Quiet Reflection on the Future Path of Your Business May Be the Most Important Time You Spend All Week
“Inflections points” are those moments in your life where events and decisions conspire to take you in a different direction, thus altering the course of at least one aspect of your life – either personal or professional.
This month, I’d like to discuss inflection points as they relate to your laundry business – however, with a small change. For this particular column, I will use the term “reflection” points, as that much more accurately describes what is actually occurring.
In fact, we do – or should do – a lot of regular reflecting in our daily lives. Failing to take the time to reflect is like driving your car continuously without ever having it serviced; if you choose to neglect preventive maintenance on your vehicle, there will be a price to pay further down the road.
Reflection will help you avoid taking the same actions over and over, and achieving the same non-productive results. Specifically, reflecting upon your laundry business on a regular basis will enable you to uncover opportunities to improve, to help prevent you from feeling rundown or burned out, and to promote higher levels of excitement about your business life.
In fact, most small-business owners don’t spend enough time reflecting on their operations, which is a huge management mistake.
Reflection about your business enables you to become more proactive, and less reactive to what’s happening around you. It heightens your self-awareness of what’s truly occurring within your laundromat, while also improving your self-esteem and self-confidence. Reflection will encourage you to question your previous assumptions and induce you into viewing your business from different angles, thus challenging your original thoughts and beliefs.
Reflection is a practice that should be undertaken in your own style. There is no right or wrong way to reflect. A good way to get started is simply to choose a time to pause and just be still. Perhaps choose a quiet spot or maybe go for a walk.
In addition, it’s best to prepare some questions in advance upon which to reflect. There are several questions you can ask yourself, depending on your intentions. For example, you may ask:
- What is currently working well for my business?
- What should I appreciate and be grateful for?
- What have I recently learned that I can apply to my laundromat?
- What could I have done differently in a certain situation, and what can I improve upon in the future?
- What areas of my business currently are not in line with my values or the changes now occurring within the industry?
- What is the most important aspect of my laundry business for me to focus on right now?
- Is it time to expand my store’s services?
- Should I retool?
- How can I develop a more effective machine maintenance program?
- Do I need to make changes to my staff?
- How can I upgrade my snack and beverage options?
- Should I consider selling the store, or maybe buying another one?
Choose 30 minutes on a particular day each week to conduct quiet reflection on your laundry business. (Of course, you can use the very same process for your personal life as well.)
Not scheduling regular reflection time for your laundromat is like a dairy farmer sitting on a stool in the middle of a field, just waiting for a random cow to approach to be milked. The successful, proactive dairy farmer will approach the cow in the barn.
With that said, below are seven examples of large companies who – like the farmer sitting idly in the field – failed to recognize inflection (reflection) points and, as a result, are no longer in existence. If it can happen to them, it most certainly can happen to your laundromat. Each of these companies fell into the same basic pattern. Success breeds complacency, which became their downfall.
Blockbuster (1985-2010)
Home movie and video game giant Blockbuster was founded in 1985 and was arguably one of the most iconic brands in the video rental arena. However, unable to transition toward a digital mode due to lack of reflection, the company filed for bankruptcy in 2010.
Polaroid (1937-2001)
Polaroid was best known for instant film and cameras. Despite its early success in capturing a market that had few competitors, Polaroid was unable to anticipate that impact digital cameras would have on the film business, due to not recognizing the inflection point, and fell into the success trap. Polaroid neglected to recognize and explore new territory and enhance its long-term viability. They declared bankruptcy on 2001.
Pan Am (1927-1991)
At one point, Pan Am World Airways was the largest international air carrier in the United States. The company was known as an industry innovator and was the first airline to offer computerized reservation systems and jumbo jets. The downfall of Pan Am is attributed to a combination of corporate mismanagement. By over-investing in its existing business and ignoring the inflection point, it was forced to file bankruptcy in 1991.
Borders Group (1971-2011)
Borders was a leading international book and music retailer. Borders also was unable to transition to the new digital environment by ignoring the inflection point. Borders was purchased and repurposed by other large retailers.
General Motors (1908-2009)
After being one of the most important car manufacturers for more than 100 years and one of the largest companies in the world, General Motors experienced one of the largest bankruptcies in history. Missing the inflection point that it was necessary to innovate and blatantly ignoring the competition were the keys to the company’s demise.
Kodak (1889-2012)
At one time the world’s largest film company, Kodak – by missing its inflection point – could not keep up with the digital revolution. In fact, this leader of design, production and marketing of photography had a number of opportunities to guide the company in the correct direction, but its hesitancy to fully embrace the transition to digital led to its downfall.
Toys R Us (1948-2017)
Once one of the largest toy companies in the world, Toys R Us likely led to its own undoing when it signed a 10-year contract in 2000 to be the exclusive vendor of toys on Amazon. The e-commerce giant eventually permitting other toy vendors to sell on its site – and Toys R Us was overpowered and forced into bankruptcy in 2017.
Self-reflection, although quite humbling at times, can be an incredibly intellectual and creative process. Unfortunately, most of us go through life doing relatively little self-reflection, both in our business and personal lives. After all, we’re too busy trying to earn a living and maintain our lifestyle, which hardly leaves any time for introspection.
However, be forewarned that ignoring inflection points with regard to your laundromat can be risky business. And, if you continue to fail to make time for reflection on your business and its future, that light at the end of the tunnel will be a freight train headed your way. Guaranteed.
