In life our bodies get sick and sometimes it is because of our Hard Habits To Break (HHTB)!
In today’s society with the social media and the internet we think we can self-diagnose everything. We type in our basic symptoms and choose the illness that best describes whats going on. We buy over the counter medication but then the issue lingers on and we know the only way to get over the illness is to go to the Doctor. Right!
We are all guilty of letting our imagination get the best of us when we are sick. We fear the worst and most of the time it’s minor but their are occasions that we hear the worst like Corona virus or Cancer. Most of us have known individuals in which went to the doctor because they were feeling weak and tired and within a few short days or months they had passed away. Why! The condition when diagnosed was to advanced and the treatment was ineffective or just to late!
Everything you just heard can also happen to your business except their is no Doctor to call. It all falls on the leadership and ownership to self diagnose!
First the symptoms:
- Quality issues.
- Dissatisfied customers.
- Charge backs or giveaways.
- Failure to meet due dates.
- Costs out of control
Diagnosis:
- Personnel not paying attention to the orders.
- A dissatisfied customer will harm your business by telling others and worse stop using your company.
- Result of poor quality and wanting to keep customer satisfied you choose to take a financial loss to keep the customer.
- You are either overbooked, under performing, lack of goals or lack of leadership.
- No one is managing the business.
Treatment:
Just like the common cold sometimes the treatment is simple and once the cold has run it’s course all is back to normal. Usually in business it is not the common cold it usually the big one like the Corona virus or Cancer. Why? Simply put we have allowed those HHTB to take hold and it becomes hard to breathe or it eats away at you from the inside out. The larger issue is that the problem is not in just one area. We have heard the Corona virus attacks the lungs while cancer can attack anywhere. In some cases the cancer can be removed but sometimes these illnesses attack areas like the lungs or brain where they are inoperable.
In business you can treat areas by replacing staff. However sometimes the problem is everywhere! Because you chose to ignore those HHTB!
You are now in the fight of your life for your business! Are you willing to make the hard decisions or just look the other way and think it will fix itself. It does not matter the size of the company every business has illnesses to some degree. Usually the illness starts with an individual and then spreads to the entire staff. The bad apple syndrome!
What are you going to do? Continue to self diagnose or make the call and get help. What you need is someone to point out your HHTB because that is the illness that is going to kill your business. It won’t happen today or tomorrow but left untreated it will slowly rob you and your company of it’s profits and the lifestyle you enjoy.
So now you are thinking my company does not suffer from this illness of HHTB!
Are you sure?
What if the illness has already taken root and is spreading from department to department totally unnoticed.
Can you see the illness? Those HHTB?
Probably not!
Why?
It’s really simple you have already accepted them and cannot recognize them or where they are coming from.
Here is a simple analogy:
You are suffering from headaches and popping those over the counter medicines like candy. Your spouse says to you go to the doctor and the first HHTB surfaces. I got this I do not need a doctor. You refuse thinking it is nothing major and it will be over in time. She persists and so you go to the Doctor who sends you to the eye Doctor who gives you a prescription for new glasses and within hours your headaches are gone.
Question:
How long did you suffer?
How long did it compromise your performance?
How much did it cost you in lost revenue?
Why?
You figured it would fix itself?
And that is your Hard Habits To Break!!!
Sometimes you need to let the professionals diagnose the HHTB that you suffer from. In some cases not all its as easy as a new set of glasses.
This is a true account of a HHTB consultation. I recently saved a company $25,000 a year in 15 minutes. The medicine required was $10. If they had made this call 3 years ago they would have had $75,000 in additional profit. In the last 6 months I have reduced their documented costs $12,500 that went straight to the profit column because it was literally going down the drain. Their HHTB was a simple diagnosis in that they all knew the problem existed but no one was willing to take leadership and solve the problem. They all walked blindly by and did nothing. They could have done something to lessen the cost like implementing procedures while the plant was not in operation. Instead the waste was happening 24-7-365. This was only one of the many issues that were plaguing this company.
Since then HHTB has shown them how to self diagnose and even with this training we still see HHTB every time we walk through the facility. This is a cancer and it takes time to place your company in remission of these HHTB. Just like cancer though they can resurface immediately unless you are in constant watch for their return. You cannot walk through your facility blindly you must stand vigilant at all times because your company is under constant attack. Your employees bring with them their own HHTB and will tear down the procedures and processes you have put in place if they are not monitored. It’s time to take control of your business before those Hard Habits To Break place your business in ICU or even worse 6′ under!
Every single company that HardHabitsToBreak.com has visited and during the discussion about what HHTB can do for them the customer uses the phrase yes we do have some HHTB. Then they look at me and say now I get the name. The part that puzzles me is that they admit they have the Corona virus or cancer but under estimate the damage those illnesses are doing to their company and to their livelihood. HHTB are just that they are hard to see, hard to diagnose and even harder to break. You can overcome them but it will take hard work and good habits that you want to become HHTB.
Good HHTB are what you want in your company. They reduce cost, implement time saving practices and exceed your customers expectations. They allow you to take better care of your staff and you will actual work smarter not harder.
I hope you take the time to look at your business to see those HHTB and if you cannot see them give us a call. We will find them for you. Have a great day.
Look for more specific HHTB columns to come as well as instructional videos.