We celebrated a significant milestone this year. It’s Beyond Philosophy’s 20th anniversary. Not only that, but Financial Times also recognized our company as one of the top management consultancies for the fourth year in a row. 

It is always gratifying to reach these milestones and enjoy these accolades. However, they didn’t happen by chance. It was lots of trial and error, hard work, passion, and (a little) luck that went into this business. I once heard on the British version of Shark Tank that the secret to business success is making more good decisions than bad. I am proof positive that this is true. 

Small businesses are somewhat easy to start but not easy to keep. The US Bureau of Labor and Statistics estimates that 20 percent of new small businesses don’t survive the year. That number jumps to 50 percent that fail in five years. So, as you can see, making it to 20 is no joke. 

Over the past 20 years, I have learned a lot of things about business. In this episode, I share them with you, my listeners. My hope is that I can share them with others and help them survive and be one of the 50 percent of small businesses that is still around in five years. 

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

There are many things I have learned over the past two decades. Now, as we find ourselves in the Great Resignation, a period where people are re-thinking their careers post-pandemic and starting their own businesses, I have distilled the ten most important to this list. 

Here are a few key moments in the discussion:

• 02:31  We discuss the survival statistics of small business per the US Bureau of Labor and Statistics, and, spoiler alert, they aren’t that great.
• 06:36  We share the first of the ten lessons I learned over the last 20 years in business, which is be brave.
• 11:48  We discuss the second of the lessons, which is to zig when others zag, which we also discussed on a recent podcast with Alex Mead.    
• 13:08  We share the importance of focus, which can be scary for entrepreneurs because it might mean turning away business.
• 15:40  Number four is the lesson about what to expect when you start your new company (hint: hard work and lots of it).  
• 17:15   Colin shares his fifth lesson, which is about learning who is wasting your time and who has something to offer you. 
• 19:46   We begin the second half of the list, starting with the fact that cash is king, especially to you the new business, and ending with the last lesson, which is…
• 29:10  Colin talks about the final lesson, which is to provide value, and without it, it won’t matter if you know the other nine.    

Join us in celebrating our 20th anniversary over the next month.

We will be giving away books and other things this month.

Check out our LinkedIn and Twitter feeds for more information.

Please tell us how we are doing! Complete this short survey. 

Customer Experience Information & Resources

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has 289,000 followers of his work. Shaw is Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC, which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy LLC as one of the best management consultancies for the last two years. Follow Colin on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 22,000 subscribers. 

Experience Health Check: You already have an experience, even if you weren't deliberate about it. Our Experience Health Check can help you understand what you have today. Colin or one of our team can assess your digital or physical Customer Experience, interacting with your organization as a customer to define what is good and what needs improving. Then, they will provide a list of recommendations for critical next steps for your organization. Click here to learn more. 

 

How can we help?

Click here to learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services.