Thinking is good for business
When you’re running a business sometimes it feels as though you’re either going at a million miles an hour… or sleeping. When you’re caught up on the treadmill of emails, invoices, meetings, GST… (the list is endless!), sometimes the elements vital to the ongoing success of your business fall by the wayside. One of those, I believe, is time out for yourself and some space to think…. To just think and nothing else.
Henry Ford famously said; “Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it.”
Thinking means we have to stop the ‘busyness’ and look as if we’re doing nothing… although thinking and dreaming are ultimately more productive than answering emails and attending endless meetings.
Successful entrepreneurs such as Bill Gates and the founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin and many many others talk about the significance of thinking time or dream days for starting and growing their businesses.
For example Bob Jone’s number one tip for budding entrepreneurs is ‘thinking’. According to a recent Listener interview, he only employs people with ‘thinking’ degrees – people who have explored philosophy and classics. He in turn cites Ron Brierley whose success is due to the fact he sits on his balcony and thinks for hours and hours.
I credit the creation of Her Business magazine to the many hours I spent on the pillion seat of a motorbike, where I had the unique opportunity to think about my life without distraction. Staring into the back of a helmet as the countryside whizzed by, I asked myself questions like; am I happy in my current job? (no) What do I want to do? (start my own business) How can I make that happen? And so on.
Once I started my business, and the motorbike journeys were a thing of the past, my thinking time evolved into regular, dedicated ‘chunks’ of time.
The challenge is to quarantine distraction-free time (mentally and physically) – so taking a morning out of the office to work from home or elsewhere is the best bet. The next challenge is to not feel guilty for taking time out for such a decadent activity as just thinking… when there are fires to be fought back at the office.
My thinking time progressed further when I structured my ‘streams of thinking’ into three main areas:
Research
This stream of thinking is around learning more about your product or service, your industry and your customers.
This thinking is important because in the chaos of running a business it’s critical to poke your head up and have a look at what’s happening around you.
Use google to research on the internet for products or services similar to yours. What are the trends; in your industry, in your target market? What are your competitors doing? What are similar businesses to yours that are based overseas doing?
Perhaps in your own business this research time could be spent checking out products or displays in different retail outlets, or spent meeting with key staff or with your best customers.
Questions
This stream of thinking is about brainstorming open questions. Find a quiet environment with a pen and paper and focus on a question around moving your business forward.
Like; how can we double our profitability? In what ways can I encourage my team to take ownership of the business and their role in it? Who has my customers and how can we set up an alliance with them?
Then brainstorm ideas, jotting answers down as they come to you. When brainstorming don’t judge your ideas, just record them. Later you can evaluate your ideas, expand on them and put them into action.
Planning and reviewing
This is where all the answers to your research and questions are funnelled.
Many entrepreneurs go away by themselves to an inspirational and secluded location, like the beach or bush, to get into the right ‘head space’ and immerse themselves in planning and dreaming.
Review your business plan, various financial and sales reports, your brainstorming and your research.
Ask yourself; where are we now? Where do I want to be? And how will I get there? Think big picture – what do you want your business to look like in two years, five years?
Whatever structure works for you, the important thing is to create some head space so you can nurture that creativity that ignited your business in the first place. Staying on the treadmill of ‘busyness’ without making space for new ideas or for taking stock means you and your business will grow stale.
Think about it.
Fiona Powell is the founder and past editor/publisher of Her Business magazine. She is currently writing a book on her story of starting Her Business and about women in business.
