I ride my cycle a lot. I’m used to numpty car drivers pulling out on me (if you’re a cyclist you know what I mean.) I don’t hang around, I cycle quite fast. This weekend due to a lack of patience a car overtook in the most incredible place and hit the vehicle coming the other way. Wing mirrors went spinning across the road. Cost, £300 all because one car driver just couldn’t wait a few seconds.

In the rush to get the job done, to get to our destination, or to get the business to grow, we knock things off. We knock people about…. whether they are customers, our people or suppliers and like the car drivers it costs money. People leave our business because they are not treated the right way. We become consumed by doing busy work rather than real work. We run round in circles, become less efficient and take our eye off the real ‘REAL’ ball.

It’s the equivalent of driving head down along the road without enjoying the ride, appreciating the view and taking the moment in. Business is a lot like that. We spend so much time trying to achieve but not understanding how to achieve.

The definition of patience is tolerance of delay. It implies self control, considering the options and sometimes just waiting. How many times have you jumped at a decision only to recognise later that delaying or self control would have put you in a better position or you would have made a better decision?

Just slow it down a little, think carefully, be patient, don’t rush it. Better to get there than never at all!

Abandon everything you have been taught about marketing before. Take a cold quantitative look at your marketing activity and start again. All marketing should bring a return on your investment. Break from the past and think about:

- Beginning again – I feel a truly clean sheet of paper works well

- Start solving the root cause of why your marketing is not working as well as it should

- Create a strategy, yes I know it’s dull, but it will help shape your marketing and keep you on track when it inevitably gets tough

- Put a budget aside, you are going to need it

- You don’t need ten goals, two will do. But make sure they are the ones you can over commit to. If you do this, how successful would your business be?

Don’t be fooled, changing the marketing of your business is not going to be easy. You need a new marketing framework that will help you make sense of a new business environment where success is judged less on complex, sophisticated, financially driven factors and more on humanised customer relationships and new ideas that not have been used in the past.

For further marketing rules go to www.clarityprojects.co.uk and download the Marketing Rule Book. Hope you find it useful!!