It can be incredibly easy to do. You sit in an office with your team members working tirelessly on a product. You pour your life into your small business. And it is a beautiful thing. But here's a word of caution. Don't be so dazzled when describing your small business to others you fool yourself into missing its faults. Ok, so I'm a father of three wonderful children. If you ever meet me in person I will regale you with stories for hours about them. I adore and love my kids and I mean it quite seriously when I say they are the best looking kids ever. Smart, funny, enjoyable to be around. Surely they must be the world's perfect kids. But here's the thing. I'm not the only one who feels this way. Every parent everywhere will tell you about their perfect kid. They'll smile, nod and tell you how incredibly beautiful their wonderful little darling is.
Things Are Not What They Seem
Unfortunately I know from personal experience...they are not always the impeccable little angels their parents think. Of course it's not always their fault. Since first bringing this little bundle of joy into the world these parents have doted on, cared for, and showcased their child to anyone and everyone willing to give a second glance. And (in the U.S.A at least) the obligatory response has always been,
"What a beautiful baby! How perfect; what a little angel!"
Or something along those lines. These unsuspecting parents are given (sometimes) false information, or a stretched truth in the process of polite conversation. What does this do?
A Skewed Reality
This constant reinforcement of a slight mistruth, or half-truth, over time will lead to a skewed sense of reality for the parents. They'll start to believe their child truly is the best looking, cutest baby to have ever existed. I don't mean to sound cynical, please don't mistake me, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a parent believing 110% in the qualities of their offspring. I would be worried if it were otherwise. However, those parents who continue to perpetuate the belief and proclaim it to others to a point of uncomfortableness for others are sometimes difficult to be around. This leads to awkward moments when other people disagree but are afraid to tell them. (Or those times when you'd really like to let a parent know that their precious little angel may in fact have a pair of horns and pointed tail.) You see what has happened; these parents have so overlooked all possibility for improvement and have built up in their own minds an unrealistic shell of perfection they have distanced themselves from otherwise possibly helpful advice.
Small Business, Baby
You see where I'm going with this right? If you're a small business owner you have spent hundreds, thousands of hours nurturing, caring for, doting on your company. You've fed it, watched it grown, seen it develop and begin to be a wonderful solution to the problem you set out to solve. When you started with an idea what was one of the first things you did? You'd share it with a friend or two. You'd tell them how awesome it was and then you'd wait. You want to hear those words..."It's beautiful". Maybe even if you're especially lucky you'll hear someone exclaim, "It's perfect!". What an incredibly great feeling. Affirmation that this thing which started as just a figment of an idea in your mind has been turned into something more by the simple affirmation of another. You continue to work on it. You pour your time into making it better and better. Along the way you continue to seek the constant feedback from others, only you're not really looking for feedback, you're looking selectively for positive responses. You want others to confirm just how perfect your small business is.
Big Problems
As time passes and you constantly hear only the feedback you're looking to receive you'll begin to believe you're right. You must have the world's perfect small business. And what will other's think? Well, they will continue to see the problems (maybe even big problems). They'll see ways for improvement and see reasons why your "child" really isn't perfect, but they won't be interested in sharing them with you. And your small business will suffer. Greatly. Now I know you are different. You're smarter than this type of person, but just in case you know someone else who might benefit from this reminder I think it's worth sharing.
Better Business
So, here's the word of caution I shared at the beginning. Don't be so dazzled by your own small business you fail to listen to others and fool yourself into believing your own story. Because you will end up being the only one believing. And fooling yourself only makes you the fool. Instead focus on seeking out true and accurate assessments from others. Encourage others to honestly share their thoughts and opinions on your small business. Then listen. Truly listen and take to heart the advice you receive.
Seeking the honest opinions of others and heeding wise advice will make your small business a better business.
Who knows, you may find yourself in the end with the world's perfect small business.