to learn more, read more, acquire more. That’s why what John C. Shepard, planner from Wyoming, USA, said caught my attention:
“Implementation is my watch-word for 2014.”
That deceptively simple sentence could change everything. What if you made implementation your watch word?
You have everything you need to start implementing. You don’t need more money, more people, more research. You can start now.
Look through your favorite business authors. Pull out one book about business that really struck you as good. Maybe you have a guidebook from a course you took that was terrific, but you just didn’t follow up on it much.
Pick one. Just one thing. Because if you took one framework and really implemented all it had to teach you, you’d make an enormous difference in your business.
Maybe you want a general book on business, like The E-Myth Revisited, or something from your industry, or about one aspect of business, like Built to Sell. Maybe you know you need to work on a particular skill like accounting or online marketing.
Start now. Pick your one book. Start implementing what it says. Don’t stop because you’ve heard about some other idea. Don’t sign up for more courses or pick up more books. Keep at it. Implement.
Yes, you can read other things for fun or profit, but remember that right now, you’re working on implementing just this one.
What if it turns out that this is not the right one? Drop it and find the next best one for you.
Me? I’m going to pick The Retail Doctor’s Guide to Growing Your Business. I have a lot going on, but I want to make my retail store a much more solid business this year. What about you? Tell me about your business and what you’re going to focus on implementing. You can add it in the comments below, or if you are reading this in your email, just hit reply.
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Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.
Well what a great recommendation Becky and thanks so much for all you do to help independents!
Thank you, Bob, for a great book and all the terrific retail knowledge you share.
I feel like you wrote that post directly, and only to me Becky – thank you! I’m in the process of working out which resource I want to use.
Well, I was focusing on just one person when I wrote! ;) Be sure to come back and let me know what you picked. We’ll keep each other accountable.