Online, in guides, and certainly as part of influencing entrepreneur’s sold courses is a lot of general advice and conjecture about what it takes to run a business in 2023 and beyond. That’s all well and good, as some fundamental advice can apply no matter the situation. For example, if you’re a for-profit enterprise, then it’s usually a good idea to reinvest that profit into your operations to strengthen your hand, gather assets, and make the failure of business less likely.
This is generalized advice, which is mainly common sense and can be understood with basic business acumen, even if theory and practice are sometimes less easily linked than we’d like.
However, it’s very important to take generalized business advice with a pinch of salt, especially if you’re looking for quick solutions to difficult issues. In this post, we’ll discuss why that is, and help you know what insights to be wary of. Ironically, this insight itself will be generalized to apply to as many businesses as possible, but with the added foresight of warning you in advance:
Your Audience Has Its Own Preferences
Business alterations are never completely private, your audience notices the difference. As Max Moreno Boise observed, you cannot use generic ideas of what you think your audience wishes for - you must know them and appeal to them. For instance, if you hope to drum up new business with cut-rate promotions, bundle deals, and buy-one-get-one-free offers, that might dispel an audience that has become accustomed to exclusivity or at least the dignity of your brand. That’s why careful research before every decision is vital.
Specific Circumstances Must Be Respected
It’s essential to understand that advice you take from certain sources must be filtered through your own experience and moderated appropriately. For example, it might be that you’re rolling out a graduate recruitment scheme to welcome new minds and talent into your firm. Instead of assuming that only hiring at the best universities is key, you may give students from polytechnics or other colleges a go, or potentially work with graduate programs that help intern into your brand. Leverage your own experience in a field and question your biases and how valid they are - it may be that using your own position to improve a problem you suffered can add a sense of personality no online writer or guide can determine for you.
Quick Fixes Prevent Comprehensive Resolutions
Ultimately, it’s easy to be sold on a quick and cool fix that can be written out in a tweet, because that helps you feel better about the issue at hand. However, this can be a good way of sweeping aside the particular issues you’re facing, and prevents you from learning anything. Sometimes, an insightful failure is better than a half-hearted capability with diminishing returns. That can be hard to accept when you’re in the midst of a problem and having to retool your strategy, but then again, downsizing, rethinking, streamlining, or pivoting your approach can be the best thing that happened to your business.
With this advice, we hope you can trust yourself and carefully inspect the business advice you’re given.