Common Sense

Often in discussions of successful businesses, the question of common sense enters the conversation. These discussions always raise the question of why business owners cannot just use common sense in the operation of their businesses especially since some of the more intelligent practices would seem to be no more than common sense.

As business owners we are always being “pitched” by the “experts” with their methods that are the next best version of whatever we need to be successful. Some of these proposals are reruns of methods that have been successful over the years and are proven over many applications in various businesses. These methods, or approaches, have a track record of success and are nothing new in their basics.

On the other hand, there are always the proposals that appear so new that they may be seen as radical. While it is always possible for a business owner to attempt to apply strategy that may be new or radical, one should do their homework and research new approaches so that surprises are not commonplace. The application of some common sense should be in the forefront of decision making and in the application of any idea.

As always, the business owner who attempts to try anything new must be willing to shift gears and undo their decision if necessary. There is nothing incorrect in trying a new, or even radical, approach to anything. Continuing to follow a path that is clearly not working would be as wrong as never trying any approach other than the one that fostered a problem in the first place.

So how does a business owner “discover” the methods that they should apply to their business that will be successful? While there is no guaranteed method of business, or even of researching various proposals of operation, common sense can lead us to our decisions. There are various actions that we just know will result in wrong or right results. We must use our common sense in business leadership.

We have all had various experiences in our business as well as our personal lives. We have gained knowledge and information that should be utilized in our business operations in the future. Failing to utilize that knowledge and information is a waste of our experience and may doom our business success. To do otherwise would be refusing to apply common sense.

Looking at your business from the viewpoint of the customer, or even from the viewpoint of the employee, should be one of the basics of your operation. Treating your customers, and employees, as you would want to be treated is a fundamental of successful business. Deciding on business operational methods based on these basics of decision making always reflects good common sense.

Reach out to your networking partners and ask for their advice, on business operational questions and on what methods to try for different results. Your partners may have more common sense than you do. Perhaps you need an “expert” to help you see these common sense approaches to business operation, but a networking partner might be able to guide you also.

Making it easy for customers to do business with us is just good common sense. We should look for other common sense based methods of operation. Please leave me your comments, or email me at Jim@JimTeasley.com, or call me at 360-314-8691.