At the age of 10 working part-time as a janitor in his family’s advertising agency, Beau Lane was witness to discarded sketches, crumpled-up first drafts and rejected storyboards. It was a lesson in how to work through a challenge. You need to look at things in several different ways, take more than one try to solve it if you need to, and decide which idea works best.

Now as CEO, Lane applies that same philosophy to LaneTerralever, a full-service advertising/digital marketing firm based in Phoenix. His company helps businesses solve their marketing challenges.

“It’s all about how you approach obstacles,” he said. “If you approach it with energy and an enthusiasm, there are very few problems that can’t be solved.”

For example, one of his biggest challenges was to expand the firm’s digital marketing offering. So Lane merged his company with Terralever, a company that had tremendous experience and talent in that area.

“Now we are able to offer more to our customers,” he said. “And our business has grown.”

Like many businesses, another challenge is monitoring trends in the marketplace. Whether it’s industry, demographic or societal shifts, each can have an impact on how their clients’ consumers respond. That’s why LaneTerralever continually studies what’s happening. They understand its connection with being able to offer their clients the best advice.

“The only thing that’s constant is change,” Lane said. “If you don’t like change in business, you’re really going to like irrelevancy even less.”

Responding to challenges requires adapting to changes in the market.

Tips for Turning Business Challenges into Opportunities

Lane offers these three tips to help your small business turn business challenges into opportunities (see the full interview here):

• Understand your financials – Know what drives your profit. That might include factors like net revenue, repeat sales or new customer acquisition. Then focus on that aspect daily. For example, a business might implement a customer loyalty program if repeat sales drives their profitability.
• Hire people who can advance your business – Look for skill sets that align with your core values. Find people who can work with you in a collaborative manner. Lane feels that his company’s real strength is the strength of its people. They are our “product” he says. So he looks for more than just talent. They need to bring energy and a positive attitude to help solve challenges.
• Bring a great attitude to the business every day – If you allow yourself to have a bad attitude about a challenge, then it will overcome you. A positive attitude leaves you open to explore possibilities and find the right solution.

Every business encounters challenges along the way. It can overcome you and become a roadblock or it can spur you to achieve more. The differentiators are attitude, talent and an understanding of your financial drivers.