Short and to the Point

From Franklin McMahon's Media Artist Secrets podcast, here's an extremely simple, six-word business plan. 

• Act big.
• Be confident.
• Aim high.

Never willing to leave well enough alone, we have to expand on this, at least a little bit.

Act big--There's nothing wrong, in fact there's a lot right, about giving the impression that your business is bigger than it really is.  Back in the days when Tacony was in the air conditioner business, I called on a local store.  It was a small store with virtually no storage space.  Everything was sold from floor samples and was delivered to the customer's home.  When a customer had made their selection, the owner would say "Let me see if it's in my warehouse."  Then he'd call the local distributor and place the order.  He had no warehouse.  He had a telephone and a truck.

Eventually the dealer did get big.  He did get a warehouse.  He wasn't lying when he acted "big", he was just projecting into the future.

Be confident--This one's easy.  Anyone who invests their money to open a retail business has to be confident.  But when you have a bad day, or a string of them, it's easy to lose that confidence.  Don't do it!  Stay confident and good things will find you.

Aim high--This one is really a combination of the first two.  You know to begin your sales presentation with the more expensive items because it's always easier to go down in price than it is to go up.  The same applies to the rest of your business, too.  Run the big ad.  Go after the big sale.  Play the percentages.  You'll never hit the bigtime if you don't try.