It’s Sunday and I’ve staked my claim to my favorite corner of the couch. As usual it’s a day of multi-tasking at its best… a little tweeting, blog reading, glancing at the score, YouTube watching, and, “Whoa! Did you see that?” It strikes me that football is like running a small business.

  

The Players – Successful players have a passion for the game and help those around them succeed. They are the heart of the organization – not the owner or even the coach. Who are your MVPs? Are you doing everything you can to help them succeed? Remember that when they win you win.

  

The Plays – Planning and execution. A good strategy takes many perspectives and data points into account. Yeah, a few Hail Mary passes will work and sometimes you have to take those risks but a good combination of passing and running plays are what will consistently get you to the goal line. Who do you listen to? What’s your core value proposition and how do you leverage your strengths to win the game?

  

The Rules – Lovie Smith and Jim Mora look equally confused right now. “There are two fouls on the play…” the ref asserts. OK, good, the penalties cancel each other. Hold the phone! Mora wants another explanation. Now the ruling has changed and here we go… Now Lovie is confused. I’m going to go out on a limb ask whether you’ve ever felt like Lovie or Jim during a grueling tax return. Make sure you have a good support system to help you navigate complicated situations – an accountant, good technical support, marketing mentors, etc.

  

The Fans – Fans are your customers but oh how quickly they can turn. Remember Eagles fans throwing snowballs at Santa? With social media, the repercussions of an angry customer can exponentially hurt your brand. Do you know what your customers are saying about you online? To quote Chris Brogan at the New Media conference I attended in Atlanta on Friday “Just 'cause you don't want to hear it doesn't mean it's not true.” What comes up when you search Twitter or Google your business or product name? Start listening folks.

  

The Touchdown Celebration – Maybe not with hundreds of thousands of people watching but admit it, you’ve done it too. By all means, celebrate your success but don’t underestimate your failures too. Good entrepreneurs treat failure as an opportunity to learn, adjust and do better next time. Do you spend as much time celebrating as you do asking what's not working, and having that half-time talk with yourself to adjust your game?

  

Yikes! The Bears are down 13-0 so I should probably focus my attention back on the game now.

  

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday,

 

Andrea Moe

Director of Product Management & Marketing