The Ten Priorities; Priority #4: Saying No

ten priorities, saying no in business
ten priorities, saying no

What’s the most important skill of a business owner?

Learning to say NO: This is the fourth post in the series of The Ten Priorities: Laying the Foundations for a Great Business and Life. The fourth Priority is about learning to say No. The introduction to this series on The Ten Priorities is here.

As seen on Kochie’s Business Builders

What do you think is the most important skill for business owners to master?

You’re probably thinking, financial management, or delegating, or sales or something like that.

Important skills, obviously, but the answer I’m looking for is this:

Knowing how and when to say NO, clearly and respectfully.

As I’ve talked about in the introduction to the Ten Priorities, the life of a business owner is one where there is never enough time in a day. And so, you have to decide, every day, what to say NO to and what to say Yes to.

Saying NO is hard, much harder than saying YES, but it’s a skill you can learn and get good at. 

The Big Question of Small Business

Learning to say NO starts with becoming absolutely clear on the Big Question of Small Business:

Why does your business exist, what’s it on this earth for and Why would anybody care?

If you struggle to answer that question, clearly, in LESS than 20 words, there’s a good chance your business will get stuck.

Here’s a few beautiful examples of answers to that question:

  • From Disney: Create Happiness
  • From BMW: Create the Ultimate Joy of Driving
  • From an electrician, I worked with: You’re in Safe Hands
  • From a Retail fitout company, I worked with: More Bang, Less buck
  • From an Architect, I worked with: Architecture that Inspires.

Answer the Big Question of Small Business with complete clarity, and you won’t get stuck in your business… I promise you

For more resources, and reading on strategies for growing your business follow this link to the first of The Big Questions that all small business owners want answered

Next week, Priority #5: Guessing

Download my 12 Question Cheat-sheet to help you find your next Coach.

Purpose and the 7 Big Questions of Small Business

Business owners frequently ask 7 Big Questions about how to Build a Beautiful Business and Life.

The first of these  Big Questions is: How do I grow my business?

To answer that question I have identified the 11 most important strategies to create Business Growth.

The first of those strategies is Grow your business with Purpose. This is one of many more articles on this site that explain how Purpose and Growth hang together, in some depth.

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