Are you leading or just managing your wedding company?
Leadership is about taking risks and overcoming obstacles. When Chris Evans, top speaker in the wedding circuit, left the wedding industry as a major bridal show producer, he decided to use his skills and teach wedding merchants ¡®how to sell¡¯ through workshops, seminars and more. However, there were a lot of obstacles in his way. This included a massive brick-and-mortar system of getting the word out to those in the wedding industry via direct mail and advertising costs. But he left his safe job and founded ¡®Evans Sales Solutions, LLC,¡¯ and stepped into the training and speaking circuit, changing the way many in this industry look at ¡®sales and marketing.¡¯
What is the key to assessing big decisions and overcoming obstacles that he used? He didn¡¯t want to waste his ¡®God-given talent¡¯ of teaching and then regret not doing it. He would have regretted not joining the ¡®speaking circuit,¡¯ where he has met and trained thousands in the wedding industry to grow their businesses.
He had a clear vision of what he wanted to do, he knew the obstacles involved, set out to overcome them, knowing the whole time that there was a high failure risk. He didn¡¯t want to be 80 years old and regret what he could have done for this industry. His theme every morning? ¡®It¡¯s a Bright New Day Filled with Possibilities!¡¯
Will you look back with regret at what could have been in your wedding organization? Maybe you¡¯ve owned your bridal business for a long time or been in an executive position for a few years, but are you leading or managing?
Leadership is about making the hard choices and living with the outcomes, good or bad. Managing is more about ¡®not doing the hard things-keeping all running smoothly¡¯ thus making sure employees, vendors and customers are all happy.
Sometimes though, the path to a greater success requires you to ¡®rock the boat,¡¯ to the point of tipping it over.
The first step is to: Know where you are going in this industry. Too many bridal companies start with a ¡®passionate idea,¡¯ and then ¡®just survive the ride.¡¯ They are not plotting their growth plan; they are doing what they¡¯ve always done, hoping that it¡¯s enough to get by for another day. If you are a leader, you won¡¯t go for that.
Second step: Make a list of how you are going to make it happen! List the easy steps, and list the obstacles. By listing the obstacles, you can then go around them, through them, over them or simply get rid of them. Most obstacles are going to fall into the category of people, products or the structure you have in place. Ask yourself: Is this the right management team to get you where you want your company to be? Is your product on the ¡®edge¡¯ of what 18-36 year old brides are looking for? Is your company structured to handle the challenges that lie ahead (yes, they are there) on your path to growth?
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