The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: A Lesson in Business Perspective

You might remember the classic Western film The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, starring Clint Eastwood.

Well, this week's Impact Retail Success Club call could have had exactly the same title.

We had all three.

And it reminded me of something that every business owner needs to remember, particularly when things aren't quite going to plan.

First, the good

There was plenty to celebrate on this month's Impact Retail Success Club call.

Sausage Week had been a great success for our members, with increased sales and some really positive results. There was a general feeling that things were going well.

I'd also brought back some fresh ideas from my recent trip to America, including some interesting thoughts around increasing average transaction values (ATVs).

We were sharing ideas, discussing what had worked and looking at opportunities to make our businesses even better.

Exactly the sort of conversations I love having with ambitious independent butchers and farm shop owners.

Everyone was feeling pretty good about things.

But as we all know, running a business isn't always sunshine and sausages!

Then came the bad

One member was having a frustrating time getting their team on board with pricing.

Now, anyone who runs a retail business will know just how important getting your pricing right is. With margins constantly under pressure, you simply can't afford to get it wrong.

But knowing what needs to happen and getting everyone in your team to do it are sometimes two very different things.

It's frustrating.

You put systems in place, explain what needs to happen, and yet things don't always go as planned.

These are the everyday challenges of running a business. People, processes, pricing and all the other little things that can slowly eat away at your time, energy and profitability.

They're not necessarily disasters, but they can certainly test your patience.

And sometimes, if we're not careful, they can start to overshadow everything that's going well.

And then came the downright ugly

Another member shared something that had happened in their business completely out of the blue.

I won't go into the details, but it was one of those situations that knocks the wind out of your sails.

The sort of thing that leaves you questioning everything.

Unfortunately, anyone who's been in business long enough will probably have experienced something similar.

You can spend years building a successful business, putting together a great team, developing loyal customers and improving the way things operate.

Then something completely unexpected happens.

And suddenly, all that progress seems to count for nothing.

At least, that's how it can feel.

The Gap and The Gain

Our conversation brought me back to something I've talked about many times over the years.

The Gap and The Gain, a concept explored by Dan Sullivan and Dr Benjamin Hardy in their book of the same name.

It's one of those ideas that sounds relatively simple but can make a massive difference to how we think about our businesses.

As entrepreneurs, we're naturally ambitious.

We're constantly looking ahead. Setting targets, identifying opportunities and thinking about where we want our businesses to be in the future.

And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

In fact, it's probably one of the reasons we've achieved what we have.

The problem comes when we constantly measure ourselves against that future ideal rather than recognising the progress we've already made.

That's what Dan calls living in the Gap.

We're focusing on the distance between where we are today and where we want to be.

And because our ambitions keep growing, that gap never really closes.

There's always another target, another improvement or another problem to solve.

The alternative is the Gain.

Instead of constantly measuring forwards, we measure backwards.

We look at where we are today compared with where we started.

And suddenly, the picture can look very different.

When business throws you into the Gap

What struck me about our Impact Club conversation was how perfectly the good, the bad and the ugly illustrated this idea.

When things are going well, it's relatively easy to recognise the progress we're making.

Sales are increasing, customers are responding and the team is performing. We're feeling good about what we've achieved.

We're in the Gain.

When things aren't quite right, perhaps pricing isn't being followed properly or a member of staff isn't doing what we've asked, we can start slipping into the Gap.

We focus on what's wrong rather than everything that's right.

But when something downright ugly comes along, we can be sent hurtling into the Gap at a hundred miles an hour.

Suddenly, one bloody awful problem dominates our thinking.

All the good things we've achieved seem to disappear.

But here's the important bit.

None of that progress has actually gone away.

The business you've built is still there.

The customers you've won, the improvements you've made, the challenges you've overcome and the successes you've enjoyed haven't suddenly vanished.

One bad day, one difficult situation or one unexpected setback doesn't wipe them out.

It might feel like it at the time.

But it doesn't.

Measure backwards, not just forwards

I'm not suggesting we should ignore problems or pretend everything is wonderful when it clearly isn't.

Far from it.

As business owners, we have a responsibility to deal with difficult situations, make tough decisions and put things right when they go wrong.

That's part of the job.

But there's a big difference between dealing with a problem and allowing that problem to define how we feel about our entire business.

Sometimes we need to remind ourselves just how far we've come.

Think back three or five years.

What did your business look like then?

What challenges were you facing? What problems have you solved? What improvements have you made?

Chances are, you've achieved far more than you give yourself credit for.

And recognising that progress doesn't mean becoming complacent.

It simply gives you a better perspective from which to tackle whatever comes next.

Why having other business owners around you matters

Perhaps that's what I enjoyed most about this week's Impact Retail Success Club call.

We celebrated the good.

We talked through the bad.

And we helped each other put the ugly into perspective.

That's one of the real benefits of surrounding yourself with other ambitious business owners who understand what it's like to be in your shoes.

Sometimes you need fresh ideas to increase sales or improve profitability.

Sometimes you need somebody to challenge your thinking or help you work through a difficult situation.

And sometimes you simply need reminding that, despite everything that's being thrown at you, you're actually doing pretty well.

Because sometimes the most valuable thing you can get from a room full of other business owners isn't another great idea.

It's the reminder that you're doing better than you think.

And that's something worth remembering the next time business throws a bit of the bad, or even the downright ugly, your way.

If you'd like to be part of those conversations, that's exactly why I created the Impact Retail Success Club.

It's a place where ambitious independent butchers and farm shop owners come together to share ideas, tackle challenges, celebrate progress and help each other build better businesses.

If that sounds like something you'd benefit from, get in touch and let's have a chat about joining us.

Have a great week.

Mark