Posts Tagged ‘business coach’

How to Semi-Retire From Your Business- Part Two

January 2nd, 2012 by stevezog

Involve the Entire Team: It is important to involve the entire team in this implementation process. Having an implementation team consisting of a select few will only lead to confusion, frustration and discontent.

In order to have an effective and efficient implementation system, it is essential to have everybody on the team involved.

This will also be a major contributing factor for the business owner, in moving closer to the next goal – letting go of the business and making it work on its own, by handing the reins of the business to those who will be ultimately responsible for running it.

Give Them Responsibility: The business owner can’t expect team members to work hard without giving them true responsibility for their jobs. If the business owner gives accountability, he also has to give responsibility. In addition, there has to be a system in place for rewards based on results.

It may be a share of the profits, for instance. This can bring out the best in all the team members.

Delegate: Delegating work goes far beyond just handing over responsibilities and jobs to other people; it means handing out the functions completely. It has much to do with letting go, instead of wanting to do everything oneself.

This is where one can see the true test of a leader.

Hands Off: It can be very useful to a general manager to run the business so that the business owner can step back more easily.

This is one good way of handling this situation, and in this manner, the business owner can leave the business in the hands of the expert who has been hired.

Easing Out: There are a few tips, as discussed in my Instant Systems book that can help a business owner ease out of the business, including:

- Not interfering with the work being done by the team members. They were hired to do the job, so let them do it.

- Giving up a parking space or office. Not having a place in the business will help keep the business owner from showing up all the time.

- Staying away from regular meetings, and just getting a brief from the general manager on the phone or via e-mail.

- Keeping all lines of communication open and remaining accessible.

- Scheduling periodic meetings or visit at the office from time to time, or showing up for specific meetings as required.

Handling Semi Retirement: While everyone hopes to achieve this state, many are not able to handle it when they really retire or in this case, semi-retire.

This is because they have been busy doing things and have been part of something productive.

However, the proposition of not having to go to work and still be paid can also be irresistible. One can deal with the pitfalls by developing a social life that you do not have to trade for money anymore.

But this doesn’t mean that the business owner will go back and start working in his business all over again.

This will mean investing.

An owner will now be making money with money to create wealth. While becoming a different type of business person in this sense is more challenging, in the end, many former owners find it is much more profitable.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Brad Sugars | No Comments »

How to Semi-Retire From Your Business- Part One

December 29th, 2011 by stevezog

When a person buys a business and becomes a business owner, more often than not, this translates into buying a job.

This is because a business owner is often involved in designing, planning and implementing systems to run a business.

It becomes very difficult for the business owner to get free from the business and hand over duties to others.

It takes a courageous business owner to make an enormous change in the way he or she approaches business in order to make the much-desired transition from having a job to becoming semi-retired.

This is because all change is difficult due to fear – mainly fear of the unknown.

There is also fear of change, as a move to semi-retirement means an owners needs to change the way the he or she works with the company and team-members, and also in the way he or she views money.

Instead of taking a wage from the business, an owner will now be making money by maximizing profit. This will completely change the mindset of the business owner.

As a result, the owner’s whole relationship with the business will undergo a change of mammoth proportions.

To ensure the entire process of change is handled carefully, here are some ways to ensure a smooth transition – making sure the business can operate successfully and profitably without the business owner:

Create the Right Environment: If the existing conditions are not conducive change, transition to any change will be difficult. The team members within the organization should be willing and ready to introduce new systems and should genuinely believe in the urgency and importance of any new system.

The environment should be oriented for change in another way as well. There should be a climate of trust within the business, because a change usually involves moving away from status quo and requires the team members to step outside their comfort zones.

Open Communication Channels: One way of creating the right environment for change is having open communication channels so that the business owner is able to communicate with team and vice-versa.

That’s why it is important for team to feel there is an “open door policy” as far as communication is concerned.

There is a need for effective communication within the business, which means that the messages being communicated are actually received, and understood in terms of content and intention. It also means that they are acted upon, if necessary.

This is because any communication must result in some type of action.

Provide Continuous Feedback: It is crucial to have strong leadership through this process of change.

The business owner needs to employ a leadership style that keeps the owner on the right path. The best way of doing this is by providing the team members with constant feedback. This can be done by tracking their progress with the system and keeping them in the loop on the developments taking place.

It helps to offer encouragement and support and encourage them to provide feedback.

Communication is a two-way street and it is the lifeblood of any business; make it a priority.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Brad Sugars | 1 Comment »

How To Get Good Business Advice from a Business Coach

December 26th, 2011 by stevezog

Even though business coaching is one of the fastest growing industries in the world, and demand for coaching services are high, many business owners really aren’t sure what benefits hiring a Business Coach can have for their companies.

The process of business coaching makes it a perfect resource for owners looking for business help for their companies.

Why?

Because a good Business Coach will not only help you get to your goals quicker, he or she will also keep you accountable to getting the results you say you want.

That is the main difference between business coaching and business consulting.

Most consultants simply give you a list of strategies or “things to do” to help turn your business around.

A good Business Coach will do that, but only after using a series of questions to determine the main problem areas and points of opportunity in a business.

By questioning and getting answers from the owner, the coach will then guide the owner in developing his or her own “to do” list … and will follow-up the next week to make sure those “to do’s” have actually been done.

This level of process and accountability are key in the coaching process.

It is also important that the business owner be willing and open to be coached, because if he or she isn’t, coaching (or any type of business help) is doomed to fail.

So what areas can a Business Coach help improve? Here are a series of questions that a coach may ask (and you can ask yourself) about your business right now:

1.Do you have a plan that will help your business do better this year than last year?

2.Do you know exactly what you want your business to do for you and your family?

3.Do you know what your best-selling product or service is?

4.Do you know what the profit margin on that product or service is?

5.Would you know how to grow your sales if you only had one or two product or service lines? If you are looking for business help on how to grow your sales and get more profits, business coaching may be a great resource for you.

Great leaders are always open and willing to discover new tools and tactics for success.

If you are willing to look outside of your company for business help business coaching can help:

- Build better teams

- Get more profits

- Get more time for yourself to better run your business, or spend time away from your company

- Get better planning and organization for your day More accurately and profitably price your products and services

- Generate more cashflow

- Choose the right technology for your company, from computers to phone systems

- Determine the numbers that will grow and drive your business to new levels of profitability

Business coaching is one of the most effective ways to get exponential (versus incremental) growth in any type of company … and it just might be the best way to get the same in yours.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Brad Sugars | No Comments »

Why You Should Start Your Own Business

December 23rd, 2011 by stevezog

THERE ARE SO MANY different ways to make it in business; many different ways through which you can reap the rewards of entrepreneurial success. Yet very few people ever learn what it really takes, and for some strange reason, fewer still will ever use what they’ve learned.

Often I meet people who think they’re in business for themselves and yet, by my definition, they’re not. Let me explain.

My definition of a business is the following: a commercial, profitable enterprise that works without me. Anything else has to be classified as something other than a true business.

As with most things in life, there are so many different levels to ‘being in business.’ Lots of people say they play sports, but at what level? Lots of people say they’re in business, but once again, at what level?

It’s not just ‘getting into your own business’ that will make you rich. Just as it’s not just doing some exercises that will get you to the Olympics.

There are specific strategies, skills, and so many more things you’ll need to follow to turn your business and wealth dreams into reality.

As you most probably know, it’s said that 80% of businesses fail within five years of start-up. I imagine these numbers are true, but I want you to remember this: most businesses do not fail because the owner didn’t work hard.

They don’t fail because the owner wants them to fail; they failed because the owner did not know what to do. In most cases they failed because the owner remained ignorant of the rules of the game.

I’ve always believed that business is a game, and if you want to play the game, you’d better learn the rules. What’s more, you’d better learn them from someone who’ve succeeded at the game. Not from the scorekeepers (accountants), the rule makers (lawyers), the spectators (employees), the money holders and collectors (bankers), and definitely not from other ‘D’ grade players (business owners who are just getting by or even failing).

You’ve got to learn the game from the best players and the best coaches. It seems so simple when you look at it from this angle. This, of course, raises another question. Who are the best players?

Before I answer that, I want to make one other point very clear: most people who fail in business can always find an excuse for their failure (some use fancy words like reasons), others just blame everyone around them other than themselves, and still others just bury their head in some sort of denial of the predicament they are in.

These three ways: blame, excuse and denial, are very much a product of the employee ‘specialist’ mentality — they help you play the game of the employee where you just want to keep your job.

On the other hand, there is only one way you’ll truly succeed in business. That is to throw out these ways, to stop playing the role of the victim and to start to play the role of the victor.

Learn that if you do make mistakes, take full responsibility for them, learn from them, correct, do some more, and so on— this is the path of a generalist entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurs truly take accountability and responsibility for their own lives, and as one you’ll realise that for your life to change, you must change.

Remember, it’s usually not the major concept (getting into business) that helps you create enormous success, it’s the fine distinctions and the small details you learn along the way that will allow you to jump from average to high performance.

Article reprinted courtesy of My Business Magazine

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Brad Sugars | No Comments »

The 20 Types of Executives – Part 3

December 5th, 2011 by stevezog

In our first two articles on this subject, we looked at the types of Executive personalities. Now, we’ll continue with our overview, so you can be better aware of your own type of personality and see how coaching could benefit you.

9. The General
The General is the old school command and control leader. He wants his people to be loyal, and to do what he wants them to do, on time, under budget, and his way. This leadership style can be effective, especially in organizations that need a clear direction. However, the “soldiers” who report to the General often complain that they don’t feel part of the bigger vision, and burn out from doing project after project, task after task, without a greater purpose or mission. They also resent being in a “mushroom farm” where they only get information on a need to know basis. Finally, younger workers do not respond well to the command and control style. The coach can help the General develop new ways to motivate, involve, and bring together teams to get results.

10. The Bureaucrat
The Bureaucrat needs specific processes followed and does things by the book. He is very similar to the “Safety First” archetype. The coach can work with the bureaucrat to focus on results instead of tasks, and to break out of his comfort zone.

11. The Perfectionist
The Perfectionist needs to get the A+ every time, even if the requirements of the work don’t demand a perfect score. He often makes decisions slowly, suffering from analysis paralysis, waiting for 100% complete and comprehensive information (which almost never exists). The coach needs to work with the perfectionist to do what’s needed for the job, to make decisions with imperfect information, and to be more willing to take risks without guarantees of success.

12. The Loose Cannon
This executive is the bull in the China shop. He says things that are politically incorrect, goes off topic in meetings to push his own agenda, pushes ideas without listening to others, and generally ignores the political structure of the organization to get things done. He also tends to be the “ready, fire, aim” type of leader. The coach can work with this person to become aware of the political nature of the organization, how to promote ideas more wisely, and how to do a bit more research before jumping to conclusions.

13. The Legal Liability
Some superstars in organizations have blind spots that can create a legal liability for the company. For instance, the brilliant neurosurgeon might be abusive to his nurses. The law firm partner might yell and swear at associates, even making personal attacks. In too many cases, these people cross the line into sexual harassment as well. Your job as a coach is to make it clear how serious these issues are, and work with the person to correct their behaviors immediately.

However, often the organization tolerates these behaviors, which means you may first have to go to the top levels of the organization and have them decide that they will no longer tolerate inappropriate behaviors, even if it means losing superstars (although the organization can make the case to the superstar that, if they do go elsewhere, other organizations will be far less tolerant). In other words, the neurosurgeon or other similar key person will not change if they don’t have to, especially if senior leadership tacitly tolerates the poor behavior. You may have to change the organization’s explicit values first in order to change the person second.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Brad Sugars | No Comments »

Business Mentor vs. Business Coach- Which is Better?

November 28th, 2011 by stevezog

The truth is both business mentors and business coaches are great options if you’re looking for business help.

They both serve different purposes, however, A business coach makes clients focus on the results of the job, and extends the time span of attention to months rather than days.

They explore the problem with the learner and set up opportunities for the learner to try out new skills.

A business mentor focuses on the individual learner developing through their career or life. A business mentor acts as a friend willing to play the part of an adversary in challenging the learner to widen their view.

As the world of business moves faster and gets more competitive, it is difficult to keep up with both the changes in your industry and, the innovations in sales, marketing and management strategies as well. Having a business mentor helps with all these changes.

On top of all this, it’s difficult to get a truly objective answer from yourself. A business mentor will provide valuable insight, help you develop long-term and short term goals and strategies, as well as improve your business in areas that you might have overlooked.

A business mentor:

*will make you focus on the game and your long-term strategies.
*will make you run more laps while making each round easier and more efficient.
*will tell it like it is.
*will give you small pointers based on years of experience.
*will listen.
*will help you develop long-term plans that will allow your business to function more efficiently and make even more profit.

What is a Business Coach?

A Business Coach is just like a sporting coach. A sporting coach pushes an athlete to achieve optimum performance, provides support when they are exhausted and teaches the athlete to execute plays that their competition does not anticipate. That’s what a business coach does – through business advice and coaching, a business coach teaches small business owners how to be successful and anticipate what other business owners don’t.

The role of the Business Coach is to coach business owners to improve their business through business advice, guidance, support and encouragement. Business advice helps owners of small and medium sized businesses with their sales, marketing, management, team building and so much more. Just like a sporting coach, your Business Coach will make you focus on the game, and prepare for the game with business advice, guidance and support.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Brad Sugars | 1 Comment »

Here’s Why You Should Avoid Discounting in Your Business

November 21st, 2011 by stevezog

Do you go in “too low” in the hope of undercutting your competition? If so, this is a huge mistake… unless your unique selling point (USP) is built around delivering low prices all the time. And unless you do huge volume, you are literally cutting your own throat in terms of profitability.

Do you use the same profit margin for all of your products or services? Nowhere is it written in any business “rule book” that you need to have the same margin across the board in your business.  In fact, if you do, you are seriously missing out on a major opportunity to boost your profits.

If you have slower moving products or high value services, you need to build in a high margin, and defend that price point in terms of value delivered. Yes, you can afford a smaller margin on higher volume sales items, but even then, you should find ways to add value and increase those margins.

“Everything counts” in pricing… and over time, you will benefit from even the small boosts in your margins. Do you understand the difference between margin and markup?

If you don’t, don’t feel bad.

Surprisingly, many business people don’t. But that ignorance is costing your company massively. Look at it this way – margin is always based on sales price, while markup is always based on cost.

If you have ever made the mistake (as one of my clients once did) of offering a line of products with a 100 per cent markup at 50 percent off, you’ll soon realize you are selling items at cost and you won’t be in business very long.
Do you forget to take all costs (even those “little” costs) into account? Do you have a good handle on every cost in your business? And I mean every cost?

If not, then you are “flying blind” in terms of pricing and margins.

To price correctly, you really do need to identify every cost… especially those “little” costs like credit card processing fees. Even at rates of 1-2 per cent on every transaction – those percentages add up over time.

A host of other costs, like mailing, delivery and shipping costs can also sneak up on you. Know them and track them consistently because they impact your bottom-line.

How can you add value to boost all of your price points? The bottom-line on discounting is that it simply destroys your profits, and you have to always make up in volume what you lose in the discount.

Just a 10 percent discount forces you to sell 50 percent more units just to stay “even” in terms of profitability.
Almost invisibly, your costs also increase in the “discount” game, which is why many companies literally discount themselves out of business.

So ask yourself instead how you can add value to your product or service. Maybe this “value add” is a “freemium” giveaway that won’t come out of your profits.

Maybe it’s a better experience with your company, your team or your product. Maybe it’s a fantastic guarantee.

Whatever it is, your “value add” has the potential to greatly leverage your pricing power, and your ability to hold firm on your price points.

Hopefully, a good review of your own pricing and cost structure will give you the insight – and the courage – to take your pricing to a new level.

Remember that strong pricing is the key to strong profits, and without profit, you may as well just give up the business and go get a job.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Brad Sugars | No Comments »

Strategies to Drive Your Business

November 10th, 2011 by stevezog

Business owners must understand  drivers that make their companies grow.

If they don’t, it is a problem, but it is also an opportunity for the business owner to grow their business, provided they understand which of the drivers they are neglecting.

Just a few new tools, or tweaks to an old strategy, can really drive revenues and profits. And when you understand what you are doing, it can take just a couple strategies consistently applied over time to really improve your business’ performance. Here are four strong strategies you can employ to begin moving in the right direction.

1) Accept the business cycle, and learn to profit from it- Just like the seasons, business has its ups and downs. Right now, we are coming out of economic “winter” and slowly heading into economic “spring.” What do you do in spring? Get your soil ready and plant your seeds.

In business terms, this means get a good marketing program in place and start planting “seeds” in your marketplace.

2) Learn the “Lifetime Value” of your customers- Once you realize how much you can earn from a customer over the “life” of your relationship with them, you can create all kinds of added-value propositions to ensure loyalty for that all important component of profit: repeat business.

You can also make better marketing decisions up-front, knowing that the cost of “buying” a new customer will be paid for by extra profits over time.

3) There are only five ways to increase your profits- You can get more leads, convert more leads to customers, get repeat business and more purchases from those customers, increase your price points and increase your profit margins. Just a 10% increase in each of these factors works out to a 61% increase in bottom-line profits. Increase all of them over time and you can exponentially grow your company.

4) Forget branding. Focus on leads- Put your efforts in generating more leads and create a great experience for your customers. When you do this your branding will fall into place. And of course don’t forget to test and measure all of your advertising and marketing efforts, because if you don’t, you are literally throwing money down the drain.

Now is the perfect time to put key strategies in place to get your company ready for the next upswing in the economy.

While no one knows when it will happen, it’s important to remember that  after winter comes spring, and those green shoots are not only showing up in your neighborhood, they are also showing up in businesses everywhere.

Make sure they show up – and continue to grow – in yours.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Brad Sugars | No Comments »

Catch Brad Sugars at the 2012 Business Excellence Forum

October 25th, 2011 by stevezog

Brad Sugars will be the featured speaker at each of the 2012 Business Excellence Forums. The first Business Excellence Forum will take place in Memphis, Tennessee, at the Hilton Memphis on January 13-14, 2012 and will be focused on businesses throughout the Americas.

Next, the EMEA (Europe/Middle East/Africa) Business Excellence Forum will take place at the De Vere Wokefield Park, Berkshire, England on January 20-21, 2012. Finally the Asia Pacific Business Excellence Forum will happen at the Sofitel Hotel located on the Gold Coast, in Australia on February 17-18, 2012.

Over the course of his storied professional career, Brad has been spent his life teaching business owners how to be more profitable and find balance in their lives. The Business Excellence Forum is a great way to continue to spread that message.

It is also the first event sponsored by ActionCOACH to be completely open to the public, which means even more people will be able to hear Brad deliver important strategies and tactics regarding challenges that businesses all over the world face.

“The business people and entrepreneurs that attend the Business Excellence Forum are focused on creating strong and profitable businesses. They are motivated and eager to learn, which makes speaking to them a lot of fun. When the audience is excited and ready to listen, a strong presentation can make a huge impact,” Sugars said.

The Business Excellence Forum is a great way for business owners and entrepreneurs to connect with other business owners from a given region in a fun, entertaining and educational setting.

No matter which venue, the 2012 Business Excellence Forum features outstanding speakers with dedicated expertise in the world of business, as well as networking events, workshops seminars and breakout sessions.

So don’t wait, spots are going fast. Just click on the link and guarantee your spot in the front row to catch Brad Sugars at the 2012 Business Excellence Forum.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Brad Sugars | 1 Comment »

ActionCOACH Wins People’s Choice Award

September 28th, 2011 by stevezog

ActionCOACH took its place among some of the top companies in the world this September as it was voted the favorite Business Services organization in the first People’s Choice Stevie® Awards for Favorite Companies.

The worldwide public vote was conducted as part of the 8th Annual International Business Awards, the only global, all-encompassing business awards program honoring great performances in business.

In all, more than 35,000 people cast their votes and ActionCOACH was the clear winner in the Business Services category.

If there’s one reason ActionCOACH won this award it is quite simply, results.

A recent U.S. study in South Florida showed that, despite the recession, companies that worked with an ActionCOACH Business Coach had grown revenues by more than $12 million. That study also showed coached businesses saw a return on investment (ROI) of $7.50 for every $1 invested in coaching.

In the United Kingdom, another study found 74% of ActionCOACH coached businesses increased sales last year compared to only 43% of non-coached businesses and while 53% of ActionCOACH coached businesses increased profits last year, while only 35% of non-coached businesses increased profits.

Every day the need for business coaching grows and the industry becomes more and more integral to the success of conventional businesses. And when it comes to being the People’s Choice, it’s the results we get that separates ActionCOACH from the competition.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Brad Sugars | No Comments »
« Older Entries
Brad Sugars Fan Page