Bottom of the ninth inning, bases are loaded, and you are up to bat. This is a common baseball scenario that is known to the baseball fan as “the moment.” If you are in the game and just a few points down, this is the moment to shine with a big hit!
If you are in small business, the same scenario can also be in play in which you must deliver the big hit to deliver the winning product or service to your customer. Let’s go through a few ideas that can help us as entrepreneurs do just that with the baseball sports perspective of making the big hit.
The Vision or Idea
First, have the reason or vision of the win. What is it going to look like? If you are to achieve the big hit, you want to know what you’re going to do when it has been fulfilled. As a child, the scenario may be imagined over and over again in practice or in your backyard. You are at home plate as the one who makes the big hit, the home run that brings your teammates to come home for the win. How would you celebrate? What would you do as you make your run to first, second, third?
Therefore, as small business professionals, we want to make sure we keep this vision in mind as well. What are some of the cues and signs that we have established as the vision of the big hit? As an accounting firm, is it everyone beating on your door for you to work on their taxes or auditing services? For a retail store, is it to know your favorite customers by name and have them bring their friends and families along to shop for the first time?
The Swing
Next, is to know when to swing. We are constantly being torn in different directions with what everyone else wants our vision to look like, but if we know our vision then we know what pitches we want to swing at. As a hitter, is it a curveball, fastball, or a slow ball? We need to be ready for the swing.
As an entrepreneur, what will the pitches look like? In manufacturing, is it in the process of putting together our product or the brand that we set in our presentation and delivery? In retail, is it in the supply and demand chain or trends that we perceive to set? In the service industry, is it in the type of client we serve or the delivery of our services?
Focus on the Target
Once we know the pitch in which to swing, then we need to focus on just that. We can certainly find every opportunity to indulge in our vision once we are focused. It could be as easy as a company that can deliver what a customer is looking for in personalized shipping boxes and branding. Maybe you are looking to bring bell-bottom jeans or hyper-colored shirts back into trend like the fad of the 60s and 90s.
The Big Hit
Now you’ve had the vision, your focus was on target, and the swing was a smash home run. What do you do as you are rounding the bases? Are you going to throw the bat and your hands up in the air? Are you going to point in the air to emphasize your home run hit? Or how about just a big smile as you slowly trot along? After all, this is the moment you have been imagining all along.
Let’s determine how we will celebrate as an entrepreneur. This is not the same as a single hit and rounding the bases. Even though you want to through your hands up in celebration, we must remember the team that makes it possible. There may be a way you would like to provide that recognition to the team for providing you with the opportunity to see that your business is a success. After all, they would be the ones having to make the big hit all together as one unit in sync. Recognition to the team is a vital part of success on any team.
The next time that you are thinking of a way to increase your productivity, increase sales, or drive more clients through your door, stop for a second and ask yourself if you are ready for the big hit.
