Four Things You Should Know about Your Business

Here are four things you should know about your business. If you don’t know the answers to these questions, it will be very difficult for people to refer you, because you won’t have communicated these key points to them.

1.  What is your mission? What are you striving for?

2.  Where is your organization going? How can you improve your chances of achieving your mission?

3.  What environment is your organization operating in? What are the trends affecting you?

4.  What are your core competencies? What do you do better than your competitors?

This is from a thought-provoking BNIpodcast recorded by BNI Founder, Dr. Ivan Misner. I’ve come to realize, after 17 years in BNI, that if we can’t answer the four questions listed above, it becomes much more difficult for people to refer business to us. Not only because our referral sources need to understand what we do, but most importantly they need to understand why we do it. This establishes our credibility. And if we don’t know the answers to these questions, do we really have a plan for our own success?

The biggest challenge lies in answering the questions – it’s top level brain work. But the time investment is worth it. Read Dr. Misner’s podcast for a few tips about finding your answers.