Entrepreneurs and small business owners need to be relevant in order to stay competitive in the marketplace.
When small business owners and entrepreneurs are asked, "What do you want to be in your business?" answers range from being liked, being loved, being important, being the best, being reliable, being ethical, being honest, the list is long. Being rich is often stated but is surprisingly down on the list.
What we really need to do to achieve our goals is to be relevant; closely connected, and appropriate to the matter at hand. Focus on what matters most. Do not try to be all things to all people. Serve a clearly defined target market, and serve it well.
Are you relevant? Is your business the right kind of business for the time, for the marketplace? Is your product or service of value to the rest of us. Can we identify with what you're saying, with what you're selling. The old way of doing business may be gone forever. This perspective is both fearful and motivational at the same time, Diametrically opposed that viewpoint is that many hugely successful new ideas come about in a stressed marketplace and / or down economy.
Being relevant is not just about having the latest and greatest. Relevance is what we are now, a.) A large collective (a cooperative enterprise.) Such as a society or nation and b.) A small collective such as our circle of personal and business contacts. Recognizing this allows us to decide whether offering the latest and greatest new ideas may or may not be the right choice, when either the group you are trying to reach and relate to is looking for a product or idea that is tried and true, full of old-fashioned value and comfort.
Relevance is how we develop strong business relationships; relationships based on relevant feelings, real-time opinions, and solid business practices. Ask yourself "Am I making sense, am I giving and receiving benefit from what I'm saying and practicing?
By being mutually relevant with our business networks and relationships, we can extend our trust to a higher level and a larger collective, and fear less about unexpected changes in relationships and subsequently in our business dealings. Out of this relevant thinking may emerge that "next big idea" we all look for.
Geography plays a role in relevancy. What is of importance to one part of a nation may not be pertinent or important to another part of the same country, much less than one country to the next. Relevance is considered based on needs, wants and desires of the populace at hand.
Do you want your business to prosper, and to stay prosperous during an up economy or a down economy? Do you want to be there when the next big idea comes along?
Be real, be relevant, and pay attention!