As an entrepreneur building and scaling your business is a process. A process that for the most part can be copied and duplicated. However, if you want to build a business that shakes the game upside down, you’re going to have to think outside the box.
Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties. – Erich Fromm
To win and to dominate your market you’re going to have to get creative and try new approaches that your competitors are just too stagnant and set in their old ways to make.
This type of creativity and radical thinking comes naturally for very few entrepreneurs. For most, they are taught to follow the book, their approach is too logical and way too predictable.
However, creativity and thinking outside the box is something that is available for all to learn. You just have to re-orient your thinking and let go of certainties. You have to be willing to do new things that leave others in awe and shock.
Today I’m going to give you 4 ways that will flip your thinking and get you thinking more creatively and more proactively to give yourself an advantageous edge over your competitors.
Are you ready to step outside of the box?
1. Set goals that seem ridiculous
We’ve been taught and trained to set goals that are “smart”, “attainable”, and “realistic”. While setting these types of goals has their place, these are not the type of goals that will get you motivated, and stimulate your brain to think beyond convention. These types of goals will lead you to the same ideas that EVERYONE else is already thinking of.
If you want to create new innovative approaches, you need to set goals that are HUGE. Far too many entrepreneurs and people in general set goals that are too ordinary. So their accomplishments, although good are still ordinary and vanilla.
Take a second and look at your business and the goals you have set. Take these goals and I want you to multiply them by 10! If you want to acquire 1,000 customers. Set a goal for acquiring 10,000 customers! Trust me, you are capable. Present your brain with a problem, eliminate the need for control/certainty, and you will start thinking of ways to actually reach that 10,000 customer goal. That is how the mind works.
Doing this exercise will cause a fundamental paradigm shift that will completely re-orient your thinking!
2. Question the Status Quo
Depending on your industry or whatever business you are in. Look at your competitors and what they’re doing. Ask yourself why are they doing those things. Next, start exploring alternatives. Let your mind wander off in imagination. Ask yourself questions such as:
What if I did this differently…?
How might we….?
Why not…?
Write down your thoughts and answers no matter how ridiculous they might sound.
A quick example: Let’s say you’re in real estate and you’re flipping houses. Your competitors might be posting bandit signs in order to bring in new leads/future flips.
You might ask yourself… Why not partner with local lawn care businesses that frequently venture into these neighborhoods and set up an arrangement that for every lead on a run-down or abandoned property you will pay them a percentage on closing?
This thinking is outside of the box and quite frankly unordinary. But what if you arrange these deals and the idea does pan out and lead to more leads and more properties?
See where I’m going with this?
Don’t be afraid to blaze into uncharted territory.
3. Explore different approaches
If you’ve ever heard of the company Supreme… I’m sure you have. You know that there are thousands of people purchasing their apparel and products first hand and second hand for even higher prices. But how did they get to this level of demand despite having “ordinary” clothing?
They changed their approach.
When you want to buy something from them, you just can’t go to their store and shop. You have to wait for exclusive drops that literally sell out within minutes of release. You have to give them your email to even be notified! Another company, Anti Social Social Club does the same thing, and their demand is ridiculous despite it taking on average 4-6 months to even receive your purchase. Which means that they can literally make their products to order, saving them tons of money in financial overhead and preventing stale/unsold merchandise!
Now that’s thinking outside of the box.
Think about your business and how you can implement the same kind of thinking.
4. Change The Way You Talk
When you are brainstorming new ideas for your business. Focus on the positives and the ways that an idea might work vs might not work. Completely re-orient your mindset to focus on the possibilities instead of the limitations. As you start to think outside of the box you will run into potential risks. Keep using your imagination and focus on the positive ways to can mitigate those risks and make those ideas a reality.
Flip your internal language and your internal thinking and creative ideas will flow!
These are just a few tips that you can use to think more creatively and create more “out-of-the-box” solutions that will help your business thrive!
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