While some entrepreneurs aspire to be chief executive because they think it’s about kicking back and letting other people work for you, this is rarely the case. Rarely the case in successful premium brands and fortune 500 companies that is.
The reality that sets in when you finally get in the big chair is a fast-paced, unpredictable, exciting, and at times, chaotic environment. And it doesn’t matter whether your company is struggling or doing exceedingly well — the commander in chief lifestyle does not discriminate based on the performance of your company.
When your brand is struggling, odds are your schedule is filled with chasing leads or expanding upon your product or service. When it’s doing well, your time is most likely spent doing PR for your accolades or actually providing what it is people are paying you for. Just ask Rock Candy Media CEO and founder Annie Jones what it was like bootstrapping her Austin marketing agency. There wasn’t a moment to rest and smell the roses. It was pedal to the metal through first base all the way around third.
The period of time that you have to worry about as a business owner is right in the middle — when you’re not doing fantastic, but good enough to keep the lights on and the keys to your Mercedes in your pocket.
Beware of No Man’s Land
This middle ground, this plateau, this stretch of shore at the end of the beach where you see “No Lifeguard on Duty” signs, is the most dangerous position a company can be in. It’s here where business owners get lethargic and comfortable with the way things are going. And it’s here where things come quietly crashing down.
There isn’t an incredible amount of business or work coming through the door to the point where their hands are full, but there’s enough where employees are getting paid and Thursdays at Péché are uninterrupted. In other words, business owners get comfortable.
What they don’t realize as they’re kicking back is that their competitors are conducting research, chasing leads, innovating their product or service, and breathing life into their brand in any way they can. This being the case, staying comfortable in this “no man’s land” will result in your brand falling behind the rest without you even knowing it.
Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone
At Rock Candy Media, we don’t just get out of our comfort zone; we eat, breath and live outside of our comfort zone. We would even spend the night on the side of a cliff in a portaledge if it meant finding the inspiration for another incredible marketing campaign or brand initiative.
The reason why living out of your comfort zone is so important is because that’s where you find your next big idea, the next big leap that will elevate your company to the next echelon of greatness. If you are constantly working under the mentality that you could do better, that you could sell more or build more, then with the right efforts you will do just that. Sitting back and letting the wheels turn on their own won’t last forever and momentum will eventually be lost, leaving you stuck in the mud.
Come On In, The Waters Fine
It’s been said that getting comfortable with the uncomfortable is the difference between legendary premium brands and those that wither out within a few years. Who said that exactly? We did.
At Rock Candy Media, we’ve been rewriting the rules to digital marketing and growth hacking for the last decade, and we don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. While this could be attributed to our denial of the system and its black and white structure, we like to think it’s because of our “never stop” mentality.
Our “comfortable” is staying up all night doing back and forth with journalists to get you front page press in tomorrow’s paper. Our “comfortable” is locking ourselves in a creative brainstorm until we come up with the absolute best tagline because your brand is worth it.
Our goals aren’t met, they’re exceeded. So if you’re tired of being ok with the bottom line and you’re ready to drop it into 6th gear and tear off, drop us a note. We’re ready when you are.
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