There is No Status Quo

“I’m happy with the way things are now. We are just happy to maintain the business we have. My people already have good experience. We’re doing fine.”

These are just some of the statements I have heard from small business owners, President’s of companies, Vice Presidents of Marketing & Sales, and sales managers.

I don’t suppose you have ever found yourself making any of these statements have you? You would never say something like that would you?

All of these statements stem from the fact that you are happy with things as they are. This would imply that you or your business will never experience any change, or what I like to refer to as you want to maintain “The Status Quo.”

What is the status quo?

The dictionary defines status quo as the existing state of affairs. So for example, if your business has always relied on referrals from your existing clients, what do you do when they don’t refer?

What have you done as the economy has softened and caused chaos in your business? I know what many have done, they maintained status quo. This has resulted in pain, suffering, frustration, and despair.

When you strive for status quo and the environment around you changes, your results go down.

There are only two directions you can move in your business, up or down. I can promise you which direction the so called “status quo” will move your business.

Why is the status quo so attractive?

Because it’s easy. You are a creature of habit and you operate within a comfort zone. This comfort zone keeps you doing what you’ve always done, or what I’m referring to as your status quo.

It may remind you of the definition of insanity. Doing the same things you have always done and expecting a different result.

When you attempt to practice the status quo, it becomes your mindset. The longer you go in status quo thinking, the harder it is to pull out of it.

Think of it in terms of getting in shape. At one time you may have been in good shape, athletic, and even had a good level of fitness. You could probably eat whatever you wanted and not gain weight.

But what happens as you get older? Your metabolism probably slowed down, you were not as active, and you maintained the same eating habits you had when you were younger.

The result is that you have another 30 pounds of excess weight. Your habits were status quo, but your metabolism was not.

Status quo is a myth

You live in a dynamic environment that is always changing. Your weather changes, your hair changes, your family changes, etc.

As you can see from the example above in the way your body is constantly changing, so is everything around you.

In order for you maintain what you were when you were younger, you must change what you do. You would need to change your diet, and your activity level just to look like you did when you were younger. Even then, you would still look a little older.

The same is true in your business. The myth of status quo would have you believe that you can just maintain what you have. This would assume that your competitors would be happy not selling anything to your best competitors.

Good luck on that my friend.

So what do you do?

It will come down to staying proactive and curious in your business.

Proactive in your quest for constant improvement. Constant improvement in attracting new prospects, converting your prospects into paying clients, expanding your client relationships, and executing your people plan to get the right people working in your business.

You will want to stay curious about how you can improve, what you can improve, who else is trying to over throw your piece of the world, and anything else you can be curious about.

The list for things to be curious about is long. Focus on the four core areas of business growth: attracting new prospects, converting those prospects into clients, expanding your client relationships, and bringing in the best talent to grow your business.

If you start your business growth improvement with the four core disciplines of business growth, you can destroy the status quo.