Canada Archives - Greg Weatherdon

SBM #113 Two Kinds of Entrepreneurs

Tagged as: bad, Canada, care, entrepreneur, good, small business expert, Small Business Minute, trust, untrustworthy

Unfortunately, not all entrepreneurs have the same motivations. There are those that really care about what they do and how they do it – the good, and there are those that just want your money – the bad. Fortunately, there are more of the former than the latter.

We often hear complaints on how consumers have been taken advantage of by a less than professional business, but these issue are equally as prevalent in the B to B environments.

Let’s look at both and hopefully provide some clues to who you are dealing with.

The Bad

The bad entrepreneurs are the ones who are only in it for their own gain. They don’t care about the customer. They just want to make a quick buck and move on. These types of entrepreneurs have no regard for quality or customer service. They may be selling products that aren’t up to standard, or services that don’t deliver what was promised.

They may also be trying to take advantage of customers by charging too much – often relying on business owners lack of knowledge of the market rates for these services.

These types of entrepreneurs will often be quick to promise results, but slow to deliver them. They may also try to push you into a deal before you have had time to think it through properly by pressuring you into signing contracts that are not in your best interest.

The Good

On the other hand, there are good entrepreneurs who genuinely care about their customers and what they do. These are the people who take pride in their work and strive to deliver the best quality they can produce.

Often, they’ll walk away from a sale when they know they can’t deliver on the customers expectations. Let’s be honest, that one of the hardest things to do, but more often than not it is the best decision for both parties.

The good entrepreneurs also understand the importance of customer service. They will go out of their way to ensure that customers are satisfied with their product or service, and they’ll be willing to put in extra effort if something isn’t quite right.

These types of entrepreneurs will also be more transparent about pricing and when questioned, willingly explain their costs. They may or may not negotiate, but you’ll know why. Their goal is not just to make money but rather build long-term relationships with their customers, which usually begins with trust. If earned this trust will result in repeat business and repeat business is far more profitable, than one off sales.

How to Spot the Difference

It’s not always easy to tell the difference between good and bad entrepreneurs, especially when you’re dealing with someone for the first time. Here are a few tips that can help:

Research their background

Ask around in your network if they have any experience of working with them. This will give you an indication of how reliable they are and what kind of service you can expect from them. But be careful where you source referrals.

Too often entrepreneurs take the lazy way out and post on social media that they are looking a referrals for a specific supplier such as a graphic designer or and accountant. Rarely does this solve their problem as they end up getting dozens upon dozens of referrals from their connections all stating that theirs is the best, without any context. This does nothing to solve the issue and is not much better than a Google search.

Instead, contact a few key trusted associates and ask them if they can provide a referral to the service you’re looking for. That way you can have a more in-depth conversation about why they recommend them.

Look at online reviews

Carefully read them. A telling sign of an entrepreneur’s commitment to customer service is how or if they respond to reviews, but especially negative ones. An entrepreneur that ignores any review they get should be suspect.

Let’s not forget that there are always two sides to an issue and that the customer is not always right. If a negative review is responded to by an entrepreneur in a professional matter that clearly lays out their side of the issue, they are probably worth a considering. Ensure you check for tone and sincerity of their response. Righteous indignation might be a indicator that they are difficult to work with.

However, a high percentage of negative reviews without a response from the owner, should get a pass. Likewise, nothing but 5 star reviews should also be looked at with a jaundiced eye. Lack of performance details or specifics might be a sign there could be a disproportionate number of fake or paid reviews.

Ask questions

Once you’ve identified potential candidates, ask a lot of questions. The best suppliers tend to answer most questions before they are even asked and not just the positive attributes, but also the negative ones.

This type of honesty is the exception yet should be the norm. However, it can serve as a good indicator of the depth of their experience. Because of this experience, they know what concerns their clients have and go out of their way to allay those issues with specific examples.

Knowledge

Listen to what they say about their industry. Their discussion should include letting you know about the trends within their industry and whether they are in tune. Whether they agree or disagree with the changes is secondary to the fact that they are aware of what’s going on. But they should explain their position.

Set expectations

This applies to both parties. Understanding what both parties expect will avoid future problems. Most of the time this revolves around timelines for deliverables and the the potential consequences of missing these dates. This will give you a better understanding of what they can offer and how they work.

Get a quote

Ask for an estimate or quote on the service or product you are interested in. A good provider should be able to provide this quickly. If not, then it might be a sign that they’re not as professional as they claim to be. This may also indicate that they have limited experience with the type of work you are requesting and are unsure of how to price the service.

Check their terms and conditions

This sounds like a no brainer, but make sure you read all the small print before you sign any contracts or agreements. Question anything you don’t understand and ensure you get a straight answer. This will help to ensure that you are getting the best deal possible and that there are no hidden fees or costs.

Take your time

Don’t rush into a decision. Take your time to consider all of the options before making a final choice.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it’s important to do some research before committing to working with an entrepreneur as not all entrepreneurs have the same motivations and goals in mind when working with customers. The good entrepreneurs care about their customers and strive to provide the best quality service or product they can, whilst the bad entrepreneurs are only in it for themselves.

By taking your time to research potential candidates, ask questions and read all of the small print before signing any contracts, you should be able to find a good entrepreneur who will meet your needs.

You may also enjoy reading 4 Ways to Deal With Difficult Clients

Get More LIFE Out of Your Business

You shouldn’t be the hardest working person in your company.

Many small business owners find that even after the struggling start-up years, they’re working too many hours and still managing every aspect of their businesses.

Greg Weatherdon has been there, done that. As an entrepreneur, he learned not only how to get a business to the point of running smoothly, but also how to reduce the number of hours he worked, delegate more responsibility to his employees, and take longer vacations while his business chugged along like a well-oiled machine. And now he is providing the secret to success.

Do you suffer from any of the following?

1. Business ownership isn’t living up to the dream.
2. Endless workdays.
3. You can’t find good people.
4. Profits are less than expected.
5. You can never take a vacation.

You’re not alone. But there is a solution. As Greg demonstrates, with some time and effort, you really can Get More Life Out Of Your Business.

ORDER HERE

SBM #111 Practical Innovation

Tagged as: business, Canada, customers, entrepreneur, innovation, Microsoft, Practical, sales as a service, small business, small business expert, Small Business Minute, wristwatch, WWI

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Too often innovation gets confused with invention, when in fact they are not the same. Unfortunately, we are bombarded with articles and warnings that in order to survive as entrepreneurs we must innovate or be left behind. Ok, I’m not sure that we would be left behind, but innovating or improving how we do things, is never a bad idea.

The goal for any innovation should not be for the sake of innovation alone but should either enhance the customer experience or increase our efficiency. If you can do both that’s even better.

Microsoft Office 365

A simple example where, in my opinion, neither of these goals are achieved is Microsoft Office. Over the past few years, I have watched as this software grouping has morphed into a bloated feature laden product.. What was once a simple dropdown menu style that allowed access to the most commonly used functions have disappeared under renamed menus loaded with icons that would have an archeologist scratching their head trying to decipher these hieroglyphics.

I would hazard a guess that the vast majority of the Office 365 install base are not power users, therefore these improvements or product evolutions, fail my innovation test. It neither improves the user experience nor increases efficiency for most of us as we waste so much time looking for a simple formatting function.

I’m sure that some power users need these enhancements that the product engineers dream up but for most of us it’s overkill.

A recent experience with an Excel spreadsheet or is it now called a workbook or a worksheet? Regardless of what it’s now called, I needed to unlock a protected spreadsheet. Because I don’t use Excel everyday, I needed to hunt down that function. Once upon a time, you could simply click on one of the dropdown menus and click on that function. Well no more.

After I don’t know how long of hunting and pecking through the drop menus and trying to decipher the various icons, I typed “unprotect” in the Excel search bar to no avail. Finally, I turned to Google for help and finally found the answer. Seriously, nothing should be that hard.

A simple solution might be to just offer the everyday user an option for a “Classic” menu that would offer the user the most commonly used functions within the complete Office 365 lineup. Now that would be an innovation!

Alternatives such as Open Office, Libre Office and Google’s Workspace offer a simpler user interface. Aside from being free, their popularity might be driven partly by their ease of use.

Small Business

Innovation for most small businesses does not have to be earth shattering. In SBM #36 Innovation, I mention that what we need to understand is that most successful innovation comes from either borrowing ideas from other industries or reconfiguring your existing products or services to tackle new markets or customers. Put this way, innovation becomes less daunting and can be implemented incrementally over time and does not require wholesale retraining of your staff and customers. Therefore, they are considered natural or logical enhancements.

Merriam Webster provides the following definitions which may serve to clarify the difference between innovation and invention:

Invention

“a device, contrivance, or process originated after study and experiment,” usually something which has not previously been in existence.

Innovation

for its part, can refer to something new or to a change made to an existing product, idea, or field.

They go on to provide the following example:
One might say that the first telephone was an invention, the first cellular telephone either an invention or an innovation, and the first smartphone an innovation.

The wristwatch

Another simple and great innovation is the wristwatch. Prior to the 20th century, wristwatches were only worn by wealthier women as a fashion accessory, whereas men had pocket watches. It took a World War for the wristwatch to become a mainstay accessory for men.

As the story goes, coordinating troop movements, bombardments and attacks required officers and soldiers to be always aware of the time. The process of fumbling for a pocket watch proved cumbersome due to the necessity of having to always check. That frustration was compounded during the winter months when wearing gloves.

Someone gave this some thought. They simply stole or should I say borrowed the wristwatch idea and adopted it for men. That way soldiers wouldn’t have to reach for their watch at all, as they were wearing it. A simple twist of their arm and they could see the time.

My experience

When I founded the Marketing Resource Group or MRG, I brought this essence of innovation to the consumer packaged goods and healthcare industries. Prior to MRG, I owned The Sales Support Company which was a contract retail merchandising company. In other words an outsourced sales force. I had 150 people working coast-coast performing various sales functions in our client’s smaller retail customers.

Because our merchandisers needed to travel from store to store to perform their duties, wages and travel costs represented a significant portion of our costs. Raising prices was difficult as it would dilute the cost/benefit argument we had put forth. So, after eight years sustainable profits were elusive, so I sold the company.

My innovation

One of the reasons that made my decision to sell The Sales Support Company easy, was that I knew the industry still needed to service these accounts but needed cost efficient solution, which I had been quietly testing for over a year.

Once clear of my obligations with my previous company, I launched MRG to provide our clients with an alternative solution to service these accounts.

So instead of having an individual physically visit a store, we began telemarketing these accounts as a means to communicate and solicit orders. As an aside, we provided other services that previously required a sales representative to perform, but now were done remotely.

I knew of only one company that was doing anything remotely similar and that was Kimberley-Clark, the makers of brands like Huggies and Kleenex.

The big difference was that they were selling their own products, whereas we would be a sales as a service model, representing any number of companies and brands, albeit never at the same time.

Aside from Kimberley-Clark this hadn’t been attempted before and therefore it took a bit of effort to get buy-in from our clients.

Eventually, we convinced enough clients of the merits and gained the necessary momentum to make it a viable business that I owned for 17 years until I sold it.

This innovation had numerous benefits and few downsides for our customers. Considering that we handled what I referred to as their orphaned accounts, those retail establishment that due to annual purchases or geographic location, received no sales coverage from their existing salesforces.

Foremost, our reach was unlimited. If they had a phone, we could contact them, regardless of where they were located, even in the Artic.

Innovation through adaptation

So let’s be honest. I didn’t invent anything here. I simply took an existing service, telemarketing, and applied it to an industry that wasn’t using it. There is a saying “good artist borrow ideas great artist steal ideas.

Is that not the purpose of innovation? How many so called innovations, add no value to the end user and only add confusion.

First and foremost, innovation needs to improve the experience. But change for the sake of change is rarely a good idea. The best way to determine the value of your innovation is to ask your customers and not just your power users.

Also consider that instead of more features, maybe consider fewer and see if that improves the user experience.

You may also enjoy SBM #107 Beware of the whale

Get More LIFE Out of Your Business

You shouldn’t be the hardest working person in your company.

Many small business owners find that even after the struggling start-up years, they’re working too many hours and still managing every aspect of their businesses.

Do you suffer from any of the following?

1. Business ownership isn’t living up to the dream.
2. Endless workdays.
3. You can’t find good people.
4. Profits are less than expected.
5. You can never take a vacation.

You’re not alone. But there is a solution. As Greg demonstrates, with some time and effort, you really can Get More Life Out Of Your Business.

ORDER HERE

SBM #97 Think

Tagged as: Canada, entrepreneur, focus, knowledge, professional speaker, small business expert, Small Business Minute, social media, strategic thinking, think, worry

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

“Five percent of the people think; ten percent of the people think they think; and the other eighty-five percent would rather die than think”. This often repeated quote is regularly but wrongly attributed to Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and philosopher Bertrand Russell, all big thinkers in their own right. The reason for this is that they all had similar thoughts on the on the capacity or desire of humans to think, because thinking is hard work and most shy away from it. By the way, the actual author is Woods Hutchinson, an American physician who published “Balanced Work” in an edition of The Saturday Evening Post.

As entrepreneurs we are faced with a myriad of decisions we must make on any given day and quite frankly it can be exhausting. Couple that with all our other responsibilities, it leaves little time or more precisely, the energy to think. By think I mean intentionally focusing on a problem, opportunity, or challenge without distraction for an extended period of time as we search for the best solution. This is often referred to critical thinking.

Think not worry!

This is one of the reasons I repeatedly tell my audiences that as entrepreneurs, they need to make time to think. They need to find a way or a place to mentally retreat from all the day to day noise of our businesses and concentrate on the issue. For years I have used my daily walk or bike ride to ponder an issue. This 30 to 60 minute escape effectively disconnects me from all the other noise or distractions and provides focus time needed. I do not always resolve the issue, but this diversion usually provides a fertile field for ideas from which to germinate.

Too often people confuse worry with thinking and that is a mistake because there is a big difference between the two. Worry usually has too much emotional baggage attached to it and often has negative connotations that cloud our judgement. Whereas critical thinking on the other hand, is starting with a clean sheet and an opportunity mindset. This sets the stage to evaluate the issue or issues from a 360 degree perspective. The other upside to pondering our own solutions, is that it enhances our decision making process. To seriously think requires you to draw on all your knowledge and to determine any gaps you may have. Researching these gaps then adds to your knowledge and the more knowledge we gain, the more information we have to apply against future decisions.

Another way to look at it, is thinking is like exercise for the brain. As with all exercise it builds strength, resilience, and endurance to specific parts of our bodies. The same principle applies to thinking. The more we do it, the better we become, which in turn allows you to perform at a higher level.

The impact of Social Media

Although based purely on my observations, I see a disturbing trend evolving with many entrepreneurs and, for that matter, many individuals. They turn to various forums on social media platforms to solve their every problem. To my way of thinking this is doing the individual a disservice. Relying on others to help you make a decision does nothing to enhance your skill in this all important area.

To be sure two heads can be better than one, but hundreds of opinions, not so much. The problem is the audience lacks the context of your specific situation and are better used when dealing technical issues rather than directional ones. Relying on others does absolutely nothing to enhance this much needed entrepreneurial skill set. Just remember old saying that “practice makes perfect”.

IBM – Think

Thinking was so important that for years IBM had the word THINK strategically placed above every doorway as a reminder. They expected their employees to solve problems both internally and externally for their customers. Apparently, the origin stems from an uninspiring sales meeting. Thomas Watson, the founder interrupted the meeting, saying “The trouble with every one of us is that we don’t think enough. We don’t get paid for working with our feet — we get paid for working with our heads”. Watson then wrote THINK on the easel. (Wikipedia). The word THINK has since long been an IBM trademark and they even named their laptops ThinkPads, that are now owned by Lenovo.

The ability to think critically opens our minds to our own possibilities and if done well it allows you to solve problems or envision what your future could be. By thinking through the pros and cons and all the what ifs, allows you to distill a course of action that is home grown and is tailored to your specific needs. But it cannot happen unless you make the time to think.

You may also enjoy 10 things to overcome business failure

Get More LIFE Out of Your Business

You shouldn’t be the hardest working person in your company.

Many small business owners find that even after the struggling start-up years, they’re working too many hours and still managing every aspect of their businesses.

Do you suffer from any of the following?

1. Business ownership isn’t living up to the dream.
2. Endless workdays.
3. You can’t find good people.
4. Profits are less than expected.
5. You can never take a vacation.

You’re not alone. But there is a solution. As Greg demonstrates, with some time and effort, you really can Get More Life Out Of Your Business.

ORDER HERE

SBM #96 Where’s Your Wealth?

Tagged as: Canada, entrepreneur, greg weatherdon, money, profit, small business expert, Small Business Minute, successful, wealth

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

For newly minted entrepreneurs, the biggest priority is to generate revenue, any revenue in an effort to transition from struggling to profitable enterprise. To those of us who have made the crossing, we have more often than not sacrificed our own financial needs in order to create a proper fiscal foundation for our business. Because so few of us ever get investor capital, we are left to our own devices to fund our enterprises. That’s okay. As that old saying goes “What doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger!”

Unfortunately, we have trouble letting go of this attitude once the business moves off life support and begins breathing on its’ own. Of course this is understandable. Having lived through the tough times, it’s not something we’re eager to revisit. So under the guise of “reinvesting in the company”, we continue to pour our profits back into the organization and rarely do we consider taking it out of the company. Not to spend on toys, but to take some risk off the table.

80% of owners wealth is in their company

Considering most business owners hold upwards of 80% of their wealth in their business, this “all your eggs in one basket” scenario is a high risk situation. Ask these same owners if they would invest 80% of their net worth in shares of just one company on the stock exchange and they would certainly question your sanity. Yet these same individuals don’t think twice about their current wealth strategy.

In my case, I had set a target of getting 66% of my wealth outside of my operating company and to provide some form of creditor protection. I did this not because I was anticipating any sort of business crisis, but because I realized I didn’t want all that I had worked for to be totally dependent on the future performance of me and my company.

5 simple steps to get you started

Okay, so where and when do you begin? The following steps may help you frame your own initiative. Your corporate structure will dictate what vehicles are available to you and by all means consult your accountant, lawyer, financial planner and any other professional you need to maximize the effectiveness of this strategy

Make sure you’re taking a regular dependable salary. Not your dream salary, but one that allows you to work without the stress of your personal financial situation overwhelming your decision making. In other words comfortably covering your basic needs.
Begin formally moving a set amount from your current account to your chosen vehicle i.e. holding company, corporate savings account, etc. The formula you choose can range from 5% of all your billings that automatically gets transferred monthly to upwards of 50% of annual profit being transitioned out.
This money should not be put at risk in another venture.
Although minimizing taxation is always important, it can’t be the deciding factor.
Eventually you will have transferred at least a portion of your wealth and created another pillar in your financial portfolio.

Freedom and security

If you were expecting some magic formula, I’m sorry to disappoint. This is basic wealth management, a rainy day fund, often ignored by business owners. Too many owners are hoping to cash-in when they sell their companies and are devastated when they can’t sell or get significantly less than they anticipated and have no additional source of wealth.

Being an eternal optimist is a necessary ingredient to having any chance of success as an entrepreneur, but it needs to be tempered with a bit of realism. It’s truly amazing the sense of freedom and security you feel when you’ve consciously created an additional source of wealth outside your operating company.

How you do it is up to you, but starting today in small increments is a must, because like a journey of a thousand miles, financial freedom begins with a single small step.

You may also enjoy The 1st Million is the Hardest

Get More LIFE Out of Your Business

You shouldn’t be the hardest working person in your company.

Many small business owners find that even after the struggling start-up years, they’re working too many hours and still managing every aspect of their businesses.

Do you suffer from any of the following?

1. Business ownership isn’t living up to the dream.
2. Endless workdays.
3. You can’t find good people.
4. Profits are less than expected.
5. You can never take a vacation.

You’re not alone. But there is a solution. As Greg demonstrates, with some time and effort, you really can Get More Life Out Of Your Business.

ORDER HERE

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

A year ago, had you asked small business owners what 5 things could put them out of business?, I would have bet a pandemic would not have been on their top 10 let alone their top 50 things. But a lot has changed in just over a year. According to the CFIB (Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses), it is estimated that 1 in 6 small businesses won’t survive because of Covid-19. The UK is also predicting hundreds of thousands of failures with the US expecting that number to exceed 1 million according to McKinsey.

Assuming the 1 in 6 estimate to be true, that means that approximately 83% of small businesses will survive. Most certainly won’t flourish and it’ll take a long time to recover, but they will survive. Unfortunately, with the ongoing lockdowns, just surviving is incredibly stressful, to say nothing about how exhausting it can be.

5 areas that require every owners attention

Managing the work-from-home environment is not easy for most small business owners. For many, current technology has made it possible to continue, but only after a number of implementation headaches and costs. The learning curve has been steep. Because for many, technology is just something they’ve never understood.

What we need to understand, is that most small businesses are run in an impromptu or spontaneous manner. The owners have been so busy trying grow their businesses prior to the pandemic, that the majority lacked formal processes. Most just spent their days acting, or more accurately, reacting to whatever the day had instore for them. They are more like fire fighters directing their staff on a moment to moment basis depending what fire was burning the most brightly.

To be sure this pandemic has forced a few owners to get better organized in how they structure their working days, but for many it has become quite the challenge in keeping everyone focused, productive and motivated. In episode #93 Pivot, I discussed the whole concept of pivoting, which is far more difficult than people are led to believe, but so is changing the way a company operates.

So this brings me to my question – What 3 things would put you out of business? Well if you are surviving, you can scratch off pandemic. Sadly, because so many entrepreneurs are so focused in the moment, they don’t realize there are a whole host of issues that can kill their
businesses in a heart beat. The following is a primer list of 5 pretty common areas that require every owners attention, in order to safeguard their business’s future.

“Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise, will sooner or later have to find time for illness.”

Edward Stanley, former Prime Minister of the UK

#1 Your health

Unfortunately, most of us don’t even consider what would happen to their life’s work if they were suddenly struck with an injury or worse a life threatening illness. What would happen to the business if you were laid up? Would it survive? If not, what would you do for income? How would you handle the debt? How would it affect your family? This is serious stuff and requires your attention. Contrary to what we think, we are not invincible.

The following are few of solutions that you can minimize the impact of a health problem.

First off, you should investigate disability insurance. Yes, it can be expensive and yes, it usually pays out less than you’re currently earning. But something is better than nothing.

Secondly, many health related issues are self inflicted by our lifestyle. Making time for some form of exercise should be mandatory for every owner. It can range from taking a daily walk to a full on cross-fit workout at the gym. Something is better than nothing. There’s a wonderful saying that kind of drives the point home and it is from Edward Stanley, former Prime Minister of the UK that says:

“Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise, will sooner or later have to find time for illness.”

An additional item that should be mandatory in every small business and that is delegate. By delegating absolutely everything you can to your existing staff, this will certainly relieve some of the pressure. That way, there’s a good chance that the business will survive, while you are laid up. Unfortunately, this is one of the hardest things to get entrepreneurs to do. (See Small Business Minute #18 Delegating is easier than you think)

#2 Key staff quits.

Having your key staff member quit can really ruin a perfectly good day and for some people it can take their business down.

People leave companies for a lot of reasons and sometimes there is nothing you can have do to prevent it. From career changes, to better opportunities to relocations, sometimes it’s just out of your hands. But in many cases it’s not. One of the top reasons employees leave is the lack of recognition and this is something you can control. An occasional pat on the back or some other form appreciation goes a long way. It can be as simple as a thank you for their efforts.

However, if a key employee leaves, what’s your plan? If you’re like most you don’t have one and chances are you don’t have a deep bench of trained people ready to assume that position.

Therefore one of the best things you can do is to cross train individuals. The secondary person doesn’t have to be as well versed as the key person, but they should have been given enough exposure that they could perform the job being vacated even though they may be less efficient.

Additionally, creating in depth documented processes for all positions, allows other personnel to perform those functions until such time as you can find a replacement. This will go a long way to ensure that your company will survive. (see SBM #34 Processes- Shampoo, Rinse and Repeat)

#3 Business interruption

Covid-19 aside, there are lots of things that can cause business interruptions. A flood, a fire, even vandalism can shut your business down for weeks, if not months. A closed business can’t generate cashflow, yet bills still need to be paid.

It is estimated that over 80% of small businesses have no form of business interruption insurance that would pay out a set dollar amount in the event of a catastrophe. This is different than typical commercial/business insurance, whereby the physical damage to your business is repaired. Business Interruption on the other hand can cover Gross Earnings, Profits, Extra Expenses. Certainly worth considering.

#4 Competition

What would happen if a new competitor came into your market, how would you deal with it? Being so focused on the here and now, is a great way to get caught off guard. As I’ve stated before, too many entrepreneurs are so busy just handling the daily priorities, they never have time to lift their heads up to see what going.

Inevitably, they are not even aware of that a competitor has set up shop until they start stealing your customers. By the time they do realize what’s happening that trickle of desertions turns into a flood and is hard to reverse.

One of the best ways to avoid getting sideswiped is to stay in touch with all your customers on a regular basis. Too often the only time business owners talk with their customers is when they call in an order. The thought is, “they know where we are if they need us and I don’t want to bother them.”

Staying in regular contact with customers signals that they are important to your business and can also provide you with competitive intelligence. Most customer don’t change on a whim unless you’ve treated them poorly. So, by staying in touch the fact that a competitor is circling is often shared, thereby giving you time to react. (See SBM #76 Pick up the phone)

#5 Bad debt

This one item alone has contributed to the demise of many small businesses. Aside from not being diligent in collecting receivables, having one customer represent more than 15% of your business can be potential fatal if they close their doors or refuse to pay.

When you consider that many small businesses have net incomes of less than 10%, taking a hit from a major customer can be devastating. For example if a client reneges on a $20,000 invoice and you only net 10%, you’ll need to generate $200,000 in additional revenue just to recover that loss.

When you think about it, most small business are not flush with spare cash, missing out a major payment means you can’t cover payroll, rent or suppliers.

If you do find yourself with a client that represents more than 15%, you have two choices. First grow your business to get them below that threshold or alternatively collect early and often. Don’t forget you can set the rules, so don’t be shy about protecting your company. (See SBM #20 Cash Flow, the Breath of Life).

These are just 5 areas that should get you thinking, but every business has it’s Achilles heel. Spending some time thinking about “What 3 things would put you out of business?” certainly deserves your attention. Then pick the #1 item on your list and make a plan.

Let me know your thought sand ideas in the comment section.

Get More LIFE Out of Your Business

You shouldn’t be the hardest working person in your company.

Many small business owners find that even after the struggling start-up years, they’re working too many hours and still managing every aspect of their businesses.

Do you suffer from any of the following?

1. Business ownership isn’t living up to the dream.
2. Endless workdays.
3. You can’t find good people.
4. Profits are less than expected.
5. You can never take a vacation.

You’re not alone. But there is a solution. As Greg demonstrates, with some time and effort, you really can Get More Life Out Of Your Business.

ORDER HERE

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Pivot! Just pivot! That’s what your being told if you’re having challenges running your SME. It’s another one of those words that actually had value once upon a time. Now, it’s so abused that’s it’s nothing more than a throwaway statement by individuals who want to sound like they’re offering intelligent advice, but really aren’t. Realistically, most businesses can’t pivot.

If we’re to be honest, most individuals have a heck of a time coming up with one idea that they can get excited enough about to take the plunge. That doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. It’s just an idea that they’re prepared to risk their time, energy and resources on to make happen. Even then the failure rate exceeds 50% in the first 3 years and upwards of 85% in 5 years.

So my point is pivot to what? It’s so hard to have one idea let alone coming up with a second one, especially when under duress. I say duress because you wouldn’t even be considering pivoting if everything is running along fine.

No, most often a pivot or rethink is a result of a failed idea, a competitive threat or 100 year storm such as Covid-19. So I say duress because in most cases your business is heading to the ground with the power on and you’re desperate. And when things get desperate, we need a fix and in a hurry. That usually means doing something, anything to generate revenue and stop the bleeding. Unfortunately, being stressed out is not necessarily the best time to make decisions.

The news is full of stories showcasing various companies that have reinvented themselves during Covid-19. But on closer inspection of the stories, I don’t think they’d qualify as pivots as much as a survival strategy.

It’s about survival

For example, how many clothing manufacturers converted their sewing rooms from producing apparel, to manufacturing medical masks? I’m pretty sure they’re not going to continue once the storm has passed. It’s a safe bet that most will return to fashion as soon as they can. This is not a pivot, it’s about survival.

The same can be said about distillers and micro brewers who started producing hand sanitizer. This is not a long term strategy. It’s about generating some short term cash flow by utilizing existing facilities and processes. Which at it’s core is distilling alcohol. It’s nothing more than a finger in the dyke. Once demand is satisfied, then what?

“Chances are their pivot is only a few degrees off of their original idea”

Alternatively, some businesses have got nowhere to turn. Take the hospitality industry for instance. They can’t just convert their hotels rooms into alternative use. To be sure restaurants can offer takeout or delivery, but that’s not a pivot. It’s just an extension or alternative to what they are already doing and sadly won’t cover their costs. Again, it’s a just matter of generating some cashflow and of survival.

Retail is another example. Making your offering available online because of a massive drop in walk-in traffic, certainly sounds easy. But it’s a lot more involved than most imagine. Such as setting up your website, getting and managing your inventory online and establishing your payment gateway. None of it is easy and it costs money. Money that most small businesses don’t have.

Let’s not forget all the time and energy required to promote and get visible once you are setup online. That of course assumes you have the necessary skills to begin with. Granted, you can try to learn these new skills, but that takes time. In the meanwhile, you still have rent and utilities to pay.

Yes, there are companies that have managed to pivot and have found success. That just tells me that their original idea probably may not have been as sustainable as they first thought. However, these companies appear to be sufficiently versed in their industry that they’ve managed to leverage their insights and skills to offer an alternative solution. Chances are their pivot is only a few degrees off of their original idea and not a wholesale change.

My Pivot

After 8 years of running my first company, The Sales Support Company, I realized that I was working way too hard and felt like I was treading water. Even though revenues were continually growing at a nice rate, it never translated into any significant profit.

The company provided retail sales services representing some of the world’s largest packaged goods companies. I had 150 employees working coast to coast at a time before the internet and cell phones. Because of that, communicating with regional supervisors always took place after hours, so the days were long. It finally got to the point where I was just tired of trying to make it work. I was putting in endless hours, getting no closer to my goals and not making any money.

I knew the industry still required our type of service. So, I set out to come up with alternative method to service these stores. Two key criteria were, that it had to be profitable and give me a better quality of life. So, my pivot was to take what we were doing “live and in person” and attempt to do it via telemarketing, which really hadn’t been done before.

In order to find out if this idea would fly, I created Marketing Resource Group and tested the concept over the next 18 months. This happened all the while still running my other company.

Since it was a new concept for the industry, it did require a lot of convincing clients to test it. Fortunately, one by one clients began to support the concept as we were able to deliver the promised results.

More importantly though, is that this pivot was actually fulfilling my first priority of being profitable. My second criteria of having a better quality of life would be up to me, but profits would go a long way to making that happen.

Once I could see the momentum growing for our service, I sold The Sales Support Company. Well actually, it was more like I gave it away, but that’s a story for another time.

My pivot worked so well, I kept The Marketing Resource Group for 17 years before selling it. At which point we were making over 300,000 calls a year in Canada and the US.

Advantages

The point of that story is that I got to test the concept while I still had my first company. Although I was extremely well versed in retail sales and service, I knew nothing about telemarketing.

So the test phase allowed me to learn, trial, and refine the concept on my schedule. Unlike typical telemarketing organization that is script driven, our service had to be adapted to creating long term relationships. That’s why having the luxury of testing and refining made this pivot possible. Doing it overnight would not have had the same results and most likely would have failed.

A couple of advantages that I had that increased my odds at pulling off a successful pivot were:

I knew the industry and
I had a solid relationship with existing pool of potential clients that I could leverage.

As I stated before, most sustainable pivots are only a few degrees off the original idea and not massive wholesale changes. If we’re to be honest, there are far more businesses that can’t pivot, than those that can.

Sometimes that pivot can mean throwing in the towel, cut your losses and live to fight another day.

You may also enjoy SBM #82 Starting Over

Get More LIFE Out of Your Business

You shouldn’t be the hardest working person in your company.

Many small business owners find that even after the struggling start-up years, they’re working too many hours and still managing every aspect of their businesses.

Do you suffer from any of the following?

1. Business ownership isn’t living up to the dream.
2. Endless workdays.
3. You can’t find good people.
4. Profits are less than expected.
5. You can never take a vacation.

You’re not alone. But there is a solution. As Greg demonstrates, with some time and effort, you really can Get More Life Out Of Your Business.

ORDER HERE

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

I’ve been wanting to golf at a rural course for a number of years now. The reason is that this golf course now sits upon farmland that was once owned by two of my uncles. I had spent a lot of time of these farms as a kid growing up and I had only played the course once many years before and my memory suggested it wasn’t a bad little course.

So when a neighbour suggested that we get out for a round of golf, I recommended we go to this course and told him about my family heritage. He agreed and a tee time was booked.

For the sake of brevity, let’s just say the course condition was less than stellar. The fairways and greens looked like they hadn’t seen water the whole season and were harder than concrete. Needless to say I was a little embarrassed that I had recommended the course.

“…playing on what was the equivalent of a parking lot didn’t help.”

Aside from the terrible course condition, the signage was askew, and you were left to your own devices to find your way between holes. All in all, not a great experience and my score reflected my frustration. Heck, golf is hard enough at times and playing on what was the equivalent of a parking lot didn’t help.

My Google review

So, having wasted good money playing a bad course, I felt compelled to leave a Google review. Needless to say they only received a one-star and my write-up stated that the course was unkept and appeared to be unloved as well. I further stated that they clearly couldn’t maintain 36 holes, so maybe they should try to focus on 18 and do it better.

About a week or so later, I noticed a message alert in my Facebook feed. To my surprise, it was from the course operation manager asking if we could chat, to which I agreed.

This individual went on to tell me that my review pained him because they are family owned and they work hard. He further explained that their water pump had been down for three weeks and that they’d been hauling water day and night during the hottest time of the year. He then proceeded to ask me to remove my review now that he had explained his position.

My initial response to his request was that he should have let us know at the time that the course was unplayable and let us make the decision to play, or they should have offered some form of discount when we showed up. This is a common theme with many small businesses, when they are unable to provide an acceptable level of service for whatever reason. They just keep quiet and continue to charge their regular fees, instead of coming clean and being honest.

Responding to Google reviews helps

It’s been my experience, that the main driver for this type of behaviour is that they are so in need of the revenue, that they place customer service or experience a distant second. But what they don’t realize is that this attitude costs them far more in the long run and just compounds an already bad situation.

I further suggested to the individual that they should reply to my comment on Google because people want to see how businesses react to bad reviews. I also told him that responding to bad reviews with a legitimate reason actually has a positive impact. He responded that they would just prefer that I remove the original comment because they don’t think they should have to air their disputes in public.

Shortly after this, the conversation started going off the rails. I explained to him that I wasn’t prepared to remove my comments, because I experienced a subpar course regardless of the reasons. In addition, I also wanted him respond to my review as I knew it was in his best interest, but he wanted none of that.

The point of this story is that far too many businesses fail to pay attention to the impact of good or bad reviews can have on your business. But even more importantly, is the impact you can have in responding to any and all reviews. Just think of how you go about searching for goods or services on Google. Once you’ve narrowed down the search results, do you read the Google reviews? How do you react when you see reviews that have no response from the business owner? How do you feel when there is honest commentary from the business owner to each comment?

When asked, most people agree that they value Google reviews when researching businesses and the research overwhelmingly support this position. Unfortunately, too many businesses do not pay any attention to this free resource and it’s costing them a lot of business.

Google provides every business the ability to be listed in their search results. It’s always of interest to me when I do a search within an industry to see businesses that haven’t claimed their listing. To find out if your business is listed, simply go to Google my Business. If your business is not listed, they make it quite easy to get a listing included in their search results by logging in and completing your business profile. That way you’ll be able to get the benefits of having Google reviews

In a recent survey by BrightLocal, an online agency that helps marketers working with a local business do their job better, found the following key statistics:

Key Statistics

90% of consumers used the internet to find a local business in the last year, with 33% looking every day
82% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses, with 52% of 18-54-year-olds saying they ‘always’ read reviews
The average consumer reads 10 reviews before feeling able to trust a business
Only 53% of people would consider using a business with less than 4 stars
The average consumer spends 13 minutes and 45 seconds reading reviews before making a decision
Among consumers that read reviews, 97% read businesses’ responses to reviews

A link to the complete survey results can be found here:

https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey/#influence-of-reviews

Additionally, research has also found that consumer give more credibility to businesses that respond to reviews, good or bad. That’s because it shows that the business actually cares about their customer service. For proof, just think about how you react to reviews with and without responses from the business. I know how I feel, but to qualify this, I asked approximately 10 people what their thoughts were regarding businesses that respond to reviews. 100% agreed that they look favourably upon those businesses that take the time to respond.

Make them personal

If you’re going to respond to review, avoid the standard cut and paste responses, such as “Thank you” and make them a little personal. Whatever you do, do not offer any discounts or bribes to people in order to get them to write a Google review. It’s highly frowned upon by Google should they find out and will seriously impact your search ranking. However, asking people for reviews is quite acceptable and worthwhile.

As for my little story, in order to end my conversation with the individual, I stated that I will consider updating my comments to reflect that the owner did reach out to me. However, after further ruminating on the subject, I decided not to update my comments. My rationale was that it’s not my responsibility to do his job.

I’d like to know your thoughts if you were faced with a similar situation. So, leave your comments below.

You may also enjoy Want More Sales-Follow up

If you found this of value, please pass this along to any business owner that you fell could benefit by understanding the upside to Google reviews.

Get More LIFE Out of Your Business

You shouldn’t be the hardest working person in your company.

Many small business owners find that even after the struggling start-up years, they’re working too many hours and still managing every aspect of their businesses.

Do you suffer from any of the following?

1. Business ownership isn’t living up to the dream.
2. Endless workdays.
3. You can’t find good people.
4. Profits are less than expected.
5. You can never take a vacation.

You’re not alone. But there is a solution. As Greg demonstrates, with some time and effort, you really can Get More Life Out Of Your Business.

Order Here

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

A few months ago, I finally did something that I had longed to do but just never got around to it. Not quite a bucket list item, but pretty close. That something was to drive a race prepared car on a closed road course. Calabogie Motorsports offers just such a program. The road course is just a hair over 5 kms that has 20 turns and enough of a straightaway to get you to question your sanity. But at the end of the day, I couldn’t help but draw many parallels between the days activities and running a small business.

It all started because my youngest son was planning on signing up for the half day training at the track, and it only took me a couple of minutes to invite myself along. It’s funny how these things always seem like a good idea until the early morning drive to the track makes you wonder if it really was.

Now driving is something I’ve done my entire life, having spent my early days as a long haul truck driver. Getting behind any vehicle with a steering wheel is something I’m comfortable with. What gave me pause, was the fact that I’d be hurtling along in a race car at over 200 kms. That plus the fact, you never want to be that guy that embarrasses himself in front of the other 10 participants, let alone your son. That can be somebody else’s job.

Briefing session

So, as we gathered in the training room at the appointed time, we were welcomed by a couple of gentlemen that were going to review the schedule of morning activities, the characteristics of the car, track conditions that day, safety rules and the meaning of the on-track flags. This brought about the first comparison to running a small business.

Small Business Tip#1 – Briefings

How often do you take the time to gather everybody together, to define the day’s or week’s activity? How often do you remind your group of why they’re here and what we’re hoping to achieve or gain that week? How often do we set expectations in a team environment? Although we have great intentions of doing so, I suspect we don’t do it often enough.

As a result, we just assume everybody knows what to do, when to do it and what’s expected. Sadly, this lack of direction or confirmation of understanding can lead to untold number of mistakes. Implementing, short briefing sessions on a weekly or daily basis, as well as at the beginning of a major assignment can greatly reduce confusion and ensure your team is focused on the same end results. Or as the saying goes, make sure everyone is on the same page.

Track Time

After a quick introduction to our in driver trainer, we made our way out to our cars. These race prepped cars, had windows replaced where needed with Plexiglas and removed where not necessary. I can tell you getting into these vehicles is quite the process as you weave yourself around and through the roll cage, much like performing a downward dog yoga move coupled with a reverse warrior pose to end up in a snug, but less than comfortable racing seat. They make it look so effortless on tv, but I can assure you it’s not.

For the first of three on track sessions, you are a passenger as the trainer puts the car through it’s paces and shows you what’s possible. As a first time passenger in a fully prepped race car, I can confess that it’s a whole new experience. Unfortunately, the sensory overload during the ride along, really wasn’t conducive to learning anything the trainer was saying. There was just too much information to be absorbed in a very unfamiliar environment with your senses being hammered by new inputs. However, I do remember him saying that sometimes you need to go slow to go fast, which I didn’t quite understand at the time.

Small Business Tip #2 – Teaching moments

Too often we assume people understand the objectives. We throw so much information at them and then never take the time to confirm their understanding. To be sure we ask if everybody understands and of course heads nod in agreement. This can be because they don’t want to look foolish or more often, they actually think they do understand, but it may be a completely different understanding.

Taking a few extra moments to ask specific questions about expected results or executional details to truly confirm their understanding can go a long way in avoiding missteps. The reason for this extra steps is to make sure someone hasn’t misinterpreted a critical piece of information or expectation.

My Turn

So now it’s my turn behind the wheel. The moment you push the engine start button and the V8 roars to life, you know you’re not in Kansas any longer. The sheer raw power of the engine shakes the car and is felt in every fiber of your body. Not uncontrollably mind you, but enough to make you respect it’s potential and get focused. It’s also the time when you start thinking, what the hell have I done!

Sitting behind the wheel you realize that these cars are stripped down to their bare essence. An engine, a transmission, tires, body shell and absolutely no interior padding with only a handful of gauges. That’s it, just the basics. But seriously, what else do you need? These cars are built to go fast and stick to the track.

Small Business tip #3 – Simplify

How often do we have steps or unnecessary processes to getting a job, task or assignment done, just because we think it’s necessary? Do we have efficient processes? Can we strip down the process to it’s basics in order increase our deliverables? Has anybody asked, why we do it this way or is there a better, simpler way?

The race car is meant to go fast and it does so without any unnecessary frills. Shouldn’t we be running the most efficient businesses we can? If something doesn’t add real value to the customer, then it shouldn’t be there. Are we asking our staff for their input or suggestions? They are the ones that work with the processes every single day, they just may have a better way.

On the track

As I pulled out onto the track, I distinctly remember that the transmission and clutch had a familiar feel. It then dawned on me that it reminded me of my uncles farm trucks of my youth. The transmission and clutch had a very positive interaction and it was all business, no frills.

Staying in the safety lane all the while accelerating in order to merge with the other vehicles, it was at this point that I realized, I didn’t remember a thing my trainer had told me. However, being connected to him via headset as he sat in the passenger seat, I started receiving a constant stream of instructions that easily matched the speed of the car as we approached 200kms per hour.

For the next 15-20 minutes we did laps around the track as I desperately tried smooth out my handling and add a little finesse to an otherwise less than stellar run. At the end of the session, we made our way in for a debriefing session with all the participants as we asked, and they answered our questions.

Small Business Tip #4 – Status updates

How often do we gather everyone to either get or give a status update on the company or an initiative? Scheduling regular but short debriefing sessions help to identify road blocks, allow for clarification and make course corrections. Checking in regularly can solve many minor issues before they become major issues that are impossible to correct.

The last session.

This last on track session is where I had my greatest breakthrough and an “Ah ha” moment. As with most people who do these things, I felt I was a pretty good driver and understood the basic concepts of racing, such as finding the straightest line through a curve, etc. However, that easier said than done as I consistently missed apex after apex on most turns. It was frustrating and humbling.

The trainer kept telling me to brake hard to scrub speed as I entered the tightest turns. I figured I understood the concept, but time and again, I’d blow the turn. I thought I was going slow enough to hit my mark, because going any slower wasn’t cool and we’re suppose to go fast, right?

So, on one particular lap I figured I’d slow down earlier and harder and see what happened. To my amazement, the car just hunkered down and dug in. We held the line and we rocketed out of the turn, with very little corrective input required on my part after pointing the car in the right direction. The throttle was wide open, it was almost textbook, and it was confirmed by my trainer’s comment “that’s what I’m talking about” through the headset.

Small Business tip #5 – Pump the brakes

Too often we’re in a rush to get the end result. Ambition is a great quality but needs to be tempered at times. The Navy Seals apparently have a saying that says “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast”. I know that sound contrary to what we believe, but it works.

Not always, but sometimes we just have to pump the brakes on an idea or initiative and stretch out the deadline. By doing so it gives us the time we need to make sure we have all the information, the right people and the capacity to handle the assignment. Whether that’s growing our business or contemplating pitching a large contract. This extra time may allow for a much smoother execution and less rework, because smooth is fast.

Go Slow to Go Fast

Going too fast can be very stressful for all involved and can set us up for mistakes. Knowing when to hammer the throttle and when to stand on the brakes is an artform in itself and I have a new found respect for professional drivers because it’s both mentally and physically draining controlling a race car at speed.

The same can be said of running your business too fast. Sometimes you just need to go slow to go fast.

I appreciate hearing your feedback to this or any of my posts. So share your thoughts below.

Get More LIFE Out of Your Business

You shouldn’t be the hardest working person in your company.

Many small business owners find that even after the struggling start-up years, they’re working too many hours and still managing every aspect of their businesses.

Do you suffer from any of the following?

1. Business ownership isn’t living up to the dream.
2. Endless workdays.
3. You can’t find good people.
4. Profits are less than expected.
5. You can never take a vacation.

You’re not alone. But there is a solution. As Greg demonstrates, with some time and effort, you really can Get More Life Out Of Your Business.

ORDER HERE

SBM #81 – Burnout

Tagged as: burnout, business, Canada, entrepreneur, failure, small business, small business expert, Small Business Minute, success

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Burnout is one of the leading causes of small business failures. The thing about burnout is that it usually gets justified as just hard work. Of course, entrepreneur knows that being self employed is going to require sacrifices and therefore, burning the candle at both ends is the price of admission to a better life. To that I say, yes and no.

Yes, because there is a price to pay for getting into business. No, because it shouldn’t become a way of life and this is the problem. Too many entrepreneurs never transition from startup up mode. What is startup mode? It’s when you’re doing everything. You’re the chief cook and bottle washer. Your empire consists of a staff of one, you! It’s all you. It’s what the vast majority of small business owners go through when they launch their businesses.

Unfortunately, startup mode becomes a trap that many never escape and can lead to burnout. What really should happen is at the first opportunity, you need to find a way to off load some of the duties and responsibilities. Whether that be hiring a part-time person or finding a virtual assistant of some sort, you need to start elevating your role at the earliest possible moment. Ideally, you should get some help the first day you hang out your shingle. I’m serious this can’t happen soon enough.

When I started my first company, The Sales Support Company, I was just like everybody else and I wasn’t afraid of hard work. The business needed to be national in scope as soon as possible, for it to really work. Fortunately, at that time, I had a partner. So, even though the workload got distributed pretty evenly. It still required that we put in long days. But that’s what we’re supposed to do, right?

After about four years, the partner was losing interest and needless to say, I was starting to shoulder more of the workload and decision making. Before long, it was evident this chapter was coming to an end, so I bought him out. So, what went from a little bit more work, turned into a doubling of my workload.

Suffice to say with a staff of 150 working coast-to-coast, the days grew much longer. Weekends became just two more days to get the work done. This went on for almost another four years before I decided that I’d had enough, and it was time to move on and I disposed of the company. It wasn’t until a few month later that I realized that towards the end I had hit the wall and was facing burnout.

Of course, my entrepreneurial journey was far from over, as I was committed to making my next endeavour a success. However, I wasn’t going to do so if it required the same level of work, nor was I prepared to risk that zombie like effect that comes from burnout. I had learned my lesson and I wasn’t about to let history repeat itself. I wanted to create an environment where nobody took work home, especially me, and that nobody needed to worked weekends.

This commitment, to normalizing the work hours, became a critical operating premise for the 17 years that I owned The Marketing Resource Group. Making this a cornerstone of the business, it then forced me to rethink how it was going operate as working longer hours was not an option. I decide that I needed to focus on three things if this was going to work.

1. Is it necessary?

As the business got off the ground, we questioned everything we were planning to offer in terms of client support or reporting. We asked the simple question – Does anybody care about it? It may be a nice to do, but if the client didn’t care, why should we waist our time on it. It’s easier not to offer something than to offer it and then try to take it away. We would regularly ask the client if they needed any other information, but what we found out was they were satisfied with what we were providing because it already exceeded what they had expected.

2. Can we automate this?

I must admit that I had limited technical abilities, but if I was going to drive this initiative forward, I needed to lead from the front. The sad part was of the two employees I had at the time, I was the most tech savvy, which wasn’t saying much. So, I took it upon myself to prepare all the databases and entries screens and automating all the reporting. As the years went on though, this activity was transitioned to others with a mandate that we use off the shelf software, so that we didn’t need high priced programmers.

3. Delegate as much as I could.

I recently read that when the leader start to delegate everything, it’s a sign that they’re bored. I think that’s a load of crap. Leaders shouldn’t be doing. They should spend most of their time teaching and being available to help their staff. With any remaining time strategizing or in customer contact. By delegating as much as possible it forced me to better explain my expectations and the steps required to complete the assignment.

These three things, along with other smaller initiatives, allowed me to go home at the same times as everyone else most evenings. Eventually, I was able to be the last in, in the mornings and first out most days. Which is the exact opposite of most business owners.

What’s really strange is that as business owners we have the right to set the parameters within which we want to operate. We have that freedom. But too often we don’t even give it a second thought. We think we must do like every other owner and work our butts off. When you consider that freedom is one of our primary goals for going into business, few ever achieve it.

For me, setting my work parameters made me a much better leader and manager, and I never faced burnout again.

If you found this helpful, Tweet, Like or tell a friend.

Get More LIFE Out of Your Business

You shouldn’t be the hardest working person in your company.

Many small business owners find that even after the struggling start-up years, they’re working too many hours and still managing every aspect of their businesses.

Do you suffer from any of the following?

1. Business ownership isn’t living up to the dream.
2. Endless workdays.
3. You can’t find good people.
4. Profits are less than expected.
5. You can never take a vacation.

You’re not alone. But there is a solution. As Greg demonstrates, with some time and effort, you really can Get More Life Out Of Your Business.

ORDER HERE

SBM #79 – Opportunities

Tagged as: Canada, entrepreneur, experience, Mistakes, opportunities, professional speaker, punch buggy, small business expert, Small Business Minute

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Opportunities are like buses, if you miss one, another one will be along in a minute. That saying has a lot of truth in it, and although I hate missing an opportunity, I’ve found out over the years, not to lose any sleep over it, because it probably wasn’t meant to be.

Good or bad, I’m wired to be constantly on the lookout for opportunities. I owe much of my success to being able to identify real needs in those areas where I have some knowledge, and this is the catch. In order to take advantage or spot opportunities, you need know what you’re looking for.

Opportunities or distractions

Of course, the best opportunities are those that tie into what you’re already doing and leverages your existing resources and clients. Why go chase an opportunity that will require you to find a completely new customer base? You risk splitting your attention and focus. So, instead of multiplying your results you could seriously jeopardize what you already have.

Too often, I see business owners take their eyes off the ball to go chase a perceived opportunity, never having taken the time to fully assess whether it even fits within their skill set their customer base, let alone the financial and time investment needed to make it happen. They are like a flock of pigeons running after the next handful of bread crumbs thrown out by a curious bystander.

Punch Buggy

When I was a kid, one game we frequently played when travelling in the car was Punch Buggy. This of course was in an era long before any form of personal electronics, so it was a way to keep ourselves entertained. The objective was simple, the first person to see a Volkswagen Beetle, punched their opponent in the arm. The point is, if you hoped to have any chance of winning, it took intense concentration to be able to identify a Beetle before the other person did. Not concentrating, usually resulted in a bruised arm.

Yes, being open minded can be a great quality in many aspects of your personal and business life, but when it comes to looking for opportunities, it usually requires an intensity of focus to keep you from deviating too far from your current trajectory. It allows you to focus in one area of commerce by leveraging your existing knowledge. It allows you quickly disseminate information based on knowns instead of unknowns and ultimately help you make a better decision.

They say the world is your oyster and that may be true, but it’s not a great philosophy by which to run a business. Instead, you need to know when to walk away and when to focus and sticking to what you know helps you to do so. Don’t worry if you miss an opportunity, because chances are another one will along any minute.

You may also enjoy episode #36 Innovation starts at home

Get More LIFE Out of Your Business

You shouldn’t be the hardest working person in your company.

Many small business owners find that even after the struggling start-up years, they’re working too many hours and still managing every aspect of their businesses.

Do you suffer from any of the following?

1. Business ownership isn’t living up to the dream.
2. Endless workdays.
3. You can’t find good people.
4. Profits are less than expected.
5. You can never take a vacation.

You’re not alone. But there is a solution. As Greg demonstrates, with some time and effort, you really can Get More Life Out Of Your Business.

ORDER HERE

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Tag: Canada

The Bad

The Good

How to Spot the Difference

Research their background

Look at online reviews

Ask questions

Knowledge

Set expectations

Get a quote

Check their terms and conditions

Take your time

Conclusion

Get More LIFE Out of Your Business

Small Business

Invention

Innovation

The wristwatch

My experience

My innovation

Innovation through adaptation

Get More LIFE Out of Your Business

Think not worry!

The impact of Social Media

IBM – Think

Get More LIFE Out of Your Business

80% of owners wealth is in their company

5 simple steps to get you started

Freedom and security

Get More LIFE Out of Your Business

5 areas that require every owners attention

#1 Your health

#2 Key staff quits.

#3 Business interruption

#4 Competition

#5 Bad debt

Get More LIFE Out of Your Business

It’s about survival

My Pivot

Advantages

Get More LIFE Out of Your Business

My Google review

Responding to Google reviews helps

Key Statistics

Make them personal

Get More LIFE Out of Your Business

Briefing session

Small Business Tip#1 – Briefings

Track Time

Small Business Tip #2 – Teaching moments

My Turn

Small Business tip #3 – Simplify

On the track

Small Business Tip #4 – Status updates

The last session.

Small Business tip #5 – Pump the brakes

Go Slow to Go Fast

Get More LIFE Out of Your Business

2. Can we automate this?

3. Delegate as much as I could.

Get More LIFE Out of Your Business

Opportunities or distractions

Punch Buggy

Get More LIFE Out of Your Business

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