Small Business Minute Archives - Page 5 of 7

SBM #66 – Change Someday to Today

Tagged as: Balance, entrepreneur, entrepreneur lifestyle, entrepreneurship, Family, friendship, Life, lifestyle, small business, small business expert, Small Business Minute, Someday, Work

Someday I’ll be able to slow down. Someday I’ll be able to take more than just a couple of days off. Someday, someday, someday. This refrain is repeated daily by millions of overworked and underpaid entrepreneurs. Some feel trapped in a design of their own making.

Others feel they have traded their soul or some other part of their being for the sake of their company. Still, others are oblivious to what’s happening and just accept, whether it’s right or wrong, that this is what they signed up for.

They kid themselves every day into believing that someday is just around the corner, when in fact, it’s nothing more than just a shimmering mirage far off in the distance.

Entrepreneurial lifestyle

“Self employment is an insidious
lover that knows no boundaries”

When we take the entrepreneurial plunge, we readily accept certain realities, like long hours and reduced or no income. But if the truth be told, the list is much longer and it’s not until we are knee deep in it, do we realize how little we know about this thing called, the entrepreneurial lifestyle.

Self employment is an insidious lover that knows no boundaries. Left unchecked, it will consume your every waking moment with thoughts of opportunities, challenges, self doubt or euphoria and of course the promise of someday having a better future.

Throughout this journey, many never realize that as time creeps by, they have given up activities, interests and even friendships. They justify it by saying they don’t have time and the business requires all they’ve got, and someday they’ll reengage.

Entrepreneurship is a lifestyle unlike others and those that are successful have realized that they must either manage this lifestyle or risk being managed by this lifestyle. Entrepreneurship can provide an individual with tremendous freedom or enslave you to a life of servitude. The choice is yours and to blame the demands of the business on limiting the free time you have, is doing yourself and the business a disservice.

Why did you go into business in the first place? Like everyone else, you had a list of goals you hoped to achieve when you set out on your own, but again like most, we can longer find that list and we end up in someday mode.

Someday mode

If you’re one of the millions of entrepreneurs who find themselves in this someday mode, it’s time to do something about it. This is not to be taken as an intervention, but more of an attitude adjustment. Take a moment and think about what you’ve given up to date. It may be that you’re saying no a little more frequently to taking your children to their soccer practice. Maybe your turning down every invite to golf or some other activity you used to participate in, because your busy. When’s the last time you went for a bike ride or yoga or to the gym

What if you just said yes once in while? The work will always be there, but your friends and family may not. And what about your soul? You know you could use the distraction, so what’s stopping you, other than yourself?

Work life balance

Work life balance is tough to achieve on a daily basis, but not difficult occasionally. What about today? If you’re self employed, call your boss and tell them you’re taking the afternoon off, I’m sure they’ll understand and change someday to today!

Got a business challenge? Let me know and I may post a solution for you and your privacy will be assured.

You may also enjoy Work Life Balance

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 #63 – Don’t worry about the competition

Tagged as: competition, competitors, customer service, employees, performance standards, small business, small business expert, Small Business Minute

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Read Time: 5 mins

Don’t worry about your competition. Pretty unusual advice to receive for any business owner. To be sure, we need to know some things about our competitors like:

• Who they are
• What products they sell
• Their pricing strategy i.e. cheap or expensive
• Their reputation i.e. after sales service, timeliness, etc.

But this just makes good business sense. Far too often I find small business owners who obsess about every move their competitors make. This obsession often leads to distraction and paralysis as they are not sure whether to match a competitor’s activity or ignore it.

In industries where there is lots of competition, you run the risks of getting serious whiplash as you try to keep an eye on what they are all doing. Let’s be clear, some of your competitor’s activities will prove to be successful. When that happens, that’s your queue to borrow their strategy, provided you have the skills to make it happen, but not before.

Play your own game

Nine times out of ten though, my advice is to completely ignore what the competition is doing and to focus squarely on your own business. In other words, play your own game. What does play your game mean? Well, most us like to think we provide the best service possible to each and everyone of our clients. But do we really? Or, do we simply accept ”good enough” as our performance standard and only do our best once a customer complains?

Think about this for a second. If you were to outline what you consider to be the gold standard of service delivery in your industry, how do you stack up against those benchmarks? Now be honest. Chances are, we probably miss the mark on many and you know what? So do most of your competitors!

Performance standards

Although we talk a good game, do we really do what we say we’re going to do? Do we start when we say we’re going to start? Do we finish when we say we’re going to finish? Do we keep the customer informed throughout the assignment like we said we would? Probably not and why? Because most of us have never set performance standards.

Having performance standards is even more important as we add employees to the organization. As our company grows, we tend to get farther and farther away from the actual work. Where once you were directly involved, you could take corrective action and catch any oversights. Now, you’re relying on others to deliver the end results and you assume they know what your expectations are.

Everybody has their own standards

Statements like “we provide the best customer service” or “we are dependable” are hollow throwaway statements when they’re not backed up by any performance standards. We wrongly assume that our employees know what those words mean but unfortunately, they don’t because everyone has their own definitions and standards. The only way to get everybody on the same page, is by having a clear set of documented standards that outline expectations that are monitored and reviewed regularly.

So, what are some benchmarks or standards that we can put into place to ensure we are doing our best work? Here is a list to get you started and add to once you’re comfortable with the concept

Return phone calls and emails promptly – I had a policy that we returned all client telephone calls immediately or worse case before the day was done. Even, if we couldn’t answer their question immediately, we’d let them know we were on it and when we’d have the answer. Then get back to them when promised. In a subtle way showed them they were important.
Advise clients beforehand of any potential problems that may arise. For clients of my company, if we saw any stumbling blocks to success, we would advise them before beginning the assignment. In these situations, we would try to get them to tweak the parameters. If that was impossible, we typically advised them not to proceed. Why did we take that stand? It’s simple, we knew what it took to execute a successful program and we wanted to avoid marginal programs. It wasn’t worth the grief of explaining after the fact why things didn’t go as they expected. It was a powerful credibility builder when we told clients we didn’t want to spend their money.
Start when you say you will. Granted, things happen that can blow up your scheduling, but more often than not, you probably didn’t leave enough of a buffer between projects for the unexpected. If things go smoothly, then getting permission to start early is a lot more enjoyable than the alternative. If you absolutely must delay the start, give them lots of notice, so they can adjust accordingly.
Advise client immediately, when you encounter unforeseen problems and allow them to make a decision, instead of surprising them at the end with an larger than expected bill. That never goes over well

Too often, we get so enamoured chasing new customers or chasing the competition, that we forget to keep our promises to those customers who entrusted us in the first placed. By establishing company wide performance standards, you will deliver consistent results that make for loyal and profitable customers. I’ll promise you the competition won’t figure out what you’re doing.

Got some other ideas, let me know in the comments below

You may also enjoy Look as good as you sound

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 #61 Training Your Team

Tagged as: customer service, knowledge, sales, small business, small business expert, Small Business Minute

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Reading Time: 5 mins

We all have our own definitions of training for our team, but in all honesty, most of it sucks. Sure, for customer facing team members, we do the mandatory, how to acknowledge a customer stuff, with all the expected please and thank you’s.

It also goes without saying that we spend time teaching them “the system”, whether that be a retail POS or other software necessary to capture and order or process payment. Add to that the mandatory workplace safety and theft prevention training, we usually feel pretty good about our efforts.

This whole area of training, has been a sore point for me for quite some time and two situations minutes apart has made me want to revisit this topic. The extreme difference in the size of these two retailers served to reinforce how deficient product knowledge training is compared to the above mentioned items. One is a local franchise retailer whereas the other is part of a global department store chain.

Let’s begin with the local retailer. This is a specialty store whose main business is selling coffee pods and teas. Judging by the inventory, it would appear that the majority of their sales are Keurig pods. As we were looking for a specific brand of coffee we found on a recent trip, I used the opportunity to ask a couple questions regarding the availability, compatibility and difference between the original Keurig machine and the 2.0 machine. Theses are machines that they sell along with the coffee.

One in three

After and few hums and haws, the answer I received, and I paraphrase, was “I think so”. What made this so noteworthy was that another gentleman was in the store ahead of us and was asking some, what I thought, basic questions and the clerk was only able to answer one of his three questions.

Seriously, this is a specialty store and people were asking about the products in the store. Aside from basic pricing information and availability of some products, the individual had limited knowledge. As a specialty store, the staff should well versed on all products in the store. Why should a customer even bother to make a special trip to this store, when many of the brands they offer are available at the local grocery store?

The thing is, people usually frequent smaller stores in anticipation of receiving something, whether that be service or knowledge, not available at mass merchants and most will pay a small premium for it.

The sad part is, this is a store that I had been meaning to visit more than once and frankly I had expected more. Future trips, if any, will be very infrequent. What a missed opportunity.

Within 30 minutes of the previous experience, I headed to a major department store in search of some new luggage. My current bags had been run over once too often by airport baggage handling equipment and in dire need of replacement.

After spending 20 minutes in the department checking out their offerings a staff member finally showed up. With such a wide assortment of brands available, it’s difficult to determine which ones are quality versus value.

Looking for answers

As my interest was in purchasing a quality product that would last, I proceeded to ask the clerk which were the best brands for durability. She responded by saying Samsonite and Travelpro. So I asked why Travelpro? The answer I got was that they invented the roller wheels and that an airline pilot came up with the idea. It’s one of those replies that leaves you thinking, so?

My next question, was what makes them, Samsonite and Travelpro so good? Is the construction better? To which the respondent said they have a better warranty and yes, they’re better made. Again, it left me wondering how are they better made?

What I had expected was a little more in-depth answer along the lines of, they use a higher quality of materials or maybe they have greater structural support. This would have been an ideal time to show me the difference by opening comparable size items and point out the differences. But no, I was told that if I had any more questions that she would be right back!?

Clearly, this person had no idea what the product differentiators were and no doubt only sells based on price, or worse what the customer brought to the counter to purchase. The point is, I was fully prepared to purchase had I received the information I needed, but unfortunately, they were ill prepared.

Training should be mandatory and ongoing

Acquiring product knowledge is not difficult. The internet is a treasure trove of information on individual products and services. Better still, reach out to your suppliers and find out what they can do to help. Lunch and learn by manufacturer reps is just one way to get free training. Maybe the manufacturer has in-house data that they can share?

The point of all this is to say, that product knowledge training should carry, at minimum, equal weighting as processes. Taking the time to prioritize product knowledge and encouraging employees to do so on their own, will positively impact sales. The reality is that there are just too many alternatives in our hyper competitive environment, not to do so.

Yes, there has always been and always will be “tire kickers” who research products everywhere they can and then buy online or from a lower priced competitor. But that’s nothing new.

To counter that point, people are also very busy. Many just want to be served in a professional manner, by knowledgeable individuals. They are more than willing to buy from a company that will provide them the help and information they need to make an informed decision.

Training can be formal or informal, but it should be a priority, made mandatory and of course ongoing. Part of that training is to instill with the individual the desire to learn and explain the benefits of expanded knowledge, not just for the company but for the individual as well. People need to understand “what’s in it for them” and once they do, they’ll become self-motivated and everybody wins.

It’s no wonder the Amazon’s of the world are shipping more and more product everyday. Businesses of all sizes must realize that training is paramount, if they’re going to survive in this new age.

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 #60 Be Visible for More Sales

Tagged as: artificial reality, call display, communication, dividends, Email, marketing, recognition, sales, small business expert, Small Business Minute, virtual realitystickiness, voicemail

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Be visible is really nothing more than the opportunity to get in front of the customer in some meaningful way. Unfortunately, it is proving far more difficult to do so. B to C or B to B businesses are equally challenged in getting through to their customers, because there are just many more roadblocks.

In the time before voicemail, a phone call to a customer’s home resulted in one of three outcomes; no answer, a busy signal or someone actually answered, pretty predictable outcomes. Along comes voicemail and call display, so now people could just ignore the call. Voicemail was supposed to be a tool to communicate information in one’s absence, however it morphed into a call screening tool when call display arrived on the scene.

The voicemail call display duo

Calls to a business customer pretty much followed the same path, however businesses usually had an additional layer of screening in place, namely the receptionist. As telephony automation increased, direct dial to customers was initially more productive, however with the advent of the voicemail call display duo, making contact quickly became more difficult.

Email on the other hand,quickly replaced the telephone as a primary communication device between business and customer. And why not? It was an easy way to send your thoughts or proposals to a client at any time of the day and unlike voicemail, you retained a written copy. Although this did create a challenge for some individuals to up their writing skills as, until this point, even the smallest companies had admin personnel who edited and finalized the final correspondence.

A response was expected

The initial upside to email was that it was a novelty and individuals promptly responded to any item that hit their inboxes. Maybe it was the novelty of this wonderful, empowering communication tool, but times have changed. Once upon a time, proper etiquette wouldn’t allow you to ignore personally addressed correspondence, but today it’s common practice. No, it didn’t matter, if the former was hand written and sent via a postal service and the latter sent digitally. In both cases someone took the time to compose the communication and therefore a response was expected

The problem today is mostly driven by the bombardment of unnecessary CYA’s or cover your ass, cc’s, bcc’s emails and let’s not forget the biggest culprit of them all, spam! It’s overloading peoples inboxes.

Average office worker receives 121 emails per day

It’s no wonder, when it is estimated that the average office worker receives 121 emails per day and sends out 40 per day. At that rate, they would easily fall a month behind within 10 days if they had to reply to every one they received.

With every technological advancement, we drift farther and farther apart from our customers. Social media and SMS are all being layered on and hyped as customer connectors, but they’re not. Just imagine what will happen when AI (Artificial Intelligence) goes mainstream? We’ll never have to talk, correspond or meet again. It’ll all be done for us. I am hopeful that the combination of Alternative and Virtual Reality might right the ship, but I won’t hold my breath.

Maybe I’m old school, but I’ve always pushed for a face to face meetings. No matter how far I had to travel or how inconvenient it was, getting in front of new or existing clients was a major sales and marketing tactic for me. Nothing beats face to face customer interaction. It allows you to see the customers reaction to your comments, thoughts or proposal. It gives you the opportunity to be in the moment to correct any misunderstandings or expand on key points. You can’t do that effectively via email.

Stickiness

The other added benefit of to be visible, was stickiness. It’s a term I have used for years in support of my need to get in front of clients. This approach is directly responsible for more than a few million dollars of revenue that I generated.

In a nutshell, stickiness is the art of being visible within client’s businesses. I’m not suggesting setting up a desk in your clients premises, although not a bad idea if the client is big enough! Being visible within a client requires effort and patience. Effort, because with all the built in screens I mentioned earlier, it’s a challenge to get a client to respond to your requests. Patience, because with everyone running flat out, meetings are now scheduled weeks in advance and not days.

The payoff though, is the more frequent you are in a clients place of business, the more people will come to recognize you. The more they see you, the greater the odds that you’ll have the opportunity to talk with them. Of course, the more you talk with them, the more you have a chance to let them know what you do.

Opportunities to be visible

A typical scenario, for me was to arrange a meeting with a client and as time went on, I got to know or at least recognize other people in the business. As we made our way to the meeting room or the person’s office, I’d make a point of saying hi to anyone I knew. It was more of an opportunity for me to let them know I was in the building.

Over time this little acknowledgement led to someone telling me to stop by when my meeting was over as they either had a question or wanted to talk with me about something and that something was usually a potential opportunity. My estimate is that this happened 50% of the time. Again, the size of your clients will impact these numbers but don’t underestimate the potential of even in the smallest of companies.

Another opportunity to be visible is upon completion of a project. Make an appointment with the customer to review the engagement. Too often, I see owners just send off the summary report and an invoice and that’s the end of it. What a missed opportunity! This is exactly when you need to be visible. Generally speaking, the client is happy with the results and are open to other suggestions you may have.

On those occasions when it’s just physically impossible to be visible on a client’s premises, there are other ways to stay front and center. For instance, the client has asked for a quote. Far too many owners email the quote and hope for the best. Instead, once the email has been sent, call them to let them know you sent it, especially with the number of emails that end up in the junk folder. Alternatively, finish your cover email with a statement, such as “I’ll call you tomorrow to discuss”. Then make sure you call.

Looking for ways to be visible to your customers pays greater dividends to the small business owner than most of their social media activity.

You may also enjoy The Fear Of Decisions

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

Read Time: 3:58 minutes

I often get approached by entrepreneurs who are facing significant challenges in their businesses. By significant I mean – They’ve dug themselves into a hole so deep that they’re going to go out of business if something doesn’t change! So, my first piece of advice courtesy of Will Rogers , the American humourist is, “When you find yourself in a hole, quit digging!

As far back as I can remember, I’ve always been the person called upon to help fix a situation. For the less urgent ones, I’m more of a troubleshooter, as I usually had some time to assess the problem or problems and then sketch out a game plan.

On the other hand, when I’m approached by an owner with an urgent challenge, I usually take on the role of a firefighter. This is because the situation is critical and there is no time for naval gazing and strategizing. It’s a time for action. It’s more akin to a scorched earth approach, whereby nothing is sacred.

Got the t-shirt

It has been my experience, that in these situations to do anything less is not an option and speed is of the essence. These situations are usually long in the making but typically ignored until they become a full blown crisis. To an outside observer, you would wonder how it could have gotten so bad? But until you are in the thick of it, you’ll never really understand how these things happen. Been there, done that and I’ve got the t-shirt!

Of course, we’ve all read those inspirational books or articles that tell you to stick to it and persevere no matter how hard it is. Or, that suffering is the price you pay to be an entrepreneur. So, I want to tell you that there’s a limit to how much misery, you must put up with.

Unfortunately, when many of us are faced with business destroying crises, we tend to develop a bit of tunnel vision that limits our ability to see all the options available. Couple that with our desire to succeed, plus a little pride and ego, we don’t even consider any of the negative options that can effectively gut your company and your dream.

Strangely enough, when talking with these clients many already know what they “should” do. They just can’t bring themselves to do it, preferring to carry on hoping and praying that the situation will improve. Regrettably, it rarely does.

5 Survival Tips

If survival is your goal, then you must make the hard calls. The first of which is to reduce all your expenses, regardless of how uncomfortable you are. We’re talking survival here. The following list can get you thinking of some of the drastic measures you must take:

1. Move your business. Relocate to your residence or some other free or less expensive space.

2. Cut staff. Payroll is usually the largest expense a company has. Not a fun exercise but a necessary one.

3. Cut all non-core expenses. I mean everything. Nothing is sacred. Cell phone, copiers, coffee service, cleaning services. No more client lunches. Absolutely everything gets scrutinized.

4. Dump unprofitable clients. If you don’t know who they are, figure it out immediately. Deal only with those clients that are profitable now and pay promptly.

5. Streamline your product or service offerings to those items that are profitable. With reduced staffing, you probably won’t be able to support more than a couple of core services. So, do the stuff that makes you money.

Yes, I can state categorically, this is an painful and humbling process. But if you think the business and your sanity is worth saving then you have absolutely no choice. Once completed though, it’ll feel like a huge weight has been lifted off your shoulders.

Quit Digging

Many who have gone through this and survived have felt rejuvenated. It’s like they’re in start-up mode all over again and what they discover is that this is their happy place.

So, if you ever find yourself in a hole, quit digging!

You may also enjoy The Fear Of Decisions

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 #58 You Might Want to Check

Tagged as: Canada, entrepreneur, Facebook, Google, image, linkedIn, productivity, small business expert, Small Business Minute, social media, voicemail auto responder, website, yellow pages

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

We all spend time, money and other resources making sure we put forth the right professional imagine. Many people limit their definition of image to how we look, dress and speak and for the most part that would have been acceptable once upon a time. But not anymore.

In our connected digital world, the tools we use to do business number in the many. What was once a Yellow Pages ad has been replaced by a website and a variety of social media business pages. Where a human being answered the phone, auto attendants and voicemail now do the job. All in all, these are wonderful tools that have increased awareness and productivity and reduced operating costs in the average business.

We need to check

Unfortunately, because they do their jobs so efficiently and require little maintenance we often forget to check in on them to see how they’re doing. Because of this neglect, these tools may not be projecting your company, staff or yourself in the best light.

How often have you called someone and got their voicemail that states that they are away from the office between two specific dates? A common experience that we’ve all come across. Sadly, though the dates of their absence are months old. Similarly, you receive an email out of office notice, generated by an auto responder, that is weeks old! Lastly, you go to a website that clearly has not been updated in years. What message do these oversights send to their customers or business partners? That details aren’t important?

We already know

Why does this happen? There’s a pretty simple explanation. We don’t phone or email ourselves. Nor do we ever go to our own website. Why would we? We already know what we do. We already know which products or service we sell. We know where we are located and our phone number. So, we have no reason to check any of these things. But that’s exactly why they need to be checked regularly, because no one is.

So, here’s 7 things that need to be checked regularly:

Call your office main line and listen to the message. Does the message project the company imagine? Remember it was probably recorded a long time ago and possibly by an employee that is no longer there. This is one of your first point of contact with potential customers. Does it convey a welcoming and professional tone? If you cringe a little or think it can be better, then fix it now.
Next call each person’s extension. What does their personal message sound like? Is it clear? Is it what you’d like your customers to hear? Remember not everyone is comfortable recording a voicemail message. If it’s not to your liking, help them change it by writing a script for them and getting them to relax and smile while recording it.
Call everyone’s cell phone and listen to their messages. If you’re paying for the phones and include these numbers on business cards, then you have a right to check and enhance.
Send everyone in your company an email, including yourself. Don’t forget to include your company’s generic address such as info@ and sales@. Do you get an auto-attendant response? If not should you? If so, is it valid? Is it current?
Visit your website. First check to see if the contact information is current and accurate. Then move on to content. Is the information still current? Does it look cluttered? A very high percentage of prospective customers, will check your website prior to initiating contact so it behooves you to make sure the information isn’t dated. Does the site have to be an award winner? No, but it must at least contain current information.
Have you got a Google Business page? Is the information valid or current? Have you moved locations? Is your business hours and contact information accurate?
Are your social media pages such as Facebook, Linkedin, Google+ and so on contain the right data? Also consider that if you haven’t posted anything in months on these pages you may want to reengage or otherwise suspend them. Customers want to see timely information on these sites. That’s why they’re called Social Media not Static Media.

So, take a moment right now and put your customer hat on check your own voicemails, emails and the website. Do they sound, look and feel right? If not, fix it now because it’s probably costing you money.

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 #57 Recognition

Tagged as: appreciation, employee, entrepreneur, job satisfaction, leadership, motivation, professional speaker, small business expert, Small Business Minute, staff, success, trickle down

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Recognition is the easiest and most effective way to motivate employees, yet remarkably, one of the least used.¬ Entrepreneurs spend endless hours trying to figure out how to motivate their teams, yet ignore this basic human need.

A little research will show that there are an untold number of studies that rank recognition, or appreciation for their work, in the top 10 qualities that lead to job satisfaction, often placing it as the number one item.

The funny thing is, this is not revolutionary. I remember being a young manager in the pre-digital age and regularly coming across articles stating the exact same thing. A different time, a different generation, yet the very same piece of advice for managers. Tom Peters, in his seminal book, In Search of Excellence, stated that “we need to catch people doing something right”!

What about all the good?

All too often we’re quick to notice when something goes awry, we lose no time in bringing the misstep to the guilty party’s attention. Yet, how often have we ignored the many good things that same individual does? Is it because we take the position that it’s their job to do it right and that’s what I’m paying them for?

Catching people doing something right requires very little effort and only entails you to be on the lookout for those moments. Recognition of a job well done can have a significant impact on morale, on profitability as well as innovation.

Build confidence

Think about it for second. You catch someone doing something really well or took the initiative to try something new. At this point you thank them and let them know you’re pleased. So, what do think happens next? Well, it’s been my experience that a smile usually breaks across the individual face. Even the most grizzled employee will probably soften for a moment. That small action on your part signals that what they do, matters. It builds their confidence, all because someone noticed.

Let’s face it, we all like to be recognized. We all enjoy the occasional pat on the back. Don’t you beam just a little when a customer says, you did a great job? Well your employees are no different. Seriously, how much effort does it take to acknowledge a job well done? Very little!

Just a little effort

If you train yourself to be on the outlook, you’ll find plenty of moments to praise. Just be sure to be sincere. The following are just a couple of examples to prime your thinking

You overhear an employee on the phone with a customer and you’re impressed at how they handled the situation. So as soon as the call is completed, let them know that you were impressed and thank them for caring. You can’t wait until later. It must be done immediately after the call is completed to maximize it’s impact.

You task someone to query your customer database for a list of customers that either bought a specific product or service. Not only does the individual provide you what you asked for, but took it a step farther and provided a list of potential targets of that service or product.

Another employee, shares with you something a co-worker did to go the extra mile or how they helped another employee. You first thank the employee for bringing to your attention and then immediately let the other employee know that you appreciate what they did. That’s a double in my books.

It really does matter

These types of situations happen everyday in thousand of business, without the owners ever acknowledging the individuals for going the extra distance. Too be fair, many entrepreneurs do recognize the effort, but fail to let the employee know because they get busy and forget or they don’t think it matters. Let me be very clear on this point, it does matter!

By regularly acknowledging peoples good work, you set the stage for people to give a little more or try a little harder. By letting them know their efforts are appreciated, they will go the extra mile and the impact will have a trickle down effect throughout the organization that will be noticeable.

The beauty of catching people doing good is that it doesn’t cost anything. The reward is the recognition and knowing they are appreciated. So, I challenge you to spend the next week catching people doing good, and see if there is even the slightest change in morale. What have you got to lose?

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

What if, you could start your business all over again? What would you do differently? What do you like or dislike about your current business? What would you change?

Why Mess With A Good Thing?

These sound like simple questions and that’s because they are. As entrepreneurs, we seem to get ourselves trapped into doing things one way. And why wouldn’t we, if it’s brought us some success? Why mess with a good thing, right? Not necessarily.

One of the problems is that the longer we’re in business, the harder it is to make changes. We’ve managed to survive and maybe even consider ourselves successful or resigned ourselves to the fact that this is as good as it gets, even if deep down inside we know it could be better. But aren’t entrepreneurs supposed to work hard and overcome challenges? Of course, but not everyday!

It’s Not A Fair Trade

Didn’t you go into business to have a better life? I don’t believe anybody goes into business to sacrifice their life or their family for the cause. But so many do and all the long they know it’s not right. It’s not a fair trade, but they do it anyways, and many lose more than they gain.

So, what if you could do a “do over”? How would organize and operate your business differently than it is now? Should you have grown bigger or stayed smaller? Would you have a larger staff or less? Should you have targeted different customers? Should you have narrowed your product offerings? Wish you could have more automation or electronic processes?

Don’t Let Fear Stop You

The point is we all make mistakes and head down rabbit holes that take our businesses to places we wish we weren’t. Then, for some reason we lose sight that we absolute control over our destiny. We forget that we can change whatever we want and all it takes is a little courage and faith in our abilities. Don’t let fear stop you from something better.

Transitioning a business to where you’d really like it to be, is not a revolution, but more an evolution. The reality is we have existing commitments to clients, staff and suppliers. Refocusing our business should be done gradually, unless of course there is a crisis. Doing so, gives you the chance to monitor each change you make to ensure they are impactful and taking you where you want the business and your life to go.

Don’t Overwhelm Your Organization

Alternatively, the revolutionary approach risks alienating employees and customers and potentially overwhelming your organization with changes that can’t be managed. Doing too much too fast can leave you worse off than before.

So, what if you could do it all over again? What do you wish your ideal business would look like? Write it down. Don’t let the fact that you don’t know how to do something stop you. You can learn how or find someone who does know and get the help you need.

The objective is to get started down the road to reinventing the business you really want and it all starts with the simple question – What if?

You may also enjoy Define Your Own Success

An interesting read Shoe Dog

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

Every entrepreneur goes into business with a list of dreams, hopes and desires for their business and their life. Unfortunately, dreams require more than just hoping and praying for a successful outcome.

What we need to realize is that dreams are just the starting point of the entrepreneurial adventure. Dreams get us in the game, but to be successful in business requires being able to put all the pieces together in order to create a prosperous enterprise.

Those elements consist of:

Sales
Marketing
Operations
Administration
The thing is, most of us are only really good in one or, if we’re lucky, two of those areas.

Self Assessment

Each of those areas require a wide ranging set of skills, yet many entrepreneurs have no ideas what real strengths or weaknesses they possess. Putting our dreams aside for a few moments, we need to ask ourselves some questions. A little self evaluation, if you will.

• What skills do we really need for our business?
• Are our strengths aligned with the skills required for our type of business?
• Do we have the temperament to even be in business?

Find Your Strengths

Relying solely on our own answers, only gets us part of the way. We need to get a little more scientific, because we all think we’re exceptionally talented. However, if we can leverage our true strengths, our path to success becomes just a little bit easier.

Once we’ve done a self-evaluation, we need to follow it up with a formal personality profile to see if our reality aligns with our perceptions. There exists a number of profiling tools available at little or know cost such as Myers-Briggs or Disc. These are readily available on the internet. If you’ve never complete one, I encourage you to do so as soon as possible. They are insightful. Once completed, compare it to your self evaluation.

By knowing our strengths and weaknesses that get uncovered by these profiling questionnaires, provide you with a framework for your personal development. To thy own self be true.

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 #47 – Pricing For Profit

Tagged as: first mover, formula, margin, one third, pricing, profit, reduce cost, small business, small business expert, Small Business Minute

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

I’m frequently asked how one goes about pricing their goods and services for profit. It sounds like a simple enough question, but in reality, it can very complex. Get it right and all should be well. Get it wrong and you’ll be constantly chasing revenue, if only to pay the bills.

Now if your product is a “me too”, you don’t have a lot of flexibility, as the existing products have already established the pricing parameters and therefore you must compete accordingly. Raising your price becomes almost impossible. The only way to improve your profitability is either to reduce costs or add real value for which your customers are willing to pay a premium.

First Mover Advantage

Moving to higher quality or higher value allows you to break free of the commodity pricing, but with potential trade-offs. Chances are you’ll reduce the number of customers but add much higher profits on every sale.

Conversely, if you have a unique product or service, you can leverage the “first mover advantage” and command higher prices. This is because there is no opportunity for your customers to do any comparison pricing, because you’re the only one.

I leveraged this “first mover advantage” when I started the Marketing Resource Group. I expected to maintain my higher margins until such time as competitors caught on to what I was doing. Once that happened, I fully expected to reduce my margins, but that never happened and I maintained my premium pricing and margins.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of businesses, especially new businesses, are not sufficiently unique to enjoy unlimited pricing power. So how do you establish an initial price formula for that new product or service?

A Formula

What I have found to be an effective jumping off point is to use the 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 formula. This formula simply breaks down your costs into fixed and variable and then add the profit element. In practice, it would look something like this:

Fixed Costs $1 (33%)
Variable Costs $1 (33%)
Profit Margin $1 (33%)
_____________________
Selling Price $3

Is this a definitive formula? Absolutely not! But it does give you a wonderful starting point to establish your initial pricing target. In reality, many businesses have higher fixed or variable costs, in those cases, the fixed and variable costs shouldn’t exceed 2/3rd in order to protect your profit margin.

I’m sure there are many more complex pricing theorem out there, but this has worked me and my clients in helping to establish some pricing parameters. It forces you to identify all the actual costs that go into your product or service. Once these costs are identified, you can then layer on your expected profit margin starting with a 1/3.

Adjust Your Profits

By using this simple formula, you will actually be able to see how much profit you expect to make. This is of particular value when you end up in a competitive situation and need to be a little more aggressive in your pricing. Chances are you can’t adjust your cost base, but you can adjust your profit. Seeing how much or how little profit you’ll make on a given proposal, let’s you decide whether it’s worth doing as you’ll no longer be guessing at how much, if any profit you’ll make.

Over time, you will build up enough information on this new product or service to be able to refine or develop your own formula. In the meantime, this Pricing For Profit formula takes out some of the guesswork.

You may also like Revenue Without Profit Is Pointless

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: Small Business Minute

SBM #66 – Change Someday to Today

Entrepreneurial lifestyle

Get More LIFE Out of Your Business

SBM #63 – Don’t worry about the competition

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SBM #61 Training Your Team

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SBM #60 Be Visible for More Sales

The voicemail call display duo

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SBM #59 Quit Digging!

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We need to check

We already know

Get More LIFE Out of Your Business

SBM #57 Recognition

What about all the good?

Build confidence

Just a little effort

It really does matter

Get More LIFE Out of Your Business

SBM #52 – What If?

Why Mess With A Good Thing?

It’s Not A Fair Trade

Don’t Let Fear Stop You

Don’t Overwhelm Your Organization

Get More LIFE Out of Your Business

SBM#48 – Know Your Strengths

Self Assessment

Find Your Strengths

Get More LIFE Out of Your Business

SBM #47 – Pricing For Profit

First Mover Advantage

A Formula

Adjust Your Profits

Get More LIFE Out of Your Business

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