Thursday

Influence

People with influence are people who have the ability to change things, and to find solutions where others are unable to do so. You might think that only people with money have influence. But you are wrong. Not that money doesn't make a big difference in a disproportionate number of times. Because money does talk and often, it is difficult to wield any influence without it.

But everyday people, including small business owners, can have a lot of influence in their world and space just by coming up with ideas and coming up with solutions to problems that others can't solve. For example, your business idea may come from a solution you have devised for a problem that everybody else either thought was unfixable, or were too busy putting band aids on to find a true solution.

And influence also means being willing to be unpopular, and called crazy in order to bring about change. But influence can't occur in a vacuum. You do need people to sign up for and to your idea. It is not enough to influence just oneself. One must be able to influence others - their behavior, thought processes, mind set and preconceived ideas.

As a small business person, success could come down to your ability to influence others.