Entrepreneurs must ABL Always Be Learning and March Madness and the Sweet Sixteen, one of today’s top news stories has 3 lessons for entrepreneurs.
Every March the country is all abuzz with thoughts of college basketball. College campuses are in hyper drive. School students are assigned geography reports based on college rankings. Offices all over the country fill out pools trying to guess who will be the eventual winner. Entrepreneurs should pay attention to this story because there are 3 lessons for entrepreneurs found in this story. These lessons are:
- People love dependable things
- You cannot guarantee results based on someone else’s performance
- Sometimes, the winner is a surprise
People love dependable things
March Madness is a phenomenon people have come to depend upon. It is so reliable department stores have sales scheduled around the basketball tournament. The most successful entrepreneurs are those that customers can depend upon. Unpredictability has its place. The quality of the products and services you provide should be dependable and reliable. Your office hours and location should be dependable. Your concern and appreciation for your customers should be dependable.
You cannot guarantee results based on someone else’s performance
Lots of trash talk flows around the March Madness tournaments. People talk about which team will win and why. Interestingly, no one can guarantee how players on a particular team will perform. It is nit a good practice to guarantee end results based on the performance of people you cannot control. As an entrepreneur, you must rely on other people for a variety of things. However, it is important not to make customers promises based on things that are beyond your control.
Sometimes, the winner is a surprise
One of the most exciting things about the March Madness tournament is that sometimes the winner is an absolute surprise. There is always some team that comes out of nowhere and walks off with the prize. Similar things happen in business every day. Small start-ups enter the scene and become dominate forces in the market. No matter what the size of your own business, no matter how long you have been in business, be encouraged because you can win.
March Madness shows entrepreneurs a few interesting ways to look at their businesses. So, the question for smart entrepreneurs this magnificent day is what will you learn from the March Madness phenomenon?