How Being Unreasonable Is The Ticket To Your Business Success
When you think of the word “unreasonable,” you might think of people who make outrageous demands and have impossible expectations. That’s an accurate assessment of what it means to be unreasonable, but it’s not the whole story. The factor that makes someone unreasonable is that they can’t be reasoned with, not the content of their expectations.
Being unreasonable is one of many traits you’ll find among successful entrepreneurs. It’s how they achieve success. Not all unreasonable people are selfish. Often, they’re geniuses and high achievers who get exactly what they want. The difference between the two groups of people is one word: request.
High achievers don’t make demands; they make requests. Often, those requests seem outrageous, like asking a parent for a $40,000 loan, asking for a free upgrade to a penthouse suite at a hotel, or asking their boss for a promotion three weeks after being hired. It sounds crazy, but it actually works.
Being unreasonable means you can’t be talked out of your dreams
When you have a big dream, you can’t allow anyone to talk you out of it. A reasonable person will listen and concede to the “buts” and “what ifs” presented to them. A reasonable person will be easily talked into settling for someone else’s limited perception.
If you want to achieve your dream, you have to be unreasonable, and sometimes you need to be impervious to logic. Some people call that being “hard-headed,” but think about this:
When the Wright Brothers wanted to build a flying machine, it was considered “logic” that machines could never fly. When Thomas Edison was working on the electric light bulb, it was considered “logic” that candles were the only source of light. When people in the 1940’s joked about having a wireless telephone in their pocket, it remained a joke because “logic” said phones had to run on wires.
Today’s IoT technology is straight out of science fiction. There are forks that record your eating habits and vibrate to let you know when you’re eating too fast. If anyone shared that idea 100 years ago, they would have been considered crazy.
Even in the 1980’s, when most businesses accepted credit cards, the idea of mobile payments seemed like fantasy. Cellphones were the size of bricks, and the idea that you could make a purchase with one wasn’t logical. When smartphones were invented, mobile payments became the next logical step.
From a customer perception standpoint, there’s a big difference between accepting mobile payments in-store and accepting payments from mobile wallets. The latter is perceived to be unsecure, and explains why mobile wallets never caught on – not even Apple Pay.
According to eMerketer Inc. analyst Bryan Yeager, 62% of U.S. smartphone users who don’t like the idea of using a mobile wallet cite security worries as the reason. Most don’t understand that tokens replace account numbers, so merchants never see a customer’s account number. Still, the idea of using a mobile wallet is perceived as unsafe.
At the same time, customers are starting to expect more businesses to accept mobile payments in store because these are perceived to be secure. We can probably thank Starbucks for that.
Build your dream with balance
You built your business around a dream. Maybe your dream was to create something in the world that you could be proud of. Or maybe you intend to retire as a millionaire, or clear the oceans of plastic. Whatever the reason, your dream is important to fulfill.
Along the way, you’ve probably experienced some resistance from friends and family who told you your dream was impossible, or that you shouldn’t pursue it to the full extent of your intentions. Maybe there was an aspect of your business they didn’t like, or didn’t see your vision for.
If you’re like most people, when someone tries to talk you out of building your dream your way, you probably get upset. Instead of backing down, you probably try to convince them to see your dream. If you hold onto your vision despite resistance, congratulations, you’re unreasonable! The good kind of unreasonable – the kind that gets results.
Although being unreasonable means not allowing others to talk you out of your dreams, it doesn’t mean you should completely dismiss other people’s concerns. Other people can be a source of valid points you may not have considered. Keep it balance, and you’ll see great success!
