Business Owner Newsletter - Page 41

A proper Income Statement shows those disbursements that are generally deductible expenses for income tax purposes, but does not show certain types of disbursements, such as principal payments on loans, or the cost of acquiring a major piece of equipment.  The Balance Sheet gives you a snapshot of the business' worth, based on what are called "Generally Accepted Accounting Principles", but there is a lot that a Balance Sheet does not tell you about the true condition of your business.  In short, Balance Sheets and Income Statements are exactly what your accountant wants and needs to see in order to properly prepare the business' tax returns, but they don't tell you all of the story you need to know in order to run the business on a day-to-day basis.

There are volumes written on leadership, and quotes that end to end would circle the earth several times.  In spite of the volume, there are only a very few basic themes that keep repeating themselves.  Those themes involve clarity of vision and purpose, an ability to move others to action, and an ability to draw out the greatness that already exists in others.

I once asked a retired CEO of a regional bank how he would describe his function in his former position.  He simply said, “I was the Keeper of the Flame”.  That was both an exciting and intriguing response, so I pressed on with more questions.  He described his view of leadership in that position as creating real clarity around the overall results the organization wanted to achieve…the end-game, if you will…the final picture.  To complete the picture, it then had to be imbued with a clear sense of shared purpose and value, so that it became like lighting a torch…a Flame.  It has an aura of something bigger that any one person in the organization, even the leader.  He then had the job of continually reminding everyone in the organization of the Flame and it’s meaning, and using the Flame to shine a light on all the activity in the organization, to the end that the final picture would be achieved.

Your customer is your businesses' lifeline to success, and through meeting the needs of your customers, you will be meeting the needs of your business.  Discover and learn everything you can about what fulfills your customers:  their desires, needs, expectations and goals. Learning and discovering all you can about fulfilling the needs of your customers is accomplished through sincere, well thought out questions; then listening with an open, caring and non-judgmental point of view.

Several years ago, after going through month after frustrating month of unsuccessful sales conversations, a great friend and mentor gave me some advice that completely changed my world.  He said, "Why don't you stop selling and start solving problems?"  For me, that caused the lights to go on in several parts of my stubborn brain, including the part that regulates anxiety.  What a relief!  I don't have to try to sell anything at all...I just have to help people satisfy their needs and solve their problems!

Lead generation is the continuous activity of sending the right messages to the right markets, through the right delivery channels to gain attention, elicit a response and earn you a qualified lead.  Count them - that's three rights: 

• The right message
• To the right prospects
• Through the right channels

Two rights and one wrong will not get you the lead generation results you need!  If any one of these three rights of lead generation aren't working, then you've lost the ability to motivate the right prospects to see your message, or if they see it, to have enough interest in your message to respond to it. 

Due to the changing economic climate, many companies have experienced either no growth, or worse, a decline in revenues from previous years.  There is nothing quite like a loss in revenues to prompt a company to take a hard look at their branding.  Branding is the process of creating an identity in the marketplace, one that is a reflection of your company, not just what you want your company to be.  Once your brand is identified and you build the marketing messages and sensory package that supports your brand - you need to ensure your company can live up to it.  The experience you provide your customers must equal or surpass the expectations your brand creates. 

Rebranding to position your business to new markets or to reposition your business in the same market can be a risky strategy.   A dramatic rebranding may result in some loss of current customers.  For example, if you currently attract upscale professionals approaching retirement and you change your brand to appeal to young value minded families, you may lose the appeal you have to your current customers.

In our work with hundreds of small businesses we have consistently coached our clients to step forward and take the action that will result in their success.  The action they take is within their control.  There are and always will be circumstances beyond or outside of our control – so I’ll tell you what we tell our clients; move on to what you can control.

There are far too many management opportunities to impact the way your business operates to waste any time on blaming things outside of your control.  Generally when something outside of your control significantly impacts your life or business it’s because you weren’t paying attention to what is inside of your control!  If you or others around you are spending even the teeniest bit of energy on pointing to things outside of your control for impacting your business you need to stop blaming and start changing!

It's March, 2010-Month Three.  What!?  Already!?  The year has barely begun!  Two-twelfths of the year is gone!  Seventeen percent of the time you had to achieve your business results for 2010 has vanished, and the critical question is:  How are you coming on your business goals for 2010? 

Do you even remember what your goals are for this year, or has that slipped by with the time? Can you find where you wrote them down?  If so - congratulations!  If not - get with it!  That is, unless you'd like to end this year without achieving a fraction of what you'd hoped for.  Your 2010 business goals should drive the activity generated by your business.  Once identified, they should be your guiding light for decision making and set the tempo for what takes place in your business throughout the year.

Setting an employee up for success is good leadership.  Hammering on an employee who is not successful – that’s assault.  In our work with hundreds of businesses each year one of the top complaints we hear from business owners is; you just can’t hire good people. As we inquire deeper about this statement we hear the gory details of seemingly uncaring employees who just can’t seem to get the job done – they don’t follow through, don’t listen, don’t care, don’t show up and don’t last long.  We invariably find the very same business leaders who are convinced you just can’t hire good people, have not designed their business to ensure their employees are successful.  More often than not, these very same leaders point the finger of blame at the employee, without recognizing that their business is not designed to ensure employee success. 

It’s all so predictable.  And curable.  What’s missing most often in these businesses is clarity.  Clarity of results.  Clarity of action.  Clarity of accountability. 

As you engage in the annual ritual of reviewing the year that has passed and designing the year ahead, we at E-Myth Benchmark and the Benchmark Coaching Center encourage you to weave two words into your business strategies; consistent and persistent.  Marketing experts understand and advocate that companies be both consistent in their marketing message and persistent in their advertising activities.  They know by experience that inconsistent messages and scattered advertising initiatives will not yield the returns that consistent messaging and persistent advertising provide.