Seizing Opportunity To Grow Your Business

by Eamonn Percy

Accelerating the growth of a business requires developing the habit of being opportunity oriented, which is a combination of taking frequent small structured steps, while seizing infrequent large opportunities.

These large opportunities are usually the events in our life that transform us, our families and our next generation of families, from a financial perspective. While the daily rigorous and structured steps we take prepare us for these opportunities, but is the big opportunities that transform us.

The steps are defence, the opportunities are offence.

When these opportunities appear, it requires bold and courageous action to seize them.  The trick to be prepared, recognize opportunities and seize them.  These big opportunities occur infrequently, perhaps several times a year. However, the trick of course, when you see it and it looks good, pounce on it! Do not procrastinate or be fearful, but be courageous.

Turn your mind’s eye to the opportunity by keeping it on the front of your mind.  For example, have you ever had the experience of buying a new car, and just after you bought it on the way home it looks like every second car on the road is the same as the one you just bought. Our brain has tuned in to that particular car, and that’s what we see.  Opportunities are like that, but the brain must be trained and in tune.

Here are the things you can to become much more opportunity-oriented a daily habit.

1. Recognize that virtually every significant opportunity you will encounter will be created from an idea or hunch. Nobody will deliver you a blue ribbon deal. So don’t wait for the phone to ring or someone to knock on the door, go find it yourself.
2. Most of the best opportunities come from specialized knowledge or special circumstances, so you need to become a specialized insider. It will be rare that you will be an outsider and generalist and just find an opportunity that no one else has seen. It will likely come from an association with your business, practice, hobby, family, or some activity that you are involved.So stay super busy and involved in serious projects.
3. Look at the world differently. Be curious, and probe, and try to understand what is causing problems in the world, and how you can fix them. If you see something that seems out of the ordinary, dig a little further and see if an opportunity exists. Ignore the naysayers.
4. Treat problems that come along as potential opportunities. I have seen many circumstances where some of the best financial deals are wrapped in the cloak of a problem. For instance a poor tenant situation or a run-down home in a good area could lead to a good real estate deal; a broken business with phenomenal technical expertise and customer list could be a turnaround candidate. Embrace the difficult.
5. Finally, take massive action, dig deep and never take your foot off the accelerator.If you suspect that something may be there – do not procrastinate, do not even wait one day or one minute, pursue it immediately and aggressively.
6. Preserve and build the opportunity muscle.Even though many leads will be a dead end, get into the habit of pursuing leads. Often you will find you can dig something up else in the process.

By being opportunity-oriented and seizing these rare, special events, you can transform your life in a non-linear way, accumulate wealth and happiness much more quickly.

This article fiest appeared in the Growth By Design Blog page, and is reprinted here with the kind permission of the author. For more information on the Percy Group, check here