Map reading - for the tourist and small business owner

Have you ever been to London, England and used their underground system, the Tube?  When you first look at the map, with its 14 coloured “lines” taking you across the city and beyond, it can be overwhelming.  I chuckled to myself that if you were colour blind, you would really be stuck.

Within each service line, there are junctions when you can change and go into a different direction, but the key is to work out your end destination, and from there work back on which is the best route to use to get there.  And there is never just one perfect way, so if there are problems en route, you can change course, go to another station and attack your journey from a different direction.

It is actually a very efficient system, and with a day pass, we were able to hop on and off, depending on where we wanted to go.  The trains are pretty frequent and if your plans changed, you just go on another route, which is what we did because we also walked a lot around the city and would end up having to find the nearest station and travelling from there.

All very nice, you may be thinking, glad you enjoyed your trip to London, but what has this got to do with me?  Well actually I see a straight correlation to starting and running a business.  There’s no one route to success, some of you may be on the fast lane, taking the most direct and shortest route, while others get sidetracked or take a more convoluted path to get there.  Sometimes we hit on roadblocks, but as we found with the Underground, you just “recalculate” your route and make the necessary changes.

The underlying key is that you have a plan to start with, where you have documented what you want to do and how you plan to get there.  Knowing what you want to achieve, makes it much easier to determine if you’ve actually got there or not.  Otherwise, just as the first inspection of the Underground map can seem overwhelming, so too can be starting a business without some sense of where you want to go.

Somehow getting off at the wrong station or taking a wrong turn in your business, is less scary, because you know there are alternate routes to get there and you can still reach your final destination, which may well change as your business evolves.

Just as the map you are given at the Underground is pocket-sized so it is easy to take with you, so too can your business plan be compact.  It doesn’t have to be a 150-page document.  In fact there are books out there promoting the one-page business plan, which still demand the same due diligence and thought process as a more formal plan you might do for the bank, for example, but mean that you are more likely to check in and see if you are on track.

Whether you are travelling or growing your business, it helps to know where you are going and if you are headed in the right direction. What you don’t want is to get lost – be it in London or in life. Take time to make a map for yourself.

LAST SEEN HEADING FOR…

I have a thing about being on time. Punctuality is important to me and as many of my members will attest, I work hard to finish my events on time. I feel it is a sign of respect to do so.

That being said, twice this week I have been late – for an event and a meeting. Why? Because I got lost. Not only lost, but my GPS had me going around in circles.

By the time I was forty minutes late picking up my volunteer Melanie, I was almost beside myself. I knew I was going to be late for our event and I had the name tags, registration material etc… And sure enough, when we arrived people were waiting for us, several concerned because I am never late. Well after this week, nearly never.

A few days later, I decided to try a different route home from Kitchener. Big mistake. Again following my trusty (or not so trusty) GPS, I started to notice familiar sites – I literally was back where I started from, and suddenly where I thought I had plenty of time to get to my meeting, I was behind and stuck in traffic. Fortunately the people I was meeting with were flexible and we were able to get together, albeit half an hour later.

No one likes to get lost. It makes you feel vulnerable. With places to go and people to see, my frustration level was at an all time high. But it made me realize how it must feel when you are lost in life, when you don’t know what to do next, and are drifting with no sense of direction or inner voice telling you what to do. It’s not a comfortable place to be, and yet all of us have been there at some time in our lives.

As business owners, it can often be when we have some tough decisions to make and we aren’t sure how or whether to make them – whether it be to take that big step and hire staff or undertake a major expense or at the other end of the spectrum, to face the unwelcome reality that your business isn’t working or is not financially viable and it’s time to close the doors.

In his book The Dip, Seth Godin talks about how often we give up when success is just around the corner. Certainly I set myself a time limit and had determined that if I hadn’t found Melanie’s farmhouse by a certain time, I was going to have to give up and sure enough, seconds before that deadline, I found it.

With my second tardy experience, it bothered me more than the people I was visiting, so really I could have cut myself some slack. Maybe we expect too much of ourselves.

Whether you are lost physically or mentally, one thing I know for sure, asking for directions can help you recognize and reach your destination. Talking it out with a friend or family member can bring a different perspective, one that brings objectivity to your situation and help you see a clear path and sense of direction.