FIFA World Cup is the most popular watched sporting event in the world. We have seen in the England versus Colombia game, more than 24.4 million in the UK was completely engrossed watching England crush Colombia’s hope of progressing to the Semi-Finals.
As the FIFA World Cup 2018 fever rages on, we look at how a small business can learn from the game of football. The valuable lessons include having a clear strategy, failing fast but learning fast tenacity and having goal orientation mind-set. These are the qualities that make a successful football team and small business owners can draw on these principles and apply to their businesses.
Clear strategy
The similarity between football and business are all about having a strong mental and both physical game as well as the discipline. These can be applied to both. Having a clear game plan means the difference between winning and losing a game, knowing how to maximise strengths, having the tenacity to forge ahead in the face of possible defeat and understanding the need to pivot if the plan is not working. If a business were to operate without a clear plan then it is leaving it wide open for competitors to charge and take possession of the marketplace. Having a clear strategy that states what the business goals and the physical presence to achieve it.
You can’t have the ball and not try to score
When the footballer has the ball is in their possession, it is pointless just dribbling or passing the ball, they should every attempt to score. Similarly, business needs to invest in order to grow, understand the needs of their customers and develop products or services that meet those needs otherwise it will not scale. Yes you can – you keep the ball if you are ahead and prevent the other team from scoring.
Every defeat allows the discovery and the opportunity to learn
Every situation on the downside offers opportunities to learn. When a football team loses a game, techniques are reviewed and strategy pulled apart to see where the internal weaknesses lay and opportunities missed. Business owners know that mistakes are unavoidable, but can be minimised. However in order to succeed, they need to fail fast but learn fast and the knowledge gained to transform, focus and move on.
Game analysis
Football managers and coaches provide frequent feedback to their players all the time whether it is during training, mid-match and at post-match. These feedback sessions are important to the players for the continuous improvement of their performances. Business owners should take a leaf out the football manager’s handbook and conduct regular reviews as their business evolve. This involves streamlining business models and modifying any complicated processes that hinder growth.
Getting the best players on your team
Football clubs are always on a lookout for talented players. However, they also invest in hiring potentials sometimes favouring those over the more talented. These potentials are then trained and moulded to become future stars of the club. This applies to business as well. Hiring experienced staff helps to aid growth but for long the term, training inexperienced staff with the right attitude to the design of the company will help to ensure that growth is sustained.
Can you think of any more similarities between the game of football and small businesses?
Bina Messenger is a freelance marketer after having worked in the corporate sector for the last 20 years across a range of industries including retail, finance, hospitality and the legal sector.
You can connect with her on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. Her social media handle is @marketingoutreach.
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As the FIFA World Cup 2018 fever rages on, we look at how a small business can learn from the game of football. The valuable lessons include having a clear strategy, failing fast but learning fast tenacity and having goal orientation mind-set. These are the qualities that make a successful football team and small business owners can draw on these principles and apply to their businesses.
Read all about it in where I share 5 lessons a small business can learn from the game football.