Egyptian Pyramids and Small Business

I was having dinner with friends over the weekend and were started talking about upcoming travel or tripe we wanted to take. One friend had just returned from India, another couple was just in Thailand and I had been in Mexico. Africa came up and while I have already been to Africa twice, I was sharing that I had to go to Africa at least twice more – once to see the mountain gorillas and the other to see the great pyramids in Egypt. The more we got into the conversation, the more I started mapping the pyramids to small businesses.

How could I make a leap like this? Well, in order to construct the pyramids, the teamwork required b y the labor force (which was anywhere from 20,000-30,000 people at a time) was, well nothing short of amazing. The architecture is extremely sophisticated. In this case, the architecture is equivalent to the business plan. The Egyptians knew their strengths and weaknesses – no doubt about that.

When it came to the actual construction, well the Egyptians were specific in what they had to do, when and how. Think about it – they figured out how to move very large, heavy blocks of stone, and not just move them but move them to the required height. While there is dispute as to how they did it, they figured out how to build ramps on an incline so they could move the blocks of stone. I always admire innovation.

If you understand your strengths and weaknesses (not to mention opportunities and threats – SWOT) then you can create your architecture or plan. Many business owners let the challenges of achieving their plan get in the way of planning so they either don’t plan at all or the plan isn’t as aggressive as it should be. Just think – if the Egyptians had let the challenges of building pyramids get in the way of their elaborate design, then we wouldn’t have them to appreciate and wonder in amazement. Once you know what you want the final outcome to be (your company vision), you don’t have to figure out how to get there right away. In fact, you won’t! But you can start by breaking down the first steps into bite size baby pieces and then build from there. The Egyptians figured out how to build their pyramids so you can build your company. You just need to update your SWOT, create your company vision and then focus on breaking things down into bite size baby steps that most likely will take you years to achieve. Just think – you are building your own pyramid/monument.

I haven’t schedule my trip to Egypt for anytime soon but I do have the architecture or business plan in place that lets me know when I will be able to go!