The Biggest Threat to Your Business and How To Fight It

The real biggest threat to your business is mediocrity. Yes, this is absolutely true. Being comfortable, being fine, being stable, being just enough, that's the fastest way to fail in business. And I'm going to show you why. I hear this all the time. I don't want to scale too big. I just want to stay at this level. I'm happy where I'm at. Look, I get the desire for simplicity, but in business, you're either growing or, or you're dying. There is no staying the same. That's a myth I hear so many times. People are like, I like where I am right now. I don't wanna be too big for my boots. This is where I wanna be. That's literally impossible. You can't just coast. And here's why. Your costs are increasing. There's inflation, there's wages, there's tools you gotta keep up with. Your competitors are improving, your customers are evolving, technology is accelerating. So while you're staying at the same level, the world is moving forward and you are falling behind. Feels like maintaining is actually declining. Listen, we know this when it comes to other things in our life like health and wellness, right? We're either healthy and we're working towards it and we're getting healthier, we're working out, we're getting exercise, we're consistent with it, we're watching what we eat, we're conscious of our mental health, all that kind of stuff, right? The opposite is really the only other option where you're not doing those things and you're getting worse in terms of your health. It's very hard to just maintain your health without getting better. Want to know why average businesses fail? Well, because they're forgettable, okay? They don't make waves, they don't stand out, they don't push the envelope. They're not hated, but they're definitely not loved. And in today's attention economy, if you're not remarkable, you're invisible. It's just simple as that. You don't have to be the biggest thing in the world, but you do need to be excellent at one thing. In some way. You gotta provide excellence to your customers in order for you to be remembered and for you to stay in business. Let me be absolutely blunt. If your customers would barely notice if you disappear tomorrow, you've already lost. You are actually dying slowly, which is the worst place to be in business where you're not failing quickly and realizing, oh, this is didn't work out, you're actually bleeding slowly. Know months and years go by and Then you start to realize, oh, this business is actually not working out and it's killing me slowly. And in my opinion, you're going to put in the time and the effort to build and grow a business and do whatever you want to achieve in life. You might as well do it right. You might as well be the best at it. To be excellent, to strive for greatness. This really hit me hard early in my business career as an entrepreneur. I was trying to play it safe. I was keeping things manageable, right? But what I realized is that by playing small, I wasn't being humble. I was actually being selfish because I wasn't giving my best, I wasn't challenging myself. I was scared. Most of all, I wasn't delivering the level of value I could give my customers. That's when I made a decision, a very clear decision. We either push or we get pushed out, right? We either go for it and give 110% or we don't do it at all. So we doubled down on quality, we improved our offers, we hired better people, we took creative risks and we launched things that scared us a little bit. And that's what helped build the $100BA and our software company, Webinar Ninja, and built a multimillion dollar business in the process. It wasn't the product, it wasn't the tech, it wasn't our mission and vision. It was the drive for excellence is saying to ourselves, we're going to do everything we can to be the best we can and not settling for less. I want you to look at the brands that you really respect, like Apple doesn't release okay products, right? They strive for excellence. Lululemon doesn't create clothes that are uncomfortable or, all right, Ritz Carlton or the Four Seasons. They don't offer affordable rooms because it costs them money to be great. They strive for greatness not because it's easy, but because anything less doesn't work long term. It just doesn't. And this is what I've Learned in over 20 years of business experience. You know what lives in the middle of the market? Price wars, razor thin margins, burnout. Businesses going out of business. Trying to please everyone and thrilling no one is a recipe for disaster. So how do you fight mediocrity? How do you stay sharp when things are working and just fine in your business? Well, here's what I recommend. Number one, set excellence as the standard. Always in your business, with you, with everybody that's in your company. Never make it okay to be allowed to settle for good enough, good enough. Is not good enough. Every part of your business, from your product to your customer support, should really reflect this sense of pride and care, right? You're working so hard. Everybody's working so hard. You're sacrificing so much. Let's put some heart into it. Even if you're small, especially because you're small, you have to show in everything you do that this matters. You care. And you got to put care into everything you do. Number two, get feedback constantly. Great businesses ask their customers where they can get better, how they can get better. They send surveys. They have real conversations with their customers, whether via phone or via email or in person. Real entrepreneurs. They're not looking for praise, you're looking for gaps, looking for ways to get better and better. Raise the bar regularly, every 90 days. Ask yourself this question, what are we doing that's just average. And how can you make it outstanding, make it great, make it remarkable, make one upgrade per quarter, every three months, upgrade something in your business. That's how you leap ahead. Number four, surround yourself with excellence. I've talked about this before on the show many times, but it's worth iterating. Don't just hang around people who make you feel good. Find the ones who push you, who make you question if you're doing enough. I'm not talking about people that are negative. I'm talking about people that are encouraging to get better. And like I mentioned in a recent episode, the friends you keep equals the life you keep. Listen, I know comfort is tempting and it's easy just to slip into feeling good about your business. I know running a business is already hard, but just doing enough to get by is a trap. Okay? It's a slow death masked as stability. Listen, you don't need to be perfect, but you do need to strive to be better and better every day. Even it's just 1% better every day. That's going to compound whatever that looks like for you. Because your business doesn't die when you fail. It dies when you stop caring enough to get better. And that's it. The businesses that just really don't make it are the ones that don't care. And you need to constantly care more and more every day. If this episode lit a fire under you, good, I'm happy. That's the whole point. I want to really get you remotivated, re energized, to take your business to the next level. And if you want more of this unfiltered practical insights from me, then I think you'd really love our weekly newsletter. It's absolutely free. Just go to 100 MBA net sign up for any of our guides and you get to be a part of our newsletter. We send it every single week. And every week I send you three things. Something to think about, something to do, and something to learn so that you're getting better and better week after week. It's my way to coach you from afar and help you along the way. Again, just go to 100 MBA net, sign up for any of our guides and you'll get our newsletter automatically. That simple. Thanks so much for listening to the 100 MBA show and being a part of our community and being a part of our listenership. If you're not a subscriber yet, it's absolutely free. Just hit subscribe or follow on the app you're using right now to consume this episode. It's the best way to say thank you. If you've enjoyed this episode, thanks again and I'll check you in the next one.