I was floored when I read about a man in Missouri dying after being bitten by a snake and refusing to take the anti-venom because it was too expensive.  Yet I witness the same thing happening in businesses every day. Here’s how you know if your refusal of the solution to your business problem is killing you:

It’s Been Going On For A While

When I met my client Sabina, she had been losing business for years. The market was changing and so was the competitive landscape and nothing she was doing was really making a dent in the revenue slide. When a problem is persistent and you haven’t taken the anti-venom to this poison, it’s a recurring nightmare.

You’ve Been Rejecting Expensive Solutions

Like the poor guy from Missouri, if you’re walking away from the solution because you’re too scared about spending the money or you don’t know where it’s going to come from when your business isn’t doing well, you face the same outcome. You go home to die quietly. It’s not a surprise to anyone, that’s what happens when a snake-bite victim refuses to take the anti-venom because it’s too expensive. Why would it be different for your business? Praying and hoping for a different outcome just isn’t enough.

You’ve Been Trying Cheaper Solutions That Haven’t Helped

My client Roger had been going through so many group coaching programs to help turn his practice around that he had become a professional at it. Even though he’d memorized the drill with group coaching and take-home-do-it-yourself online courses, he wasn’t seeing the return. I asked him to add all the different program costs and to consider the added loss of time and effort. Why had he made the decision to avoid expensive custom programs and wasted his time with smaller investments that didn’t help? He said “Chala, my Mom was the kind of woman who would buy 5 cheap sweaters in a heartbeat but she absolutely couldn’t and wouldn’t buy the one really expensive sweater that she really wanted. I guess that’s where I learned it from!”. Isn’t it sad and ridiculous how our childhood is really driving our business decisions?

Your Losses Are Not Sustainable in the Long-run

96% of businesses fail within 10 Years. If you dig deeper, you’ll find that it’s the lack of strategy and cash flow that’s responsible for much of the trouble. Well if you are not an expert in these things, hoping that your guesses are going to keep your business from going under is the same thing as the snake-bite victim going home to die. (which clearly 96% of businesses are doing!)  Your losses cannot be supported indefinitely by bootstrapping, credit cards or the kindness of your friends and family. So pay for the anti-venom and live to do business another day.
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