OneCoach-SBV: Business Growth Coaching

Dramatically Improve Your Productivity- Hire a Small Business Coach

2010-01-22T12:46:00.000-08:00

If you run a small business, does this scenario ring a bell?

You get up, rush through your morning routine and hurry to the office. (store, warehouse, etc). You've been thinking of the important things you need to accomplish all last night and as you prepare for your day, you felt a certain sense of control and purpose about what you were ready to do. This was the day you planned to move the boulder forward and get some things done!

Since you are the first one to your place of business, you need to make coffee. While you are making coffee, you see the message light blinking on the office line extension so you pick it up and listen to the messages. There are no messages for any new orders but several from past customers or suppliers that are not happy and want your immediate attention. You scribble down a few notes, hang up the phone and grab the first cup of coffee as you head to your office.

One of the requests is for a pending order. To check this, you need to log on to your company's computer only to find out it is frozen from someone who used it to web surf the night before. So you do an end run on the problem and start searching through the stacks of unfiled orders on your desk. At that moment, the phone rings and you answer it. What happens next will take about 3 hours to resolve.

What happened to your zest for accomplishing the things you stayed awake all nightthinking about? You had good intentions. You even came into work early before anyone could get you involved in their problems. All you know is, at the end of this day you will go home with the same important things you wanted to do still needing to be done.

If this sounds like an average day in your life, you are not alone. In my small business coaching practice, I work with this issue a lot. If your business is not big enough for employees, you end up doing everything yourself. If you have employees, they all seem to need you to help them with their problems. If you are like most small business owners, you may just be of the mindset that no one can do it as well as you so you do it all yourself.

This cycle of unfocused involvement with everything in your business is not only creating havoc with your intended routine but prevents you from focusing on revenue generating activities that your company needs to grow and stay healthy. So, what do you do?

As a small business advisor, here are a few things you can do to stay more focused on the important tasks.

1. Define your goals- Once you have determined in your mind what you need to get accomplished, write these tasks down. Resist the temptation to create a 'grocery style' list. Too many tasks will inevitably create the same unfocused results. Write down no more than 3 items that must get done that day.

2. Set a time frame- Determine how much time is needed to complete these tasks. This will be an estimate at best but it serves to frame out your focus for whatever amount of hours you project. It also gives you permission to do nothing else during this time than the tasks you have scheduled.

3. Know your peak work period- Decide when during the day you will address them. Most people are prone to working on the important stuff when they feel mentally alert (morning person vs. night time person). Remember, that the later in the day you schedule your focused activity, the greater chance you will cancel or reschedule because you got caught up in something else that is taking longer than you thought. If you deicide to address your tasks in the afternoon, consider leaving the office to reduce distractions.

4. Look forward to being more productive- Treat your 'task time' like a vacation. If you were going on vacation to a place you were really excited about, you'd start getting ready to leave early. Don't schedule or take on a large project right before your scheduled time.

5. Remove all temptations- Once you are focused on the project at hand, eliminate all distractions. Turn the phones over to someone else. Turn off your cell phone. Tell people that work for you that you must not be disturbed. Unless your building is on fire, everything else can wait for 60-90 minutes.

6. Eliminate real time distractions- While working on your computer, shut your email service down. Having little signs pop up with 'You've got mail' is torture to some folks. I would even close my calendar book or software to prevent looking at the next days schedule and feeling like you need to prepare for the meeting you've arranged.

Focus is about eliminating all the distractions that cause you to deviate from your plan. It's also about not being clear about what you need to do and why you have to do it today. Addressing both of these areas will greatly improve your ability to concentrate and increase your productivity. Start by doing this exercise once per week. Once you get comfortable that you can devote time to the things you want to accomplish and your business will still be standing when you return, you will start doing it more often.

There are, however, some work place environments that are prohibitively difficult to control. If your productivity and sense of priorities is consistently being undermined by distractions, problems and dependent employees, consider getting a business coach or a small business mentor to help you reshape your daily operation. In a short period of time, a business coach can perform a business assessment on your situation and immediately begin moving you in the right direction. The return on your investment can be monumental.

Truly successful business owners realize that it is the time you spend working 'on' your business that drives growth, profitability and personal reward, not laboring away 'in' your business day and night.

Verbal Marketing: Is Your Networking Message on Queue

2010-01-21T20:00:00.000-08:00

Several times a week, I make my rounds to the various networking organizations I belong to for the purpose of continuing to drive my business through referrals. As the owner of a small business coaching and consulting business, I rely on other people who know me and recommending their colleagues to me. It's time consuming but less expensive than buying news print or magazine placements. It also insures that people continue to see me, especially in the role of an experienced business coach. I've learned that as long as people see you out and about working your business, they know you are still in business. It's one of the most difficult things a small business has to acheive during the early years of operation- visibility.

Of course, if you are consistent with your message and the delivery of your product or service, visibility will lead to credibility. Now, none of this activity is of much value if you have difficulty telling people what you do. Helping small business owners develop highly effective marketing strategies so they can grow their revenues, client base and profits is something I can't afford to mess up on when another person says, "tell me what you do"?

Every networking event that I've been to incorporates common activities to get the crowd comfortable with each other. And of course, we're all there to find business so making introductions seems to be the best way to accomplish both. Here's where I find many business owners losing ground in the message and credibility department.

No one knows your business as well as you do. So, if you have difficulty explaining who you are and the benefit of what you do in 30 seconds or less, how can you expect other people to know what to look for. My best referrals have come from people who know exactly what I do, how I do it and what the benefit is to the small business owner. They know this becuase they have worked with me or been associated with me for a period of time. In a networking meeting, you don't have the luxury of time. You have to peak the interest of strangers and entice someone to ask, "wow, how do you do that".

It's called a 30 second commercial or an elevator pitch. Either way, it's what you say to someone who asks you what you do. Here are a few techniques for perfecting your pitch.

1. Start with something that lasts about 10 seconds. Identify a problem or issue that your target client has and state what you do to address it. The reason I say start with 10 seconds is because you want to be able to remember it so it sounds natural when you say it.

2. Don't be concerned about getting every detail out in 30 seconds. I hear this all the time and it end up being so rushed, jumbled up and unclear, you lose your audience. People's attention spans are about 8 seconds on a good day. If you don't capture their interest right up front, you've missed it.

3. The purpose of a commerical or elevator pitch is to pre-qualify your listener. In networking environments, the challenge is meeting people who can help you find more clients. If they're not interested in you, don't waste time on them. You can find this out in 10 seconds by how they respond to your commercial.

You can have the best business in the world and if you can't clearly tell others who you are and why they should do business with you in 10 seconds or less, consider investing in magazine ads and newspaper listings. And save money of the networking events to.

My business involves helping people with their marketing message. If you would like a complimentary session to find out how good your message is, visit my website and request a business assessment. http://www.BusinessCoachingThatWorks.com

2009-12-15T12:40:00.001-08:00

Showing Sukhraj Beasla how to use a casket key

Your Mindset: Friend or Foe?

2009-12-15T09:29:00.000-08:00

How’s your mindset right now? Do you see your future as a glass half empty or a glass half full? Is your mind a portal to what you want from your business or a reminder of what you have not been able to accomplish?

2009 has been brutal for many small business owners and a real challenge for just about everyone who has to earn their own way in business. And while we all tend to rely on the more tangible of business building resources; money, time, know-how, plans and support to name a few, the biggest asset any of us has is our ability to control our mindset.

Your mindset influences your thinking, your perceptions, your beliefs and behaviors. It’s the little voice in the back of your head that seems to have an opinion on everything you do or want to do that determines how you feel about your current situation. As a small business advisor, I frequently encounter small business owners that are questioning their ability to move forward and figure out how to do business in a market that has thrown out all the rules to the game.

The reality is; we have a tough economic situation. Many businesses will not survive this protracted belt tightening because they could not see a successful outcome. It’s difficult to watch fellow business owners fade away, especially if they were enjoying robust growth a few years ago. The fact is, some businesses will survive and even grow stronger once the marketplace returns. Will you be among the ones who dominate their markets in 2010?

Right now, I’m watching the Biggest Loser. There are some unbelievable accomplishments from people who were so disparaged, they had lost all hope. What they all have in common is they reached out and learned how to improve their mental and physical situations. They got the support and accountability to stay the course until the results came. They believed in what they once were unable to see. This same transformation can happen for business owners and is being enjoyed by the clients of my business coaching program.

The difficult part of creating a successful business mindset is learning how to control the automatic negative thoughts that are triggered whenever you expose yourself to something that your subconscious mind has remembered from the past. It can happen without warning. Suddenly, the little voice becomes a chorus! Your head may become light. You might even experience physical disorientations. This is your mind trying to protect you from an experience it recognizes from your past.

Take a look around you. What are you watching and reading? Who are you listening too? Do you have the support and encouragement to push through it or are you letting the ‘little voice’ remind you of what your past has produced?

Getting control of your thought patterns and overcoming the limiting beliefs that tend to keep you in a holding pattern is the greatest benefit you can give yourself. A positive mindset will enable you to get much greater returns out of just about everything you do or invest money in. It’s the best friend you’ll ever have!

Having a successful business mindset starts with changing your thinking and connecting with your passion for the business you work so hard to grow. If you think you can, amazing things can happen. If you think you can’t, you are already there.

Addressing the ‘Price’ Question: Sell, Don’t Defend

2009-12-03T12:13:00.000-08:00

A few years ago, consumers were buying all kinds of products and services, many without much thought to cost. After all, money was plentiful, available, cheap and easy! That was then but today is a much different story. Today’s consumers are much more consciences of what they are paying for products and services.

So what do you say when the first question a prospective customers asks is, “How much do you charge?” Pricing questions will eventually come up during the course of a purchasing transaction. If they are first on the list, however, this is a clear indication that the consumer has little idea of what you provide that’s different than their idea of the basic service provided by anyone in your type of business.

As a California business growth advisor, I’m consulting with companies in a state that saw more than its fair share of run-away consumer purchasing. Now, most business owners struggle to get past the dreaded questions about their prices and why they aren’t cheaper than the company that the consumer called before them.

Pricing questions are an opportunity to differentiate your business. A full 70% of consumers make purchasing decisions based on the value they perceive vs. the price of the purchase they are considering. These value decisions don’t change over time. The only thing that changes is the availability of money. If you receive a call and the first question is about your price, its likely the consumer doesn’t really know about you or what you do that’s different.

If you are experiencing an increase in ‘Price Calls’, here are some things to do to overcome them:

1. Review all your marketing materials. What message are you sending? Are you leading with price? Do you base your entire ad on discounts or ‘lowest rates around’? Does your website convey a quality service or a price service? Do you have particular ways of delivering your service that your existing customers like, but is not mentioned anywhere in your marketing? If so, change your message.

2. Check your top 3 competitors marketing message. What are they promoting? Are their services in line with yours or are they focused on other services? Are there any areas that they are missing that could provide an opportunity for you? Find a way to differentiate your business from the competition in an area that you know is important to your customers.

3. Have a script for the folks who answer the phone. When someone asks about price before they understand how you do what you do, simply mention that you can provide accurate quotes once you understand what they need. Then, immediately ask them if you could ask a few questions. The questions you ask should strive to understand exactly what they want and what’s important to them so you can sell them on the benefits of your service. If they persist in wanting to know what your price is before knowing any more, give them a range to work with. Don’t defend your prices. This usually has little effect on their willingness to pay the price you ask. Don’t volunteer to drop your price right out of the gate. This only adds suspicion to your entire business. If you feel the need to match a competitor, do so only after you’ve had a chance to understand exactly what they want and what their other price was based on.

4. Be prepared to let the business go. This is extremely hard for businesses that need the sales to stay in business. The danger of accepting low prices from consumers who want to negotiate your prices down is doing work that may cost you. If this goings on long enough, your businesses reputation will be hooked to the low price service you can’t afford to continue with.

The bottom line is; if you’re getting too many people who want your product or service cheap, they are either not your ideal client or there’s something in your advertising that leads them to believe your service is not worth what your prices suggest. In either case, continuing without getting help from a business growth advisor to fix the problem could be the express lane to going out of business.

Successful businesses build their brand images on distinctive, unique or quality approaches, not price. Effective sales and marketing strategies that focus on unique positioning, identifying the right customers and creating compelling messages are the tools that will reduce the ‘Price questions’ and make you more confident about holding the line on price concessions.

Is a Seasonal Business Right for You?

2009-12-01T08:20:00.000-08:00

What do Christmas trees and campgrounds have in common? They are both products of a seasonal business! And while they share a common trait of generating revenue during a specific time during the year, they differ in that the Christmas tree lots can be closed after Christmas while the campground has operating costs throughout the year. If you’re thinking of running a seasonal business to take advantage of short term revenue opportunities, make sure it’s more the ‘Christmas tree’ kind of business.

Seasonal businesses have been around for years and encompass all sorts of immediately recognizable ventures from pumpkin stands and fire works stands to ski resorts. Each has a particular reason for being and a defined time of year to generate sales. With the exception of the ski resort, which has to be maintained year round, many seasonal businesses take advantage of limited time opportunities and have little long term obligations once the season is over.

If you’re the entrepreneurial ‘purist’ and like to make money without being tied to ongoing established operations, finding a seasonal business maybe a good direction for you.

Seasonal businesses have their challenges which include having enough cash, advanced planning and getting through the maize of municipal approvals and paperwork. So, if you have the design to try a seasonal business, make innovation the cornerstone of your business plan. As a small business advisor, I can’t emphasize enough the need to thoroughly work through the business idea to insure it’s viable.

Most seasonal business opportunities rely on some holiday period, major event or recreational activity to create demand. Many major seasonal event hosts don’t have the bandwidth to provide a product or service for every ancillary sales opportunity. As long as the product or service is legitimate and adds value to the event in question, you stand a good chance of getting support.

Seasonal businesses also provide a great way to test drive your business building skills or a small business marketing strategy without incurring long term commitments should the venture not be a good idea. If you think the idea through, plan well in advance and create a system that will optimize the day to day running, you will insure the greatest degree of success.

If you have a small business success story, tune into blogtalkradio this Friday where Cash Miller from SmallBusinessDelivered.com and Steve Smith, Orange County Business Coach for OneCoach will discuss what it takes to be successful running a seasonal business.

Marketing Communications: A Story of Tappers and Listeners

2009-11-23T22:13:00.000-08:00

Effective communications depends on two factors; a clear message and an optimal channel to deliver it. Over the last 10 years or so, tremendous improvements have been made in the delivery end of the communication spectrum- cell phones/PDAs, text messaging, high speed internet, wireless, instant messenger, GPS and the list goes on. The message clarity side of the equation, however, has not advanced at the same rate.

Whether you are giving direction to your employees, presenting an idea to a client or creating new marketing copy for your website, the quality and clarity of your message is the key to getting others to do what you want them to do.

As a small business advisor, I frequently encounter advertising campaigns which are meant to get people to take action but are so nondescript, they get completely ignored! Regardless of how well you think you know the value of what you offer or what your customers want, sending a clear, straight-forward message using your print or digital media can be a serious challenge.

Consider a study conducted by Elizabeth Newton in 1990. Ms. Newton earned a Ph.D. in psychology at Stanford by studying a simple game in which she assigned people to one of two roles: “tappers” or “listeners.” Tappers received a list of twenty-five well-known songs, such as “Happy Birthday to You” and “The Star Spangled Banner.” Each tapper was asked to pick a song and tap out the rhythm to a listener (by knocking on a table). The listener’s job was to guess the song, based on the rhythm being tapped.

The listener’s job in this game was quite difficult. Over the course of Newton’s experiment, 120 songs were tapped out. Listeners guessed only 2.5 percent of the songs: 3 out of 120.

Here’s what made the result worthy of a dissertation in psychology. Before the listeners guessed the name of the song, Newton asked the tappers to predict the odds that the listeners would guess correctly. They predicted that the odds were 50 percent. The tappers got their message across 1 time in 40, but they thought they were getting their message across 1 time in 2. Why?

When a tapper taps, she is hearing the song in her head. Go ahead and try it for yourself — tap out “The Star-Spangled Banner.” It’s impossible to avoid hearing the tune in your head. Meanwhile, the listeners can’t hear that tune — all they can hear is a bunch of disconnected taps, like a kind of bizarre Morse code.

In the experiment, tappers were flabbergasted at how hard the listeners seem to be working to pick up the tune. Isn’t the song obvious? The tappers’ expressions, when a listener guesses “Happy Birthday to You” for “The Star-Spangled Banner,” are priceless: How could you be so stupid?

It’s hard to be a tapper. The problem is that tappers have been given knowledge (the song title) that makes it impossible for them to imagine what it’s like to lack that knowledge. When they’re tapping, they can’t imagine what it’s like for the listeners to hear isolated taps rather than a song. This is the Curse of Knowledge. Once we know something, we find it hard to imagine what it was like not to know it. Our knowledge has “cursed” us. And it becomes difficult for us to share our knowledge with others, because we can’t readily re-create our listeners’ state of mind.

In my Orange County Business Coaching business, part of the process is to reveal the message that’s received from the consumer or client point of view. All too often, the business owner’s inside knowledge of his/her business prevents them from fully understanding that their marketing message needs to change.

The tapper/listener experiment is reenacted every day across the world. The tappers and listeners are small business owners and employees, teachers and students, politicians and voters, marketers and customers, writers and readers. All of these groups rely on ongoing communication, but, like the tappers and listeners, they suffer from enormous information imbalances. When a business owner advertises “the value of his service,” there is a tune playing in his head that the customer can’t hear.

It’s a hard problem to avoid — a small business owner might have thirty years of daily immersion in the knowledge and delivery of their business. Reversing the process is as impossible as un-ringing a bell. How do you get the tune in your head to be understood by someone who doesn’t know what you know?

Most marketing programs- phone books, flyers, coupon mailer, etc have a return below 1%. This is even less than the tapper experiment in terms of communications getting desired results. In many cases, it’s not the delivery vehicle but the quality and clarity of the message in it.

Successful small business marketing strategies depend on the owner’s ability to tap out a clear, concise message that’s immediately understandable by the customers they want to attract.

So the next time you get ready to launch that new ad campaign or update that website, get someone who doesn’t know anything about your business to tell you what they heard. Most marketing programs are way too costly to be taking a chance on not getting the message delivered!

Combine Networking, Planning and Etiquette to Create a Superior Referral Building Strategy

2009-11-07T16:33:00.000-08:00

Face to face marketing traditionally known as networking has always been an integral part of a successful small business marketing strategy. But, with the increase of people starting businesses as an alternative to going back into the job market, networking events have taken on more of a ‘swap meet’ atmosphere as business owners and entrepreneurs attempt to find buyers and collect business cards to use for future email campaigns.

If networking is done right, it can fuel a continuous stream of quality referrals. If it’s carried out with an ‘I’m going to make a sale today’ mindset, it can lead to disappointment and be the source of a huge missed opportunity.

Good, productive networking is as much an art and it is science. And while your results will improve the more you practice it, you can achieve great results very quickly if you develop the right strategy and incorporate a few relationship building techniques along the way.

The main concept to embrace is the primary reason for networking in the first place. Networking is about developing relationships as a means of building a solid referral network. It’s like getting other business people with similar goals to spread the word about you and help connect you with potential customers you don’t know yet. Before people will be willing to do this, they have to know who you are, what you do, why you do it and why their contacts would want to speak with you. Only then, will other business owners feel comfortable that referring you to their colleagues and clients will not turn into their worst PR nightmare! As a small business advisor, I work with many business owners who haven’t taken the time to ask and answer these questions.

Unfortunately, many new owners or owners new to networking are tempted to put on their ‘selling’ hat too early in the game and instead of creating quality relationships, they end up in any number of very short conversations with people who need to apologize for having to take an important phone call. No one likes to be sold something before they’ve even had a chance to exchange pleasantries! Having a business growth mindset means setting the stage for maximum results. Why try to sell this one person when you could cultivate a relationship that could connect you to every one they know!

If you want to get a fast start on building a network of people who will help you market your business, you need to create a strategy that enables you to accomplish specific goals for each networking event you attend. Here are a several strategies to increase your success rate:

1. Know exactly who your ideal customers are. If someone wants to know more about how they can help and you tell them, ‘anyone’ or ‘everyone’ could be customer of yours, you will not get the help you want. First, it’s rarely true that everyone can be a customer of any business and second, people can and will remember specifics where they will forget about generalities. The more specific you are about who you want to connect with, the easier you make it for someone else to help you.

2. Figure out who would be a good referral business for you. If you have a catering business, what other businesses are trying to target the same customers with different products or services. As a caterer; wedding planners or event facility managers would be excellent contacts to have. Focus your networking efforts on finding these types of people at networking events instead of embarking on a quest to meet as many random people as possible.

3. Don’t confuse your elevator pitch with your sales pitch. People don’t want to be sold right off the bat. They want to get to know you. Your goal is to be as interesting as possible to encourage them to ask for more information about you. Of course, one of the best techniques for ‘being interesting’ is to ‘be interested’ in the other person. This is why it’s really important to know who you want to engage first.

4. Instill confidence in the people you meet. Everyone wants to be connected with a winner. So, look the part and dress appropriately for your business. It doesn’t mean you have to be dressed to the ‘9s’ but being well groomed, having well matched, pressed clothes on and having shoes that are shined or free of scuff marks tells a great deal about whom you are. For many, this translates into how well you run your business.

5. Bring your contact file (business card portfolio) or PDA and be willing to help connect others to people you know. The best way to cement a good relationship is to offer assistant to someone before you ask for help in return. This creates an atmosphere of goodwill and a feeling of reciprocity for the other individual. Either way, what you want is for that person to be impressed enough to be thinking about you when they run into your ideal client at a later date.

6. Keep your attitude in check. Nothing drives away a potential business contact more than for you to ‘unload’ when they ask about you or your business. These ‘head purges’ oftentimes get delivered with heightened emotions which means you’re talking load enough for people 10 feet away to hear you. Once others realize what they are in for when you approach them, you’ll think you’ve become Moses parting the red sea. No one wants to hear about your problems. Don’t try to give them to someone else.

7. Less is more. Even if you have a positive attitude, conversations can get carried away very easily for some folks. Remember that you are there to make contacts with people who can become great referral partners for you. If you find you have a lot in common with an individual, arrange to get together at a later date. If you initiate this, you’ll be showing a great deal of interest in the other person and respect for their time. A good way to break off a conversation that’s going too long is to ask the person if they ran into someone in one of your target business categories. If they have, they can point them out and you can move on. If they haven’t, you can excuse yourself because you need to find the wedding planner you’ve been looking for.

Effective networking is all about having a specific game plan for the event you are thinking of and making the people you come in contact with, glad to have met you. If you want to build a strong referral base and a personal brand that people will be all too happy to assist you with; follow these suggestions and practice, practice, practice. Of course, if you are having trouble developing any of the elements of this plan and you want to move that learning curve quickly, find a small business marketing consultant or professional business coach to help you.

Peter Drucker: His Leadership Message is Alive and Needed!

2009-11-03T15:14:00.000-08:00

This week, many in business throughout the United States and around the world will be celebrating the 100th birthday of history’s most influential business thinker- Peter F. Drucker. Drucker, now deceased, was lauded as the father of modern management and published 39 books on a whole range of topics and principles that he saw as essential to the greater role of business in society. His first rule of thumb was his version of medicine’s Hippocratic Oath: Do no harm. Leave the marketplace, the workforce, the community you do business in, better than you found it.

One of Mr. Drucker’s most compelling quotes was, “What you have to do and the way you have to do it is incredibly simple. Whether you are willing to do it is another matter”. This quote and the implication behind it is at the core of what causes some small businesses to succeed while many others fail. As a small business advisor, I frequently chat with business owners who have followed the teachings of any number of business gurus without any real thought of implementing what they’ve learned. As coveted as information and knowledge is today, without taking action, it’s useless for the purpose of building a business.

Business owners who realize that there’s no silver bullet for achieving success in the marketplace frequently get help with the things they know they should do but can’t do by themselves. This is the essence of professional business coaching and can be very effective at speeding up your learning curve while helping you develop the ‘take action’ behaviors that have previously limited your forward progress.

We’ve all been dealing with an unforgiving economy for quite a while and the latest predictions from credible economists tell us that this could be the norm for the near future. If the business you have now is the business you want years from now, follow Peter Drucker’s philosophy and decide what you will do to grow it. And, if you need help getting there, make that decision too.

More millionaires have been made during times such as these than at any other economic cycle. With the right mindset and the support to make your dream a reality, there’s no reason why it can’t happen to you!

Does Size Matter?

2009-11-02T18:12:00.000-08:00

What determines how big things should be? As Americans, we tend to think that bigger is better in most cases. Until recently, the SUV market was based on this principle. In contact sports, bigger certainly has its advantages. And don’t forget about all the restaurants who serve more food that most people can eat in one sitting.

On the other end of the size continuum is the idea that smaller is where it’s at. This has certainly been the case for cell phones, computers and cameras. In fact, technology seeks to shrink just about everything soon after it’s developed to enhance portability and create a sense of obsolescence.

Many products available to us have a ‘size’ benefit attached to them. But, what about a small business? How big should a business be to do the best job for the owner who conceived it? As a small business advisor, I frequently hear from business owners who want results from their businesses without regard to whether the size of the business is capable of delivering it.

Businesses, like other living entities, have a way of letting you know when their size is inadequate for your performance expectations. If you believe that the business has the potential to generate $1 million annually, but you do not develop the facilities and personnel to handle this level of volume, you could be looking at around the clock demands and the possibility of turning away business you can’t handle. Likewise, a business that is highly developed with staff, inventory and logistical support but lacks the sales volume to keep it running efficiently may end up squeezing cash flow and gobbling up profits.

Sizing a business starts with fully understanding the potential of the market to be served and clearly defining what the owners expect from the business. During my professional business coaching sessions, I frequently encounter entrepreneurs that have not completely evaluated the market potential nor established definable goals such as revenue goals, client profiles, lifestyle considerations or an exist plan when its time to get out. All of these considerations can weigh heavily on the size and scope needed to deliver the desired results.

Before you spend time investing in your business or become enslaved to its demands, you need to plan with the end result in mind. If you want to build a business that supports your ultimate revenue, profit, philanthropic and lifestyle goals, here are some things to consider:

• Is your growth being hampered by the number of hours in your day? If you have a growing business but can’t attend to all of it by yourself, get help hiring the right people to work for you. Expanding your business means finding people who can take on work that allows you to increase your revenue without working around the clock. Expanding your business by hiring help requires the blending of increased employee costs with anticipated revenue gains from more efforts applied to marketing your business.

• Is your infrastructure the right size for your current business and any potential growth over the next 18 months? If you’ve suffered declines over the last several years, you maybe paying for things you don’t need; i.e. warehouse space, office space, equipment, employee count, excess inventory, etc. Re-evaluate your needs to bring your costs in line with the business you have. The money you save can be used to market your business more effectively.

• What is your time worth? Are you spending enough time working on your business? Marketing and sales is the oxygen of all small businesses yet most owners spend less than 15% of their time actively marketing their business. How much time are you spending in these revenue producing activities?

• If you are trying to grow but are unable to expand or reduce operating costs, consider a joint venture. Partnering up with other businesses that provide ancillary services to your clients can allow you to improve the efficiency of what you do.

• You can also contract out excess work to reliable businesses that need the work. If your marketing engine is running at peek productivity, consider bringing in a few competitors that match your work standards for a percentage of the revenues collected.

All of the above solutions have advantages and drawbacks. The important thing to remember is, you must determine what size your business needs to be to produce the revenue and profit to support the lifestyle that you and your family want. It makes no sense to work endlessly on a business that is not big enough to provide the level of income you need to make the time worth it.

Sometimes, objectively evaluating your alternatives can be difficult. Lack of knowledge about how your options might play out or any built-in bias about what’s possible can skew the evaluation. If you want to grow and are open to various ways of getting there, ask for help from someone who specializes in business growth strategies that can help you make the right decisions and guide you through the building process.

Remember, building any business requires an investment in time, money or a combination of both. Don’t short-circuit your hard work by incorrectly sizing the business you need to support the outcome you want.

Are Your Networking Efforts Producing Results? These Seven Strategies Will Build a Solid Referral Business

2009-09-18T09:56:00.000-07:00

If you own a small business, networking should be a key component of your overall marketing strategy. Networking is the best way to build relationships with people in your community at a personal level. It’s the only way to convey who you are in real life; something that will earn a tremendous amount of trust, confidence and credibility if done properly.

Networking can be very intimidating for some business owners. It requires being able to walk into rooms full of people you don’t know and feel comfort approaching these folks with a welcoming smile and an engaging hand shake. It also takes time and some money to participate in the myriad of events, socials, grand-openings, workshops, presentations and lunches that are available each week to business owners who are already working long hours just to run the businesses they have.

Whether you are a networking maven, someone who doesn’t think it will generate business or someone who is terrified of the prospect of going to these functions, it’s important to recognize that marketing strategies have shifted from traditional media and relentless advertising to more social interaction. For the majority of businesses trying to create a brand or a market presence, social interaction is the fastest way to get the word out about ‘who’ you are and ‘what’ you do.

As a small business advisor, the most common complaint I hear about networking is the low payout for the time and money invested. Make no mistake, networking can be a time-consuming endeavor and if not approached with a plan, can be reduced to eating too much fatty food and having coffee with people you’ll never see again. So how do you make the most from your networking efforts?

If you’ve had hit-and-miss results with networking, here are some tips you can use to create a strategy to get greater results from your networking efforts:

1. Decide what you want from networking:
Expectations play a huge role in the results you get from working the room. Decide whether you are looking for customers or wanting to make connections with potential referral partners. Referral partners are business owners who focus on similar customer targets. If you are looking for customers, your conversation will be completely different than if you’re looking to connect with people you can work with at a later date.

2. Determine who your ideal customers are:
If you want to find people in the medical field, attending an event that focuses on IT businesses may not be the best use of your time. Some networking events will be more general in nature than others but all will have a particular demographic component that can determine whether or not you are likely to find the people you want. If your target market is small businesses, a financial expo attracting planner and advisors from large corporations looking for families may not be your best choice.

3. Don’t go by yourself:
If you are uncomfortable at the prospect of going to a large mixer or evening event alone, ask some one to attend with you. Going as a team of 2 to 4 people can be a lot of fun and very productive. For maximum results, each person should have a related business. This way, if they run into someone who is not a match for them, it might be a match for you. Team networking needs to have rules in order to work well. Decide how you are going to work the room, where you will sit, how many people you will meet and what times you will get together during and after the event to trade notes. The downside to this strategy is having all 4 people sit at the same table or stand in the same place throughout the event keeping each other company.

4. Take the initiative to meet people:
You can take control of the interaction by initiating the contact. The most effective way to meet someone is to extend a hand, have a smile on your face, give them your name and ask them something about the event: “have you been at this mixer before”?; “how did you find out about this event”? or “what kind of business are you in”? In my small business coaching practice, we have a saying; “if you want to be interesting, first be interested”. Most people love to be asked about themselves and while they are talking, you can be listening for what they want and determining if there is any potential in a lengthier conversation.

5. Know what you plan to say so you can qualify your contacts:
When it’s your turn to speak (either on a one-to-one basis or as an introduction in the form of a 30 second commercial), don’t blow the opportunity to make a great impression by babbling on incoherently. The key is to engage people with a short, clear, well focused introduction of you. Always lead with a problem that your customers have and then follow with the benefit you offer to solve their problem. As an example, a commercial cleaning company owner might say; “have you ever walked into a restroom in a business office and found the facility to be dirty? Well, I make sure that experience never happens to the customers of my clients”. If the response from the other person is “wow, tell me more”, you know you have a potential customer or referral partner. If the response is “oh, that’s nice”, you know you don’t so don’t waste too much time talking to them.

6. Don’t try to ‘close’ people right after you meet them:
The most annoying thing that goes on in networking events is people practicing their hard closing techniques on you. You know the type; they can’t wait to present their brochure to you and discuss payment options! Networking is all about making connections that you can build on. Instead of trying to sell them something on the first encounter, offer to send them something that they might find useful. In the spirit of giving before you get something, offer to introduce them to someone you met who might be a good contact for them. This usually gets great accolades from your contact and leaves them with a feeling of needing to repay you in kind. It’s also a great tactic to use if the person you are talking is someone you’d like to get away from.

7. The most important step is follow-up:
Lack of good timely follow-up is the single biggest reason why initial connections don’t go anywhere. If the person you meet looks like someone you should develop a relationship with, make the effort to follow up with them. Set a date for a personal meeting. Send them what you told them you would send them. Or just send them a ‘thank you’ card and ask them if you can stay in touch with them or if they can give you a referral.

If you want to experience the kind of small business growth that an effective networking strategy can provide, decide how you’re going to utilize your time to meet the people you want to meet. Don’t try to meet everyone in the room but do set a goal for a reasonable number of quality contacts that you can build on.

There are only 3 fundamental ways to build any business and referral marketing is the cheapest most sustainable way to increase clients and grow your revenues. The only thing you need to do is decide how you are going to network and then, just do it!

Do Your Customers See What You See?

2009-09-10T18:17:00.000-07:00

Every time I see an ad in a newspaper or on a flyer, I’m reminded of marketing at its most basic level: [What you do or have that’s unique + who the people are who want what you have = all the sales you can handle]. Now, explaining this concept is much easier than it is to implement. Still, there are things you can do to get a better understanding of whether or not you’re properly focused on the customers you want.

In today’s struggle to find the best way to grow and sustain businesses, many small business owners are having difficulty attracting customers and increasing their revenues. At the heart of this problem is the effectiveness of a business’ marketing message.

At its core, your marketing strategy should support a primary message that reveals who you are and what you do that’s unique to others in your business. This is how brands are built and sustained over time. If you are in business for yourself, you are the brand! Is your advertising message building the brand image you want and attracting the clients you want or is it conveying something entirely differently?

Here’s an easy way to find out if your advertising message is saying what you think its saying:

First, take a copy of an ad you use; an ad from the paper, a coupon, a flyer or something from your internet site. By the way, if any of these ad messages are saying fundamentally different things about who you are or what your primary focus is, this could be part of your problem. In this case, do this exercise with each ad.

Once you’ve decided on the ad copy to use, contact 5 people you know that do not know the specifics of what you do. They could be relatives, neighbors, former colleagues or people you know casually. Whoever they are, make sure they are the types who can provide straight-forward, candid assessments.

Give each a copy of your ad and ask them to tell you what they ‘think’ when they see it. Ask them to tell you what they understand to be the message in the ad. What do they like and what they do not like or not understand. Finally, ask them if they would contact your company based on the ad and what they would expect from doing business with you. If you really want to get some great feedback, ask a neighbor or casual acquaintance to do this for you with 5 of their contacts.

The feedback you are likely to receive will be eye-opening! If possible, try to get the responses in writing for future review. The purpose of this exercise is to get another person’s opinion about what your ad is saying. As a small business advisor, I see this problem continuously across a variety of business categories. As business owners, what we think is important to convey in our advertisement, may not be what encourages the consumer to do business with us.

Ultimately, what you want to determine is the message that other people are receiving by reading your ad. The most effective advertising conveys compelling benefits that the customer can expect by doing business with the business in the ad. If your ad is loaded with ‘features’ (what you do) this approach will not be enough to encourage a decision to do business with you over any other choices the consumer has.

Information like this can be difficult to look at. After all, your business is your passion, your baby, your life! Accepting criticism from people who may not understand what you do or how you do it is tough on the pride. If you want to build a sustainable, profitable business, put the pride aside and learn from these insights. You may not need a marketing overhaul, just some fine-tuning to better focus the message you need to put out there.

Not everyone sees things the same. Advertising is especially susceptible to the effects of ‘rose-colored’ eyewear by the business owner. It’s not about what you see, but what your potential customers see when they look at you.

The Power of Three Little Words

2009-09-04T10:27:00.000-07:00

The barrier between success and everything else lies with being able to take action. Our minds have an uncanny ability to shield us from doing things we should be doing if the activity in question has not been tried before or has previously ended in disappointment. Call it fear, call it a lack of confidence or chalk it up to simply not knowing what to do; a lack of focused action will only produce a continued feeling of disappointment with the results.

One of the most recognizable brand names on the planet has a simple tag line that sums the need for action. Nike, maker of athletic footwear, apparel and other sports accessories follows every advertisement with ‘Just Do It’. There’s no simpler way to convey a call to act. Until you decide to do what needs to be done, all you can expect is what you were getting by doing nothing.

So why is it so difficult for many people to take action? For some, the inability to act is preceded by an inability to decide to act. Some forms of inaction are rooted in the inability to make clear, sound decisions about what you really want to do. By making no decision, you are deciding to do nothing which has the same net effect.

Whether you are an athlete, someone who needs to get in shape, wants to learn an instrument or runs a small business, here are some common reasons that contributes to lack of action.

Past history: If your past experience has produced unfavorable results or even disastrous outcomes, your ability to engage similar actions will be short-circuited by your subconscious’ desire to protect you from the same outcome. Without a new approach and the support to stay the course, the desire to do it again is too much for many people to endure. If you’ve repeatedly failed at losing weight on your own, you may be tempted to try one of several weight loss systems that control what you eat and have the support systems in place to help you keep it off. This approach works for people who need the guidance until they are confident enough to continue on their own.

Lack of focus about what you want: It’s not enough to admit you need to do something or want to accomplish something if you are not clear about what the results will look like. This can lead to many possible courses of action to choose from without a clear way of deciding which course to take. Not being confident in your decision will only delay the decision to take action at all. This is like trying to decide from a myriad of financial instruments to invest in but having no clear financial goals or strategies. Rather than just choosing and investing, the process of investigating, analyzing and contemplating will and can go on for ever. More choices can actually prevent a discussion from being made entirely.

Not knowing how to do it: Let’s say you’re a small business owner and you want to create a social media marketing strategy. You’re a pretty sharp individual and have picked up new concepts and learned things quickly in the past. So you begin brushing up on the elements of social media; the terms, the sites and the road-rules for making your plan effective. At some point, you become aware that this social media marketing thing is way too complicated and time consuming for your likes. Do you push on, learn as you go and make the usual mistakes until you finally figure it out or do you get help to implement your plan? Many people will simply shelve the project if the benefits of doing it yourself are outweighed by the frustration of feeling that you can’t really do it on your own.

Nike’s slogan- Just Do It, is less about buying and wearing a pair of athletic shoes and more about engaging in an activity you like or have wanted to try. The engagement part comes from having a goal and a clear outcome of what you want; better physic, weight loss, learning a new language or successfully marketing your business.

So before you get into that never ending loop of whether or not you can do it, decide what you want and why it’s important. Then determine if getting help is the best most effective way to realize your goal. If you have to invest in the right kind of help from a professional who can guide you along your journey, make your decision based on the benefits of what you’ll get by taking action! There’s nothing more satisfying than achieving something you never thought you could do. If the goal is to grow your business, don’t wait until you’re out of resources and ready to through in the towel, get the help you need and enjoy the business you have always dreamed of having.

In other words- just do it!

It’s All About The Journey!

2009-08-19T09:37:00.000-07:00

Every time I take a break from running my business, I’m reminded of the incredible benefits I’ve received from experiencing the triumphs and setbacks of building my business. Like many business owners, I’m continuously thinking about the ultimate goal of my business when, in fact, the real growth comes from the journey itself.

Recently, my wife and I embarked on our annual vacation- a road trip. We started doing trips on our motorcycle because traveling this way can be very economical while experiencing more of the journey as opposed to the end destination. This year, we decided to see as much of the outlying areas of California as we could in a week.

So, several months ago, we began the planning process: when would we leave; which route would we take; what would we visit and where would we lodge for the night. We also considered what we could carry and what we would need in case of unforeseen situations. If you’ve ever traveled via motorcycle, you know that the only thing worse than getting rained on, is running out of gas! We made sure our itinerary and provisions prevented these 2 things from derailing our adventure.

The trip was perfect! From LA, we went through the Mohave Desert, up to Lake Tahoe and made a brief pit-stop in Reno. From Reno, we headed west across California to Napa Valley, down to Santa Cruz and over to the coast. Since we didn’t stay or drive through any major cities, we enjoyed a continuous flow of the state’s natural landscapes and small communities along the way. It gave us both a sense of how others experience life in a state where geography and economics can border on the extremes.

Riding a motorcycle for 8 or 9 hours a day gives you a lot of time to think. If your trip is well planned and you prepare for every circumstance, all you have left to do is enjoy the ride. And this ride was all about the journey. We had only ‘stops’ to make throughout our time on the road; no destinations. As I was navigating the long straight-aways of the Mohave Desert and the twists and turns of the pacific coast highway around Big Sur, I started to think about how similar this experience was to running a small business.

As a small business owner, you tend to start your business because you have something you want to pursue. Something that evokes the desire to achieve; something you feel is the direction you must take on your journey to entrepreneurial success. These early musings may last for several years or be the product of a disruption in your current life that propels you to take action.

Once you begin your journey, you will undoubtedly face opportunities as well as challenges. Being prepared for both can insure you sustain the confidence and commitment to stay on course. There will be times when the journey itself is so difficult, that it will be hard to keep the original purpose of your trip in mind. It’s at this very point where growth, awareness and breakthroughs can happen. As the owner of a small business coaching company, I was struck by the uncanny similarities that small business growth has with being on the road.

If you are planning a new business or career change that will launch you on a new journey, here are some areas I recommend as a small business advisor to my current clients:

1. Clearly define the reason for your journey. Journeys (business, career, life) can be initiated for many reasons but the ones that have purpose or defined meanings are the ones that will most likely be successful. The purpose of our trip was not simply to vacation cheaply but to experience the rural and wilderness aspects of California. The purpose of your business should be something more significant than just making money.

2. Map out your route. Know where you plan to go, how you expect to get there and what you’ll need along the way. In business, preparing your start with enough financial support is critical. Understanding your strengths and weaknesses is also necessary. Developing milestones that will help measure your progress is critical to realizing growth and progression along the way.

3. Anticipate obstacles. Our first trip ending abruptly when we encountered mechanical problems and had to be towed to a strange town for repairs. Had we obtained the proper road assistance plan in advance, we would have saved a tremendous amount of time and money getting home. ‘Things’ happen. Be prepared by understanding what could go wrong and have solutions to overcome them quickly and efficiently if they do.

4. Schedule stops. Riding a motorcycle 400 miles each day requires stopping to rest and re-energize. Running a business requires the same. A journey of 18 hour days is sure to end in disappointment. Take the time to review where you are and evaluate how the journey is going so your energy and awareness remain sharp.

5. Make the most out of your ride. Enjoy each phase of your business and learn from the victories as well as the set backs. Take the time to recognize the people who have helped you and devote some of your own expertise to those who could benefit from it.

If these areas of focus seem a little out of reach or unrealistic, it may be time to seek out a professional business coaching program. There’s no better place to put your resources than towards an investment in yourself.

The best part of a well planned journey is the feeling of certainty that you will reach your goal. If you have a business, its knowing that at some point, the things you want from your business will be realized. Having the confidence that you can and will be successful makes the journey that much more enriching and rewarding. And when it’s over, you’ll never have to say “I wish….”

Gardening Tips May Not Make The Best Business Growth Practices!

2009-07-25T15:26:00.000-07:00

Last week, I met with a small business owner who had recently become a client. After the first couple of professional business coaching sessions conducted at his favorite coffee shop, I decided to take him up on his offer to have our next meeting at his office.

On the day of our business coaching program, I arrived at his place of business and as I approached the entrance, I noticed a noble attempt at landscaping the front walkway with an assortment of shrubs, rose bushes and other drought resistant ground cover.

As I stopped to admire his plant choices, I noticed that much of them were near death and the rose bushes had been over-pruned in an attempt to keep them from dying as well. Nearby, the cracks in the sidewalks were thriving with nicely colored, fully bloomed weeds! It seemed that despite his desire to beautify his front walk, horticulture was not his area of expertise. While he had obviously spent a lot time mulching, pruning and fertilizing his garden with disheartening results, the weeds were doing just fine with little or no attention.

Is you business like your landscaping? Do you spend lots of time, money and effort trying, unsuccessfully to grow your revenues, clients and profits? And despite your results, do you find yourself repeating the same process hoping for a ‘bumper crop’ on the next go-round! This kind of trial and error approach can waste precious time and resources while making you feel that you’ll never get it right, no matter what you do.

Business growth can be difficult if you don’t know the right approach to take. It’s like trying to replicate those huge, beautiful hanging baskets in the malls by filling a pot with a few drugstore plants and watering them when you think to do it. Knowing what plants grow well together and selecting the amount of light, fertilizer and water all need to be considered if you expect your efforts to produce the kind of results that you would be truly proud of.

Cultivating growth in your business requires the same degree of understanding about the elements that produce growth. Award winning gardens continually change as plants finish blooming, need to be pruned or replaces as the seasons dictate. The goal of the landscaper is to work with the conditions around him/her to allow the plants to do what they do best. As a business owner, knowing what you do best and what conditions surround your business are the fundamentals of deciding what approach to take to grow the business you have.

If you are serious about producing professional landscaping but don’t have the expertise, you could learn from someone who does. If time or interest in learning is the issue, you could hire someone to work the garden for you. As a business owner, you have the same choices. If your goal is to have a world-class business that produces growth and provides you, your family and your employees with the financial support or lifestyle you want, consider working with a small business coach or small business advisor to help you accomplish what you can’t do on your own. Don’t continue to till the same ground and use the same feeding and watering techniques that have produced the same poor results. Learn how to do it from a professional or get help from someone who has produced what you want over and over again.

The best part about creating beautiful landscaping is knowing what the garden will look like once you’ve done all the right things. Wouldn’t it be great to know that the business you created could turn out the same way!

Time is a Valuable Resource. Are You Making the Most of Yours?

2009-07-15T17:02:00.000-07:00

What’s the fastest, cheapest way to increase your revenue? Spend more time doing things that produce it. Let me explain.

As a small business owner, you have awesome responsibilities! You are tasked with doing everything your business requires unless you choose to hand over some of this responsibility to someone else- an employee, a contracted service, etc. So if you can’t do everything, you need to get others to take up the slack.

Ah... I know; you’re not in a position to hire help so you are stuck doing it yourself. Here’s the problem. The most important this you can be doing that is getting completely overlooked? - marketing your business.

The only activity that generates revenue is marketing. Yes, ‘sales’ is included in your marketing activity and plays the part of implementation. Marketing is the life blood of all small businesses. Yet, the majority of small business owners spend less than 15% of their week engaged in marketing what they sell.

Before you can determine how much time you spend marketing your business, it will help to understand what constitutes marketing. Marketing is the message you create and the channels you select to attract your intended customer. Marketing is something you do outside your business with your existing customers and people who have yet to try you. Marketing creates revenue streams that you have yet to fulfill with your product or service. Marketing is what you need to insure a steady flow of revenue, operating cash and ultimately profits.

There are only 3 ways to generate revenue. You can increase the frequency of transactions with repeat customers; you can increase the value of your average transaction or you can increase the number of customers you have. Any combination of these strategies will produce revenue growth if you spend enough time working your marketing plan. A professional small business advisor can help you figure this out for your respect business.

Finding more time to market your business requires knowing what you spend your time doing now. If you keep a schedule, use the last 6 months to evaluate what you spent your time doing. If you don’t have good records, consider keeping a journal of all your activities for a 30 day period. What you’re trying to do is determine the percentage of time you spend in various activity categories. While recording a 30 day cycle is faster but can overlook longer cycle activities, 6 months will catch most everything you’ve doing. This is a standard evaluation practice for most business plan advisors.

Now create categories to group your activities. Things like customer service, operations, admin (bills, payroll, reports, etc), vendor communications, networking, planning, etc. should all be included. Create as many main activity categories as you participate in. Then add up the hours for each category and divide these totals by the total amount of hours you spend running your business. You will have calculated a (%) of time you spend in each category. Now look for categories that focus on marketing!

Since marketing creates revenue, more time spent marketing leads to more revenue, assuming what you are doing is effective. Increasing the time you spend marketing your business can have a multiplier effect on your growth. For this reason, you need to devote as much time as you can schedule, marketing your business if you want to grow your business. If you need help developing a better time management system, consider getting a small business advisor who specializes in marketing strategy to assist you. If your problem is doing what you know you should be doing, get a small business coach to keep you on track.

Growing a business takes a great deal of time, money or some combination of both. If you use your time wisely and get the help you need to stay on course, your chance of growing while others around you fall by the wayside will be greatly enhanced. In the short run, you will see faster results by reallocating your time to do marketing activities that work for your business. You will even spend less money by using a small business coach to assist you than if you continued buying media time or other expensive advertising vehicles that were not delivering results.

What you do and how much time you spend doing it is the key to growing your business.

The Big Yellow Banner

2009-07-10T14:49:00.000-07:00

As I was returning to my office from one of my regular networking events, I passed a shopping center that caught my eye. I had passed this center many times without ever noticing anything or going into it but this morning it was screaming with activity. So, I pulled in and drove to the source of the activity where I found people waiting in a line outside a novelty store.

Fascinated by the amount of people inside the store and waiting outside, I parked and walked over. Now, this was not a store I would ever think to visit. Most of the merchandise was curios, candles, seasonal decorations, cards and other nik-naks that people give as gifts to relatives they really don’t know that well. But today, this place could have been selling limited addition copies of Michael Jackson’s music! On a huge yellow vinyl banner across the store over head was the words 'Going Out Of Business- Everything Must Go’.

As the line moved inside the store I slipped in and asked the woman at the desk if the owner was around. She pointed to an elderly man standing to the side watching the madness unfold. By the time I arrived, there had been considerable damage done to the shelves throughout the store (most were empty). I went over and asked the owner why he was going out of business and he said, sales were down and they couldn’t keep the store open any longer. I asked him how long this problem had existed and he said with a sigh, “we’ve been having trouble for years and with the economy, it was time to quit”.

I asked the owner what he thought of the activity in his store and he shook his head and said, “I can’t believe we’ve sold this much. We did not reduce anything higher than 40% and people are buying everything”. I asked him what kind of advertising he had done previously and he said, “nothing- we figured that people knew where we were so they’d come visit us. I’ve been doing business this way for 22 years!”

Why is it that some business owners wait until they’re going out of business before getting serious about marketing what they have to sell. The marketplace and the consumer act very different today. Things that worked last year aren’t working now much less 20 years ago. Small business growth is not something that happens. It’s something you have to work at.

If you’re facing closure or are thinking about this because everything you’ve tried isn’t working, get help from a small business advisor or business coach specializing in growth. Sales and marketing is the life’s blood of your business and having a strategy that focuses on your ideal client is the only way to grow, regardless of the economy we’re in.

Don’t wait until it’s too late to hang that big yellow banner!

What Makes Business Owners Abandon Their Dreams?

2009-07-01T14:08:00.000-07:00

For those of us who have chosen to have our own businesses, the reasons for doing so are probably varied. The decision could have been initiated by the desire to call your own shots, have control over your own destiny or simply have time to do the things that a conventional job would not allow. Regardless of the reason, it was clear that owning your own business was preferable to working for someone else.

Today, more than any time in recent history, thousands of people are starting their own businesses. It’s no coincidence that corporate American is laying off or eliminating positions in record numbers as well. So the need (desired or by necessity) to venture out and do your own thing is on an upswing right now.

What’s also on an upswing is the number of existing small business owners that would trade their businesses for a job that pays better. A recent study released by Discover Small Business Watch (as published in the Orange County Register- June 29, 2009) sites a disturbing trend. Some 36% of small business owners would close their companies if they could find a better paying job working for someone else. This percentage is up from 30% last year. Clearly, the challenge of growing a business today is taking its toll on the minds and bank accounts of small business owners everywhere.

How could an entrepreneur, filled with a passion for making it on his/her own terms and a vision of doing something meaningful, come to the point of scrapping their dream in favor of a regular job? The answer may lie in the mindset of the owner and their feeling of not being able to achieve what they thought was possible so many years ago.

The economic environment is making it tough on all small businesses to grow or even just stay afloat. Still, there are businesses in every category that are doing well. Why do some small business owners do well in turbulent times while others seem to falter or close all together? The economy is not responsible for any single business succeeding or failing. It simply writes the rules for how we all must operate to achieve a successful outcome.

Having a successful business mindset requires being very clear about your vision. What exactly are you in business for. ‘Making money’ is too general to enable you to stay focused on the particular path you took. Why did you decide on (this) business and what do you expect from it once success is achieved.

From there, understanding what makes you unique and why your customers decided to do business with you is the next area of examination. Without a completely clear understanding of these areas, any marketing strategy will produce random results at best. And if you think repeating last year’s program will suffice, forget it! The market has changed way too much for that.

The biggest single threat to a successful business mindset is 'not knowing' what to do or how to implement it. Thoughts of uncertainty about your plan or your ability to execute will only increase feelings of frustration, overwhelm and eventually the desire to give up.

The best way to combat this cycle of self-limiting thought is to get help. Whether you decide to elicit the input of a trusted small business advisor or a professional small business coach, having an objective viewpoint to keep you on the right track will do wonders for your focus and your commitment to building the business you want.

Deciding to get help is a personal choice and should be considered carefully. The type of business you have as well as the severity of your situation will determine what type of help you need. Here are a few things to consider before hiring a small business coach or advisor:

1. What is their area of expertise? Are they geared towards organizational, financial, marketing or HR improvements? It makes no sense having someone who specializes in employee training if the problem is revenue and customer growth.

2. Do they provide a tested system that will introduce new learning and tactics to resolve the problems you face? Are you getting help that will translate in to a predictable outcome or are you testing someone else’s theory.

3. Do they have resources beyond their own experience that can add addition support to your efforts? Knowing that your coach or advisor has resources that he/she can draw on (and you as well) when needed, allows you to have access to many experts as opposed to just one individual.

4. Is their involvement (coaching or advising) designed to get maximum results for you and your particular business? Can their approach be customized or scheduled in such a fashion that works for you or are you stepping into a ‘machine’ that only works one way regardless of who it’s working on?

5. Are you comfortable with the relationship you’re about to step into? Regardless of the expertise or industry discipline, it all comes down to the relationship. Trust and integrity must exist before you put your business’s future in the hands of someone in this role.

Running a business is not for the faint of heart and takes real commitment to reach short and long term success. If your dream business was good enough for you to put your money, time and emotional energy into, it should be good enough to save when the water gets rough. Before you decide to ‘bag it’ for a paycheck with someone else, invest in yourself- get help to learn what you don’t know and implement what you’ve not done. You might be surprised at how fast the results come and the vision returns.

'LifeShift' Gives Way to Dream Business

2009-06-25T15:55:00.001-07:00

At a recent point in my corporate sales and marketing career, I realized that my real talents were being wasted. The companies I had worked for were all top-notch in their respective industries and had provided me with incredible experiences to develop and grow as a business professional. But, somewhere along the way the landscape had started to shift.

Trying to maintain a high level position in today's corporate environment is like spending your entire career in California. The landscape goes through many minimal shifts (like earthquakes at the low end of the richter scale) and some of them are so slight, you don't even take note of them. These shifts are characterized by people coming and going, departments reorganizing or new products be launched. Once a new direction takes hold, the scenery changes permanently.

Like California (if you live here), most of these nominal land movements are so routine that people rarely change what they're doing once the shaking is over. We all joke about the 'Big One', but a land shift of that magnitutde is always something that never seems to happen. And so it goes for working for a big company. You wonder if the 'Big One' will ever impact you but then you go back to doing whatever mindless task got your brain thinking about such stuff!

Well, the 'Big One' got me last year. But instead of a 'landshift' it terned out to be a 'lifeshift'. I survived the jolt and was determined to get back in the game as quickly as possible. Then I started to think about the game 'I' wanted to play in. Unlike the devoted folks who lose their homes to Florida hurricanes every 5-10 years and just go back and build again in the same spot, I decided to take inventory of my talents and interests and go looking for something that would get me 'jazzed up' every day.

Once I realized that my coaching and problem solving abilities were responsible for much of the success I had enjoyed over my 20+ career, I began looking for a business that had the resources and support to match my skills and knowledge. That's when I ran into OneCoach- literally! Talk about the universe providing your opportunities for you, I was knee deep in evaluations of half a dozen business opportunites when I received 2 leads from 2 entirely different sources on the same day suggesting I contact OneCoach. At this time in my life, karma was not a term I could spell much less use to my advantage. Still, the universe lead me to a small, energetic, on-the-move company founded by a guy named John Assaraf who had already reached mega wealth status using the techniques I would soon be using myself.

So now I have my dream- a small business coaching and consulting company in the heart of Orange County, CA. Nothing could have been a better fit or serve to launch my desire to help business owners figure out how to grow what they've put so much time and resources into creating. I think of it as one dream supporting another dream.

I plan to offer as much of what I know and have participated in so that others can benefit from my experienced- good as well as bad. So stay tuned....