Growing Your Business

As business owners, we are constantly on the lookout for new opportunities. In order for us to thrive, we have to be willing to try new things and expand on our current offerings. Whether it is adding a new product to our c-stores or adding a new profit center to our businesses, there are always ways we can grow.

Fortunately, inspiration is all around us. Every time we walk into a business, open a magazine or turn on the TV, we can find ideas that we can mold and shape until they become our own. Yet grasping onto something new and seeing it through to fruition takes as much courage as it does stamina.

Covering new territory can bring with it a certain amount of fear, but as members of NATSO we have a distinct advantage. We have access to our fellow operators, who are ready and willing to share what they have already learned. We don’t have to learn from trial and error or reinvent the wheel.

I urge you to flip through the pages of this magazine with an open mind. How can you take the ideas your peers and industry experts have shared and apply them to your business?

Truckstops have personalities. Our customers choose to stop at our locations because there is something about us that resonates with them. We don’t want to take a cookie-cutter approach to our businesses by copying what others have done, but we can learn from their experiences.

We must be willing to try something new and take the risks that will move our business to the next level, but we don’t have to do it alone. Pick up the phone and call a fellow member, learn from the expertise your peers share in each issue of Stop Watch or mark your calendar for The NATSO Show 2012, February 18 - 22, in Las Vegas, Nev. I guarantee that you will walk away from any of those experiences with an idea or two that will help you with your business.

As Chairman, I also urge you to give back to your fellow operators. Volunteer for a NATSO committee, share an idea in StopWatch or attend our annual meeting. It has been said time and again that a rising tide lifts all ships and I couldn’t agree more. As individual business owners, we benefit from being visible and successful members of our communities, but our industry benefits as well. A strong, vibrant truckstop community will attract more customers and allows us to carry a loud, powerful voice to Capitol Hill.

This article originally ran in Stop Watch magazine. Stop Watch provides in-depth content to assist NATSO members in improving their travel plaza business operations and provides context on trends and news affecting the industry. The magazine is mailed to NATSO members bimonthly. If you are a member and not receiving Stop Watch, submit a request to be added to the mailing list. Not a member? Join today or submit a request to receive additional information.