Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter

As Jack snarled at Tommy boy in A Few Good Men. Well, okay, maybe you’re not the Nicholson fan that I am. But, this statement could also apply to many companies and non-profits of all sizes, from the top down.

As documented in Jim Collins’ research, one of the key factors of a “good to a great” company is the ability to look at the brutal facts.

“… You absolutely cannot make a series of good decisions without first confronting the brutal facts.”

This is why I sometimes come across as negative (or even brutal) in my writing or client consultations. I don’t want to crush people’s dreams but there’s a lot of consultant and coach happy talk out there pumping up would-be entrepreneurs to follow their dream, think rosy thoughts and the money will quickly follow, sure as shootin’!

Of course, somebody has to win the lottery and there’s some pure dumb luck in business, but (sorry folks, here I go again) success is a hard, long slog for 99.9% of us (regardless of the size or type of company). We try and fail. We try again. We fail. Slog. Slog. Slog. We try some more - and - wow! we’re an overnight success, and after only 20 years! Sam Walton started with one store, then had two - and over 20 something years became Wal-Mart. A very successful family-owned Albuquerque food processor didn’t turn a profit for 25 years! And so it goes.

P.S. You don’t have to be big to be great (and profitable).

Tags: entrepreneur sanity check, business development, business planning