Have you ever been on a long-haul flight and been given a pair of pajamas to wear? Check this out, where the pj’s “made you as close to naked as international aviation regulations would probably allow.” And did you know you can bring your own pajamas to wear? Now I haven’t seen a slumber party at 10,000 feet, never mind the fuzzy slippers and blankies, but the argument goes that, the better the sleep, the better the business performance. Hmmmm…I have visions of flannel stuck in my head: Imagine if you saw this on your next flight. It gives networking a whole new image. Thanks for suggesting the word pyjamas/pajamas Hajra Khatoon 
There’s been some interesting discussion going on in the blogosphere about the word “passion”. Some are saying to heck with passion: passion doesn’t fuel results. Others, like Al Smith say “Pursue your Passion and Purpose. Find your Passion and make it your Purpose.”
When I looked up the definition of Passion, I found this: “any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling/ lust/ strong sexual love/ a strong affection or enthusiasm for an object, concept, etc.”. Hmmmm…interesting juxtapositioning of definitions. If we pursue our passion in business, just what does that really mean? Is Passion enough? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.
Ralph Dopping and Barbara Klein suggested the word Persistence, and it’s something that Pete Cashmore references as part of his success when he says his tendency to be “ridiculously persistent” has served him well. And in terms of having a passion, and the importance of a plan, he says: “Execution really shapes whether your company takes off or not. I’m very much a creative person, but you’ve got to do the follow-through. A lot of people start out with an exciting thing and they want to take over the world, but really the people who do take over the world have a good plan of how to get there and the steps along the way.”
I’m all for having a plan, and taking the steps to execute that plan.
Now, I can always trust Bill Dorman to throw in a curve ball word, and he did just that with Porcupine. Here are some things I learned about the porcupine. Consider for yourself if these traits in any way resemble the business owner/entrepreneur.
They are short-sighted and slow moving. They have virtually no social life and lead a solitary existence. An encounter with a porcupine can be a prickly experience. Porcupines are excellent swimmers, so they can stay afloat. (Be sure to check out that last link…a success story of a company that’s been in business since the 1930′s, when gas was 15 cents a gallon. See what they say about customer service: it’s a gem) Other than the staying afloat, I don’t see the prickly porcupine’s traits as ones I’d admire in a business owner.
Vidya Sury suggested many “P” words, but the ones that I chose from her list are Prospect and Profit. Sonia Simone underscores the importance of what she calls the “content net” in turning customers into prospects. You can check it out here. And as far as Profits go…isn’t that what we’re in business for? And there are only two ways to make that happen: decrease expenses and/or increase revenue. The problem with the first tactic is that you can only cut so far before you start to negatively influence the very thing you’re looking at increasing. Bringing in more revenue means turning more prospects into customers (and repeat customers), AND maintaining the customers you already have. When asked why so many small businesses lag in profitability, Patricia Sigmon said in this article:
“The No. 1 reason is small business owners don’t have the answers in hand. They have no idea that they didn’t make a profit, or that they had a loss. They are chasing payroll money every month, they’re getting deeper into debt, and then they have one bad month—and they’re dead.
Too many small business owners don’t know the difference between “busy” and “profitable.” Small businesses that wait until the end of the year to look at financial reports can lose a lot of money being “busy”—especially in a recession.”
Are you profitable?
Do you, or your employees, have prickly porcupine tendencies that need some smoothing out?
Do people think your business is “the cat’s pyjamas”?
I’d love to hear from you, especially your thoughts on Passion, and its role (or not) in business success.
