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Welcome to Vantage Business Support & Insurance Services
We all know how important small business is to the U.S. economy. Some statistics that you may not know are:
(1) they represent 99.7% of all employer firms, (2) they employ just over half of all private sector employees, (3) they pay 44% of total U.S. private payroll (4) have generated 64% of net new jobs in the past 15 yrs.
VANTAGE has been servicing the small business community for over 35 years. Over the years we have accumulated much knowledge, contacts and experience in helping to protecting small businesses and help them become successful and grow. As such, we will be publishing a semimonthly newsletter geared toward providing small businesses with the latest news, products, and guidelines to assist in their success and growth. Please feel free to comment and/or request topics that are important to you for us to research.
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This is just a sampling of what we feel would be important to you. We have much more to offer. If you have any questions or need more information please contact us at 877-886-8277 or click the link below.
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How to cure your employees of 'It Won't Work Syndrome'
 Your organization is busting at the seams with great growth and development opportunities. You're in a brainstorming session with your leadership team and you suggest a strategy you've been mulling on for a week.
"That will never work," a colleague instantly replies, and he proceeds to shoot down your idea. You stop speaking up. Several other unconventional ideas come up in the meeting, and the response to each is always a list of reasons why it's a dumb idea. A pall is cast on the room, everyone is "out of ideas," and the team leaves - dejected.
Sound familiar?
I admit, sometimes my ideas aren't great. But isn't that why we call it brainstorming? Sometimes the reasons the idea won't work are rational and understandable, but other times, these "reasons" are only someone's perception or experience. The difficult part is to tell which reasons are rational and which are the result of IWWS: "It Won't Work Syndrome."
Have you heard these phrases uttered to justify why an idea won't work?
* "We've debated this several times in the past, and every time we've decided against it."
* "Such-and-such company tried that, and it didn't work."
* "The idea is not suitable or transferrable to our industry."
* "This just doesn't fit with our culture."
* "The risk of failure associated with that idea is too high."
* "The team is not yet ready to take up that idea."
* "This is a distraction from our main objectives right now."
If so, your team just might be suffering from IWWS. Many of these just indicate that some team members feel they will have to work too hard to move the idea forward.
What can you do to challenge a team that has fallen ill with IWWS? Try asking these two questions at your next meeting.
1. Why won't this work? We often ask the question backward. When Steve Jobs decided to venture into the world of tablets, what would have happened if Apple's board said, "Sorry, the IT market has numerous tablet models, and we just can't compete"? Crazy!
You ask the opposite question, "Given the tablets in the market now, what do we need to do to make ours successful?" Jobs challenged the IWWS naysayers and pushed to realize his dream. You need to do the same. If you allow people to discount ideas, you'll never innovate.
2. How could I make this work? What if you had to execute the same idea successfully with a gun to your head? How would you make it work?
Assume that the decision of executing the idea has already been made by someone with a higher authority, and despite your hesitancy, you would have to make it work anyway. How would you make the best of it? What if you were a very small company and didn't have the resources available you have in your larger organization? How has someone in another industry been successful with a similar idea? What partners might you need to find?
Don't tolerate people saying, "We've always done it this way." Mentally nudge your team toward resolving any limitations that exist in the implementation of an idea. Create some scenarios and see if any sound effective enough to try. Successful people are scrappy - they keep pushing forward and never give up.
ACTION STEP: At your next staff meeting, introduce the concept of IWWS. Bring up either a real or wild idea for an active discussion and analysis. Ask the two challenge questions. Determine whether the idea really won't work or if it's just an assumption.
SOURCE: Laura Stack
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DISCLAIMER OF LIABILITY
Our firm provides the information in this e-newsletter for general guidance only, and does not constitute the provision of legal advice, tax advice, accounting services, investment advice, or professional consulting of any kind. The information provided herein should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional tax, accounting, legal, or other competent advisers. Before making any decision or taking any action, you should consult a professional adviser who has been provided with all pertinent facts relevant to your particular situation. Tax articles in this e-newsletter are not intended to be used, and cannot be used by any taxpayer, for the purpose of avoiding accuracy-related penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer. The information is provided "as is," with no assurance or guarantee of completeness, accuracy, or timeliness of the information, and without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of performance, merchantability, and fitness for a particular purpose.
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