What can a squirrel teach a small business owner about financial management? Everything.
A successful small business owner looks everywhere for knowledge on how to run their business better. And with the right perspective, everything can be a source of knowledge, even the animal kingdom. Uncovering ‘rock star’ tips from animals isn't a challenge, you just need to know how to interpret the data.
We found 17 animals and shared the skills they use for survival into tips every small business owner can use for success. Check out the slideshow for a amazing list of tips for vision & strategy, financial management, workflow operations management, people management, and customer management.
To learn more about how to make the most of Specialty Answering Service for your small business, visit us at http://www.specialtyansweringservice.net, or follow us on Twitter at @SpecialtyAnswer.
3. Don’t Get Disheartened by Tough Beginnings
– It Can Build Robustness to Survive Future Shocks
A new born giraffe is kicked
repeatedly by its mother in order
to help it to be able to stand up
and run within an hour of being
born. This helps a new born giraffe
to learn rapidly to survive among
its predators in the wild.
4. Transformation Maybe Painful
But Essential for Growth
The transformation from
caterpillar to butterfly is one of
the most exquisite phenomenon's
in the insect world. However, when
a caterpillar metamorphoses itself
into a beautiful butterfly, it has to
first digest itself, releasing enzymes
to dissolve all of its tissues.
5. Have a Bold Vision For Your Business and
a Bird’s Eye View of the Industry Landscape
Eagles’ eyes have a million light-sensitive cells
per sq. mm of retina, 5 times more that of a
human’s. This gives eagles extremely keen
eyesight and enable them to spot even
well-camouflaged potential prey from a very
long distance. Some eagles can spot an animal
the size of a rabbit up to two miles away!
Source: http://www.onekind.org/be_inspired/animals_a_z/eagle/
6. There are No Shortcuts
to Ongoing Success
When you watch ducks, it looks as
though they are smoothly gliding
along the surface of the water with
very little effort. However, a closer
inspection reveals that they are
paddling hard under the water to
get where they need to go.
8. Plan Your Cash flows and Save Up
for a Lean Spell
Squirrels collect and store nuts
in autumn so they'll have food
to last through winter. That
thriftiness benefits the squirrel,
just like diligent cost management
will benefit your business.
9. Be Prepared and Never Lose
an Opportunity to Make a Sale
A spider painstakingly builds a web and waits
for its prey. The moment an insect gets caught
in any part of the web. The spider feels the
motion and briskly makes its way to the
vibration source. In this manner, the web
extends the spider's sensory presence over
a much wider area.
Source: http://www.stepstoknow.com/The-animal-world/
11. Optimize the Speed of Every Transaction
– Run Like a Cheetah
The cheetah is the fastest land
animal in the world, reaching
speeds of up to 113km/h. They can
accelerate from 0 to 100km/h in
just 3 seconds.
Source: http://www.onekind.org/be_inspired/
animals_a_z/cheetah/
12. Have the Memory of an Elephant
– Measure, Record and Improve Workflows
Elephants are among the world's most
intelligent species. They are well known for
their amazing memory. With a mass of just
over 5 kg (11 lb), elephant brains have more
mass than those of any other land animal.
Their brain is similar to that of the human
brain in terms of structure and complexity.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_cognition
14. Lead Your Employees with a Common Goal
and Motivate Them to Work Towards it in Unison
A wild herd of horses is led by the alpha mare
who is familiar with the terrain and resources
available. She determines the route when
the herd moves between locations.
Higher-ranked members of the herd are
followed by other herd members.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_behavior
15. Encourage a Culture
of Knowledge Sharing
Humpback whales are known to
learn songs from each other, as well
as share feeding techniques that
allow them to survive better in a
changing ecology.
Source: http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/
1112831807/humpback-whales-learn-from-
each-other-042613/
16. Prize the Rare Bird
in Your Organization
As the population of Mountain Blue Birds
have started dwindling, many breed in
artificial nest boxes, which tend to be situated
in more open areas and have smaller openings
to keep out marauders and bad weather.
Construction of nest boxes in suitable habitat
has also provided a population boost.
18. Have Impressive Marketing Collateral:
First Impressions are Crucial to Win Clients
Both males and female parrots are
attracted to those who have the
most brightly colored plumage,
which glows by absorbing ultra
violet light.
19. Unleash Your Creativity and Have a Unique Feature
That Differentiates Your Offering from Competition
The most elaborate courtship display in
the animal kingdom is that of the bowerbird.
These birds build complex structures to
impress their females, some males will
decorate their nests using twigs and shiny
objects, while others will fill their nest with
blue items.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowerbird
20. Customize Your Products and Services
to Suit Your Client Needs
The Tungara frog bellows loud croaks to
attract a mate. Females choose males on the
basis of the best calls - which, may not always
be the loudest or the deepest. Each female
prefers a unique sound. It's up to the males to
try to find the perfect pitch to seduce her.
Similarly, successful businesses customize
service offerings to suit client needs.
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1250379/
Valentines-Day-ideas-The-lessons-courtship-learn-animals.html
21. Listen To What Your
Customers are Saying
Elephants use not only their ears but also
their trunk and feet to listen. They can hear
frequencies twenty times lower than us.
Their exceptional hearing ability helps them
‘tune into’ things such as thunderstorms and
helps them to be the first animal to move
towards rain.
Source: http://largestfastestsmartest.co.uk/animals-with-the-
best-sense-of-hearing-in-the-world/
22. Don’t Make the Sale and Vanish: After-sales
service is Key to customer-retention and reputation.
Among seahorses, it is the male
who gets pregnant. Once the male
is pregnant the female stays by his
side until birth, visiting daily to
ensure that he will continue to
protect their eggs.
Source: http://www.blackpoolzoo.org.uk/news/
14-lessons-in-love-from-the-animal-kingdom
23. Offer Creative Freebies and Offers
to Your Most Valued Customers to Retain Them for Life
Many species exchange gifts to attract
a female as part o their courtship display.
Among penguins it is common for males to
collect pebbles to give to females to fill nest
rings with, this helps keep the eggs and chick
up off the ground.
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/
picturesoftheday/8356767/Pictures-of-the-day-2
-March-2011.html?image=24
24. Photo Credits
Slide 3: Giraffe: By John Storr (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Slide 4: Butterfly: By Kenneth Dwain Harrelson [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Slide 5: Soaring Eagle: By Thimindu Goonatillake from Colombo, Sri Lanka (Soaring High Uploaded by snowmanradio) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)],
via Wikimedia Commons
Slide 6: Falcated Duck at Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Centre, Gloucestershire, England.�Taken by Adrian Pingstone in February 2004 and released to the public domain
Slide 8: Red Squirrel: By Pawel Ryszawa (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC BY-SA 2.5-2.0-1.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5-2.0-1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Slide 9: Spider Web: By Gnissah (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Slide 11: Cheetah – Credit: www.kewlwallpapers.com
Slide 12: Elephant - By Yathin S Krishnappa (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Slide 14: Running Horses: by TNS Sofres [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via www.Flickr.com
Slide 15: Humpback whales: By Whit Welles Wwelles14 (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)],
via Wikimedia Commons
Slide 16: Mountain Blue Bird: By Elaine R. Wilson (NaturesPicsOnline) [CC BY-SA 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons
Slide 18: Colourful Parrot: By Tobias [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Slide 20: Tungara Frog: By brian.gratwicke (Tungara Frog Engystomops pustulosus) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Slide 21: Indian Elephant: By Thomas Schoch [CC BY-SA 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons
Slide 22: Pregnant Seahorse: http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/htmls/reef2027.htm
Slide 23: Penguins: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/picturesoftheday/8356767/Pictures-of-the-day-2-March-2011.html?image=24