Building a New Business – Learn How to Tell Your Story
Let’s go back to basics. Before there were spreadsheets, vision statements and formal business plans, people where able to deliver compelling narratives about themselves and the businesses they wanted to create. Stories that gave an indication of the individual’s passion, heart, goals, along with a personal history that would fortify their vision.
We’ve moved away from this a bit, partly because we’ve been able to build sophisticated computer models that would supposedly do the story telling for us . However, model are models, not the real thing. (Try flying to your destination of choice on a model plane for example.) And, while they are good maps, based on sound suppositions, they are not foolproof. In the case of intricate computer business models, when they are wrong they can be really wrong. We can look at the global economic situation and see how things can be off, really fast, and with really big impacts.
Being able to tell a good story about yourself and your ideas accomplishes a number of good things.
- Personalizes the relationship – it gives life to the idea – something a spreadsheet can’t deliver.
- It delivers your business concept quickly in a way that is memorable.
- You can draw parallels between what is current and how you see the future.
- You are able to inspire, educate, entertain, Influence and enroll your audience.
- You are able to paint a compelling picture of the future, one that’s uncharted anywhere but in your mind.
If your business is already up and running, you can use the art of story telling to:
- Communicate to your staff
- Align strategies
- Build consistent company wide messages.
- Enhance your customer service.
- Let your stakeholders know what’s keeping you “up at night” and what matters most to you.
- Bring your company’s purpose to life through an appealing story about ONE PERSON’S PERSONAL TRIUMPH. Try accomplishing that with a business model.
- Share your cultural and heritage and learn about someone else’s