The only context where the word “whatever” works is when speaking to someone you trust, and you say, “Do whatever you think makes sense.”
But otherwise it smacks of indecision, laziness and worse…apathy.
Answering a question with “whatever” is tantamount to saying, “I don’t really care.”
And entrepreneurs should always care about what’s going on with their business.
It’s better to say, “I’m not sure,” or “What do you think?” when a question is asked that you don’t readily have an answer for. And if it’s not a #1 priority for you, delegate. Don’t use “whatever” as an excuse; the issue-at-hand might be extremely important to the person you’re speaking with, and “whatever” can come across as extremely uncaring and demeaning.
Part of being an entrepreneur is handling issues you’re not familiar with and doing things you don’t enjoy. In either case “whatever” is an escape route — but each time you escape responsibility you’re chipping away at your chances for success.
Don’t say whatever. Prompt discussion, dialogue, debate. Ask questions. Delegate. But don’t give up, stop caring or escape responsibility.
What words would you never use as an entrepreneur or small business owner? What words hold a negative context for your success?
* You’re the person companies aren’t talking about enough.
* You’re the person companies are scared of, but really shouldn’t be.
* You’re the elephant in the room.
While I think the brouhaha over Snakes on a Plane borders on the absurd it should be a huge eye opener for businesses. It showed us that a company really was listening to its customers, making them more than customers. When there was talk of the movie name being changed, the customer said “no.” And the movie studio listened.
As the customer started spreading information and gossip online about the movie, the studio watched, listened and encouraged it.
A lot of businesses don’t know how to deal with you. They might try shoving information down your throats, they might try begging…others don’t try anything and hope for the best. And now, as you go out there and talk openly about what you like and don’t like, businesses are in an even trickier position; they don’t know to respond.
It might be as straightforward as starting a blog for your business. Doing so is not difficult. Yes, it requires some thought and planning, but any size business can do it, with minimal or almost no technical skill. How about a residential cleaning business in Florida? Yup, they’re blogging and it’s making a big difference.
Customers don’t want to be elephants anymore. And more and more they’re taking their business to companies that understand that; companies that help them get out of their elephant disguises.
There are some clear pros and cons to watching the competition.
First, let me say this: obsessing over your competition is bad. It can’t help you or your business.
If you want to obsess over something, obsess over your customers.
So what’s the #1 pro of watching the competition? Information.
Keeping an eye on the competition helps us gather information. Why do we need this information? It’s not about “doing exactly what they’re doing” but I’d rather know what’s going on than not. Where does competitive information help?
In sales. I’ve often been asked (while doing sales), “What makes you different from the competition?” Giving a wishy washy answer here doesn’t help. Giving concrete examples does.
Strategy. Competitors help gauge the overall market and where things are heading. You don’t want to be a follower, you want to be a leader, but there are always lots of players in the market.
Learning.Rhonda Abrams at Citizen-Times.com makes a list of 10 steps every entrepreneur should take when starting a new venture. #2 is “Objectively check out the competition. Most entrepreneurs fail to see what competitors are good at. Learn from them.”
Robert May at Businesspundit comments on a recent article in Businessweek about competitive advantage. The article says that anything you try will be overtaken by someone else. So you’re screwed. But then it goes on to give some advice on how to gain a competitive advantage, re-promoting the ideas it cuts up.
Looking at the competition isn’t enough to give you a competitive advantage — that has to come from more than just what others are doing. But it can’t hurt to know what’s going on.
So what’s the #1 con to watching the competition? Losing your identity.
If all you focus on is the competition and what they’re doing, you’re going to lose your identity. You can’t answer questions like, “What do you believe in?” with the answer, “Not what those guys believe in!”
Bill Baren recently wrote There is NO Competition. I’m going to quote something cause it’s important:
We have no competitors. It’s not about measuring our self or our business against anyone else. It is about continuing to refine what’s unique about what we do. It’s about zeroing in on your essential zone of genius.
I love the premise here and the conviction of Bill’s words. I’m not sure how we can be unique if we don’t compare ourselves to some degree against others, since being unique implies there’s something you’re unique in comparison to.
What I think is absolutely beautiful about what Bill wrote is the last sentence: It’s about zeroing in on your essential zone of genius. I wish I had written that. Mostly, I love the idea of a “zone of genius.” How cool is that?
Kathy Sierra at Creating Passionate Users recently wrote Ignore the competition. The main thrust of her argument is that software companies obsess over the competition in a “features arms race”. They have X. We have X. They build Y. We build Y.
Ultimately, that’s losing your identity.
It’s a mistake not to watch the competition. It’s also a mistake to focus too much on the competition. Not watching them at all is too egotistical. It smacks of righteous elitism; and eventually those competitors are going to come knocking. And knocking hard.
But if you’re spending more time watching the competition than doing what you do best, you’re wasting time and becoming nothing great.
Be great by taking a leadership role, innovating, and sticking to your beliefs. Just keep an eye on everyone else. Robert May wrote, “…the mantra of today’s corporations should be experiment, execute, and evolve…” Right on.
It’s more important than anything else. Remember, there are no guarantees when hiring someone. You could do 10 interviews, 6 background checks, tail the person with a private detective and sift through their garbage; you still might hire the wrong person.
But, a lot of things can be corrected or improved. Fitting in with the team and company isn’t usually one of them.
Skills can be taught. Goals can be set. Communication can be encouraged.
Fitting in with a small group of people is another story.
Here are some ways to help ensure someone will fit in:
Make sure they understand HOW your business works. Day-to-day, how do things operate? Is it ultra-fast paced? Is there a very specific routine? What’s the style of the work environment? Easygoing? Intense?
Make sure they understand the culture. As soon as your business has more than 1 person there’s a culture. There’s a dynamic that the prospective employee needs to understand. I don’t believe people need to be best friends to work well together. I don’t believe they have to go out together after work and have a drink. They can, and I’m not opposed to that, but that’s not what’s important. The culture inside the office is key.Culture also implies the type of person and their life stage. It’s hard to hire a 20 year old into a company of 60 year olds (or vice versa.) In a small business, many if not all of the employees will be at similar stages in their life - personally and career-wise. The more points of commonality that exist in this way, the more cohesive the team will likely become.
Make sure they understand how YOU work. You’re the boss. In a small business almost everything that happens is because of you. Not because you’re a control freak (well, you might be!), but because it’s your business. You built it from the ground-up, and every employee recognizes:business = you | you = business
How you work, your personal style is critical to prospective employees. They have to understand it and jive with it, because your personal style will in many ways become the style and culture of the company as it grows.
Make sure they understand the PURPOSE of the company. I’ve never been a “ra ra cheerleader” type, but the more a prospective employee understands the vision behind the company, its goals and your personal aspirations (as the leader), the better off that person will be.
Have another employee chat with them. This isn’t an interview, but it might be worthwhile to ask an employee to take the prospect out for lunch. Let the prospective employee get an “inside view” of the company. And the employee will probably learn some things that you didn’t find out.
When doing an interview, don’t focus solely on skills. I’m not recommending you do MRIs on people to see if they’re lying, and I’m not a huge fan of personality tests, but an interview shouldn’t just be about skills. It shouldn’t just be about a person’s successes and failures either. It should be about the person (who is always greater than the sum of resume parts.)
Hiring people isn’t a perfect science. I’m not even certain how much is science and how much is art, but I do know that small businesses must focus on team building and team culture or the new employee won’t last long.
Charles Dickens wrote, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”
I’m fairly certain he wasn’t referring to hiring people in a small business, but the thought applies well.
When a small business owner or entrepreneur makes the decision to hire someone it’s a big one. It should not be taken lightly. Especially if you’re growing your staff (although if you’re replacing someone, the same concepts apply.)
Why is it such a big deal? Two reasons:
1. Hiring people is expensive. Employees are almost always the biggest cost: salaries, health benefits, office equipment. All combined (but particularly the salaries), each employee costs a small business a lot of money. So there’s always some risk involved.
2. Each person is critical. In big companies, people float. We all know that’s the case. You’ve got the good workers, the so-so workers and the downright lousy ones. And plenty of downright lousy workers thrive in big businesses, hiding under rugs, shmoozing their way through. In a small business each person is critical. “You’re only as strong as your weakest link,” applies very well in a small business.
With that in mind, what is the most important thing to remember when hiring someone?
Simply put: they have to fit in.
Call it “corporate culture”, “the way we work”, “being a team player” … it doesn’t really matter. What’s important is that you, as the person doing the hiring, recognize the importance of the new employee fitting in.
This doesn’t mean we should hire people who are identical to one another (although I know some might think it tempting to say, “If we could only hire robots…”)
When a team is small, and each person is critical to the success of the small business, everyone has to mix and work well together. They don’t have to be best friends, but they have to work as a unit.
Stay tuned in the next few days for some ways you can help ensure the new person fits in…
A great blog on careers and hiring is Career Intensity by David Lorenzo. Have a look!
Standout Jobs helps companies recruit efficiently and cost-effectively through well-branded, targeted recruitment micro-sites. The goal is to attract, engage and convert the right job seekers into applicants and hires by interacting and communicating more effectively with them.
One of the most damaging words an entrepreneur can use is “whatever.”
* You’re the person companies aren’t talking about enough.
Charles Dickens wrote, 
