Taking the Smoke and Mirrors Out of Starting and Operating Your Own Business

I was standing on my front porch at five am this morning waiting for the taxi cab to arrive and take my wife and I to the airport. It was already a few minutes late. Just as I got through to dispatch on my cell phone the cab came up on the street corner but turned the wrong way. I went out into the road to flag him down but he was already gone. Back on the cell phone, I asked dispatch to radio the cab and tell him to turn around. She said they couldn’t get a hold of him now that he was out.  How ridiculous is that I thought. Undoubtedly the driver had GPS, a cell phone, and probably even a CB.  She said they don’t use CB’s anymore because that technology is out of date, but then she admitted they couldn’t get a hold of him any other way.  Funny.

We spent the next ten minutes trying to get the driver on the phone and when that didn’t work I tried to tell the dispatch how to guide the driver to my house.  Let’s just say that there was a communication barrier preventing that process from going as smoothly as it could.  Then the driver showed up on the other corner, and promptly drove the wrong way again. Finally my wife ran three blocks down the road and tracked him down.  He finally drove up in front of the house and we quickly threw our bags in the trunk.

I looked around the cab, and sure enough, he had a working CB, GPS device, computer readout, and a blue tooth headset hanging precariously from his ear. I laughed.  We buckled our belts and told him we were headed to the airport. He didn’t move at all for a few seconds and I thought maybe he didn’t hear me, or maybe dispatch hadn’t relayed the destination yet. I leaned over and spoke a little louder this time, “Airport please!”

That’s when the driver leaned over the seat and asked us for directions to the airport.  My wife and I both laughed again, and then we gave him directions to the airport.

What’s the point of this story?  Know your business!  When you don’t know your business it shows, like it did with our cabbie.  It will likely be a long time before we use that cab service again, if ever, and we certainly won’t be recommending it to others.  You need to have a certain level of savvy to run and operate any business, but savvy alone cannot replace education.

If you are working in an industry that demands you possess a certain skill or specialized knowledge there is no faking those things. You simply need to know them.  You can’t be a stock broker if you don’t understand the market. You can’t be an attorney unless you know the law, and you certainly can’t be a doctor unless you know medicine.  Customers will eventually pick up on your rouse, and when they do you will lose their business, and any business they may have referred you.

You don’t have to be the smartest person in the room all the time, but furthering your education is always a good idea.  Take a class at a local college, or a seminar offered by your industry’s trade association.  Never stop learning, it will help you improve your business, produce a superior product, deliver a better service, and stay one step ahead of your competition.

Know your business.

Next time we’ll drive.

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