Are you protected? Is your armor in place?
As an entrepreneur, I’m pretty certain you’ve gotten your share of criticism. Some of it may be warranted, but a lot of it should probably be ignored. That can be difficult to do.
However, it’s imperative that you, as a business owner and entrepreneur, become immune to criticism.
If you want to be successful and really grow your business and boost your profits, you simply cannot need the approval from others about how you operate your business, or more importantly, how you market your business.
Some entrepreneurs let criticism cloud their judgments, and worse, alter the way they do business. They’re afraid of what others think of them and are also afraid of failure. While most folks don’t want to fail, and no entrepreneur sets out to fail, it happens. Accept it, learn from it, then move on. Don’t be afraid of failure, and don’t let a fear of what other people will think or say if you do fail stand in your way.
Now, I am not saying that feedback isn’t a valuable element of building a strong business. In fact, many of us spend a significant amount of time and energy seeking peer feedback on new ventures, new products or current practices. These are sought-after responses from respected, proven professional business people. I seek these opinions from my contemporaries on a regular basis.
There’s no shortage of opinions. We all have them. Lots of them. There are a lot of people who do not have the fruit on the tree with no qualms about sharing their opinions too. Let me tell you something: There’s only one opinion in the world that counts when it comes to running your business—your customer’s, your paying customer’s. The folks who are giving you money are the ones who truly count. What they say really does matter, and that’s what you should be listening to.
Develop a two-step filter. First, determine if the person offering the criticism is an expert–someone who has walked the walk and tested the field. Next, ask yourself if it’s someone who you trust and value. If neither, brandish your armor, ignore the comment and move forward.
Building a better business, one suit of armor at a time.