What Business Are You Really In?

By: Jon Dwoskin

Picture yourself standing around at a sporting event, movie or cocktail party and someone comes up to you and asks you what you do for a living.

Everyone wants to know what you do. It’s human nature. That’s just life and that’s just business. From the moment people meet you, they are sizing you up. What is he all about? What is her profession?  Is he successful? Like, really successful? A player in the industry? The curiosity and assumptions go on and on, revolving around what it is you do for a living.

I can tell you right now that what you think you do, you don’t. A whopping 99% of all people get this wrong. You might think you are answering correctly because you answer the generic way: I’m a lawyer, I’m a broker, I sell real estate, I’m a this or I do that. WRONG! You may have a degree or a license in a field, but that is not the BUSINESS you are in. You are in one of three businesses and I am going to tell you exactly what they are. You have to be ready to hear this because once you realize it is completely true, it is going to change the way you look at your business, career, business plan, future and how you execute every day.

I am going to give you three things to think about. Let’s go!

#1: You are in the business of PIVOTING

That’s right, pivoting. Every day you have to course-correct based on the day, the market, the economy, the client, and other factors.  You may be working on something every day for a month, but the wind changes and your instincts, clients and advisors require you to go another. It’s stop, drop and roll to the next new thing. That is called pivoting. We all do it and few of us realize it.

By the way, if you watch those around you who don’t pivot, they are the ones not growing, not making any money, not increasing their game. They are staying in the same place. Don’t be like that. If you want to grow, you need to have the mindset that you are pivoting both in real time and ahead of real time. These are the people that see the trends before they happen, but which are triggered by real time events.

You have the laggard pivoters, who are slow to move. They see things changing, but hold too much onto the past and are slow to let go.

Then there are the innovative pivoters who see things before anyone sees or feels them and they make shifts in their business accordingly. Many times, people think innovative pivoters are crazy, but they are simply wearing the same hats that innovators in the industry wear.

Which one are you?  If you are not an innovative pivoter, you need me.

#2: You are in the business of RELATIONSHIPS

With technology today, relationships are completely redefined. Millennials have a new definition of it and, frankly, everyone is simply off on this one. Yes, video conferencing, Facetime, texting, email, social media is all amazing, but the GAME CHANGERS are those who are meeting people face-to-face and being a value-add to their business every single day. If you have clients that don’t make a move without talking to you, you have a relationship. If you don’t have that, you might have a rapport or an acquaintance. These are the facts and you can’t negotiate face. Well, you can, but you would be wrong!

So, the question is, how would you rate your relationships on a scale of 1 to10? If you are not at a 10, you have work to do.

#3: You are in the business of SALES AND MARKETING

Listen up! Everything is marketing and everything is sales. Life is marketing. Life is sales. We are all selling and marketing every day to our clients, colleagues, stores we walk into, etc. This may be a hard concept to grasp, but every person you talk to, every store you go into, everything you do in business, has you selling yourself and/or your product. You are marketing practically every minute of every day because you are engaging in consistent follow-up of your message and your company’s product message. You can call it whatever you want, but at the end of the day it’s all sales and all marketing. Period. The end.

So, the question is, how are you at sales and marketing your internal and external brand? If you are not a 10-out-of-10, you have work to do!

The next time someone comes up to you and asks what you do for a living, you can give one of these answers above.

Have fun!

Think Big!

JD

Jon Dwoskin is the founder and CEO of The Jon Dwoskin Experience. Jon is an executive advisor/business coach. He specializes in growing businesses big. Very big. Contact Jon directly at: jon@jondwoskin.com, 248.535.7796 and/or jondwoskin.com