1. Consider what you are doing that isn’t effective. Do you make many mistakes? Does it tire you out? Would you rather go to the dentist for a root canal than complete the task? Get real with yourself and stop doing these tasks. Find someone else to do them faster, better or cheaper than you can.

2.  Stop learning how to do things that aren’t high ROI (Return on Investment). I always tell people that I make it a point NOT to learn how to update my website. If I don’t know how then I won’t be tempted to try to figure it out. It’s a waste of my time and money to do it myself and I know better. There are very good website development businesses out there who could give you a cost-effective alternative.

3.  Become ruthless. It can be a lot of little seemingly insignificant things that add up to big time wasters. If you were determined to create more time for what’s important then what would you cease doing immediately? Buying office supplies? Figuring out whom to do your product distribution? Doing all those social marketing posts?

4.  Create an exit strategy. For the bigger roles that you are more integrated into (like project managing or handling the operations) you may need to follow the steps of many successful CEOs and create an exit plan from these tasks – what can you do over the next 6 months to replace yourself in that role?

5.  Change your mind about what’s important. If you are a control freak or regularly find yourself holding on to something because no one can do it as well as you, then it may be time for a reality check. I guarantee that in one Coaching Session I’d be able to find at least 10 tasks or roles that you could get off your plate. So start being realistic about what you can really accomplish and remove yourself from the rest of it.

Be willing to clear the decks of everything that is getting in your way of the most important things. When you look around at the people who really do enjoy a lifestyle business, who make consistent income in the high 6, 7 or 8 figures and are enjoying some level of sanity in the process, you’ll see that they never try to do everything and often they do very little. Sir Richard Branson said in an interview once that it is easier for him to run his multiple billion dollar companies today than it ever was to run a small company.

Something tells me he figured out how to remove himself from a lot of tasks! This analogy is important in realising that there is more to business than just doing it all yourself. You may actually start enjoying being in business again. Remember that with the right information and expectations communicated to others the tasks can be done just as well or even better than you. Try thinking outside the square and think of virtual assistants that can help with on- and offline tasks or even get interns to help out when certain tasks need to be performed, usually at no extra cost to you as these people need the experience.

This is an interesting statistic as it indicates that there could be a flood of businesses for sale with no potential buyers for these businesses in the near future. Why do I say this? Well, many of these smaller businesses that do ok for their current owners may not be up to modern business systems and practices. What I mean by that is that the potential buyer will be looking at businesses that have proper business systems set up as well as the potential for growth.

In the area of business systems it would be important for buyers to know how things are done in a business and that these aspects are documented. For example, how are  purchases of products ordered, received, distributed, etc. Another example may be what marketing system has been set up and how effective is it? Any potential purchaser of a business wants to know that the systems work and that they are efficient. New buyers want to spend more time generating new business than fixing or installing systems into a business.

No purchaser of an existing business would want to buy a business that has no upside potential. It is therefore important to identify markets that can potentially be tapped for future prospecting. If these markets can be easily identified then there is potential upside for the aspiring new owner and a potential increase in the selling price of the business for the owner.

To get around these issues it is important that business owners plan for their succession now and not once they have decided that it is time to change their focus. I have an on-line questionnaire that can help business owners understand the issues surrounding their business and help them identify them so that they are ready to sell at the right price. Contact me now to find out more.

Well, imagine that you have to hammer a nail in the wall. That is easy right? You use a nail and ………. A chainsaw!

“What”? You say.

Yes that is the tool that has been given to you.

“What do you mean”? You say.

Well there is nothing wrong with a chainsaw. It is a perfectly good machine. It does what it is meant to do and that is to cut down trees, branches, etc. …. It is the tool that you have been given in the past.

“Well what has that got to do with hitting a nail in the wall?”

Well if you use this analogy in your business you will see that you may have been using the wrong tool all along. If you have been wondering why your business seems to be slowing down, stagnating or not attaining you expectations then it may be that you have not used the right tools to get your business to the next level.

I have used one of the most important tools to get a client of mine an extra $400k of turnover. How did I do this? I asked questions.

That’s right questions are far more powerful that telling people. If you use empowering questions like where do you think a market may exist outside your industry? This type of question gets the brain juices flowing and leads to more questions so that a clear image can be formed. These questions leave the other person with thoughts about solutions to problems and issues rather than getting his or her hackles up.

Disempowering questions would not work as they convey a negative aspect to them.

For example, why did you not finish the project? Has a clear accusatory tone to it and leaves the person squirming and uncomfortable.

Here a better question may have been “what has prevented you from completing the job?” this is clearly better as it allows the person to expand on why the job has not been completed. There may be extenuating circumstances that may have led to the incomplete project. It also gives the opportunity for feedback on a project.

Once you have used questions to ascertain where are going then it is vitally important to use the next important tool and that is communication. If you can clearly communicate what your vision and expectations are of a particular task  to the right people, then you will have people who will be willing and able to complete that task.

So keep in mind that in order to get you business growing and making it a great place to work, then ask more questions of people rather than telling them what to do. In addition if you clearly communicate your expectations you will have the staff doing what is expected of them.

So what are you waiting for? Get out and ask more questions

1. An entrepreneur is an inventor. Not all inventors are entrepreneurs though. What do I mean exactly?, well entrepreneurs look at the world with open eyes and and asks “what’s missing?”. Once identified the entrepreneur thinks about how to fix this gap. What an Entrepreneur does next is to create a new business instead of new products.

2. Entrepreneurs do not buy business opportunities, they create them. Sorry guys, this includes franchises. You may be successful in a franchise, but your creative juices are stifled by the rules of the franchise. For the true entrepreneur who is creative he/she will be doomed to disappointment as the entrepreneurial passion is doused by the rigours of the franchisor. Franchises can become successful jobs for those that buy them.

3.Invention is contagious. People love the feel good factors involved when other people experience their invention (business). The more significant the invention the more likely it is to succeed.

4. An entrepreneur measures the success of the business by its growth. The faster it grows, the better the invention. It shows that people love to interact with this business. Those that do not experience this growth should not continue as less and less people will want to interact with it and will ultimately lead to financial ruin.

5. Everyone can become an entrepreneur. Everyone can create and develop an new invention if they follow their passion. In order to achieve this an entrepreneur needs to develop patience while developing the skill to drive the invention forward. This calls for the practice of developing new business ideas before actually implementing them. Entrepreneurs are made, not born.

From the above it is clear that many business owners are not entrepreneurs. Many business owners actually own a job that pays for their current lifestyle. It is important to realise that entrepreneurs create businesses for their clients and staff. They create a culture that everyone wants to be part of and are excited by it every day. When this happens the entrepreneur can stand aside and let his business boom with him/her only steering the business in the right direction.

Mistake 1 – Focusing on only one or two profit strategies

If you only have sales and profit coming into your business from one source—say advertising for example—you’re leaving thousands of dollars on the table.

Mistake 2 – Not understanding how and why people buy

You’ve got to understand why someone would choose you over your competitors so you can get their repeat business. And you need to know how they buy and when they buy. This is about research. Once you know what they want or need you can give it to them, not the opposite.

Mistake 3 — Not thinking outside the square

Do you want to be like everyone else or do you want to be extraordinary? If you do, you better show people how you’re unique and fresh. Otherwise you won’t stand out in the over crowded, too-much-information marketplace.

Mistake 4 — Not developing and using a proven system for your marketing

You can throw money and time away on “shot in the dark marketing”, where you just try this and try that with no idea if it will work, or you can implement a proven system that will work time after time and give you a return on investment for every marketing dollar you spend. You  need to spend your marketing dollars narrowly focusing on reaching your target market in as many ways as possible, and you need to measure the results and regularly eliminate what doesn’t work.

Mistake 5 — Not following a long-term business building strategy

• What do you want your business to look like 2 years from now? Go ahead and picture it.
• How many paying clients would you like to have?
• How many hours would you be working?
• How much money would you like to be making?
• How much help (outsourced or employees) would you have?
• How much free time would you like to have?

Once you have this wonderful picture in your head, it’s time to build a strategy to get there as quickly as possible. Otherwise you’ll end up like many self employed people—pretty much in the same place 2 years from now that you are today—usually selling time for money with no passive income stream.

If you’re making any of these mistakes, don’t feel bad. There are many others in the same boat. But now you have the knowledge to avoid them in the future and really move your business in the right direction.

For more information on how to create and implement these strategies then please call Tibor.

Take the three primary financial components of your business:

• Sales
• Cost of Goods
• Overheads

Increase Sales by 5%

You may ask “How do I do that?”

There are three main methods of increasing sales:

• Increase  your customer base
• Increase the amount they spend
• Increase the times they return

If you could increase each one of the sales areas by only 10% over the next 12 months, you would increase sales by a strong 33%.  For example, if a customer came in to your store 10 times per year, and you or your sales team could encourage them to visit one more time in that year, there is a 10% increase. If they buy a $10 item and you up sell, cross sell or add on sell a $1 item to them that is another 10% increase. So achieving a 5% increase in sales is not that difficult. Increasing prices is normally a method  simply to keep up or ahead of inflation.

Reduce Cost of Goods by 5 %

You say “No way, that is too hard”.

How well have you negotiated your current purchase price of your products? What package deals have you arranged? What payment system have you organised to reduce costs? Have you joined or established a local buying group to increase your buying power? There are many more ways of making small changes to save the costs

Reduce Overheads by 5%

Too difficult?

When was the last time you as a business owner sat down and seriously pulled your overhead costs, contracts and agreements apart and searched or negotiated for alternatives, explored all options, and attempted to save in these areas of the business?

The key message to business is that there is a large amount of hidden profit within your organisation.  Explore these three areas and improve them by 5% and you will gain an increase in profit by over 60%.

As a business owner it is well worth taking one day out of your busy schedule to work on your business and not in it.

If you want to change your business and future around then call Tibor.

Companies large and small are scrapping plans to introduce new products and cutting back on marketing. This is exactly the wrong thing to do. Now is the time to be bold and take action to grow your business.

Think about it. When are your prospects more likely to see and respond to your marketing – in boom times when they’re being bombarded with advertising and promotions, or in lean times when your competitors stop contacting them?

Now is the best time to grow your business. Your competitors are hunkering down. They won’t be contacting your prospects or even their own clients as often. Now it’s easier for you to get attention with PR, ads and emails.

If you paid attention to everything you saw in the news about the economy it could drive you to drink. But before you give up on your future, remember the majority of people in NZ – over 96% of them – still have jobs and are earning a steady income. Even if things get as bad as some pundits predict, 89% of people will still have their jobs,similar to the recession of 1982, which most people have already forgotten.

That’s the good news, and it gets even better. In a down economy, many, if not most people, have more disposable income. They get spooked and put off major purchases, like a second home. That means they have more money in the bank for everything else.

You’ve got a choice.

You can hunker down with your business and try to ride out this recession. If you do, there is a very good chance you’ll be making less next year.

Or you can take this recession as a challenge, as I am. You can use it to transform your marketing and your business and come out on top. Which is it? Are you aiming to be a winner or…?

Here are 7 ways to generate more clients and grow your profits

1. GENERATING AWARENESS: Introduce yourself to you prospects telling them what you do and how you can solve their challenges.
2. MOTIVATING PROSPECTS TO ACTION: Use your advertising material to stimulate contact or a conversation. Give them a reason to contact you soon.
3. ESTABLISHING CREDIBILITY: People won’t buy from you unless they feel confident about you. use your articles, books, interviews and testimonials from clients to establish your credibility.
4. CLARIFYING YOUR VALUE: People won’t buy from you unless they can understand, in their own terms, the value you are providing to them.
5. GETTING A COMMITMENT: Whether you are offering something for free or your product or service, you need to ask for and get a commitment.
6. PROVIDING SERVICES THAT INCREASE REVENUE: IF your products or services solve or satisfy a need, then you will sell.
7. MAINTAINING THE RELATIONSHIP: Remember to contact your customers on a regular basis so as to keep them informed of new products or services.

For your FREE e-book on the above, please contact Tibor Mackor via e-mail at tibor@bbstrategies.co.nz

If you would like to grow your clients, profits and business then call us now.

re·ces·sion -noun [Pref. re- + cession.] The act of ceding back; restoration. Yield.
A period of an economic contraction, sometimes limited in scope or duration.

I like this. It reminds us that economic contractions and expansions are opposite yet complementary stages in a normal evolving cycle — like ebb and flow, depart and arrive, inhale and exhale. When one occurs, it’s only a matter of time before the other follows. You can bank on it. (In other words, keep your cool and don’t over-react. This too shall pass.)

Restoration

This definition also hints at the “up” side of an economic downturn: The possibility of “restoration”. This is a perfect time for “housecleaning” and strategic adjustments to restore systemic and support systems. These vital activities keep a business strong, but too often get shoved to the back burner when the economy is strong and business is booming.

RE + Cession = “Opportunity for Progression”

It’s simply a mindset. While you can’t control the economy, you can control your response to it.

I propose spending less time obsessing about the “cession” and more time focusing on its prefix — “RE.” Take advantage of the soft economic climate. Use the time to proactively engage in positive, core-strengthening activities that will improve your business, today and in the long run.

Five Tips for Turning “Recession” into “Restoration”

Here are some pointers to help you RE-start your company’s “profit engines”:

1. RE-view & RE-enforce the integral structures of your business.

• Take note of what’s working and what’s not. Make the necessary RE-adjustments.
• Start new initiatives to get your business back on track and moving forward.
• Improve productivity and efficiency rather than (or in addition to) cutting costs.

2. RE-invent your product or services.

• Do competitive RE-connaissance. (What are similar companies offering?)
• RE-search your current and target customers’ wants and needs.
• Eliminate or have a “fire sale” for any slow-moving, outdated, or redundant offerings.
• Shift your focus to your top RE-venue generating products or services.
• Consider add-on strategies (cross-selling, bundling, etc.) and RE-curring income options.

3. RE-new your marketing strategies.

• RE-fresh your business’ brand to fit the times and your target customers’ needs.
• RE-evaluate your Web site content. (Is it clear, compelling, and customer-focused?)
• RE-vive innovative ideas and projects shelved during busier times.
• RE-ach out to assure your existing customers you are still around.

4. RE-charge your team.

• RE-build employees’ awareness of your business vision and mission.
• RE-engage your staff with motivation building activities.
• RE-energize your sales force with relevant incentives.
• RE-train and cross-train where needed to increase efficiency.
• RE-ward excellence. (Not the best time to give monetary bonuses? Get creative! The benefits of any investment to increase employee satisfaction, retention and production are priceless.)

5. RE-connect with current and past customers.

• Ask customers for their opinions. Listen to their input. Act on the knowledge.
• If they no longer buy from you, find out why. (They may not have told you they were dissatisfied, but studies show they’ve likely told at least 10 others.)
• RE-move barriers that prevent them from getting what they need.

In summary, don’t let a soft economy be your excuse for failure. Use it as a strategic opening for success. RE-focus your attention on ways to improve, instead of worrying about what may (or may not) happen with the economy. It will not only improve your overall attitude, but will strengthen your business.

While others are busy obsessing about their problems, those looking for creative possibilities will not only get through a tough economic phase, but will prosper. By staying focused on energetic marketing and positive business development, you may find that’s all you need to weather any storm.

If you would like to improve your business during this recession then call us now!

This is a continuation of my “Why do some businesses grow” series. Improving your business systems (Part 1), Leadership skills in your business (Part 2) , The importance of Marketing (Part 3) , Available Capital in Business (Part 4)

This time I will share with you about the importance of ensuring you have appropriate suitably qualified external support to help you achieve your commercial objectives.

So who are the people you need on your business success team, as I like to call them?

Let’s run through a quick checklist of your present advisors for:

1. Business Planning

2. Goal Setting, Monitoring & Goal Attainment

3. Taxation & Accountancy

4. General Management issues

5. Staffing matters

6. Product & Service knowledge

7. Sales & Marketing

8. Legal issues

9. Asset Protection

10. Wealth Creation/Financial Planning

11. Your Exit Strategy/Succession Planning

12. Insurance – business, income protection, trauma, life etc

How did you go?

Yes to be successful you do need more than an accountant and lawyer on your success team.

Would you or your business benefit by having an advisor, consultant or coach to hold you personally accountable for achieving greater results from the business?

If your answer is yes…then you should make a forward booking to have an initial conversation for possibility with Tibor Mackor from Better Business Strategies a Business Growth Specialist.

No matter where you are located in New Zealand or Australia we have Business Improvement Specialists available that assist business owners to take their business to the next level.

(For clarity we have people within our trusted network that can assist you with every one of the twelve areas mentioned above).

Of course, you could also do nothing…….and nothing will change.

Personal accountability is not something that is particularly popular these days. So often people in their personal, professional or business lives are looking for a scapegoat to push the blame onto rather than having a good, hard, long look in the mirror and accepting that personal changes need to be made.

What about you?

Now remember if you have the right people on your success team they will make a quantifiable difference to your bottom line. There will be no mistaking the positive impact they have.

I dare say if you cannot identify where your current advisors are making a difference to your bottom line – then you need to ask yourself why and probe to identify if they are value adding to your business.

If they are not – find another advisor who can and does value add.

A typical example I use for illustrative purposes is Accountants.

Now like all professions there are those that are good and those that are not.

Some accountants are what I call “rear vision” accountants”. They will tell you how your business went last year (after the event). It’s too late then to affect the trading results of last year.

Now this is not a beat up on accountants – after all I am a member of NZICA [although I choose to coach and consult for my clients].

Many see their role as providing some tax planning and attending to the compliance issues of their clients which are important and necessary.

Yet many in the accounting profession will lament their inability to do both the compliance work as well as actively get involved in coaching and consulting with their clients to ensure that their business thrives.

It is my contention that what your business needs is an external advisor that will hold you and your team accountable to make changes in your business now that will affect the current week/month’s trading results and those week’s/months into the future so that your current & future trading results and the return on your investment can be optimized.

This requires working together collaboratively. It is not something that magically occurs with a meeting once a quarter.

It also requires time, energy and commitment on your part as the business owner to follow through and the willingness to be held accountable and perhaps even to be told things that you may not want to hear.

Your homework:

1. Who do you need on your success team that is not currently in place? Why?

2. Are your current advisors making a quantifiable difference to your bottom line? If not, why not?

3. What areas of your business would you like to optimize in the September 2008 quarter? How do you intend to do it?

Meanwhile you might want to give some thought to this question:

As a successful business owner what is your time worth to you or your business? (I want you to come up with an hourly rate).

Invitation & Challenge for progressive “forward vision” Accounting Firms

If you are the principal or managing partner (or you know the principal/managing partner) of a “forward vision” accounting practice serving the small to medium sized business community throughout New Zealand that is passionate about helping your (their) business clients achieve maximum returns on their business(es) AND you (they) are willing to work collaboratively with a network of Business Growth Specialists for the benefit of their clients then I extend an invitation for you to have a confidential discussion in the first instance with me.

Call me now if you want to increase the results of your business and take that extended holiday in Europe.

I too have found that this fisrt point is relevant. Many businesses have a lack of direction. This means the failure to establish clear goals for each part of the business and invariably no business plan.

Now you say “but I know where I am going and I have a business plan but am still struggling”

Well, perhaps the plan is old, not updated or not reviewed regularly to suit current market conditions or it may be the wrong plan for the business. You need to know what each part of the business is to achieve and have reports to monitor the progress of each part.

The next mistake is impatience. Here many businesses try to do too much too soon. One example may be spending too much on advertising and not enough on building a customer base. I have found that it takes up to twice as long and it costs almost three times as much as originally estimated to achieve a goal.

“Now hold on a minute!” you say. “I have been patient all the time, I need to get the business growing!” Well, yes you need to grow the business but it needs to happen in an orderly fashion or else you may find that you sign up people for your product or service and find yourself inundated and can’t keep to your promises. The alternative may be true too in that you spend all the cash on ineffective and unmeasured advertising and wonder what went wrong?

The third mistake is greed. Here businesses try to charge too much in trying to become wealthy without building a market reputation. I recommend that making a reasonale profit in the beginning and raising your prices as demand for your product or service increases is the better way to go.

“I am entitled to a reward for my efforts and capital invested” I hear you say. I agree, but while the business is still building a reputation in the market place and competitors are lurking around each corner, then you need to moderate your expectations and grow the business and your income as the business becomes a market leader over time.

Another mistake in business is insufficient working capital. Many businesses rush off and think that they are in business but don’t plan for the costs, taxes, capital expenditure, etc. and suddenly find that they have run out of money. Here it is important to have a business plan so that many of the costs can be anticipated and planned for. In addition, the plan will program potential capital expenses in the future which leaves you time to negotiate with finance companies, if required.

“How do I access additional capital?” you ask. There are still lenders out there who are prepared to finance aspects of your business provided they are happy that the business has a solid plan and growth strategy in place. If necessary, I have access to several lenders in the market to whom I could refer business owners.

The fith mistake, poor quality of product or service. It will be difficult to sell your product or service initially and impossible a second time. Poor quality will make it hard for you get paid what you have sold initially. I think that businesses need to establish quality controls so that a good product or service is provided in order to build up a reputation in the market place.

The sixth mistake, poor cost control. I have found that many businesses spend too much, especially in the beginning. A business needs to retain as much cash as it can because a business will no longer survive if the cash is gone.

“But costs keep rising in this day and age!” so you tell me. Some costs are fixed and others are variable. The fixed costs like rent, etc. are difficult to alter. However, the variable costs can be and here it is important to ask the question of every expense, “is this necessary and is it going to help create greater profits?”. Without the curbing of costs it will become impossible to stay afloat in business.

The seventh mistake is insufficient sales. When the sales team loses momentum and management is too busy operating a business the businesses loses money! Sales must be the priority in any business and all other aspects must come second. This where I have found many businesses lacking the clarity of being in business.

I hear you say that all these aspects have or are affecting your business performance. “What can I do about it”? Well, it is all in the planning of where the business is going. If you do not plan each phase then you may as well sit on a rollercoaster and pray that you have more ups than downs.

Contact us if you have any of these issues. We offer a top service in order to rectify many business “mistakes”.