Ever wish there were more of YOU? You’d like more hours in a day, more days in the week to get done all the things you want done?

You can’t make more of YOU, but there are clear and proven ways to leverage your business. I define “leverage” as “ever more, with ever less”. You want more results with less of your time and resources. The way to leverage your business is with Systems. You should be systemizing 80% of your company’s functions, allowing you to deal with the exceptions to the rules. Eventually, this “firefighting” can be reduced to just a few events.

There are 4 areas in which you can multiply your efforts:

1. People & Education: By having the right people, well trained, you are free to work ON your business. You can begin to focus on your role as the business owner which is to develop your team to be ever more effective. It is critical to continue your education, as well. We don’t know what we don’t know, so keep investing in yourself.
2. Delivery & Distribution: Measuring your delivery systems and designing them to be more effective is a sure way to leverage your time. How long has it been since you reviewed the procedures in these areas? What are the chances that extra steps and effort has crept into your systems over the years? You know it’s there.
3. Testing & Measuring: Do you have a well-defined way to know what is happening in your business? What Key Performance Indicators you watch regularly? By actively testing new ideas and measuring performance, you can find ways to eliminate bottlenecks and inefficiency.
4. Systems & Technology: Technology is always changing and is likely well advanced since you reviewed your systems. This change can spell huge increases in your productivity and peace of mind.

Leverage is how you, the owner, increases your business without increasing your time and headaches. I have over 20 strategies for each of the 4 ways – let’s meet and discuss your opportunities.

Take my free Business Health Check to see what areas Leverage can help you.

What do you do with your team to build relationships and a sense of membership in your employees - especially over time? At our most recent ActionCLUB session on Team, we discussed the importance of Richuals (A ritual with a profit goal).

A Richual is something that your team does without fail to communicate a part of your culture (you do have a clearly defined culture, don’t you?). Your goal, as a business owner, is to define these Richuals and make sure it is conducted at all times. Here’s some examples from ActionCOACH:

WIFLE: This is a “What I Feel Like Expressing” time where everyone can express their feelings without discussion or challenge. We do them before some meetings and after some meetings. The goal is to get thoughts and feelings out in the open and not leave them bottled up inside. At first, everyone is shy and just speak platitudes but as the relationship grows, people become more open and share real thoughts and concerns. This is the goal.

Whoosh: This is a motion and a cheer that is prefaced by saying “Lock in the learnings and get rid of the negative thoughts.” We do it at the end of our meetings and it focuses us on the goals ahead.

I recommend these Richuals to my clients, but you can have your own. One company I owned in New Zealand had wine and beer for employees on every Friday afternoon. This was the custom for all companies, but it served the purpose of bringing every employee together at the end of the week and letting off some steam. We all felt like a team when we left for the weekend.

A key learning for the ActionCLUB members was that Business Owners need to DESIGN their businesses, not take what comes. Design your culture, your team, your rituals. Don’t leave anything to chance. It will change the way you run your business.

Let’s discuss how Richuals can transform your business.

You will find my free Business Health Check provides valuable insight.

Boom! It’s a new year! Where did that come from? How are you going to make this year different from last? Here’s 7 things you need:

1. Smart Goals: Specific, Measurable, Agreed By Team, Realistic, Time-Based. Without goals you have no chance to change anything.

2. Your Story: Create a story incorporating your goals. Be able to communicate your story to customers, team members, stakeholders.

3. Clear Marketing Plan (from Guerrilla Marketing by Levinson/Mclaughlin): Write 7 sentences to:

a. Explain the purpose of your marketing.

b. Spell out how you achieve that purpose by describing the benefits you provide to clients.

c. Specify your target market.

d. Describe your niche in that market.

e. Outline the marketing weapons you will use.

f. Focus on the identity of your business.

g. Establish your marketing budget.

4. Calendar of Events: Marketing campaigns, training events, sales events, key performance indicator milestones (average sale, # of leads, etc.)

5. Specific Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s): Measure every 90 days.

6. Clear Default Calendar: Focus on your ideal week.

7. Personal Development Plan: Training, recreation, Business Coach . . .

Most people would agree these would make 2012 a much better year, but few will spend the time or effort to implement them. Why? Because it’s easier not to.

Let’s meet over a cup of coffee and I’ll show you how you can have more time, more money and a more effective team in 2012.

Need more incentive? Take my free business health check!

One of the first exercises I have clients do is to draw their company’s organization chart. Not the one they currently have - but the one that they envision for the future - what the company should look like.

Try it: Draw your chart. It will have the usual boxes - sales, operations, marketing, etc. Maybe Customer Service, Maintenance, IT. Others that are industry or company specific. Once your boxes are drawn and identified, fill in the names of the people who currently do these functions.

Chances are, the owner’s name will fill several, if not all, the boxes. That’s ok. Now think about which boxes could be filled by members of your team. Could you delegate some of these functions?

Now, decide which box you would fill first with a new hire. Which one would free you up the most, generate more revenue, improve your profit. That’s the one to focus on.

Next, identify the second best box and the third. This process gives you a plan on who your next hire will be and it will be tied to what value they would bring. More time, more money, better service. In the meantime, keep thinking about why you have to wear all the hats.

If you’d like to see what parts of your business need attention, try my free Business Health Check.

The 3 Point Series: 3 Mistakes

I picked up a directory the other day - you know, the ones where businesses are listed in various categories and businesses buy space for their ads? I was looking through the ads to see whether the ads were effective, and it struck me that most of them made the same three mistakes.

We all agonize over how to market our business - all the options are well presented and we hear anecdotes about how this worked and that worked. But when we do it, the results are fuzzy. So to get the most out of those print ads, here are the three key mistakes to avoid:

Don’t put your company’s name at the top! You may think that is the most important information - after all, you want the reader to know about your business. But nobody cares who you are until they have a reason to care. Instead, you should identify the pain you will fix - snow removal, leaky pipes, up-to-date will. The top third is the most valuable real estate in the Ad - Get their attention and then tell them who you are in the bottom third.
No call to action! You have about 4 seconds to get them to decide to take action - give them a reason. “Call today for a free consultation.”, “Free trim with a window replacement.”, “Be in to win a prize.” You need to give them an incentive to take action. Put this in the center of your ad.
Too much information! We think that since we spent that money, we should jam as much info as possible into the space. You don’t have to tell them every service you offer, every product you carry. Have a clear message you want them to absorb and tell them how to get hold of you.
Bonus 4th: Don’t be cute! Some people try to get cute. One ad had a football field in the background, but it was cluttered and was just noise in the ad. Good graphics are wonderful - they should draw the reader in and support your message, but avoid littering the ad.
Next time you do a print ad, large or small, review your copy for these three mistakes. It will help your results dramatically. Good hunting!

How’s your marketing going? Have you competed the 8 step path to successful marketing? Let’s discuss it!

Business Stalled? Take my free Business Health Check.

Ever seen a ghost? I have! I was in college and working as a janitor for a local company. One of their clients was the YWCA which was then in a huge, old Victorian mansion by Creighton University. Spooky place - secret passages, locked rooms with rumors of crazy residents. Legends of murders. We cleaned at night, when no one was there.

One night I was vacuuming in a large office on the second floor. I had all the lights on ’cause ghosts don’t like lights. No one there, just me. Vacuuming. As I worked, looking at the floor in front of me, I saw something in the corner of my eye, run by the window, outside.

But I was on the second floor. There was no “outside” to run on. I waited and watched. Nothing. Started vacuuming again, pushing the old machine around. Suddenly, there it was again, going the other way. I jumped! Watching again, saw nothing.

I got brave and went to the window. Yep, second floor, no balcony, no ledge. But I had seen something zooming by the window, outside. I vacuumed some more, and yes, saw it again. Totally spooked, heart pounding, I moved slowly to the side of the room - and then I saw it — it was me!

This old Victorian mansion had curved glass in the windows, so my reflection moved in the opposite direction I did. As I was vacuuming, the fast motion was me reflected in the curved glass.

In ActionCOACH we define FEAR as False Expectations Appearing Real. This is what happened to me. I had a false expectation of scary things and they appeared very real to me. It froze me, kept me from working. So the question is, What False Expectations appear real to you? “Employees don’t care.” “I have to work 70 hours a week.” “The economy is too bad to build my business.” I’ve heard all of these and the business owners are frozen - can’t make a decision, can’t see how they could change.

That’s what a coach does - helps you see reality, helps you make a plan to begin. Holds you accountable to work on your goals. It’s powerful - but it’s scary. Change always is. But fear is usually based on false expectations.

Are your windows curved? Let’s straighten them out over a cup of coffee.

Not sure where to start? Take my free Business Health Check.

When I meet business owners, I try to determine where they are on my Business Health graph. Try rating yourself on your Enthusiasm for your role as a business owner and the Profit performance of your business. You’ll find yourself in one of the Quadrants - A, B, C or D.

If you’re Low Enthusiasm/Low Profit, you are in Quadrant C: Crisis. You need to make some fast changes or you risk losing the business or your sanity or both! Let’s meet to discuss whether your business is worth saving or whether there may be a better role for you.

If you are in Quadrant B: High Profit/Low Enthusiasm, you may have inherited your business or maybe the business has just lost the fun. You may be working too many hours or struggle with Team issues. In this area, you need to address your “Be” (borrowed from Zig Ziglar’s Be x Do = Have formula). You need to clarify your goals and understand your role as a business owner so that the business has new interest for you. You may need to reconsider your Team structure. As your coach, I can lead you through this discovery process.

If you are Low Profit/High Enthusiasm, Quadrant D, you are likely in a Startup phase or maybe you just have a Hobby, not a business. In this quadrant, you need to Do some things quickly to generate cashflow. I can show you the 5 Ways you can boost profits quickly.

Finally, if you are High Profit/High Enthusiasm,Quadrant A, you are “in the Action zone” and things are going well. But now is the time to step back and determine how you can take your business to the next level. You need to document your Systems and develop your Team so your business can work without you directing every action. We can walk through Action’s 6 Step Checklist to find the next step for you to take.

No matter where you are on the graph, a coach can help you achieve your goals. Let’s discuss where you are.

Want specifics on where you fit on the graph? Take my free Business Health Check.

When I was a young assistant manager at a fast food outlet, I would often feel a bit unproductive. The crew members were working hard, pumping out food and sometimes I was just watching the action. So I would step in and restock positions, empty the trash, wash the dishes. I was productive and making my team more efficient.

One day, my area manager visited and, after watching me be “productive”, pulled me aside and chewed me out royally. He wasn’t paying me my huge (lol) salary to wash dishes and sweep the floor. He was paying me to MANAGE. He then gave me an assignment I’ve never forgotten - run the restaurant with my HANDS IN MY POCKET!

Whoa! No more lifting, carrying, sweeping, packaging, washing. If I had something I wanted done, I had to use my team to do it. Reassign the positions, cover the missing person, then send them to do the work. I had to think about available resources, determine the most efficient use of the staff available, anticipate the customer patterns, clearly communicate what I wanted done and the time frame I expected. I had to MANAGE.

How about you? Can you run your business with your hands in your pockets? Or are you unloading the truck, doing the payroll, and, yes, emptying the trash? Your role as business owner is NOT to do the work. Your role is to plan, direct, design, encourage, make relationships and prepare. That’s the leverage you provide - getting more out of your people and assets. It’s what your team needs from you.

I challenge you to rethink how you spend your time. Training, planning - thinking! is the goal.

Let’s talk about your role - I’ll buy the coffee if you bring the topic!

You might want to take my FREE Business Health Check

The 3 Point Series: Common Marketing Mistakes

Business owners generally feel they should do marketing, but a surprising number do none. They have tried some things before which didn’t seem to work, so they are reluctant to spend more money. But a nagging thought remains that they should be doing something. Let’s look at three common marketing mistakes.

1. Undefined Target Market. Business people often think they can sell to anyone. If they have money, they could be customers. But the question isn’t whether someone COULD be a customer. The question is who is most LIKELY to be my customer, making my marketing spend most efficient. Think demographics but also think of other characteristics of users of your products. Older men with pickups, Teenagers who have iPads, Dog owners living in apartments. These are beyond demographics and their needs/wants are fairly definable.
2. Choosing Media before clearly defining the strategy. Business owners often think “I’ll do some Radio.” or a magazine salesman shows up and we buy an ad. Choosing the media is the last thing you do in your marketing plan, not the first. Only after you have done all the planning and defining are you in a position to decide which media will deliver your target.
3. Not Testing & Measuring. Too often people decide to advertise and then go big right away. Bet the wad, roll the dice. Not a good strategy. You need to experiment with some small tests first to determine if a strategy works. Send 100 letters instead of 10,000. Design 10 sales scripts and test them before rolling out the campaign. Research offers to see which have the most appeal to your targets. Then, once you’ve determined the most effective message and target, you can go big, with confidence.

Marketing is key to driving your business. It includes everything from large TV ad campaigns to you, the owner, chatting with someone on a sales call. You need to have a clear process to prepare for success and avoid these three mistakes.

If you’d like to discuss the 7 steps to a successful marketing campaign, you can CLICK HERE.

How’s your business doing? TAKE MY FREE BUSINESS HEALTH CHECK

If you’re a business owner, this year is over. The plans you’ve laid, the training you’ve done, the structures you’ve installed will determine how the rest of the year goes. There are many things you can do to improve the outcome, and you should prepare your 90 day plans to do this. Your ActionCOACH can help you. But to make 2012 dramatically different from 2011, you need to begin to work on next year, now.

Taught your child to ride a bike? Where do they look? At the road right in front of them. But that’ll cause some skinned knees! You have to teach them to look out ahead - 20 feet, 30 feet, even down the block. They’ve got to see things in time to make changes, alter their course. What’s right in front of them will come, no matter their view. To get better results, they have to raise their horizon.

So do you - Look out ahead a month, a quarter, a year. That’s your job as the owner. Prepare the way, set the course. Your employees are there to follow the path you lay out - that’s not your job. They are counting on you to avoid the pitfalls.

This is difficult - we all want to look at our feet. But we’ve go to lift our eyes and see the vision. Because this year is over.