Succeed By Working Smart
Diary of a Busy Worker
A beautiful spring day, 1995 – Love this job but the hours seem
to be getting longer and I have more to do than ever. Maybe I'd get
more done if I stayed ‘til 7 or 8 every night?!? I think I’ll try
it, just until I get caught up and organized. After all, that’s only
a 12 to 14 hour day. Shouldn’t be that difficult and I’m young –
I can put forth the extra effort if it means I’ll reach my goals.
October 1997 – I can’t believe it! Here I’ve been working 14
hours a day, 5-6 days a week and I still don’t seem to get
everything I need to, done. I suppose I need to work harder. Apply
myself more.
January 1998 – My New Year’s Resolution – I will work even
harder and do whatever it takes to reach my business goals. That means
no more vacations and 7 day work weeks. But I know that if I work
really hard and devote myself to this I can succeed.
January 1999 – I’m exhausted! I work 14 – 16 hour days, 7
days a week but I’m still not reaching my goals. Worse, I’m no
farther ahead than before. What am I doing wrong?!?
If this sounds like you – if you believe all you have to do is work
harder, longer hours to succeed, you need to re-think your beliefs. If all
it took were hard work and effort there would be many more success stories
in this world. Entrepreneurs are particularly susceptible to this
philosophy. I have talked with individuals who actually define their goals
in terms of the hours they plan to work rather than what they want to
achieve.
Stop. Think. Work smart instead.
If you want to be successful, think first in terms of targeting and
focusing your efforts. In the marketing workshops I teach, I explain that
a narrowly defined, targeted, focused approach will be more successful,
require less time and effort and consume fewer dollars. All for better
result.
What do I mean by a targeted approach? Let me give you a few examples.
A salesperson of custom tailored clothes is hugely successful selling
outfits for children who participate in horse show competitions.
When a well-known car manufacturer wanted to improve sales, they
devised a strategy to reach drivers who leased specific types of autos and
further, only those leases due to expire the same month of the planned
promotion.
A software firm’s popular programs are utilized solely by scientific
researchers in the process of writing and publishing data. The programs
have been designed to address the special needs of this market.
A manufacturer of pizza sells its product through schools solely for
the purpose of fund raising.
A hardware store, when faced with new competition from the giants like
Home Depot, actually improved margins by specializing in selling sand
products to the construction trade.
In each instance, success was achieved by specializing in a single,
narrowly defined target market.
The lesson to be learned is this: If you are still trying to be all
things to all people, it is time to redefine yourself. Focus your
approach, narrow your definition and specialize – it’s called working
smart and working smart requires less effort, time and resources.
You will still have to work hard. But the road to success will be easier
and more direct.
By Anita Daniel, President, Market Insight
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