The One Thing

The old expression, "if I had a nickel for every time someone asked me that question" is very common in business. In my consulting practice, the question I would be asked most often is, "what's the one thing I can do (as a business owner) that will drastically improve my business ?"

And the answer is . . . insert drumroll here . . . to stop looking for the one thing. The one thing is that there is no one thing. It doesn't exist. There is no one thing that will drastically improve your business. Sure, there are things that will have a significant or disproportionate impact compared to other things, but those things cannot exist in isolation.

Great customer service with a shit product will only get you so far. Excellent order response time doesn't mean anything if order accuracy sucks. If you have great employee perks and benefits but turnover is still high, you're doing something wrong. Having accurate financial data but not being able to close your month until the 23rd isn't a sign of operational excellence.
 
Business are meant to be messy and dynamic. Many of the tasks and activities are linear and repetitive (think accounting, order entry, repeat purchases, onboarding employees) but the remainder is an everchanging hodge-podge of variation. Looking to do one thing to magically change all that is absurd.

Instead, you need to start focusing on doing a lot of the little things right and to be consistent and persistent. Maintain an upbeat attitude even though you might not be having the best of days. Don't let the fluctuations of the business affect your attitude. "This too shall pass". Do the best you can and treat people the way you would want them to treat your children (e.g. with patience and understanding).

I've seen "bad" businesses succeed and "good" businesses fail. There are many factors that go into the success or failure of a business. Control what you can, do as many of the little things right as you can and keep a positive, consistent attitude. That's what I would call putting all of the chances on your side.