One thing I have noticed about companies in Zimbabwe is that we have gone into retreat mode. Everyday, I meet entrepreneurs whose businesses are performing poorly and when you ask them what they think the reason is, they always default to the economy.
According to a lot of them, the sole reason why their businesses are performing poorly is that the Zimbabwean economy is bad.
Before you think that I’m ignorant, it’s very important for me to note that I’m not oblivious to the phase and the challenges we are going through as a country but one notion I will not subscribe to is the belief that the economy has an influence on my ability to make money.
If it is not the economy, then who is to blame? It’s you. If your business is not performing as well as it should, then you should start by looking within not looking for scapegoats outside.
The first step to addressing a problem is to take full responsibility for it. You cannot address your company’s poor sales performance when you are pointing fingers at the Government and blaming the economy.
The Art of Creating Your Own Economy
I always tell my trainees that they have to create their own economy.
The first step to successfully creating your own economy is to take full responsibility and focus on what you can control.
As a business person, you might not be able to influence how the economy will be tomorrow but you can definitely influence how many new prospects your salespeople find, how many calls your salespeople do per day, how many meetings your team can do, and how many sales you can make.
If you focus on what you can’t control, then you will always keep circling in one place.
Think about it; No matter how hard things may seemingly be, there is always money to be made. How many competitors do you know that are bigger than you? What do you think they are doing right? Why do you think they are bigger?
Whilst you are making $5 000 a month, there is another company offering the same product or service making $50 000 or even $100 000. Do you think it’s luck?
Instead of crying that things are bad, you should be strategizing on how you can steal market share from your competition, be hungry!
To give you an example, I saw a certain post where a couple of customers were bemoaning poor service by a certain butchery chain where their salespeople are bluntly telling customers to go shop elsewhere when they ask for something as simple as a plastic bag.
When I read the comments, all I thought to myself was that this is the kind of behavior that destroys good companies. Imagine, if sales were to dwindle in that butchery chain, chances are, the management is going to point fingers at the economy rather than the attitude of their salespeople.
That’s why I’m saying you have to look within and create your own economy.
PS. I’m having a Sales Class on the 5th of May 2022 at Sabre Business World. I want you to be part of it. You can find more information here.
