How You Can Use Tennis Skills in Business - Tip 1: Follow Through

So, I play tennis.  It's a sport I played growing up but, because I went to a college with a nationally-renowned tennis team where I had ZERO chance of playing on even the JV team, I sort of let it drift away.  And, I was doing other things, like studying and then after graduating, starting a career.  Anyway, I've taken it up again and I find that, despite the weird pains that I have now which I never did when I was younger (!), I like it and have a more mature view.  I've been taking lessons and playing in leagues and other matches and find that I come away with new insights each time I play.  Many of these lessons are applicable to business, like always having a follow-through.

A follow-through is the last part of a tennis ground stroke.  You usually see it swing up toward and past the shoulder although it can also come across the body.  What does it do?  Gives your stroke the power and "umph" to get the ball over the net with force.  Too often, though, in match conditions, players cut their follow-through short.  And, although you think you might hit it too hard or outside the line if you give it a strong follow-through, usually, it gives you MORE control. 

In business, you also need follow-through, or, perhaps "follow up" would be a good synonym.  In other words, don't just do 1/2 a project.  Do the whole thing and complete it to give it the umph it needs!  Do it completely and you'll more than likely win the new business, i.e. "the point"!

Do you think Panera Bread is crazy to open "pay what you can" retail stores?

According to a Wall Street Journal Online article entitled "Rising to the Occasion", Panera Bread chairman, Ron Shaich, "opened Panera's third "pay-what-you-want" café in Portland, Ore. – an attempt, he says, to use business to tackle communities' hunger problems."  I personally love the idea of this since it is focusing attention on hunger issues.   And, I know that Clifton's Cafe in Los Angeles started this tradition during the Depression and Clifton's is still in business today.   The article cited the fact that 20% of customers pay more than the suggested price, 60% pay the suggested price and 20% pay less so it seems like it actually evens out.  But, I wonder if this would truly solve community hunger problems?  Giving to the poor is always good but giving skills to the poor might be even better.  What if there were opportunities for the poor to gain job skills in these very same Panera stores?  Jobs is what will turn this economy around.