Why Every Small Business Owner Should Know the Native American Indian Method for Building a Canoe

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Let’s dive in….

A native American Indian was asked how to build a canoe…

(Image by かねのり 三浦 from Pixabay)

This was his reply:

“It’s simple. You don’t ‘make’ a canoe. You cut down a tree and remove everything that’s not a canoe.”

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(Image by 192635 from Pixabay)

This could be important advice if you’re a business coach who’s not clear on the fundamentals of your business.

The importance of clarity & simplicity

Clarity and simplicity are your biggest allies in business.

Many coaches we speak to struggle with both. They know what they want: to get leads, win business, and make money.

But when we ask simply “What do you do - and who do you serve?” they are less clear.

They often say “I coach business owners” or “I help small business owners”. Or they say “I help business owners who are unhappy”.

The problem is that searching on LinkedIn for “unhappy business owners” won’t get you very far.

·        What industry are they in?

·        What title do they have - director? CEO? CFO?

·        What location are they in?

·        How many staff do they employee?

Let’s go back to the native American Indians.

They cut down a tree and chip away everything that’s not a canoe.

Business coaches need to chip away everything that their business doesn’t need: anything that doesn’t add value or bring clarity to it.

What do we mean by that?

Want vs. need 

(Image by crgutman from Pixabay)

What you want to create in your business can usually be summarised by three things:

1.     More money - to spend to get the things you want

2.     More time - to do what you want when you want

3.     Better lifestyle - to do what you want, how you want, with whom you want

Most business coaches are quite clear on this.

But the needs of the business are another matter. Can you say that you have absolute clarity on these four fundamentals?

1.     People: Have you clearly defined who you serve? TIP: go deep before you go wide and that will save you energy!

2.     Product: What do the people you serve need? What are their problems? How do you solve them?

3.     Process: How do you get people from where they are now to where they want to be? With one to one coaching? One to many? One to infinity - through an online course?

4.     Price: You need to make money but do you want to sell 1000 x $100 products or 100 x $1000 products?

Focus on getting clarity on these four main areas. Chip away everything that doesn’t contribute to what your business NEEDS.

Clarity brings cashflow

(Image by Alexas_Fotos from Pixabay)

The clearer you get on the four fundamental areas of your business described above:

·        The more confident you’ll be as the business owner

·        The better your marketing and messaging will be

·        The clearer your delivery of products/services will be

·        The more confident people will be to turn their interest into commitment

·        The more cashflow you’ll have

But you don’t get there by focusing on the what you want (more money or more time). You need to do the work towards what your business needs: get clarity on the four founding elements of your business.

Remember: If you’re not clear in your own mind what you’re offering and to whom, your potential customers will not be confident enough to buy.

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