Wouldn’t it be nice if we could “bottle” Christmas cheer?
I have been writing a lot about being an entrepreneur. I have realized something about myself, I am an idea person. I can’t help it, those ideas just pop into my brain constantly, and they won’t stop. So that idea about bottling Christmas cheer, I am willing to share that with all you budding fellow business men and women.
Just think of the possibilities. Humor me for a minute, while I ponder just what such a product might be able to do. Unlike huge companies that take every possible step to protect their “secret” formula, recipe, product idea, etc., the Christmas cheer company will only gain more market share by giving it sway as much as possible.The “pay it forward” theory would be that I freely give it to you, you love the feeling and want to keep it on hand at all times, so you keep coming back for more.
There would be no need to develop expensive marketing strategies, all you would have to do is let the customers experience the feelings that accompany true Christmas cheer, and it would go viral.
The more I thought about it, the more excited I got. But, I am not a newbie entrepreneur, and I know the steps. That meant I had to pull out the old notes about making a strategic plan. You know, putting your plan on paper exposes the flaws, I guess that is why so many of us don’t want to actually commit our plan to writing.
When I started listing the strengths I began to experience sort of a euphoria. I could envision a world a world where the most valued career was that of “The Secret Santa”. Ambition would be fueled not by selfish desires for wealth and power, but by the passion to help other people.
When the fuel for that ambition was running low, simply taking a sip of that magical Christmas Cheer would fire up that engine again. The would be an endless demand for our product. I was getting excited, I thought I had made a brilliant discovery.
Then I realized that I had neglected to fill in the other side of the strategic plan, the weaknesses. I hate when you get to that part, it often spoils everything. I prefer to be the dreamer, but I am also grounded in reality. That is where the perfect picture began to get a little blurry.When I started to list those weaknesses, the top of the list was the fact that most of us lose focus quickly.
Unfortunately, for most us us, that warm and fuzzy feeling that Christmas cheer gives us, fades as a mere memory when we put away the decorations. It gets boxed up and put on the shelf and becomes a faint memory. The same thing can happen in our business.
It is really hard to have the laser focus to keep making the right decisions to move forward. I now realize, that if we can just keep doing what we do well, and center our attention on that one thing, we can jump start our business, and the continued focus will keep the batteries charged.
photo credit: UK in Italy
