Everyone’s heard of ROI or “return on investment.” The idea is constantly talked about among business owners, entrepreneurs, and marketers. We are always looking for ways to improve ROI. While ROI is a critical topic when talking about business ventures, marketing, or new product ideas, sometimes our business minds become one-tracked, and we miss other crucial elements like COI or the “cost of inaction.” COI is just as powerful an element as ROI, and not focusing enough attention on it can lead to costly mistakes for your business.
COI is an older business principle but gets talked about less frequently. However, when you examine the principle under the changing business world due to the pandemic, it has never been more relevant. This past year has introduced many hard decisions for entrepreneurs, and some so hard they left owners standing not knowing what to do, and that is where COI comes into play. Every time you remain inactive or do not take action, you are sacrificing something. Sometimes it’s money. Sometimes it’s an opportunity. For business owners and entrepreneurs, we must recognize there is a cost in choosing not to take any action.
During hard times successful business leaders adapt and find new ways to get ahead in a market. If you procrastinate or remain indecisive, you are missing out on your opportunity to take a lead on your competitors in your market. Customers and Clients often go to the leader in a market before considering alternatives. When you sacrifice your positioning by being inactive, you are settling as a market alternate, not a leader. Change can either be permanent or temporary, but you start to lose clients when you refuse to change with a developing situation.
COI is just as critical as ROI when it comes to your business. Drastic times often present the opportunity to get ahead or fall behind. If you want to lead your market, you have to take decisive action and push through your fear of change. You cannot change your previous decisions, but you can measure your position and look positively towards the future. Part of successfully improving your COI is setting realistic goals. In these uncertain times, choosing what feels like the right goal can be challenging.
If you’re interested in a great system for setting goals, just reach out to me and I will send you a tool to get you started.
Focus on the Wheel of Momentum, which is composed of clarity, confidence, community, cooperation, capacity, and creativity. The spokes of this wheel are what drives you and your business’s creative process. Often because of their indecisiveness, business owners get stuck after clarity, and without confidence in a decision or direction, they procrastinate.
What systems do you have in place to clarify your thoughts as the leader and communicate confidence to your tribe so that you get the Wheel of Momentum rolling smoothly through these pandemic times?
Feeling confident with bigger decisions in unprecedented times is incredibly difficult. Difficult times magnify the potential impacts when your business is at a crossroads. Deep clarity will bring you ease and confidence to begin to move momentum.
Have you thought about COI before? How does your company set goals and make critical decisions? Start a conversation in the comments section below!
About the author
Peter Mohr is the Founder of Simplifying Entrepreneurship, a company designed to help business leaders cut through the chaos of change. He coaches entrepreneurs to turn their worries and wants into wins.
