Posts Tagged ‘business help’

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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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Business Ownership the Surest Way to Wealth- Part 1

December 12th, 2011 by stevezog

WHEN YOU CONSIDER the various ways to build your wealth, the three avenues are shares, property and business? But of the three, which is the best way of building wealth? For me, the answer is obvious and standout winner — business!

No matter what you read in the newspapers, business is — and has always been — the best way to build wealth. The biggest money investors on the planet are the venture capitalists (VC’s). They are ‘big money’ people who have excellent reasons why they put those dollars into certain deals.

Generally, they look at both a company’s management and opportunity for success. And in doing so, they don’t buy shares or property.

They buy whole businesses. Yes, they may acquire those firms through the purchase of shares. And they might get some property in the package. But overall, the world’s top VCs look for whole businesses they can buy. Some VC’s look at emerging industries in markets with high growth potential, while others look at existing industries and companies that are underperforming in their market or category.

The aim?

Turning those companies around.

Once a VC owns a company, a few things can happen. VC investors could split a company’s divisions up and sell them off in parts. Or they could decide to put their own management in place to help leverage growth. Or they may use a single business to buy other similar kinds of businesses to leverage cashflow and profits through acquisitions.

Whatever they may do, the point is the smartest and best money people in the world buy businesses. And if that’s what they do to make money, maybe it’s something you should do, too.

Why?

Because ownership allows control of day-to-day operations, something you can’t do when you buy shares in Microsoft.

Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer have their own team to do that. You can’t do that with property either — primarily because longterm capital appreciation is based on a variety of factors — most of which are outside your control.

But you can control business operations that produce and generate cashflow, and return on investment from profits on cashflow is the key to creating long-term wealth in a business. For the majority of entrepreneurs, I recommend the VC strategy of buying an existing business and turning it around. There are a lot of reasons for this, but the ‘find, fund and fix’ model is probably the simplest way I know to get into business for yourself to take advantage of everything entrepreneurship has to offer.

Article reprinted courtesy of My Business Magazine

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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.

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The Pros and Cons of Business Ownership

August 5th, 2011 by stevezog

There is something special about owning your own business. It can be a dream come true for most people. It is right at the top of the wish list for many along with owning your own home. Owning a business means a great deal of responsibility as well as a great deal of pride and joy.

Both the greatest joy and the greatest challenge are one in the same – freedom.

But the freedom of owning your own business is a two-edged sword.

While the freedom of being your own boss and driving your own destiny is a great feeling, whenever you first start a business you must give up a certain amount of freedom to get that business off the ground.

The sacrifice may be in the beginning of the process, but the joy comes further down the road when you experience the freedom of owning your business and having someone else run it for you.

That will come after much hard work and commitment on your part and the part of the team you put together.
What are the “pros” of owning your own business? It is a way of turning your dreams into reality. For many people, it is a life-long goal they have achieved. Their business is the tangible evidence, the fruits of their labor right before their eyes.

It is also the sense of personal fulfillment and professional accomplishment. It is a sense of purpose and vision and the opportunity for a creation of wealth and prosperity.

And it all starts and ends with you and your dream and commitment to seeing that dream come true.

Owning a business that provides a product or service that helps people is a real thrill for the business owner. Making a profit is even more of a thrill.

So what are the “cons”?

When you own a business, there will be days your employees will not show up and you will have to multi-task and fill in for them. You will have to sacrifice time with your family which oftentimes creates stress within itself.

Another con of owning a business is taking your work home with you – literally and figuratively.

Owning a new business is stressful enough but taking it home with you is absolutely unhealthy for you and your family.

There are always mountains and valleys – ups and downs – to owning any business. But valleys are important, because they help us learn and grow, and they make the mountain tops all that much more enjoyable.

When you own a business all the responsibilities are on your shoulders. You are responsible for a team, and you have to put the right team together and work together for a common goal.

There will be growing pains without a doubt, but that only means that you are growing.

In the end, there are few challenges that are more rewarding than owning a successful and profitable business. And now is one of the best times to start.

Are you “on the fence” about starting your new enterprise? Step up to the challenge and go for it. It may be one of the best decisions you have ever made.

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Five Top Selling Books for Business-Minded Improvement

July 5th, 2011 by stevezog

In the next two blogs we’ll take a look at 10 of the top selling business books ever written, a couple of which have been helping people since before World War II and are still relevant today. If you haven’t read any of the books mentioned, or just need another copy, just click on the title to buy your own.

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

Think and Grow Rich is a motivational personal development and self-help book written by Napoleon Hill and published in 1936, during the depths of the Great Depression. It is still a must read today, if for no other reason than to understand the foundation on which most other books of the genre are built. The title implies that this book deals only with how to achieve monetary wealth, but the author explains that the philosophy taught in the book can be used to help individuals do or be almost anything they want in this world. At the time of Hill’s death in 1970, Think and Grow Rich had sold 20 million copies and it remains the biggest seller of Hill’s books, and a perennial best-seller after nearly 70 years.

Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson

Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life, was published in 1998. It is a business fable by Spencer Johnson that describes how four characters deal with change in their work and life. Each character represents one of four typical reactions to change while they hunt for “cheese”. Who Moved My Cheese? spent five years on the New York Times Best Seller List and more than 23 million copies have been sold. While we may not all like parables, this book resonates to this day thanks to the easy to understand story that puts most people’s troubles into perspective.

The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

The Secret became incredibly well known when Oprah featured it on her television show. Soon after, it reached the top of the New York Times best-seller list and, to date, has sold almost 20 million copies. The Secret isn’t strictly a business book, but instead teaches the reader how to think and visualize in a way that leads to prosperity and growth. It was written by Rhonda Byrne and based upon William Walker Atkinson’s, The Science of Getting Rich, published in 1910. The Secret is somewhat controversial because many claim that the book misleads readers into thinking positive thoughts can influence a reader’s life and real-world outcomes, but there are many successful people that believe in The Secret and one can’t dispute its status as a best seller, no matter what they think of the text.

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, was first published in 1989 and is a self-help book written by Stephen R. Covey. To date it has sold more than 15 million copies in 38 languages. In this book, Covey presents an approach for being effective in attaining goals by aligning oneself with what he calls “true north” principles of a character ethic that he presents as universal and timeless. This book has been highly influential since its publication, especially in the way it has advanced the idea of the “abundance” mentality for both people and businesses. ActionCOACH, for one, takes great pride in its mentality of abundance, even making abundance one of the company’s 14 Points of Culture.

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

How to Win Friends and Influence People was written by Dale Carnegie and first published in 1936. Over the decades it has sold more than 15 million copies world-wide. While the book has been updated and changed periodically (the Seven Rules for Making Your Home Life Happier, as well as other sections were omitted from later editions) it still contains some timeless lessons about creating and developing a persona that helps you work with people in a more productive and profitable way. Like many classics, its message still resonates, as networking and dealing with people has never been more important than it is today.

In our next blog, we’ll fill out our Top 10 with five more terrific titles that have sold millions of copies around the world.

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Are We Ready for a New Way to Buy Groceries?

June 27th, 2011 by stevezog

What is more important, convenience or health? How about low prices or local products?

These are just two questions that come to mind when you hear about the newest type of grocery store, called in.gredients, which will open its first store in Austin, Texas this fall.

What makes in.gredients so different? Instead of your usual ShopRite or Smith’s supermarket, in.gredients promises to be the first “package-free, zero waste grocery store in the United States.”

“How is that even possible?” you might ask.

They will not sell items produced by major brands, instead focusing on local farmers and businesses to provide their wares, limiting the environmental footprint of the store.

Customers that shop at in.gredients will be asked to bring their own containers, because the items sold will not be packaged. For those customers that forget to bring their own packaging, disposable bags will be available.

While these ideas sound good, there’s a bigger question that a for-profit store has to focus on, how will they make money?

Will people really want to forget about all the convenience of shopping at a major supermarket to shop at a store where they have to bring their own bags and their choices are far more limited than what they are accustomed to? And will the prices be more than what people are used to paying?

Most people want to make their shopping experience as easy and hassle-free as possible, they have more than one or two people to consider when they do the grocery shopping and they can’t afford to pay premium prices for things they could by cheaper around the corner.

Of course, in.gredients isn’t really meant to cater to convenience shoppers, but will instead focus on environmentally conscious people who only eat healthy foods. Their website lists dozens of categories of foods they will sell, but meat doesn’t seem to be one of those categories, so vegetarians will be happy with the selection.

But is their target market large enough to even sustain a profitable business?

Sure Whole Foods has had tremendous success catering to a healthier target audience than most supermarket chains, but while their focus is on health, they offer all the convenience of the other brands in the marketplace.

On the other hand, in.gredients is a completely new way of shopping that may not appeal to those who are used to grabbing a package of hot dogs and buns on their way to a barbeque.

Whether the idea works or not will say a lot about the changing nature of the American consumer.

Have health and environmental concerns finally reached the tipping point where people are willing to pay more and be inconvenienced to fills those needs?

The story of in.gredients, beginning in the fall of 2011, may help us find out.

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Breaking Up is Hard To Do

June 9th, 2011 by stevezog

Even when they are successful, partnerships aren’t easy.

Nearly half of all marriages end in divorce and those relationships are between two people that presumably love each other. Business partnerships don’t usually involve people in love, so it’s no surprise that those relationships can go bad so quickly and irreparably.

So what can you do to protect yourself when the partnership for your small business goes bad?

The best way to avoid a bad business partnership is by protecting yourself BEFORE it starts by not getting into one, because once your partnership turns bad, your options are limited.

If you end up in a business partnership anyway, here are some things to think about.

Both you and your partner need to seriously consider all decisions beforehand and create a detailed operating agreement. This should be the source to turn to when you and your partner have issues that can’t be easily settled.

Once you’re in the partnership, if you don’t have an agreement that spells out how to handle issues, you may be in serious trouble.

You can’t simply ask your partner to go away or vote them off the business like a reality show. You will have to continue working with them or buy them out of their piece of the business if things go sour. Both of those situations can be impossible to deal with, so spelling out any and all eventualities ahead of time is key.

Remember, a partnership is a legal engagement and if you are partnering with someone who doesn’t pull their weight or fulfill their end of the bargain, you may have little to no recourse. You could end up spending months in court, suffering financially, losing your small or medium sized business, or worse.

If you’re already in a partnership, don’t have any written agreement with your partner and things are going downhill, what can you do?

Your goal should be to negotiate some sort of compromise with your partner. After all, they are in virtually the same position you’re in and will probably want to get out as well.

Start by talking to your partner, who may also be unhappy and looking for a way out. If leaving isn’t an option for either of you, you may want to think about restructuring the business to better reflect the work each of you do.

The simplest thing to do is to buyout the other owner, but there are some issues with that strategy. Buyouts can destroy your cash flow and those that leave, at times do so with valuable assets, leaving the business short-handed for a time.

And if you don’t have a buy-sell agreement in place, an angry partner can demand that a court set the price the business will be sold at. A judge can even order partners to stay together, even if both want out.

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