I am attending the SBIR/STTR Fall Innovation Conference and Expo this week in National Harbor, MD, and did an overnight stop in Blacksburg, which is an incredibly beautiful town with great energy and friendliness. The morning started with a beautiful church service at Christ Episcopal Church followed by a great breakfast at Gillie’s and grabbing a coffee at Coffeeholics. With coffee in hand, I struck out for a walk around town to explore and get my daily steps in.
I stopped when I saw a handmade sign with the inscription, “THE ONLY EASY DAY WAS YESTERDAY.” This sign hangs above the entrance to a fitness training area with black rubberized mulch and bars to practice pull-ups, push-ups and other exercises. The motto signifies that as you grow stronger and advance, the challenges you face will only become more difficult. You must constantly adapt, embrace the grind, and push your limits. This saying is a daily reality for small business owners too. The moment your business grows, the challenges become more complex. Customer behaviors shift, markets and technology evolve, and the grind demands constant adaptation. You don't get to rest on yesterday's wins if you want to survive today.
Small business growth is an evolution and the greatest businesses always continue to evolve and embrace change. I experienced both history and change in Blacksburg on my walk when I saw a group of students running around clubbing each other with padded foam weapons. I looked perplexed and some friendly students took the time to stop and explain that the game is called Jugger where two teams of five players with padded weapons compete to grab a ball placed in the center of the field and bring it to the opponent’s goal. They told me it actually originated from a terrible movie and caught on in Europe and other parts of the world and is now expanding throughout the US. I realized that innovation is everywhere from sports to business and this week a road trip and a conference will enable me to bring new ideas and perspectives back to my business.