Entrepreneurs and small business owners have many unanswered questions. Some keep them awake at night, become a distraction during dinner, or remain one of life’s mysteries. As a strategic coach, one of the questions I want to ensure you have answers for is “what topics can I discuss with a strategic coach?”
Here are a few options to consider:
- Grow revenue
- Improve performance
- Enhance productivity
- Upgrade effectiveness
- Sharpen skills including qualifying prospects, networking, closing sales, listening
- Launch new product/service launch
- Grow profits
- Invigorate current product/service offering
- Refine your business concept
- Update your business model
- Pricing and/or proper rates
- Create or refine your strategic plan
- Lead generation strategies
- Expand brand awareness and/or market share
- New client acquisition strategies
- Develop exit strategy for your business
- Inbound marketing strategies
- Organization
- Reduce stress and/or overwhelm
- Time and/or Goal management
- Accountability
- Develop and/or refine ideal client profile
- Setting priorities
- Develop greater clarity and/or focus
- Improve self-care skills
Each business differs in its challenges and opportunities, which is why a customized approach to strategic coaching is most effective for getting the results you want. You can make the most of your strategic coaching by understanding and communicating your needs, preparing for each coaching appointment, commit to take action, and develop a willingness to do things differently or consider different options. After all, isn’t that why you hire a coach?
In the 14 plus years I’ve been a strategic coach, one of the greatest challenges faced by many small business owners and entrepreneurs is their ability to act upon the very plans and projects designed to grow their business. Overwhelmed by the many actions requiring what feels like “immediate attention”, the more important growth projects get put off until “tomorrow”. You know how this story ends, don’t you.
To put your business into a growth mode, consider the use of the “WWH” growth plan. “WWH” stands for the following:
What needs to be done
When will it be done
How will it be done
Here’s how you can grow your business with strategic coaching:
Create my 2012 strategic plan
Friday, February 3rd, 10 am – 2 pm
Schedule this in your calendar as an appointment with yourself. This prevents you from becoming distracted by other activities or putting off this vital activity until “tomorrow”.
1. Turn off all phones and email
2. Gather critical data from 2011
3. Re-evaluate and reset 2012 goals
4. Conduct necessary research
5. Develop my plan
6. Set up metrics
7. Schedule time each month to assess status and tweak the plan, if necessary.
You get the point. Sounds so simple, doesn’t it? Yet it’s not as easily applied because of the habits that already exist.
What would happen to your business growth if you were to implement strategic coaching for yourself and apply the “WWH” growth plan for one month? What have you got to lose?
In the spirit of the holidays, we’re making out our list, checking it twice, and finding out what is naughty and nice when it comes to growing your business. Our “naughty” list consists of a few things that hamper or stall business growth, where as our “nice” list contains ideas and concepts that encourage business growth.
Naughty:
- Lack of planning and, subsequently, clarity and direction
- Absent strategic plan (and goals)
- Doing the same thing expecting different results
- Clients that don’t fit your ideal client profile
- Under earning
- Lack of timely follow-up
- Unclear brand
- Outdated marketing collaterals
- Multitasking
- Desperation
Nice:
- Implement strategic planning
- Transform the way you think (and conduct) your business
- Take a quantum leap
- Hire a coach
- Work ONLY with your ideal clients
- Slow down in order to be thoughtful about your strategic execution
- Eliminate 15% of your clients to allow for those who are a better fit to find you
- Inbound Marketing
- Take time to rest and rejuvenate
- Hire vendors and staffing for the company you intend to become
- Work your best hours
- Provide the unexpected to your clients
- Remain relevant
- Demonstrate gratitude
- Establish value-based goals
Frankly, most businesses have a bit of “naughty” mixed in with the “nice”.
Our wish for you this holiday season? That you enjoy increasingly greater amounts of “nice” for the upcoming year.
Time is money. It’s a suitable mantra for any business professionals but its even more critical for the small office – home office entrepreneur.
Recently, I turned to the colleagues in my professional network for small business advice on their best time-saving technology. Here is what I learned:
- Kenneth Larson uses flash drives that allow you to work on a variety of client projects at a variety of locations and computers
- Lou Susi uses 'Design Thinking' — “sometimes just drawing out an idea and talking through it can save a ton of time and energy.”
- Wallace Jackson suggests a “Gateway HexaCore 64-bit Win7 AMD Workstation with 9GB DDR5 & 1.5TB HDD” for lighting fast speed.
- George Tyler & Lorraine Duncan recommend “Hootsuite for scheduling LinkedIn, Tweets and Facebook posts.” Hootsuite allows you to schedule social media posts months in advance. This is a time-saving technology we happen to love also.
- Jimmy uses “Dropbox and Giant cloud application (these both are file sharing & transfer applications). Also Location Based Apps on my iPhone...help me to reach destination easy.”
- Gayle LaSalle shared some wise council when she said “knowing when to say no. It is a complete sentence, after all. Don't agree to do things you don't want to or don't have the time for.” Can we get an Amen?
- Dhanasekar D uses his phone as a time-saver. Rather than live behind his keyboard, email or social media, Dhana saves time by picking up his phone to get fast answers.
- Cheri Baker is a big fan of “dual monitors.” It's amazing how much faster you can get desk work done if you can read off of one screen while typing or inputting into the other screen.”
- Dean Berry’s “favorite time-saving technology is www.My28Links.com reasoning: I do not have to type urls, search my favorites or try to remember all the websites I visit on a daily, monthly or yearly basis.”
- Kim Luu is a big fan of “cloud based on most everything. It allows me to spontaneously capture thoughts as I dictate as well as work with clients. I can access anything I need.”
- Bernie Siben became a fast friend with his time-saving response: “A Smith & Wesson - so much faster than poison.” We always appreciate a good sense of humor!
- Dave Maskin suggests “Google search”.
- Chris Barton likes using a “small notepad and pen”.
- Rebecca Gebhardt Brizi highly recommends “MindMaps - Mainly because it easy to review and re-arrange your notes, schedule, whatever it is you are capturing.” Check out Wisemapping, a free online mindmapping platform.
- Judy Hojel is a raving fan of her “pen and paper! I plan many training courses and presentations and I've learnt over the years that I can save myself much time and frustration by putting pen to paper first. Later I can transfer my information, but for me the initial story boarding is best done without technology!”
- Cristina Falcao uses “email, cloud storage and USB sticks”.
- Dawud Miracle uses the best non-technology available by taking regularly schedule breaks. “Every 50 minutes, I step away from my work, go outside for a few minutes, breathe in fresh air and drink some water. Doing this 5, 6, 7 times a day has increased my overall productivity by about 25% over just sitting and grinding all day or just taking a break here and there.”
- Aabhas Zaveri advocates “Automation Anywhere, a business process automation tool that automates practically anything that I do over my desktop, network or internet manually and repeatedly.”
- Laura Lara uses remote access with her clients. It not only saves her time but keeps her off the freeway.
- Zoey Smith is a big fan of all things Google. With a highly collaborative team, she finds Google calendar, email search, docs, and talk help her and her team stay connected.
- Scott Siders uses Ping.fm to automate his social media posts and save valuable time.
- Margaret Jacoby loves her new Neat Desk, desktop scanner, to save her time and keep her receipts and papers under control.
- Time Trade is one of our favorite new time-saving technologies. Time Trade affords you the ease of scheduling important meetings and/or calls via email while avoiding the back-and-forth time-wasting email exchange.
What is YOUR favorite time-saving technology?
Like peanut butter and jelly, the future of small business growth lies in developing meaningful partnerships. And, with the right type of planning, “teaming up” can prove to be a match made in heaven.
As with any good relationship, victory begins with the quest for self-discovery and awareness. It’s essential to ask yourself:
- What is our intended purpose for developing an alliance?
- What do we expect to gain from the association?
- What assets do we bring to the partnership?
- How does an alliance fit into our business plan?
Once you’ve determined that an alliance would fit into your overall strategy, the next step is to identify the companies that would be a potential match. Conducting extensive research to find the perfect “mate” will be crucial to your success. Inquiries to make include:
- What companies reach the market that we currently serve?
- What businesses make products or provide services that relate to our business?
- What ventures have a vision and values that are similar to ours?
- What companies have expressed an interest in collaborating with us?
- What enterprises have similar standards, work ethic, and commitment to excellence that we have?
Once you completed your homework, you’re ready to begin building a partnership that creates a win-win for all parties involved (owners and employees, alike). The path to successful alliances does not have to be littered with misunderstandings and disagreements. Honest and open communications, up front, can clear away any potential barriers to performance. Areas to discuss include:
- Purpose and vision – why are we doing what we’re doing?
- Performance targets – what objectives and goals reflect what both parties expect to gain from the alliance? Are they realistic based on the amount of resources both parties are willing to put forth? What needs to be achieved by when?
- Working agreements what responsibilities is each business willing to take on? What are the norms of acceptable behavior? How can we best work together to achieve our goals?
- Problem solving how will we utilize the talent of both companies to solve problems?
- Decision-making – what process will be used to make decisions? In the event of an inability to arrive at a mutually beneficial decision, who will be the final influence?
- Meeting effectiveness – How will we use meetings to enhance the power of the alliance? How frequently will we meet? What information will be shared?
- Managing differences – What is our plan for resolving conflict?
There are no right or wrong answers. You must create the path that fits your new entity best. Whatever your alliance strategy, treat your new enterprise with care. It takes a lot less effort to kill a new effort than it does to nourish it. Nurture it all you can.
By
Joy Montgomery 
You're up and running but projects are taking longer than you expected. You're running into problems that are chipping away at your finances. Customers aren't paying as quickly as you thought they would. Expenses don't stop and wait for you to have money. Opportunities to buy materials at an attractive price don't wait until you have money. These and other issues affect your ability to keep yourself in growth mode. Here are three tips on where you can start having a positive affect on your cash flow.
1. Cash Cow. Looking at your operation, there's something that is an entry-level product or something that you created in-house to streamline your own processes. Consider putting some emphasis on the quick products that can create a steady flow of income. A high-tech company had a test unit that field engineers took out into remote areas to test the strength of the product. No thought had been given to the marketability of that simple unit and it had the potential to generate sales in remote areas around the world. It was the most inexpensive item that the company built and had never been considered as a product. Another company had a little program that helped their own test engineers with their work. It was another unidentified product that could generate steady income. The owner of a small recruiting firm created a program to simplify his job. With very little effort, it could be used to manage any small business. The last time I saw him, he said that he had sold a number of the programs and made millions with them. It may not even be the business you're in but there could be a steady income generator hiding in your operation.
2. Changes. This is not about bringing in more money. It's about plugging leaks. My father was a General Contractor when I was a baby. The first and only project he ever had was a beautiful home in Marin County in Northern California. Dad had a partner - George. George was a customer pleaser. While Dad was out buying materials, George would be ripping out the bathroom because the homeowner realized they didn't like the color of the floor to ceiling tile as much as they thought they would. Of course, that meant that the coordinating floor tiles had to go, too. George always promised there would be no charge for changes. The project made the cover of Better Homes & Gardens but it drove Dad and George into bankruptcy. If you were building a bridge between two cities you would have agreement on the specifications, completion date, and costs. If, when you were 90% done, the Mayors came to you and said they made a mistake and should have had one more lane in each direction, you could probably say, "No problem. We planned for future expansion in the design." When the Mayors wanted assurance that you would still complete the job by the same deadline and for the same costs, you would discuss the increased time and money. You may not be building anything as big as a bridge but don't let change requests eat up your cash.
3. Connections. Keeping your nose to the grindstone does a couple things. It wears you out and it prevents you from discovering information outside of your company that might have a significant effect on your operation. One small company struggling with cash flow issues didn't have anyone available for networking. They brought in an operations management consultant whose marketing efforts were all about networking. As problems came up in conversation, the consultant had connections who had answers. Some zoning issues that created a safety problem for the employees had a surprising solution when the consultant mentioned the issue to a networking contact who was a commercial building contractor. The consultant knew an attorney who specialized in another area the company needed help with. A casual conversation between the consultant and a networking contact revealed a previously unidentified market for the customer's product. All three of those happened over a two-day period as a result of the consultant's ongoing networking efforts. It's worth your time to stay connected to people outside of your company.
Conclusion: These kinds of solutions can be an ongoing benefit for your business with
clear, concise communication of the problems that are restricting your cash flow. Keep your eye out for the kinds of opportunities you've seen here.
Joy Montgomery is a coach for startups, small businesses and job seekers. She helps you position yourself for
growth, profitability, and acquisition.
Article Source:
Cash Flow - Want Some Tips?
One of the most effective ways to grow your business is to develop strong relationships - online or offline - with a group of people who know you, have a clear understanding of your products and/or services, AND enthusiastically promote you to their network. How do you create such a robust network? Here are five steps to ensure that your “net” is working.
- Take the first step. Find out how you can support those in your network and their endeavors BEFORE asking for support. Show you’re sincerely interested by your actions. Be the first to provide referrals.
- Know how many people you can successfully serve. Networks need tender loving care to thrive. When you can no longer cultivate the current relationships in your network, you may have reached your capacity. Don’t spread yourself too thin.
- Be visible. Do you know the old saying “out of sight, out of mind?” The same principle applies to your network. Remain visible through calls, notes, e-mails, luncheons, and meetings. Caution—know the difference between being visible and being annoying.
- Support the members of your network. When a member of your network has an open house—attend. If you are in the vicinity of a member’s business, stop in. Distribute your network’s business cards to your clientsand/or display their cards in your place of business.
- Clearly articulate your needs. Be clear and concise about who you are, what you provide, what you do for your clients, and the type of clients you are seeking to make it easier for your network to grasp your offerings and promote you to others.
Given the fact that the average person knows 250 people, devoting valuable resources to cultivating a productive network can produce a substantial return on your investment. (Can you imagine what your return would be if your network was greater than average?)
I recently saw a question on Linkedin that got me thinking of business growth. (Have you achieved any notable business growth in the recent few years?) In this economy, business growth is on everyone's mind. Although the economy remains uncertain, growth opportunities exist as evidenced by our own clients and their success. As 2011 draws to a close, its time to think about how you'll grow your business in 2012.
1. Where are you currently experiencing growth? It's easy to develop blinders to your business growth if you're only focused on revenue. Growth doesn't always come in the most obvious ways. Other areas of business growth to track include profit, referrals, website visits, sales appointments, etc.
2. How can you capitalize on the growth areas in your business? Albert Enstein defined insanity as "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Focusing on the bright spots of growth in your business - and making the most of them - puts an end to the craziness.
3. How can you target growth industries? Five industries are targeted for growth in 2012 and beyond. These include:
- testing/eductational support including tech schools
- internet/technology especially start-ups with big ideas and capital
- ecofriendly products and services
- residential and commercial construction especially specialty contractors like drywall specialists, glass contractors and architects
- health care industry including acupuncturists, massage therapists, yoga instructors, physical therapy, and those providing elder care
What can you do to promote your products or services to these industries and grow along with them?
What are you doing to grow your business in 2012?
Growing your business in any economy has its challenges but during times of economic uncertainty, it requires the best from everyone on the team. Although you feel like a team of “one”, you may discover that you have more brain power and skill at your disposal by learning to enlist, engage, and involve vendors or suppliers to help grow your business.
When my dad launched his diesel repair business in 1972, business was simple. It was easy to be skilled in his craft and knowledgeable (not skilled) in a variety of areas needed to run the business, such as planning, finances, and marketing. That is certainly not today’s business environment. Information is coming at us at an accelerated rate. Keeping up with new developments in one’s own field of expertise is a challenge. Staying relevant in industries not core to your business, yet vital to your success, is near impossible. Reaching out for assistance is the first step to growing your business.
1. Seek experts (vendors/suppliers) for your business. Steve Jobs made growing a business look simple. How did he do it? He surrounded himself with expertise so he could focus on his true talents.
You’re the master at your craft...your core business, therefore you want to look for specialists in the areas of human resources, legal, bookkeeping & accounting, sales & marketing, graphic/web design, IT support, and business coaching. (I saved the best for last.)
Ask your trusted colleagues and valued friends for referrals, explore online, or draw on the search capabilities of Linkedin.
2. Interview several vendors/suppliers. One size doesn’t fit everyone when it comes to finding the right support so you’ll want to interview three to four specialists for each vendor position to ensure the right fit. Take your time with the interview process. Educate them on the way you do business. Ask about their standards of excellence, rate of dependability, and commitment to ongoing learning. You want a team of experts that works proactively on your behalf to pull your business forward.
3. Engage your team of experts quarterly. Once you’ve identified your team of experts, actively engage them in growing your business by meeting with them quarterly. Ideally, it’s best to meet with your entire team simultaneously in person or by phone. This ensures everyone is playing from the same game plan and is a major time saver for you, the busy entrepreneur.
4. Replace as needed. A business is only as strong as its weakest link. Even the most thorough interview process doesn’t always reveal chinks in the armor. ‘Replace early and replace often’ is our motto. Although that sounds harsh, your business can’t afford to be held back by vendors/suppliers that are slow to respond or reactive to your business needs.
As a small business entrepreneur, you need talented vendors/suppliers on your team. And, you need them before a problem arises! Building your team of experts now saves you a tremendous amount of time, money, and brain cells.
What other ways do you engage your vendors in growing your business?
There comes a time in the life cycle of your business when you need to consider the type of entity you want it to be.
If you're a reader of this blog, then you're already focused on business strategy, and legal planning should be a part of your arsenal. As an attorney that primarily works with entrepreneurs in southern California, a frequent question I'm asked is how to formalize a business and what the best entity route to take is. There is a virtual alphabet soup of options out there, and the IRS self-help info available is not what I'd call an enjoyable read. Here is a handy "cheat sheet" to introduce your entity choices and important considerations, to help you maximize your time with your tax professional, business consultant, and lawyer. This should not be the substitute for legal advice, but a way to help you start the conversation and organize the research material you gather.
Why does choice of entity matter?
Your business is unique, and your entity should be, too. What's right for your artisan jam business may not be right for a tech startup. It affects how much you'll pay in taxes, what happens when one of your vendors or customers sues you, how you grow your business in terms of raising money, bringing in partners and employees, and how much paperwork you'll have to do.
Sole Proprietorship
Sole Proprietorship is a common form for small businesses that do not have a lot of startup capital. The setup paperwork and licensing involved is primarily at the city or county level. You are taxed as an individual, and all debts, profits and liabilities are yours personally. This is a popular choice in California to avoid paying the corporate tax. However, it leaves you unprotected in case of a lawsuit, and makes it difficult to raise money as you grow.
C Corp
"C Corp" is shorthand you may have heard for a "C Corporation." Incorporating your business will create a separate entity. It is taxed and treated separately, and there are stringent filing requirements with the secretary of state. You'll have to register for a tax ID with the IRS and state in order to pay yourself. You'll have to maintain corporate paperwork, file updated statements and pay fees regularly. The benefits are limiting your liability in case of a lawsuit, you can issue stock or offer stock options to employees, and you'll appear more attractive to investors and talent.
Variations on the theme: S Corp
You may have heard about the "S Corp." S Corporation is not a separate entity, it is an election you can make with the IRS to have your corporation taxed differently. You enjoy the legal protection benefits, but your profits and losses "flow through" to your personal return. There are restrictions on who may own a majority share in an S corporation, such as U.S. residency. S Corps are still subject to the yearly franchise tax in California as well.
LLC
A Limited Liability Company is a hybrid between a corporation and a partnership, and is very customizable. It allows members to have the limited liability of a corporation without the paperwork compliance load, and the tax benefits and hands-on management control of partnership. Generally it requires more than one member.
General Partnership
If you want to run your business with one or more people (or companies), a general partnership is another option. California requires filing with the secretary of state, and apportionment of taxes amongst partners. All partners can be directly involved in managing business affairs, but also can be held personally liable.
Limited Partnership
A Limited Partnership is a variation on the partnership structure to allow partners to enjoy tax benefits and limited liability. The catch is, only one General Partner is permitted to manage the day to day affairs of the business, and does not have limited liability. The Limited Partners only maintain a passive investment role. This may be more appropriate if you are seeking to partner with other corporations.
But wait! There's more!
As you can see, there are many choices too complex to fully analyze in one post. I haven't even dipped a toe into the fascinating waters of professional entities, and business entities you can form in other states. Hopefully this will give you some food for thought and discussion topics with your business advisors. --Nicholle Mineiro, http://lawbydesign.wordpress.com