You can tell the difference between people who are passionate about their business, whether those are big or small businesses. Small business has one advantage over big business – the owner is closer to all activities than the CEO of a big company. If the owner is passionate, this rubs off on everyone.
This week I stayed in a large hotel in Cape Town. Usually I choose small b&b’s and guesthouses because I like to feel the local flavour of the area and I’ve always experienced that more in small owner-run places. But this week I was lecturing and stayed on in the hotel where the conference was hosted. I was pleasantly surprised because the place ran like well oiled machine. Staff were so friendly I wanted to take them home with me. People couldn’t do enough. Everybody went the extra mile without being asked. The only real chaos was when 400 people descended on the breakfast buffet between 7:00am and 7:45am before the start of the many simultaneous conferences during the week. How did the GM get everything so right?
Continue reading “Newsletter#13: Working on the business vs working in the business”