“It is not just a ´shiny object´ syndrome, which means that we chase seemingly better and better opportunities. The real problem is having an ´entrepreneurial blind spot.´ That is, not seeing the real picture,” explained Nick Grubisa, a renowned business consultant from Slovenia.
He personally worked with hundreds of companies, shoulder-to-shoulder, while partnering with the Municipality of Ljubljana (capital of Slovenia) as an exclusive marketing and sales consultant. “Every small business owner that had a problem or wanted advice contacted the central business center. If the topic was about sales, marketing, business processes, or management, they redirected the entrepreneur to me. That way, I came across a wide variety of businesses, from newbie entrepreneurs to national champions.”
He explained that in the majority of situations, business owners weren’t able to even detect the right problem. “We should always differentiate between causes, triggers, and consequences. Their impact is different and handling them brings diverse effects. Usually, we see the consequence and are prone to react to it. Less often we go deeper and deal with triggers. Only now and then we approach the situation deeply and seriously enough to uncover the real cause that created–and, most likely, regularly creates–the visible effect.
Usually, working on a consequence is easier, takes less time but also brings an only temporary solution. Dealing with a trigger is better but the situation is not handled for good. Also, there could be many triggers. If we take care of some of them–but not all–we don’t have a situation under control. For example, triggers for fires in nature in the summertime could be a spark, discarded cigarette or match, or lightning. We can be very careful and strict regarding human factor but we can not prevent lightings.
Another example of the three, said Grubisa, would be constant cold in the house during the winter times. What we feel, the cold, is the consequence. The first reaction would be to increase heating. In this case, we are quite unable to work with the trigger which is the weather. Regardless of both, if we worked on the real cause of the problem–poor isolation or insufficient heating system–trigger wouldn’t affect the situation anymore.
Handling the Cause, Not the Consequence
“Here is a typical business situation where dealing with a consequence won’t yield many results. Let’s say that the whole business experience consists of five defined steps. Building funnels, placing ads, and similarly comes in stage four. This means that the first three stages–knowing your advantages and uniqueness that your specialized knowledge provides, knowing your customer and offering him an irresistible offer, and setting internal processes to handle business properly–form sound foundations for future successes.
“Many entrepreneurs see what competitors do and just jump on the train somewhere in an intermediate stage, without having a clear picture of the causes and consequences. They just want to replicate the ads and funnels. But the real things are always hidden behind. What was the core reason that motivated the competitor to create a specific offer, use a specific text, and place the ad in the exact medium? What happens when a potential buyer contacts the seller for more information? What happens when the buyer buys the advertised product or service? And why?”
“Replicating the ad campaign is just a tiny part of the process. Let me tell you one of the stories from Slovenia. A major player announced a big sale. Not a one-day sale but lowering prices and leaving them there. Of course, small competitors, being afraid of staying behind, matched the price of the former to compete by price. I have no data what this activity brought them but I am sure it wasn’t a pleasant situation. Well, after some time, the major player announced that it would replace a whole collection and moved to something else. Hence the big sale. This is a typical situation where ´follow the leader´ blindly, without knowing what is really going on, is just not a good strategy.
The New Business Approach: Long-Term Benefits Over Instant Gratification
“Today, many companies deliberately lose money on the front-end,” stresses the Slovene consultant, “that is, with the initial sale, because the whole purpose is to get a customer, not to make some quick bucks. If done correctly, many customers buy more on the back-end that covers the initial expenses. Some buyers come back or even recommend the company to friends. At the end of the day, it is always about the arithmetic. But not necessarily in the short run.
“Some businesses can afford to invest more and wait longer to get their initial investment back. Others don’t see the picture that way. The most short-sided entrepreneurs count how much money they spent on ads today and how much they got back – tomorrow. They are focused exclusively on ´2 dollars for every dollar spent´ and similar. This is great…as long as the entrepreneur knows what is going on. That is, if he controls the situation, at least to some extent. Safety comes from predictable, repeatable, and systematic revenue, not from temporary spikes.
“Also, investing exclusively in customer´s acquisition, like buying more ads, is not always the smartest move. It is efficient if some basic processes at the background are set and work satisfactorily. For example, when the conversion from prospects to customers is above the average for that industry and situation. Again, blindly following the consequences of others, without knowing the whole process, could be devastating for the business.”
The Biggest Business Advantages Don’t Always Come From the Business Environment
Nick Grubisa, who also worked with five of Top 10 national companies, is often referred among the colleagues to “a new Michael Gerber.” He revealed that his biggest advantages are a broad spectrum of knowledge and three decades of experiences. He especially likes ancient wise men and sages. Like Pythagoras whose findings he uses for decades.
“People don’t know but the great mathematician was a student of life. With the same scientific approach as he researched mathematics, he explored forces of nature, causes, and consequences. He divided occurrences into male and female or activities and states. He found out that every male energy needs a female one to be manifested. When they join together properly, they produce a yield that becomes a new entity, used as a force for a new activity. And so on and on because the universe is holographic by nature. This also means that a correct act at one place affects the system globally, not just locally.”
The Slovenian consultant, also a 12-times bestselling author with books in four languages and 250.000 sold in his country alone, admits that he uses Pythagoras’ knowledge for business consulting as well. “I attribute a lot of credit for my success to the great mathematician. His teachings lead me to some unbelievable victories. Like, I got a contract for my first book with the first phone call. And I didn’t call the second- or third-grade publishing house but the boldest one with the best promotional strategy. The same way I acquired the biggest and most renowned marketing agency in the country to invest money in our company. Again, one call to one company. And so on.
“Even more mind-boggling are my personal successes. I recorded and performed music, worked as a model, won the most diplomas and awards for the company I worked as a salesman…and even sold one of my paintings. And I have no special knowledge, talent, or abilities. I really don’t. I just know how things generally work.
“Besides, what I managed to achieve for my clients is even more amazing. For a financial agency, I wrote a postcard with a 180% response. Many people called more than once and for every 91 postcards that arrived at homes 41 people bought a hard-to-sell product. For another family company, we created a strategy to sell baby cosmetics without ads whatsoever, by giving away free books and samples, with a coupon for buying more. 81% of coupons were redeemed. Competitors had no idea what was happening. A small family company crushed it and became a household name.
“I also helped create a health-related course that achieved a 99,03% success rate. We also received testimonials from 100% of clients. Of course, these are extreme numbers, the results are not always that good. But I do have some advantage and more possibilities for crushing it because I use my system.”
The Happiness of the Owner, Not (just) Business Success
Nick describes his S.M.R (Systematic Manufacturing of Retrocausality) system as an “unfair advantage, secret weapon, and kryptonite of a modern-day.” Based on a special management process, a systematic approach to business components and leveraging mindset, S.M.R.–or, at least a part of it–is appropriate to use in almost any business situation.
Today, Nick Grubisa works with a handful of clients only. He is a chief strategist for a billion-dollar alternative energy project, he still assists at creating business projects, and he coaches a few key people. But this is not where he invests most energy. He believes that business is only a vehicle for personal happiness. He is a strong advocate of “entrepreneurship as spiritual practice”, believing that achieving goals and working with challenges build character tremendously.
“The final goal is to diminish fears and to have control over your life. Nobody can be happy while feeling like a victim. Developing inner strength, discipline, personal power, endurance, focus, persistence… These are the required characteristics of a happy person. At the end of the day, we have to live with ourselves and the people who surround us. You better learn how to love yourself and accept conditions that are different than expected. These are the foundation of happiness,” he revealed.
A New Program for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
After achieving many successes in his country, Nick decided to offer his knowledge to some international clients. “I will prepare a very attractive program that would include all the knowledge I have regarding business and life. But clients won’t be able to just apply. Picking the right client is the most important part of the consulting business. I will only take resourceful and optimistic but realistic entrepreneurs and work them with the same intensity and seriousness as I work on the 10-figures project. I don’t differentiate between clients. Whoever I take, I treat as a family. I believe in them more than they believe in themselves…and I never quit. I love working with them long-term and watching them grow.”
He plans to come out with an offer for international clients in the middle of the year 2020.