In life, we can learn lessons from just about anything.  Several months ago my son was part of the cast for our school’s musical, “The Wizard of Oz.”  I previously wrote a post about “Opening Night” and a big problem we had leading up to the Play.

 

As I watched the performance, three days in a row, (moms do that!) a couple things came to my mind in regard to business that I would like to share.

1.  It isn’t just about what is in front of you!

The play wouldn’t be a success without all the scenery, costumes, sound effects, orchestra, and other production crew tasks.  These people are not front and center when the play is performed, but they play an important role in its success.  Without them the show could not go on.

Just like a play, a business is dependent on a lot of things that are not front and center. Someone has to do bookkeeping, taxes, social media management, PR, product creation, research, and the list goes on.  Sure at the very beginning you try to do everything, but it doesn’t take long to learn that a one man show, trying to do everything will not lead to huge success.  We all have strengths and we need to focus our time on those strengths and find others to help with the other things.

This was something I had a hard time grasping at first.   But a year later and I am very  much a believer in this.  My time is best used doing the tasks that only I can do and hiring others to do the rest.   If you can hire someone to do something for less than you make per hour when doing focused work, you need to outsource.

2.  Planning and timing are important.

There was a part near the end of “The Wizard of Oz” right before Dorothy woke from her dream, where several castmates had to change from their Oz costumes back into regular clothes.  They only had a few minutes to make the change and get their makeup off and look normal again.   For my son, the “Tin Man,”  this took a lot of planning and timing. He had to go from the “Tin Man” with thick grey makeup all over his face and neck, back to “Hickory” the farmhand,  his exit had to be timed to get him to the makeup area and then several people had to be on hand to scrape the makeup off, cleanse his face and put the new makeup on and the way had to be cleared for him to get back to the stage quickly to make his entrance.

As we run our business we need to plan for all the things that could happen.  We need to be prepared for obstacles and setbacks.   We need to have alternative plans thought out.  We need to time things in our business to coincide with seasons and when the best time to launch products and services.   Offering grass cutting specials in October in the Eastern US is probably not a good idea for your business, just as trying to sell snow blowers in Florida in July probably wouldn’t make you any money.

3. If I only had a brain – YOU have a brain…just use it!

In The Wizard of Oz, the scarecrow wanted a brain.  A lot of times we think we are not smart enough, everyone else knows more, we don’t have enough education, we have too much to learn, and the list goes on.   Most times these are just excuses we are telling ourselves for not trying new things.  Sure, we will never be brain surgeons if we don’t go to medical school, but most tasks are doable by most people if they just take a few minutes or hours to learn a new skill.   Some things that I once thought might be difficult or hard to learn that turned out to be fairly easy once I spent a little time learning are podcasting, creating videos, writing blog posts, and setting up web pages.

God has provided each of us with more brain power than we can possibly ever use.  If we just tapped into 1/10 of our brain capacity, we would set the world on fire.   I think that is worth striving for. Don’t shortchange yourself and say you don’t have the brains to do something.  YOU do!  You just need to use the wonderful brain that God gave you!

4. If I only had a heart – YOU have a heart – tap into it!

The “Tin Man” wanted a heart so he could feel love, joy and sorrow.   We have to be in tune with our feelings and our customers feelings.  We have to have a heart and love our customers.

To be successful in business, regardless of what the business is, you have to serve your customers well.  Without a heart of service and love, your business will never reach its full potential.

 

5. If I only had courage – I would try something new!

The lion wanted courage so he would not be afraid to try new things and be a leader.   We need courage for the same reason.  We need to stop worrying about all the things that could go wrong and focus on what could go right.  To step out of our comfort zone and do new things.

6. What we wish for is often already inside us.

The Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion all wanted something they felt someone else had to give them.   They didn’t realize they already had these traits buried deep inside.

We are often like those characters and search and wait for someone to give us something to move us forward.  When all the while, we just needed to look inside ourselves.  God has provided us with all the traits and gifts we need, we just have to look inside and fine tune them and use them.

7.  There is no place like home!

Dorothy was running away because things were not perfect, but in the end realized and appreciated her home and family and said, “There is no place like home!”

Our business is important and we need to spend lots of time building and nurturing it so it will be successful.   But we need to close down shop and turn off the laptop at times and just focus on the people we care about.   The people we love and those who love us.   They deserve a portion of our uninterupted time.

Many people push them to the back burner to focus on business too many times and end up losing the people they love.  Or when they finally make time to spend with them they are grown and moved out.  Make downtime and time with family a priority.

There is nothing like being with the people who love us and support us.  There truly is nothing like family and “there is NO place like home!”

So there you have it….7 Things About Business I Learned From “The Wizard of Oz.”  Do they make sense to you?  What have you learned that I could add to this list?