“Do not look where you fell but where you slipped.” That’s an old African proverb – no one really knows who said it, but it’s a good one. In fact, looking at where you slipped is a key entrepreneurial skill. But what does it mean, and how do you apply it?

Basically, it’s pretty simple. By the time you’ve actually landed (the fall), it’s really too late to do anything about it – staring at the ground where you landed won’t teach you a thing.

However, if you can locate the point at which you started to slip, you can actually prevent future falls.

Let’s look at statistics, for example. The numbers could be going up consistently for weeks or months on end. You look at them every week, and note their climb. Maybe you get the occasional down week but it’s nothing major, easily understandable (a hurricane hit and there was no electrical power, a snow storm kept everyone trapped in their home, and so on), and things go back up the next week.

Then you hit a week that goes down, and you don’t have a clue what’s behind it. That’s the beginning of the slip. Then the numbers go down further the next week and you still don’t have an explanation.

You are headed for a fall.

What is the entrepreneurial skill to be learned here? First, if the numbers start slipping, find out why; now. Second, if you are trying to recover from a fall that happened quite a while ago, look for the point at which things started slipping. There will be your answer.

Achieving success depends on anticipating the future – which you do with entrepreneurial management skills like finding out why things slipped instead of waiting for the fall.

Shane Krider, John Lavenia, Shannon Lavenia and Gene Braxton all must be highly commended on their efforts to bring more positivity into this world. What a great community to be fully involved in. Cannot wipe the smile from my face….Chrissy.