I used to own a convenience store, I had a cleaning business, and I was heavily invested in real estate while in the towing business. And in every one of those businesses I developed a “Grass Must Be Greener Elsewhere” mentality.

When problems arose, as they do in every business, I would begin to question if what I was doing was worth the trouble. And I’d start to think, “There’s gotta be a better way to make a living.”

I let negative thinking and self-doubt consume me.

This type of thinking will not help you maximize your opportunities in the towing business.

What I learned was…This happens to everyone. It doesn’t matter if you’re a business owner, an employee, or whatever, we all have times of insecurity and limiting beliefs. We wonder if we’re on the right path or just spinning our wheels, wasting time.

But here’s why we do it.

The reason we have those thoughts is they are built into our DNA.

Think about the life our distant ancestors must have lead.

Thousands of years ago, to avoid being eaten by a tiger on the Planes of the Serengeti, they had to have all their wits about them and keep a sharp eye out for any potential hazards. Those who didn’t pay attention didn’t live long enough to pass on their genes.

That’s why, still to this day, we’re always on the lookout for anything that can cause us harm.

Those genes were passed down from generation to generation to us. And now negative, and potentially hurtful things are brought to the forefront of our minds.  It’s intended to serve us…but most of the time it doesn’t.

Don’t get me wrong it’s good to be wary of things that can hurt you, like 80 mph traffic or the 200 lb guy who doesn’t want his car towed, but the problem starts when that type of thinking consumes every waking moment and makes you put a negative spin on everything.

Here’s what I mean

Recently I received a call from a man who was interested in getting into the towing business. He said he’s been in business for over 25 years, in a different industry, but lately, he’s not making as much money as before. He said, he thinks there’s just not much call for what he does anymore. He didn’t want to get out of the business he’s in now, he just wanted to start a towing business, on the side, to generate more income.

I talked to him for a while about the towing business and the opportunities in his area, then as a point of comparison, I tried to find his existing business in a search on Google.

And after a little investigating I found, what I believe to be, the bulk of his problems.

It turns out that his Google Plus Page was unclaimed, his website had a score of 48% for Search Engine Optimization, there were no reviews on Google, and the only marketing he was doing was with the local print Yellow Pages.

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In short, his business wasn’t generating as much income as before because it wasn’t being marketed properly.

I then told him something he didn’t quite expect.

I suggested that, if the goal is to generate more income, instead of putting his energies someplace else, like the towing business, he should focus on his existing business and work on marketing it better.

Have you ever heard the saying, What You Focus on Expands

I believe that as the market shifted, away from the yellow pages to the internet, this man began to see a gradual decline in sales. And over the years he slowly began to accept that fewer sales were his reality. He was focusing on the belief that his type of business was in decline.

His “Grass Must Be Greener Elsewhere” thinking, lead him to the conclusion that there wasn’t much call for his business anymore, but the reality was he just wasn’t marketing it properly.

Please don’t misunderstand, I’m not judging this man, I’ve been there myself.

When I was in the convenience store business I focused on the fact that I made very little, if anything, on the sale of a gallon of gas. I’d buy a gallon of gas for $2 or $3 dollars and be lucky if I made 3 cents.

I couldn’t see the forest for the trees.

You see—While I made serious money on the sale of other products, like pizza, candy, soda, beer, and all the other stuff—what we called “inside sales,” I was too busy focusing on my loss at the pump. I was fixated on the fact that I couldn’t make money on the sale of gas.

And this focus on the negative eventually caused me to get out of that business.

The point is you can’t let negative thinking steer you into false beliefs about your business’s viability.

There’s huge opportunity in the towing business but there will always be problems

There will always be damages, disgruntled customers, truck repairs, difficult employees, and seemingly insurmountable obstacles. But there are also happy customers, developing opportunities, and ways to create better and lasting relationships with your employees and your customers.

So before you make a potentially life-altering decision to get into one business and out of another be sure that you’re doing all that you can in the business you are in now.

To maximize opportunities for your towing business you should utilize the items on the list below.  A detailed post can be found here.

In order to be found locally when customers are searching for the services you provide, you need to have.

1. A properly structured and Search Engine Optimized website
2. An optimized and verified Google Plus Page
3. A Facebook business page
4. A streamlined method of gathering positive reviews
5. An Effective AdWords Campaign
6. And the ability to integrate your reviews and social pages into your website

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