Little Fish Have A Huge Impact

As a little fish in the pond of big businesses, it's sometimes hard to recognize the impact you have on your industry and our economy. According to Statistics Canada, 2008:

• 1997-2007 - Small firms accounted for 37% of all jobs created

• 2007 - 48% of the total labor force worked for small enterprises

• 30% of all Canadians either run or work for a small business

• 2006 - Small businesses accounted for approximately 23% of Canada's GDP (almost double compared to two decades ago)

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says,

"Small businesses are, in fact, the backbone of the Canadian economy, accounting for 98% of all businesses in Canada."

Be proud to be small. Next time someone says that your business is too small; tell them that you at least have backbone.

Keep swimming Little Fish!

Are You Striking Out?

As a little fish in the pond of big businesses, it's easy to get excited about every opportunity that comes your way. Carefully analyzing your options to be sure they line up with your business model and planning, will have you making better decisions for a more profitable future.

Just because you're being offered a new product or service, it doesn't mean it's the right answer for your business and it certainly doesn't mean you have to subscribe to it.

Analogy

You've finally been invited to play in the big league and you can't wait to get up to bat. Before you can blink a few times, the pitcher is throwing balls at you and you start swinging away. Some of them are a bit beyond your reach, but you're so grateful to be playing their game, that you swing at every baseball that comes your way and strike out on the third pitch.

Know your plan and how you want to play your game and before you know it, you'll be winning.

Keep Swimming Little Fish!

Do Your Customers Come Back For Seconds?

As a little fish in the pond of big businesses, it's not enough to rely on passion alone for what you do, to keep bringing in customers. You need to have a plan with processes in place, so that when a client decides to give you a break and try your company, you're able to deliver on your brand's promise of quality, value, service, results and integrity. You may not get a second chance to impress them.

Analogy

A turkey that smells good, looks good and tastes good is exactly what your guests expect, but the problem is that you've never cooked a turkey before. You're don't know how long to thaw it for if you've bought a frozen bird, you don't have any stuffing recipes, you don't know if you should season it with sage or sugar, you're not sure at what temperature to cook it at, and you don't know for how long to cook the turkey. All you know is that you've sent out the most welcoming and mouth watering invitation for a turkey dinner, that all who received it, accepted it with great excitement.

When Thanksgiving day finally came, you thought you could just go ahead and start cooking with no preparation. Your guests sat in anticipation while their tummies rumbled, but when they cut into their turkey, it was pink. Not only did they not eat what was on their plates, they clearly didn't ask for seconds and gracefully declined next year's invitation to turkey dinner.

Keep Swimming Little Fish!

Should You Continue Growing Your Business Once You've Reached Your Goal?

As a little fish, you start out with a vision of what you want your business to look like in a few years. You work diligently at mastering your trade and developing your client base and before you know it, your business is full. However, once it's full, you stop, and switch your vision from growth, over to preservation.

Have you considered what would happen if you stopped growing your business?

Analogy

One drop at a time, you've filled your cup to the brim. You hold and balance your cup, so that nothing spills out from it and don't dare add to it, because your cup may overflow.

If you don't add fresh water to you cup:

1 Your water will get stale and smelly and no one will want to come near it

2 Your water will evaporate, leaving you with less and less every day

Continually growing in knowledge, adding improved methodologies and developing your expertise, means you're ultimately adding clients and positioning your company for longevity!

Keep Swimming Little Fish!

Are You Still Standing in The Shadows?

When you're a little fish in the pond of big businesses, it's easy to stand in the shadows of the big fish. If you're a start up business, it's smart to stand in their shadows at first, because you learn to do as they do, and if they're successful, you too learn to be successful.

If you're no longer a start up and have been in business for some time, you need to get out from the competitor's shadow. You can complain all you want about how no one knows your company exists, but the reality is that no one does know you exist if they can't see you in the shadows.

Always remember that no one put you there but you. Push your way out from the shadows and make yourself some elbow room, so the sunlight can shine upon your business too, but take a look behind you every so often to see who is standing in your shadow.

Keep Swimming Little Fish!

Is There Enough Oxygen In Your Pond?

Oxygen means life, so if you want to be successful, be sure to keep your business pond clean, clear and healthy.

1 Little Fish Fact:

Bacteria in a fish tank use up the valuable oxygen.

1 Little Fish Philosophy:

Get rid of any negative factors in your business that may be bringing you down.

2 Little Fish Fact:

All plants in a fish tank consume oxygen even if they are good plants.

2 Little Fish Philosophy:

Even though a new employee, a new service or even a new photocopier may seem like a good idea, your small business may not be ready to take on a any additional commitments.

3 Little Fish Fact:

Smaller fish require more oxygen than larger fish.

3 Little Fish Philosophy:

As a growing company, you need more positive influences, more resources and more clients to grow.

4 Little Fish Fact:

Water leaking out of the tank will give the fish less room, less dissolved oxygen and greater concentrations of waste.

4 Little Fish Philosophy:

Be sure to have consistent infiltration of positive people and keep out the negative ones that can bring you down.

5 Little Fish Fact:

Fish with limited oxygen don’t eat much and therefore spend their time gasping for air.

5 Little Fish Philosophy:

Keeping your business clear of any obstacles, will allow you the time and energy to look for new clients, instead of always doing damage control.

Keep Swimming Little Fish!

Swimming For Survival

I have two pet gold fish and that's not because of my company name, but because someone gave me one and I bought the second to keep the first one company. These 79 cent feeder fish, whom I've named "Goldie and Fin", swim in a bowl just like the one in my logo and over the past 3 months, I've noticed some very interesting behaviour.....

1 Little Fish Fact:

If they don't swim and look for food....they don't eat and will eventually die.

1 Little Fish Philosophy:

The bills can't get paid (let alone be successful) if you just sit there and wait for the phone to ring. Go out and look for your ideal client.

2 Little Fish Fact:

The smaller fish eats all of the smaller flakes of food.

2 Little Fish Philosophy:

Your larger competition isn't interested in your prospects, but you should be interested in the prospects that are too small for them!

3 Little Fish Fact:

If they hide under a rock....no one knows that they're there.

3 Little Fish Philosophy:

Do your potential customers even know that you exist? Get out and get noticed and of course, do good work!

4 Little Fish Fact:

The smaller fish can reach into nooks that the larger fish can't.

4 Little Fish Philosophy:

Look for clients that your larger competitor can't find.

Keep Swimming Little Fish!