At Advanced Funds Network (AFN), we know a bad credit business loan isn't the only way to grow your business in tough, lean times. There's actually a way to effectively grow your business without spending a cent. It's a model we recommend our customers use before they ever apply for a business loan.

The Johari's Window Model is comprised of:

• What you know
• Awareness of what you don't know
• Enlightenment about what you don't know

You have to figure out the importance and relevance of each category. It all starts with a circle.

Like a Fish in Water

The circle represents everything you need to know to successfully grow your business. It starts with your comfort zone – what you already know.

This is where you spend most of your time. It’s the business acumen your company is predicated on: a mixture of core skills and overall mastery. Generally, when people talk about being "in the zone," this is what they're referring to. It's the area that leads to the least tension and frustration quite simply because it is the area you know best

Like a Fish out of Water

This next segment of the circle is where battle lines are drawn. Everyone has an area of expertise that is surrounded by a discernible, but constant fog. This segment steers you directly into that fog. You know it's there, but you don't know what it's made of or what lies beyond it.

The presence of the fog starts to make business owners uncomfortable, yet it also heightens their sense of awareness. In all honesty, it is filled with things that they recognize they have a desire to know. This recognition pushes them forward into the fog because they know if they persevere, the fog will clear and in its place will be valuable knowledge that will benefit the business.

To give you an example, you may be very good at analyzing cost projections and predicting how those projections will affect your business in the coming months, but you may not understand the ins and outs of bookkeeping. Bookkeeping knowledge is an obvious deficiency that you can work to improve; therefore, it belongs here.

Where the Sea Serpents Lie

The final segment lies in uncharted and dangerous territory – mostly because you are unaware that the territory is there in the first place.

This is where an unknown threat can take you by surprise. It's the place where a disruption previously unseen can capsize your business in its adolescent stages. This is what makes a bad credit business loan necessary – the left-field move you never saw coming. How do you safeguard yourself against what you can't see? Ask the people surrounding you.

By surrounding yourself with differently-minded people, you reduce individual blind spots collectively.

If you have questions or comments on the above article, we'd love to hear from you. If you have questions about obtaining a bad credit business loan, we'd love to talk about that too. Simply contact us through our website.