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Raise Your Standards
ONE OF THE MOST DEADLY MISTAKES you can make with your business is to get comfortable. Sadly, I see it all the time. At some point you become relaxed, complacent even, and then you stop raising your standards. Your effort loses its juice. Suddenly things that would not normally be accepted have become standard.
When this happens, your customers begin to expect less of you. Over time they lose the excitement they once had about doing business with you. A restaurant in the town I live in was once known more for its cleanliness than it was for its food. Any time someone mentioned the restaurant in conversation, you could guarantee a comment would be made about how nice they kept the place. The floor was always swept clean, rarely would you see dirty dishes that needed to be taken to the kitchen, and the bathroom floors were clean enough to sleep on. (Regardless of how clean they were, I would never recommend sleeping on a bathroom floor. That would drive my OCD brain crazy. I need hand sanitizer just thinking about it.)
Anyway, over time customers began to notice that sometimes there sat tables that needed to be bused. They noticed the staff dressed more relaxed. The standards were being lowered. Eventually the restaurant looked nothing like the place its loyal customers had come to know and love. It didn't take long for them to start dining somewhere else.
When you have success, it's easy to sit back and take it easy. But that comes at a price. Low standards ...
