Charting Success

Business couldn't be better - and I'm feeling great!

Now my guess is you clicked on this phrase either because this really is a true statement of your current position or because you're thinking "I wish this actually was a true statement of my current position"! Either way is fine - we all know that whatever your position, it can and will change. But let's think of it this way - the difference between a good and a bad poker player dealt the same cards, is the way they play their cards. Whatever the metaphorical cards you currently hold, it's how you choose to play them that matters. In general business terms there are only three things that affect your revenue growth: Increasing the number of customers Increasing the average value of each order the customer places with you Increasing the frequency or number of times the customer buys from you in a given period. Everything else falls into one of those categories. But let's be honest; you knew that didn't you? Imagine a business whose initial number of customers for a given period is 100, the average spend by each customer is 100 and where each customer purchases on two occasions within the period. So the turnover for the period is 20,000, right? Okay, so if you're still with me - assume that our imaginary business has fixed overheads that amount to 10,000 and variable overheads that average 5,000 per period. The profit in this case is 5,000. (turnover minus overheads) Now here's the good bit - if you increase the three key elements by only 10% and maintain the fixed overheads at roughly the same level what would you expect the profit increase to be? Well, I know you can work it out for yourself, but to save you some time it's a massive 99.3% gain, for a 33% gain in turnover! So let's just apply this to you -running your business. We would argue there are three parameters that relate to your contribution to the business... You're the key visionary- you can see the big picture, the ideas, the passion. You're the manager - you've got everything under control, your staff, your finances and operations You're the producer - nothing happens unless you deliver something. Service or product - you're the person to produce it Like the scenario above, everything else drops into place around these key areas of contribution. Now I know that many of you will say, "but I do all three", but that's precisely our point. Examine those entrepreneurs who are really successful and you'll see two things: they focus on their own strength, and they surround themselves with other people in the other key areas. If you want to grow your business, modest improvements in each of the key areas will bring proportionately larger returns for you and the business as a whole. What's your plan in this area?

Jump start your journey

The need to succeed is in all our genes; we thrive on success; success brings happiness; but what is sucess? What is your success? Our journey takes you through a maze of ideas; a picture of inspiration; a sound track on the real world, and helps you grasp success and what it means to you - YOUR SUCCESS! This is a brief introduction to how we work with our clients and is deliberately shortened to make the best use of your time. Take a sheet of paper and jot down the top ten aspects of your life that mean success to you. Don't spend a huge amount of time on this at the moment; just put down the key areas that spring into your mind. Whatever you come up with; this is your view, your perspective on success. Now perform the same again for your business - write down the top ten aspects of your business life that mean success to you. This is your starting point, so take a few moments to review your lists and maybe compare them. Are there areas that are strongly reflected in your business and life success factors? Are there aspects that strongly contradict each other? Think for a while; what questions does this raise in your mind, how much synergy is there between your personal success factors and your business success factors? Okay; so hopefully we've got you thinking. Now put the pen down and then let's look at the list of business success factors.. How many of these are you realising today? Let's be honest now, are these aspects really pushing the curve? Are these really the key factors you would want your loved ones and peers to associate with you? Anyway, don't worry if less than five aspects of your business life are being realised today - that still puts you in the top proportion of business owners in this country! To jump start your journey you need to do the following: Visualise what life would be like if you were fully realising the top ten aspects of your success. Go on do it now; really associate with this scenario. You're there now; how does it feel; what can you see and hear? Believe it or not, the more you associate with this state, the more likely it is that you will achieve your desires. Trust us - it works! Now let's take your list of ten business success factors and think for a while - in general terms, what will it take to get all ten of them fully realised? Back to the pen and paper - now visualise the scenario when everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. Experience the lack of success. Now with this scenario in mind, jot down the key aspects determined by the phrase - "It would have been successful, if only I'd..." Get the idea? Finally, re-stablish your visualisation of success - and with this firmly in mind, write down the key aspects determined by the phrase - "It was successful because I..." By now you will have built two lists -take a look at each of them. What do they tell you? How do they compare? How can you use them to help you realise your top ten success factors?

New year is fast approaching!

So what’s it going to be?  Time to raise your glass, or a time to raise your spirits?

How’s business been this year? If I had to guess; for some it’s been great, for others it’s been sort of okay and for a few, disastrous (not that I’m sitting on the fence you understand!) Well, guess what, here comes another one – 2006 is fast approaching so here are some little healthy bites to nibble on that will help make it a storming year for you and your business!

BE BOLD – Challenge and question your comfort zone. Take real action to try new ideas; think the impossible; follow the road of inspiration and perspiration not that of hesitation!

You are an entrepreneur – Remember, you are men and women of action, speed, experimentation, real-world feedback, building bridges to the future and castles in the air. Get out in front and stay there!

Execution is everything – Focus your time, people and resources on the core activities. Surround yourself with people that can get the job done!

Personal accountability – Don’t break agreements with yourself. Hold yourself accountable for your commitments.

Look back – Your past year is history but it provides rich insights, feedback and learning experiences. Use them as a platform to design a brighter, bolder, sounder future!

Remember the basics – Three key areas that can make a substantial difference to your business – the number of customers; the amount each customer spends with you in each transaction; the number of times they buy from you over the year. Increase each of those factors by 10% and you could see a substantial increase in your net profit. Go on, sit and work it out – you will be surprised!

Revisit why you are in this game – Remember how you got into running your own business, or why you were thinking of going it alone? Whatever the initial motivations, make sure you haven’t lost the passion, the drive to want to spring out of bed every morning. Get a clear vision of what you are striving for. A clear sense of purpose really makes a difference to the level of success you will achieve.

Listen, Listen, Listen – Even if you only take one thing away from this, make sure it’s this one!  Listen to your customers, staff, competitors and family. Get the message? Human beings (and I’m assuming that you fit into that category!) are largely hopeless at listening – choosing to spot the opportunity to speak rather than really grasping the other person’s perspective. I hear so many business owners telling me they have been in business for 20 years, and now the market has changed suddenly and they don’t know what to do. Guess what; they stopped listening a long time ago. Don’t end up like them. Master the skill of listening and you will be better appreciated by those around you and you will end up with a more profitable, respected and valuable business. When you put this article down, spend a couple of minutes asking yourself  “how well do I listen?”

Celebrate – Often! Make sure you celebrate your successes daily, not just at New Year. Don’t forget your team – people need support, encouragement, and praise. Are you doing enough for them and yourself? Adopting a genuine support for those around you will pay dividends (literally).

Have a successful new year!

Cooking the books!

Why ‘cooking the books’ really is the right approach for your business!

Okay, so now I have your attention, read on for a recipe for ‘cooking the books’ that I guarantee will make your business more successful!

You can read as many books, listen to as many audio tracks and watch as much multi-media as you like, but unless you act on the information you digest, nothing much will happen.

Now this sounds obvious but given that the ‘How-To, Self-Help, Make-Your-Fortune etc’ industry is worth multiple billions world-wide, why is it that so few people make the progress they expect?  Is the industry producing low quality material, or is it because many people like the initial motivation they get from a book but then carry on as before? Maybe they are looking for that magic pill.

Cast your mind back to those illustrious school years and think how much information you absorbed – now think how much you remember today. Hmmm… get the idea?

So what’s this got to do with cooking the books?

All this information you are consuming… well think of it like the ingredients in a recipe. Mix it all together in the right amounts; cook-it at the right temperature for the correct amount of time; dress it, serve it… now you have the makings of a great result.

The information that you read in books needs to be mixed, cooked and served in the optimum way for you to get the result you’re looking for. Get any aspect wrong and you could end up with a disaster.

So here is my recipe for taking the huge amounts of information available and producing a great result!

q     If you see a particular point of interest when reading, dwell on it and consider the implications for you or your business, before moving on.

q     Keep a notebook to hand and write down this consideration in a way that means something to you.

q     Put aside an hour of your time and take all your considerations and ideas and turn them into an action plan. A real action plan with objectives, dates and expected outcomes.

q     Find a way to hold yourself accountable. Maybe you can do this quite easily yourself; if not, find a friend, spouse, colleague, mentor, business coach etc to help you. If you want to achieve something with this information, you need to know that you will actually do what you say you are going to do.

q     Practice with your new found skill, knowledge or approach. Don’t be surprised if, when you try something new, that your old way seemed better. It’s really quite common, when you are developing a new skill or technique, for your performance to drop off before it gets better. Persist!

q     Revisit the book after a reasonable time and measure the results. See which aspects worked for you and which didn’t.

q     Write a review of the book – not about the book, but which aspects of the content made a difference to you when you applied them. Send it to the author; they will nearly always welcome the feedback (even if it isn’t good)

q     Sit back and enjoy the fact that you invested a modest amount of money and really did benefit from it.

q     Recognise that 90% of the above requires you to take action with the information available as opposed to just reading the book!

Certain Death

Certain death for your business? It’s all in the execution!

Despite all the help, support, experience and market opportunities that are available, far too many new businesses still die a slow and painful or quick, yet just as fatal, death.

So why is it, with so many great ideas and opportunities, that we still can’t get it quite right?

Whether you have just started your business, or you have been developing it steadily for a while, here’s the golden nugget – it’s all in the execution!

Having a great idea, a well thought through strategy, a fantastic plan or knowing what to do just isn’t enough; you have to take effective action. Here are a few tips to help you execute well and achieve more:-

1.      Start every day with a ‘to-do’ list and end every day with a ‘have-done’ list.

2.      Make sure your ‘have-done’ list reflects those core aspects of your business that make it successful. Tidying the office and buying a new hole-punch don’t count!

3.      Take decisions with the best information you have available. If you can’t make an immediate decision, at least establish a firm date/time when you will make a decision. You can wait forever for just one more piece of information, but by then the opportunity may well have passed you by.

4.      Get yourself an external ‘conscience’ like a coach or mentor. It’s all too easy to tell yourself “I’ll get around to that”and then not do it. With an external ‘conscience’ or ‘sounding board’ you will have that nagging voice who will hold you accountable for the things you have said you will do.

5.      Listen to your colleagues and partners. It’s your business, and your decision, but always invite other peoples’ advice and ideas. It quite often means the difference between a poor execution and a very successful one.

6.      Always meet your deadlines; don’t allow things to slip.

7.      Expect the un-expected. Whatever plans you set-out you can assume that something will hit you that wasn’t expected. Focus on the execution and deal decisively with any challenges thrown your way.

8.      Focus your efforts. Use laser precision with all your effort, resources, people and funds. Well focused effort produces more definitive results and higher levels of efficiency. Time is one thing you cannot afford to waste.

9.      Overcome resistance to change. Whether it is your’s or others’, resistance to change is one of the biggest hurdles to effective execution. You may hold the majority of shares or own the business outright, but you will always need the support of others – make sure you bring people willingly along with you.

10.  Do what you do best and find others to do the rest

11.  Make sure everyone knows who is doing what, what is expected and when it is expected, without exception.

12.  Pay attention to the details.