Your Business Is Your Baby. So Treat It Like One.

Too many business owners don't treat their babies like, well, babies.

My dear friend Tony Conza, the founder of Blimpie Sandwiches, has wonderful perspective on business and entrepreneurship.

 "Starting a business," he says, "is not like a mutual fund. It's more like having a baby. When you invest in a mutual fund, you give your money to some financial outfit, then sit back and hope that it makes money for you. Having a baby of course, is different. Once that baby comes into your life, it never goes away. If you nurture the baby, care for it, and help it grow, one day it will take care of itself - and maybe even take care of you."

A child is a living, breathing organism.  We all want our kids to grow up big and strong.  We all want them to be successful and self-sufficient.  And the decisions we make prove it.  We invest in their educations  - a huge short term liability with massive long-term potential.

How would you treat your child if you only cared about keeping them healthy for the next quarter?  Vacations probably wouldn't factor in.  Soccer practice and ballet lessons would be out - clearly there would be no benefit to them over the next 3 months. 

Why do we change our strategies just because we're operating in a bad economy.  Once you have a baby, that's it, the commitment is made.  You're in it for the long haul.  You don't adjust how you're going to raise your child with the ebb and flow of the economy.  Companies, too, are living breathing organisms.  They need food and they need education.  They need to learn things for themselves, try and fail and get back up.  Long term strategies, inherently, mean that ALL decisions are made with an eye to the future - 20 years, not next year.  That doesn't mean you can't make adjustments to deal with short term pitfalls (like buying generic brand Cheerios instead of the high-priced organic stuff for a short time).

Even in big companies - innovation is treated as a short term bet: prove value in the next quarter to a year or the project is scuttled.  Edison took longer than that to develop the light bulb.  The Wright Brothers took a few years to get their flying machine to work.

In big business or small business, executives of all kinds should hang a picture of a baby to remind them what they are managing - what they are parenting.  Treat the business right and Tony's prophecy becomes a reality - after a while the business will look after you.

Comments

[Connie Morgan]

ok

[small business loans]

Great post. I love your post, very interesting. I like your idea to hang a baby pic's to remind us.Thank you for the information

[Vauvan Nenä]

Great post ! Some people forgot about their babies and put the carrer on the first place and I think this is not a good choice. Best regards !

[packaging machine]

I could not agree more. business is somthing we should cultivate each and every day of the year. our clients is our source of existence.

[buy hgh]

That's a knockout!

[Ivo Merlos]

The analogy is perfect! Yes, owning a business is like raising a child, it needs to be nurtured and lead to the right path from the get-go, without any shortcuts, for the benefits to be constantly rolling in!

[Buy Penny Stocks]

Great analogy. Your business is your baby and you need to put the time, care and effort in for it to work out and be profitable.

[John Lair]

"If you nurture the baby, care for it, and help it grow, one day it will take care of itself - and maybe even take care of you." This makes a lot of sense. Uh-huh. And I think it's about taking risk, too. Many potential business owners find themselves counting on merchant loans in the beginning of their small company. From there, you have to double up the efforts, productions, and creativity so the income return will be worth it.

[Regan Marye]

Oh, nice analogy. I've thought of giving your baby a lift. At start up, you would always do that. You have to lift your baby up first so that it can go far. In the case of a company, let's say it has a website. Some proper SEO would do the trick in lifting it up. Some of my friends over at Jacksonville, Florida have their businesses set up there. They have websites, and they promote their products through there. Using that advertising technique, the "baby" will learn to walk in a matter of time.

[Cheap Chanel Bags]

it was a very cute little Polish/Eastern European takeout counter loaded with treats and situated in a presumably accessible spot just off University and 13th Avenues NE.

[Cheap Chanel Bags]

it was a very cute little Polish/Eastern European takeout counter loaded with treats and situated in a presumably accessible spot just off University and 13th Avenues NE.

[contractor marketing]

Since the very time we decided to invest our money into putting up a business, we are already entailed with a life-long mission to nurture and support it in every way we can. With the right mentoring and tutelage, I agree that the business will soon after look after us.

Right now, I'm getting all the resources that I can when it comes to marketing and promoting my business online.

-Kevin Beamer

[viagra online]

I just wanted to ask the same question as the ladies before me...I have been looking like forever to find a baby shoe pattern with no seam inside, so if you can tell us how to do that, I would be really grateful! Thanks!

[Penny Stocks]

What a great blog! So glad I found it.

[Fastest Growing Forex Broker 2010]

I agree with every word! Never start a business unless you are ready to supply whatever it needs 24/7! Only then - it just might eventually take care of you.

[top penny stocks]

Very good information. this does make sense, businesses should be treated as baby's. I think we may get a picture of a baby for our office to keep this in mind. Very insightful.

[Fred Uptonas]

Hi. I really like this blog. This is some similar information that I found helpful.

http://www.thecelebrityautopsy.com/RecordClub.htm

[Penny Stocks]

I am very much impressive on your article that your article title is so appreciative. I read it and enjoy the best of the part.

[Cheap baby furniture]

Love your post, very interesting. I like your idea to hang a baby pic's to remind us. But one of the most important thing I can take a conclusion from your post is that most of our baby's needs is love, and they are a good motivation to encourage us to work harder and better for their future

[billie]

u know, what if u never had a baby? then what? how would u treat ur bsns like a baby if u never had or taken cared of a baby before? I think that the 'baby' analogy is overused and overrated. I think if u start a bsns or have a bsns it's common sense to look at the overall economic market, ur long term and short term affect of sustaining/maintaining a competitive edge otherwise ur a fool to even be in bsns. and ur bsns is sure to tank. would u consider another analogy such as this: ur bsns that u want to start up or have already started up is the extension of u, ur personality,ur ideaology, ur operation:both tactical & strategical. In essence the way in which u successfully establish ur culture. How u treat yourself will reflect the way u treat ur bsns to fail or succeed. it is the image and representation of u the owner and operator of ur bsns....how much want ur bsns and how much u can communicate that in your bsns will essentially give ur bsns synergy or it will make ur bsns flatline.

[Penny Stocks]

Among the verity of blogs your written blog is unique one.This is appreciated. It is very nice and interesting. Continue to write. Thank you.

[Blaire Allison, The Love Guru]

Really enjoyed this post

[Penny Stocks]

Good post.I tend to agree.Having a business blog hosted in the website does help in getting good back links.

[Derick Featherstone]

For me this hits the core at what is wrong with corporations today. The executives are only looking at the short term results. Once they reach their results off to a new concern with all their bonuses. A company like Philips grew to become a giant because the owner had long term vision. Large corporations are decaying because of short term thinking and money hungry stock holders.

[Sara Sweeney]

As a new business owner with an eight month young company -my first after 20 years of working for others, this post resonates strongly with what I am doing to build my business. Even though I am thinking each day about how I can best allocate my time to generate revenue, I am also, it seems, constantly considering how this will impact me three years from now, or five years from now. I am also learning so much each and every day, whether about business in general or about my field, and growing stronger. And to me, the economy being weaker than it was a year ago, is well, making me stronger still. My baby is and will continue to be strong and healthy.

Thanks for the insight Simon. I'll be better apt to navigate the terrible twos keeping this insight in mind as well.