In your business, are you facing some giants that are threatening to destroy everything you have built, every ounce of sweat, every sleepless night, every sacrifice you’ve made and all the time spent away from your family into ensuring your vision comes to life?
Facing the Giants is one of my favorite movies. The movie is centered around faith and football. In the final game, the Shiloh Eagles face the three-time State Champions, who have 85 players on their team who are much larger, stronger and faster than the players for Shiloh. It is indeed a David and Goliath match-up. During half-time, the coach strategizes that his team may not be able to outplay the other team, so they must outsmart them. In the final minutes of the game, Shiloh’s defense must hold the Richland Giants out of end-zone for four consecutive downs. The captain of the team, Brock, starts to rally his team by chanting, “STONE WALL, STONE WALL.” He was urging his team to build a wall so strong, so tight they would prevent the Giants from getting in. The stone wall Brock was referring to is referenced in the book of Nehemiah, when Nehemiah was faced with the gargantuan and nearly impossible task of rebuilding a stone wall to keep the enemies of Jerusalem from destroying the city. The coach picks up on Brock’s inspiring orders and begins yelling and encouraging the team to build a stone wall as well. The team rallied and did just that.
So, I ask you… what Giants are your business facing today and what are you doing to build the walls of your business so tight that you, too, keep the Giants out? The Giants of fear, failure, disappointment, low profits and high costs… the Giants are enormous!
In the book of Nehemiah, caution is stressed because if Nehemiah had rushed out to get the people excited about building the walls and just putting bricks on top of one another, he would have fallen into the hands of his enemies. So, the first thing Nehemiah would do is secretly arise at night, ride around the walls of the city and survey the ruins. He took note of exactly what needed to be done from his “bird’s eye” view. Then, he began to lay his plans based on three principles – concern, confession and commitment and courage with caution. These tenets are basic to rebuilding your business.
If the walls of your business are crumbling, it is not too late to reconstruct. Here are some key strategies for rebuilding, reconstructing or reinventing your business:
Research – Determine the reason why your business is lagging because the more you analyze these things, the easier it becomes to re-establish your place in the market.
Assess – What are your business needs? What does your audience prefer? If you are going to reinvent your business, your remodeling strategies need to be very specific and targeted to your audience.
Implement – Once you’ve analyzed where you suffer and what strategies you need to incorporate into your business, apply these to a single product or service initially and test the success of that product. This step will determine if the product or service is worthy of the market.
Market - Now, you must spread the word about your services to get your business back on track. Share the plans and steps you’ve implemented for reconstructing your business.
Nehemiah 6:2-3 says, “I knew they were scheming to hurt me so I sent messengers back with this: “I’m doing a great work; I can’t come down. Why should the work come to a standstill just so I can come down to see you?” Further, he says, “They were trying to intimidate us into quitting. They thought, “They’ll give up; they’ll never finish it.” I prayed, “Give me strength.” (Nehemiah 6:9)
Don’t be like most people and say 2018 is going to be my best year but continue to do the same thing you did in 2017, 2016, etc. Don’t come down off your wall, don’t quit; let me help you rebuild it. Click here and let’s develop your strategic road map to navigate your entrepreneurial journey. Let’s dig in, take heart and give it everything we’ve got, together. Let’s make this year really count… STONE WALL, STONE WALL!
Your brother in growth,
Dr. Rick G.