This is so true!
Perfection Is The Enemy of Progress
By John Sanpietro, Certified Business Coach
If I had to point to one thing that keeps even the most competent stamping business owners from getting things done, it would have to be the quest for perfection.
It's only natural for you to want the things you do and deliver to have a certain level of quality. Generally speaking, you want your stuff to be high-end. By meeting that standard, your customers come to expect a particular standard of excellence from you, as well.
There is a difference, however, between "high-quality" and "perfect."
Perfect is flawless. And flawless is next to impossible two achieve.
To be honest, perfection is not necessarily the best thing for your business. It's good for your customers to see that you're not perfect. It makes you seem human. It allows them to think, "if she can make a mistake, then so can I." If, however, you force your customers to compare themselves to your perfect standard, you may even discourage them from making purchases and taking classes with you because they feel that what you do is not accessible for them.
"Perfection is the enemy of progress." This is one of my favorite quotes. And I see stamping business owners allowing perfection to impede their progress day after day. Here are just two examples:
· Videos – how many times have you decided not to release a video tutorial because it wasn't perfect? How many hours has it taken you to record and RE-record videos because of minor mistakes? Videos are actually a great place for you to show that you're not perfect. In fact, the more imperfect you are, the more your personality shines through. For those of you who are cooking fans, think about Rachel Ray. Not only does she not hide her mistakes, she celebrates them! And it's endeared her to millions of fans.
· Classes – how many hours of productivity do you lose because you're agonizing over the projects you're going to teach in an upcoming class? How many different versions of a project do you go through before you finally settle on one? What you have to remember is that your customers have no idea you had 10 different project ideas before you settled on the one you're actually teaching. In fact, they probably would have been happy with any of the other ones! Perfection is a standard you hold yourself to. It is not a standard your customers hold you to. Your customers will be happy as long as you teach them something they don't already know.
So how do you fight perfection?
Deadlines!
Very simply, when you start to work on something… a video, a class or anything else… set a "drop dead deadline" for that task. This means that when you reach the deadline you're going to go with whatever you have!
This will allow you to be more productive because you'll get more done in less time.
It will also make you more sales and profit, because your customers will see more marketing and promotional material, as well as products and services they can buy from you.
Finally, having this deadline, and sticking to it, will alleviate a great deal of stress you feel when trying to get these things done.
Have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy, Prosperous New Year!
Warmest regards,
John
John Sanpietro
Certified Business Coach
STAMPING IS MY BUSINESS!
http://www.stampingismybusiness.com
THE BUSINESS STAMPERS COACHING GROUP
The Premier Online Community for BUSINESS-MINDED Stamping Business Owners!
