Ryan Holiday's "The Daily Stoic" reintroduces us to the philosophy of Stoicism. This emphasizes managing ourselves so as not to be affected by factors beyond our control, including behavior, perception and judgement of others.
This is in stark contrast to how I think about running small businesses. Seven years in, I witness the large gaps in the performance level of similarly ranked staff. Previous experiences, educational background, and interviews are not good predictors of who will do well and who will not (Daniel Kahneman covers this in his book, Thinking, Fast and Slow). As the owner, I have defined my role as motivating my employees deliver consistently excellent products and services. We also seek to influence customers to make additional purchases and to make repeat purchases. Thus, I had defined my foremost role as influencing how people act from the store lay-out to how customers are engaged.
Task by task, whether getting the building contractor to get repairs done on time, getting a new item delivered soonest, or convincing a new staff to smile and cross-sell each customer, I know that these little steps direct our path towards success or ruin. A 5% increase in sales can easily be attributable to good daily habits, and could also be the difference between expanding the business or closing it down.
As I do my daily reflection, I identify what upsets me most frequently, and these are the little misses and delays that causes lost opportunities, inefficiencies, and damages customer experience. At the same time, attention to these details allow small businesses to deliver what the customers expect, strengthen our reputation and profitability.
How then do I reconcile the two? This is the ongoing journey I am taking, put systems in place, correct mistakes, but try not to get too low or too high with each little detail. Having probabilistic thinking somehow allows me to accept hits and misses, knowing that as long as we are headed in the right direction, the bumps in the road are inevitable parts of the journey.
P.S. I only started this year, and this entry is more of a reflection on where I am right now, and not a prescription. Any helpful advice, tip, and perspective is welcome.