The risk of being comfortable

Your business is going well. Not great, but humming along. You do the same thing every week, the same good customers show up, they buy the same types of wines. Life is good and predictable and comfortable.

Watch out.

There is always somebody around the corner. A new wine shop getting some press. The hot new restaurant run by the chef that just left the other hot new place. The wholesale rep working for a small outfit that is kicking butt all over town.

They want to steal bits of your business. And they will because of the dynamic combination of being hungry and having nothing to lose. And they prey on those that are comfortable.

If you’re falling into the comfort zone, invent ways to get out of it. Pour some new and strange wines. Kick the most popular wine by the glass off your list for a month. Move sections in your store. Flip your territory around and for two weeks see your customers on different days than you normally do. Offer to do a midnight staff training on a Friday night. Make challenges for yourself. Set high goals.

Do whatever it takes to not be comfortable or predictable. It’s the best way to keep the strongest competition at bay.