Business Advice From Vanilla Ice

09/22/2020

If you are aspiring to own a business, chances are you’ve looked to other successful business owners for inspiration. While that is a good thing to do, sometimes the best inspiration and ideas come from thinking outside of the box. No one in their right mind would recommend using the 1989 hit single “Ice Ice Baby” as a source of motivation, but you’re not here to color inside the lines.

So let’s take a look at the opening line of the first verse of “Ice Ice Baby,” and see what Mr. Ice has for us.

“Alright, stop…”

This is has been a strange time for everyone, and trying to keep up with all of the changes in our world today can be exhausting. That’s why it’s important to be intentional in taking time to stop, assess, and reassess. Look at what you have and decide what it is that you ultimately want.

Can your new business or idea not just help you make money, but make an impact on your community, the country, or the world? If not, can you readjust your idea to really add value to your customers? Asking these questions or questions like this reveals what and who matters most to you. They also make for excellent opportunities to discover ideas that you might not have had before.

“…Collaborate…”

I don’t care how isolated you think your business is; no one runs a successful business completely on their own. Your vision might be the ship, but you need a crew and wind in your sails. Getting others involved, even in a small way, can make a huge impact on the future of your business.

New perspectives allow you to view your business in a new light, and possibly patch holes that you didn’t realize existed. Building these networks opens the door for new opportunities. Who knows what that next phone call or that new acquaintance has to offer?

“…and listen!”

The customer might not always be right, but they have a voice. That voice might not matter as much to you, but it matters to their friends and family. That voice can either refer or deter people to/from your business. Getting feedback and listening to your existing customers and employees allows you to not live in a vacuum.

The more you listen, the more you truly understand about your business. Taking in feedback allows you to know what it’s like to experience your business from every angle.

There’s also major value in continuing to learn from people who have gone before you. Their wisdom is value added, and the only thing you have to pay for it, is your time and attention.

Conclusion

So while we can’t recommend following Vanilla Ice as a perfect model of business (though he was much more successful than many of us could ever dream of), the opening verse to “Ice Ice Baby” was a fun and strange piece of inspiration that we never expected to find in 2020.

We hope you take the time to stop, collaborate, and listen, and if you need help doing so, our co-working space is the perfect place to do all of those things.