Act like your business is worth it

How many times have you heard the phrase “Act like your business is worth £1m” and left thinking that although that would be nice, there is no way you could do that because you just don’t have the money.

Me too!

And then, the other day I reached an epiphany. By this phrase, people don’t mean to actually spend money like your business is worth £1m.

What they mean is categorised by the word “ACT”. Let me explain what I realised.

How would a business turning over £1m act? Would you walk down the street with your head up or your head down? Would you make a conscious effort with your appearance? Would you shake hands confidently?

And then what about your business?

If you were turning over £1m, would you answer the phone within 3 rings? Would you reply to emails and get back to people quickly? Would you give an impeccable service and have high standards of customer care?

Of course you would!

Acting like your business is worth £1m is nothing to do with spending money. It’s all to do with delivering a great quality service and thinking about how you personally come across when you meet and deal with people.

A good way to get a introduction into what I mean is by getting your partner to treat you to a top meal at a fantastic restaurant. How do they do things? Do they make you feel special? Are the waiters clean, smart and have impeccable manners?

And then try to emulate what they do in your own business.

So, what I discovered the other day when driving down the road is about ACTING like your business is worth £1m. It’s about making that extra special effort with your appearance, with your clothes, with your smile, with the way you answer the phone, with your customer service.

But all of these things can be achieved without spending a penny.

Here’s your challenge then (if you want to take me up on it – and yes, I’d love to hear how you got on): imagine your business is turning over £1m+. Now, what would you do differently? How would you make sure your clients and customers get access to the fantastic service that you provide?

Once you’ve done this exercise, make an effort to put into place some of the things you’ve written down within your business.

It would do any of us any harm to think about how the clients or customers that pay us the most money deserve to be treated and then go out of our way to make sure they’re treated that way. Try it and you might be pleasantly surprised!