Business Strategy - 2013 Archive

No matter how bad it seems at the time, your business will go on in the aftermath of a natural disaster. The office could be wrecked, the store destroyed, the inventory ruined, the computers gone but you will move past all of that because you had the foresight to put together essential information and tools that will get your business back on its feet. In addition to the disaster checklist, the following are three essentials to get your business back up and running after a natural disaster.

"It won't happen to me." Have you ever stopped to think about how many business owners have made that statement or thought something similar? The simple truth is we never think a natural disaster will affect us, even though we see proof nearly every week that disasters can, and do happen. The most current example of this is the flooding that happened in Boulder County, Colorado last week.

Checklist for preparing your business for an emergency or natural disaster.

September is National Preparedness Month - What do you need to make sure is in your preparedness kit to ensure that you are never taken by surprise?

Computers crash...it's a fact of business, but most small business owners are unprepared.  It's easy to think that it'll never happen to your business or that you already have a system in place to handle this. We know from experience that as much as we wish those two thoughts to be true, they are often not. So even if you have a system in place read these 3 tips and evaluate where your business is really at:

Systems are a means to an end. And that end is your vision. As we've discussed, some argue that systems are robotic and kill creative environments.  And they can be....if you let them. The simple truth is that as a business owner, you control how systems are written and operated which influences that end result.   If you don't want to have a robotic and uncreative environment, let your Entrepreneur personality kick into gear.

The E-Myth Revisited has a way of staying with readers long after they first picked up the book. Perhaps it's because business owners read it and immediately relate to the stories of Sarah. If you haven't read the E-Myth Revisited let us give you a biased opinion-you should! If you have read the E-Myth Revisited it is a good time to pull it out and be re-inspired. Here's a list of great topics in the book to check out.

"When you first start off trying to solve a problem, the first solutions you come up with are very complex, and most people stop there. But if you keep going, and live with the problem and peel more layers of the onion off, you can often times arrive at some very elegant and simple solutions. Most people just don't put in the time or energy to get there." - Steve Jobs

This week we ask you to set some time aside and ask yourself: "What problem in your business tends to keep reoccurring, because the solution is complex?"

There are critics who say that the world and the world of business have changed to the point that the E-Myth Revisited, by Michael E. Gerber, is no longer relevant. Often times, anti E-Myth arguments center on the idea that systems make for a formal and rigid work environment, thus creating an almost robotic culture that crushes any sign of creativity and innovation.

It's easy to ignore the critics. The E-Myth Revisited is a New York Times Best Seller and has been used successfully in over 50,000 businesses worldwide. We know that it works. We see the successes every day, but it's worth asking, "Has the world and business changed since the writing of the E-Myth Revisited?

Absolutely!   Social Media wasn't a hot topic when Gerber penned the E-Myth. Employers were talking about how to manage the baby boomer generation and prepare for the generation X. In today's world, social media is a topic of interest with other "traditional" media and employers are talking about how to handle the retirement of the baby boomers and prepare for the millennium generation.

In the past few weeks we've discussed the importance of leveraging professional relationships in your business. Today we are looking at the steps you can take to make sure you're leveraging your professional services to the max.