(Time to read this Blog is about 4 minutes)

‘Happy September’! Before we get to the main topic, here are a few things to get you thinking or smiling:

1. 1. My Biz Quote of the week:
   “A big mistake that many businesses make is not communicating to their Team why each person’s job matters, why what we all do together matters…and how we affect people’s lives when we fail to perform or deliver. Don’t make that mistake.”
   …Donald Cooper.
    
2. Quick Biz Tip:
   A tip for making better decisions in emotionally charged situations:
    
   When confronting tough staff performance or behavioural situations, or difficult operational challenges, ask yourself this simple question, “How would the person I’m trying to become handle this situation?”
    
3. Fun Fact. In Finland, there’s one sauna for every two people.
    
4. Download my updated Biz Tool #A-22. I’ve just done a major update on our Biz Tool #A-22, ‘Possible Reasons for Lack of Growth or Profitability in Your Business.’ To download this insightful Biz Tool, no charge, Click Here. It’s E-fillable for your convenience.
    
5. Some compelling facts about the very sad USA – Canada Trade War. Here are some compelling numbers that nobody seems to be talking about…the ‘per capita imports of goods and services by each country from the other’. Because the USA has 8.4 times the population of Canada, it’s the ‘per capita’ numbers that tell the truth.
   1. In 2025, Canada bought $10,388 USD ($14,100 Cdn), per person, worth of US goods and services.
   2. In 2025, the USA bought just $1,200 USD ($1,600 Cdn), per person, worth of Canadian goods and services.
       
      So, we buy 8.6 times more, per capita, from the USA than they buy from us. And, yet Trump says that they’re subsidizing us. Lies! It’s all lies!
       
6. And, on a happier note, let’s talk about Banana Splits. In the Summer of 1904, David Strickler, a 23-year-old apprentice pharmacist at Tassel’s Pharmacy in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, created the world’s first banana split at the store’s Soda Fountain. Most Pharmacies had Soda Fountains in those days. Coca Cola was also invented in a pharmacy (in Atlanta, Georgia).

   Strickler enjoyed inventing unique sundaes and his banana-based triple scoop ice cream sundae sold for 10 cents, double the price of a ‘regular’ sundae in 1904. In Canada, today, a banana split sells for $11 to $16.

Now, to this week’s important topic…

Myths, Lies & Management:

Much of what we believe about our customers, our staff, our future and our bottom line is simply not true. Some of it never was true…and some of it was, but isn’t anymore. As business owners and managers, we’re making many important decisions based on myths, lies and false assumptions…and it’s killing us.

How do we come to believe all these dysfunctional myths and lies? They’re in our culture. We repeat them over and over until they become ‘real’. We pass them on to others as business advice. We even pay consultants to assure us that they’re true.

For example, most businesses believe that there’s ‘no such thing as customer loyalty anymore’, when the truth is that we’re all desperately searching for businesses to be loyal to in every part of our business and our personal lives.

Here’s the truth about customer loyalty. ‘People are loyal to what’s best for them, or what they assume is best for them’. That’s it! So, are you the clear and compelling ‘wise choice’ for your target customers? Are you ‘best’ for them? If not, stop whining about there being no customer loyalty anymore and do the work to be the clear and compelling ‘wise choice’.

What compelling functional, emotional and financial value will you create and commit to consistently deliver that will ‘grab’ your target customers, clearly differentiate you from your competitors, make you famous and grow your bottom line? That’s what it takes to deserve loyalty. Mediocrity is no longer an option.

Then, when you’re doing the ongoing work to be the ‘wise choice’, you need to effectively and consistently communicate your compelling value story in everything you do. There’s no point in being the best if you’re also the best kept secret.

Another myth is that ‘you can’t get great staff anymore’. But the truth is that ‘the best people have to work for somebody…it’s just that you have to deserve them’. Do you deserve great staff? Do your working conditions, business culture and career opportunities attract, engage, excite, challenge and reward top performers? Are you a talent magnet? If not, stop whining, take ownership of the problem and do the work to fix it. Take 2 pieces of paper and set aside 60 minutes.

1. On the 1st piece of paper take 20 minutes to describe, in detail, the kind of business in your market, in your industry, that the best people would want to work for, stay with and contribute to. How would it recruit, welcome, pay, train, coach, mentor, encourage, reward, ‘hug’, thank and celebrate each employee? What kind of management style and culture will attract, engage, challenge, inspire and retain top performers?
    
2. On the 2nd piece of paper take 40 minutes and document in detail what you have to fix, do or create to become the kind of business that you just described on page #1…including how you must change and grow as a manager and leader.

That’s it, 60 minutes and 2 pieces of paper to take ownership of and start to solve one of your biggest challenges. Get your Team involved in this process to help you. They know stuff and they hate it when you don’t ask.

There are many other myths and lies that are holding us back and hurting our bottom line…but these are two of the biggest.

If you’d like help getting this right, or with any of your management and profitability challenges, perhaps we should chat. I’m easy to find at donald@donaldcooper.com.

That’s it for this week…

Live brilliantly and be kind to each other!

Donald Cooper