How can you have a breakthrough in business every day?

There’s nothing better than to have a “Eureka” moment when you own a business. You struggle and come at the problem from different angles and all of a sudden there’s a “flash” and a “pop” and it all fits nicely in place.

When this happens to you, do you:

1. Breathe a sigh of relief?
2. Jump for joy?
3. Clap your hands?
4. Slap the back of the nearest “ole fella” whether you know them or not, whether they have played any part in this or not?
5. Just go back to slugging it out on the next problem?

I hope you do 1-4 because breakthroughs, no matter how small, deserve a “hurrah”.

Did you see a flash today? Did you hear a pop? It was us. A long term client and I had a breakthrough today. We’d come close before but it still wasn’t right.

Neither of us thought it would happen. Once more, we were reconsidering this business in terms of the best customer, product mix, and positioning.

But, it happened. So, let the fireworks begin!

It might not have, but it did. Here’s why I think today was  a “BT” day and here’s what you can do to have more breakthroughs when you’re solving business problems.

• Be versatile. Don’t think you’ve considered every angle because you probably haven’t. We looked at the problem from the perspective of his preferred customer using a revised Platinum Profile™ and we GOT it.
• Be bold and confident. Breakthroughs don’t come to the timid. You get stuck in the “could” world — we “could do this”:, we “could do that”. Every time we started going down that path, we stopped, regrouped and changed “could” to “is” or “are”. That made us see it as if it were real.
• Be precise. When trying to solve a problem, leave the “pie in the sky” at home. If you use some discipline in your thought process, you won’t have that nagging feeling, you’ve left something out or just ignored something that didn’t quite fit. When the breakthrough comes, and they will, all the pieces have to fit together for it to be real.
• Check connections. In other words before you celebrate, make sure all the key parts and players are in alignment. Take the owner’s 40,000 foot view and don’t think like a manager or employee.
• Most importantly, don’t give up. Be a finisher. Don’t just settle. For some business problems you have to go with the best you can, but not everything. You’ll be tempted to quit but hang in there.

Even if you are a small business with limited resources you can make things happen. Don’t feel inadequate. Research has shown that, dollar per dollar, you are 10 times more innovative than large businesses.

You may not have them every day. But when they do happen, be sure to celebrate. Don’t just go on as if nothing happened because something very special did happen. When times get tough, and they always do, remembering the breakthroughs give you courage to forge ahead.

Do you want more breakthroughs? You can have them but it’s up to you. You’re the owner. What do you do to encourage breakthroughs? How do you celebrate?

Here’s to your success!