When I was young my father was an Aide, or Guard, in a maximum security mental care facility. One story he used to tell was of an inmate who was of average height and weight, 5 foot 9 inches tall and 175lbs. He was a fairly calm guy until one day another inmate, a 6 foot 3, 250lb man, picked a fight with him. In the end the smaller man came out on top and ended up killing bigger man.

But that’s not the end of the story.

After the fight was over, it was my father’s job to subdue this inmate. He and 5 other Aides struggled for almost an hour to gain control. And after a couple of bloody noses and one broken finger…They were finally able to place him in restraints and put him in solitary confinement.

Why was this inmate so unbelievably strong?

Because he wasn’t aware that he couldn’t take on that many people at the same time. He didn’t know what he didn’t know. Something in his learning had been stunted long before.

There are 4 stages of learning that we all must go through before we can become completely proficient at what we do. The first stage is called unconscious incompetence. Which basically means “You don’t know what you don’t know.”

This may be where you are right now, with regards to growing your business. You don’t know what actions will generate revenue or what steps to take to put them in place. You need direction.

And if you allow yourself to stay at this level for too long…You’ll either get discouraged and throw money at everything, or do nothing and wait for something to happen. Neither course is a good choice.

The next stage of learning is called conscious incompetence. This is where you become aware of what you don’t know.

When you realize that you are deficient in one area or another you then have a choice. You can choose to take stop-gap measures to remedy the problem or you can ignore it and rationalize that learning something new will only serve to confuse.

But if you are truly invested and motivated to learn a new skill, it’s been proven, that this is where you are the most happiest and content. Because you are growing.

Is there something that’s holding you back? Do you know?

One of the biggest mistakes many towers make is to fall for the belief that all motorists have Roadside Assistance Plans. And because of this mistaken belief, they fail to the take the necessary actions to be where motorists are looking when they need a tow.

To get around this idea that everyone has roadside assistance, I want you to consider some things you do know.

Think about the people you’ve dealt with during the course of your busy day. How many accident tows have you performed where the vehicle owner carried liability-only insurance? And even if they were fully covered, how many owners of total-loss vehicles didn’t know that comprehensive coverage doesn’t mean full replacement?

I draw your attention to these experiences because it’s evidence that most motorists don’t plan ahead…Most people don’t plan ahead. Which means that the majority of the traveling public don’t rely on roadside assistance.  There’s huge opportunity here.

So if you’re struggling with direction, and have a desire to build a better business, you need to accept that there are some things you don’t know. And take steps to…first learn what they are…and then to remedy them.