Blog from Maribeth Kuzmeski of Red Zone Marketing

What can Tiger Woods teach us about success? It’s not the obvious case study in what not to do. In business, success comes and goes. We can be successful for years, experiencing steady sales growth and profitability. But then one day, in seemingly one game-changing moment, everything can change. It is probably the biggest nightmare for a business owner, a salesperson, an employee – or anyone whose livelihood depends on others buying something we sell. I have talked with business owners who know exactly what their “moment” may be – from losing their biggest client to having a product recall. Even the biggest companies have their moments (think… leaky oil well).

Although Tiger Woods’ issues appear to be of his own making, many business-changing moments may be out of our control. And we can’t prepare for everything that may go wrong, but we can consider how to avoid the obvious ones.

However, it’s not fun or uplifting to talk about worst-case scenarios. And, many people I know live their lives focusing on the positive, not the dooms day possibilities. But maybe once a year, or once a month for some businesses, it’s a helpful exercise to bring awareness to some of the potential game changing negative moments that we know of, and plan for them never to happen.