Come As You Are

In the words of Nirvana:

Come as you are, as you were, as I want you to be.

It’s the only part of the song that is really relevant to this article, but that’s not going to stop me using the quote… each part says something which can be converted into a meaning in the world of business and in this article I would like to discuss each part of the above quote with you.

Come As You Are

First things first, when you have a business, or making money in any way, you need to come off as who you are. What I mean by that is make sure that you be yourself around your clients and customers, as this will make them feel a lot more welcome in your business, creating a better brand image and in turn this will help make that customer a returning customer.

People can tell when they are being lied to, when someone is not coming across as themselves to them. We have all experienced it when dealing with businesses, so why do you think it would work for you? You don’t have to even believe me, just think back to when it has happened to you and think how you felt, did you use that company? Did you return to that company? I’m hoping you said no, or you aren’t getting the point I’m trying to make!

Who are your real friends? I’ll give you a second to think…

Yes! Your real friends are the people who like you, for being you. Other ‘friends’ are really just acquaintances, people who you don’t really care if you see or not. We can take this straight into business. If you create a good impression, if people like your attitude, you will soon make business friends who will keep coming back because they remember you. Never forget yourself.

As I Want You to Be

We are skipping a bit here, because I can hear you asking about whether you just don’t have a personality which people may like or not. Don’t worry.

Not everyone is going to like you, so you need to make sure that you create a persona that people do like, well which the majority of people like, you can never please everyone and you should never try because that leads to more problems. You may be thinking here that this kind of goes against what I said in the previous section. It does in a way, but when I’m talking about above is sticking to your principles, what you believe in. Obviously you don’t need to be the funny guy to everyone, just make sure when you are you are making jokes which you agree with, actually find funny, not ones which you are saying to just impress your clients.

The customer is the most important aspect of your business (in many ways) so you need to make them happy first and foremost, just doesn’t do it in a way which undermines who you are.

As You Were

The last sentence of the previous section really says most of what I want to say here. Never forget who you are, don’t forget why you started your business in the first place, why you wanted to do a business in that way. Of course over the course of business growth things will have to change, but make sure your core ideas always stay around. I would say never ‘sell out’ but I don’t agree with how that statement is used many ways these days, but I think from me saying it like that you will get the general idea.

Summing Up

Be yourself. Try and please your customers. Never give up on your integrity. Learn and love what you are doing… Always.

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Thanks again,
Simon

Image: Come As You Are by MiK