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.

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

In a high-performance organisation you devote 20% to 100% of your time purely on strategic work. We tell our clients in one of our initial conversations with them that the most important change they can make is to find 3 to 5 hours a week to work on the business, not just in it. Most owners complain that they don’t have the time for this. With some simple pointers we often show them that this is possible.  Clients who do this nearly always exceed their expectations. Others achieve some success, but fail to become all they can be.

An important aspect of establishing a high-performance environment is to hold monthly business development meetings. We suggest a monthly meeting held at the same time and place. This should become routine. Further, we suggest that each person at the meeting spend around 5 minutes answering these questions before getting to the rest of the points on the agenda.

1. What’s the best change or improvement in the way business is done that you have noticed this past month?

2. What issue/idea of yours does not yet appear on the master plan?

3. What issue/idea on the master plan do you consider our top priority?

4. What action plan will you pledge to write during the next 30 days?

Once this meeting has become a permanent part of your business culture, indeed a ritual, you can go on vacation. When you come back there will be no unresolved issues on your desk, only implemented action plans. Repeated and consistent self improvement has been the trademark of successful companies, enterprises, governments, and religions since the beginning of civilisation. If you don’t change the way you do and think about things, and improve these then you will fail or become obsolete.

Very often, when success in less than optimal, it can be traced to the client not setting time aside, religiously, to do strategic work. Some clients fail to meet regularly with their managers, and/or the managers fail to meet regularly with their employees. While some people refer to meetings as a waste of time, leadership means meetings. Your job as the owner is to listen (not to dictate or to dominate), to support, to inspire, and to provide your employees with all they need to get their well-documented and well-defined tasks accomplished.

From our perspective, monthly business development meetings call for everyone to write an action plan per month, forever. In time you will have so many ideas documented that it becomes an exercise in improving existing action plans. For example an action plan may create a standard for meetings, such as a published agenda, no more than four items on the agenda, and no more than 15 minutes for each item. Notice that the four questions appearing above find their way into this action plan. Notice that question no. 1: “What’s the best change or improvement you have noticed this past month?” sets up a positive tone for these meetings.

Over time, monthly business development meetings invariably result in every employee coming to realise that each of us has issues, we can’t expect others to solve all our problems for us, we need to prioritise, and take accountability for some of our own issues; to contribute, or to be silent.

Establishing a high-performance organisation not only requires that you continue on a learning path, but also that you enable those around you to grow. We advocate four steps on the journey toward creating this organisation: 1) Integrate the Vision, 2) Build the Structure, 3) Train and Provide the Tools, and 4) Quantify and Evaluate. Most of all, high-performance organisations create a game worth playing. They engage people fully and create an environment where they can use all of their skills and abilities to reach higher levels of personal and professional competence with each new challenge. So while it’s fun to win, the truth about great games is that most people just want to keep playing. Building a high-performance organisation is the best thing you can do to keep everyone in your game.

If you would like to learn more about these aspects of business growth then please contact us.

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.

The key to success is to answer all of the questions in enough depth that if a friend asked you to invest in this business, you’d say yes. Most importantly, make sure you record your business plan somehow…whether you write it by hand, type it into your computer, or put it on sticky notes on your wall. Keep it some place handy where you can refer to it when you are making important business decisions. And, make sure you review it monthly–or, even better, weekly–and update it at least annually.

1. Your Dreams: What do you want your business to provide for you? (think time, money, freedom, who you work with) Be specific–how much money, how many hours, when do you want to “retire”.
2. Customers: Who are your customers and what do they want/need?
3. Your Products and Services: What products/services will you provide to meet customer’s needs?
4. Markets: Where are your customers and what do you know about them as a group? “Where” might be geographic, it might be what kind of places they hang out, or where they go to find products or services like yours. What is their age, income, gender, hobbies, family structure, etc?
5. Your Style: How will you reach customers and what will you say? Your method of reaching customers needs to match with where your customers are–and with a message that they can relate to.
6. Competitors: Where else are your customers likely to get this need met? Find out all you can about how your competitors price, market, and provide service.
7. Your Uniqueness: How will your product/service meet customer’s needs differently than your competitors? Consider how your personal uniqueness impacts that.
8. Your Abilities: Of the skills necessary to run your business, what do you do well, and what do you need help with?
9. External Resources: What people/technology/services will support you in the skills you need help with?
10. Fulfilling your Dreams: How will your business provide the kind of working environment you desire, both in how much time you spend, how you perform your work, and how much money you make? Here’s where the rubber meets the road–make sure you can show how you will sell X amount of product or service at Y price, cover your expenses, and reach the goals you set in 1. Above.

Once you can answer all these questions, have it reviewed by some trusted, experienced professionals who will give you objective feedback. Consider a business coach, as one such resource

However, the savvy entrepreneur knows there’s still plenty of business growth opportunities and cash floating around; you just have to toss out your net and catch some of it for yourself!

Following are 7 simple business growth strategies you can focus on to build your and income and business in 2009:

1) Focus

As entrepreneurs, we’re creative, and we always have many ideas floating around our heads.  The problem is we may tend to become unfocused relatively easily.

Make sure you focus on ‘top priority’ activities every single day that will increase and generate income.  Follow the 80/20 rule and spend at least 80% of your time working on income-generating activities.

Use the other 20% of the time doing less important tasks when your creative energy naturally wanes during the day.

Quick Tip: Everyday write down three activities you will focus on to increase your income each day.  Spend 80% of your work time doing these tasks. Employ a business coach so that he can keep you focused on what is important to achieve in business.

2) Improve your website

Your website is your business’ entryway to the world.  People visit your website because they are seeking a solution to a problem they are having.  Your website needs to provide valuable information and resources to visitors to help them solve their problems, and not just be a pretty online brochure.

Your website needs:

1.      Attention-getting headline that grabs visitors

2.      A few paragraphs about how you can help them

3.      Leads them to the steps you want them to take

4.      Great photo of you (establishes a personal connection)

5.      Opt-in box in upper right-hand corner

Quick Tip: Think about what is your ‘Most Wanted Response’ from a visitor to your website.  Is your website clear in directing a person to take this desired action?

3) Expand your online marketing

There are many FREE ways you can do online marketing and drive visitors to your website.  Using a multi-faceted strategy to get them there is best.  Ways to do this are:

* Publish and distribute articles online

* Set up pages on Facebook, Twitter, My Space,

* Submitting online press releases

* Blogging

* Make a video and post it on YouTube and on your site

Quick Tip: Pick three activities you want to use to drive traffic to your website.  Do these activities every week.

4) Build an online subscriber list

Have a sign up form on your website and send regular e-newsletters to your subscribers with valuable information.  When you’re networking or speaking to a group, ask everyone to sign up for your list, as well.  This gives you an opportunity to market to them and build a value-added relationship that establish trust and increase your sales.

5) Do smart networking

Many people network all wrong and waste a lot of valuable time.  Network where you know your target client is already hanging out.  You can also meet others who already have a relationship with your target client.

Quick Tip: Build a business referral partner list.  Identify 10 occupational categories of people who are already doing business with your target client.

Identify 10 people you know or want to get to know in these 10 occupational categories (this equals 100 referral partners!).  Develop relationships and keep in touch, and watch referrals begin to flood to your door!

6) Build relationships through giveaways

To entice someone to sign up for your list, as well as give them a taste of your services, create a FREE giveaway item you can give to them.  The key with a giveaway is it has to be very valuable to the person receiving it, and has to help them solve a problem they may be experiencing.

This item can be a FREE special report, e-book, teleseminar, CD, simple workbook, case study, checklist, and video.

Quick Tip: Make a list of 3 free giveaways you can offer people to entice them to get on your list of warm prospects.  Look at the intellectual property or products you already have.  Can you condense some of it into free content for your giveaway?

7) Hire an Administrative Person

The administrative details that need taking care of in your business will eat up your income-generating opportunities and profits.

Quick Tip: Identify those routine administrative tasks that someone else can do.  Outsource them!

These 7 simple tips will help you build and increase the income in your business.  Be diligent about applying them, as well as tracking and testing your results.  Modify your activities, as you need to keep the momentum going and your income growing!

For more help on these and other business challenges please give Tibor a call.

One of the best time-saving strategies I’ve implemented is my client conversion system.  You know the drill; a potential client comes along and emails/calls you asking about your services.  You spend time responding, maybe even putting a detailed proposal together, and then you never hear from them again!  Not even a thank you for your email!

This is one area that’s a huge time drain for service professionals, but one that is so important – you need paying clients so you have to spend time responding to them.

What if there was a way you could respond to clients yet at the same time not waste hours of your precious time on this activity only for it to result in never hearing from said client again?

Well, there is! And I’m going to share it with you in this article by giving you my three steps on how to create your own client conversion system.

Step One – Capture Their Name/Email Address

If a client comes along and they’re not quite ready to work with you, you need to have a way of capturing their details on your website so that you don’t lose touch with them – that way they’ll get to know more about you and your services, and when they are ready to work with you, you’ll be right there!

You do this by giving away a free taste of what it is you do.  This could be a report, audio, mini e-course, or some other type of freebie that is given away automatically in exchange for them giving you their name and email address.  This is known as building your list.  Once you have your list in place stay in touch with them regularly through publishing an e-zine.

Step Two – Have a Defined Process for Working with New Clients

Look at what you currently do when you receive an email/phone call from a new client.  Write down all the steps in that process, and come up with ways as to how it can be systemized.

For example:

Do you find that potential clients are asking the same questions again and again?  If so, set up a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page on your website that answers all of these questions.  (Hint:  this could also be your free taste that the client will sign up for.)

Do you require that all new clients have a telephone consultation with you beforehand to ensure that you are a good fit for one another?  How can this process be streamlined?

Or, do you require a potential client to fill in a questionnaire prior to speaking with you on the phone?

List everything that you currently do and come up with a system for streamlining the whole process.  You could also include elements that you would like to do but haven’t yet implemented.

Step Three – Put Your Client Conversion System in Place

Now that you have documented the process for handling enquiries you need to put your system in place that will allow you to handle client enquiries in the most time-efficient manner.

This is the system I use and recommend, and one that will filter those enquiries for you:

On your website tell clients what your process is for working with new clients, i.e. contact me to schedule your complimentary client consultation.

Have a contact form on your website that client’s can fill in when they’re ready to schedule a complimentary call with you.

Create an email template to respond to those clients who would like to schedule a complimentary consultation.  You can also use this template for those email enquiries you get, or as a script for a phone enquiry.

If you have a series of questions that you would like answers to before your call with your client put these together into a Pre-Consultation Questionnaire which you can send to your potential client ahead of your call.  (This again is a good way to filter the serious from the not-so-serious clients – the not-so-serious clients will not want to spend their time filling in a questionnaire prior to your phone call.)

Create a document/email template for your questionnaire – put it in a format that is easy for the client to email back to you.

When they respond to you to schedule their call attach your questionnaire, confirm the appointment, tell them when they need to return the questionnaire by (24 hours before the call is a good timeframe) and tell them what number to call you on.

Having a process like this in place will filter the serious from the not-so-serious clients, saving you a huge amount of your time and streamlining the whole client conversion process.

Remember: You are the expert at what you do.  Your clients are coming to you for your expertise, so lead them with your systems.  Tell them what your processes are.  Let them work to your systems.

For further help in selling your products or services please call Tibor.

As a creative business owner, you want to spend your time doing your “great work.” This is the work of your passion and your purpose. Often, a successful business owner can get caught in the trap of doing the “good” work That means you get caught in the trap of “I’ll just do it” because it’s easier than explaining it or hiring someone to help you.

You might even find yourself doing things like bookkeeping, or updating your website just because you are capable of it. The thing is, you’ll never find the time to increase your capacity to grow your business – like the business in your Vision Story – if you keep spending time on these things. There are experts out there who are wonderful in these areas. Don’t take their job or their joy away!

Here’s the biggest reason to look for systems in your business: Your business success depends on your energy! You want to be mindful of where you spend your energy. When we are inspired, then our energy does seem unlimited and effortless! The reality is that most of us aren’t at that level all day, every day! So, we have to be vigilant about using our “energy for great” – spending our energy on our best activities and creations instead of squandering it away on the activities that don’t inspire us. I don’t know about you (well, I have a clue you’ll agree…) but I want to spend my energy on life-enhancing activities – work that I LOVE, being with my family and friends and doing activities that fill me up with joy!

Here are 8 key areas where you can identify systems to help you get more done in less time …so you can spend your energy on great!

1. Marketing Basics

You want to create systems for those repetitive marketing basics like having a variety of photos and bios on hand and ready to go. Keep your professional and casual photos of you along with short and long versions of your bios for a quick marketing turnaround. It helps you to respond to opportunities quicker with less “thinking” – which means less stress!

What is one marketing basic you use over and over again that you could put into a system so next time its quick and easy?

2. Client Relationship Building

Think about your relationship building process for a client from beginning to end. From the early stage where you collect a business card (now what do you do with it?) to when a client becomes a client. Every stage can be automated, or systematised so that it takes very little time.

Your initial follow-up system could include a card scanner, thank you cards or e-cards. Create a system for your Initial Consultation, and a New Client Package and Forms, all the way to using email birthday alert systems or online appointment setting systems once they become clients.

This not only makes you look more professional – it positions you as an expert. You must be, because you have a system or process for how to handle these things. This gives your potential clients confidence in you.

What is one Client Relationship Building system you can add to streamline your client nurturing right now?

3. Online Marketing

Here is where you need to build a great team to help you fully utilise the online systems that can help you automate your marketing. Shopping carts, auto responders, an online newsletter, blogs, and social networking sites can all work together to support marketing you and your business. You’ll want to find the best systems (and an assistant or two who can help you maximise the programs) to get you out there. Working with online systems helps you get your marketing to more people with less effort on your part.

Another area to watch for to save time is where you have standard information which you share frequently. Podcast openings, thank you pages for your products – all of these are areas where you basically say the same thing over and over. Create, or have a template created. Then you just use your template to edit and update! Plus then you aren’t starting from scratch each time – I find it’s easier to get inspired when you have a template instead of a blank page staring at you!

What is one” script” you find yourself doing or saying over and over again? How could you simplify it into a template?

4. Recycle & Reuse

This is one of the biggest systems you can create in your business to effectively and efficiently maximize your information and knowledge. You can take content you’ve created in one format and repackage it into multiple formats.
What is one idea you could take and reuse in another area of your marketing?

5. Co-Creating With Your Team

One of the biggest actions you can do to increase your capacity for greater growth in your business is to expand your team. But just putting a team member into place isn’t enough. You’ll want to co-create systems for your success with them.
What system can you co-create with a team member to support YOUR success?

6. Personal Systems

This is an area to look at for you to see what works for you.

One of my favourite systems is my Daily Goals. Each day I sit down as I’m planning out my priorities for the day and I pick 3 goals (bite-sized is key) to get done today. These are 3 things that would have me smile at the end of the day when I know they are done.

Another one of my favourite time management tools (is that really possible?) is to group similar types of activities. In my week I will schedule Daily Reflection Time; I also schedule Writing Time and Creative Time. I use my writing time for writing announcements, newsletters, articles, etc. My Creative Time is for activities like designing a new programme. Each of these activities takes similar energy and inspiration and I can get on a roll and get more done when I group them together instead of trying to get a little done here and little done there.

When will you schedule (yes, actually put it on your calendar) your similar activities this week?

7. Internal Belief Systems

We all have days where we wonder if we can “do it,” we doubt our ideas, or our confidence wobbles. You can have all the information and marketing ideas in the world but if you don’t have the clarity and confidence, then they’ll never manifest in the way you are dreaming of. It’s important to have systems in place ready to help you shift your energy and beliefs so you don’t get stuck here too long.

Be very conscious of having a support team you can tap into: massage therapist, energy worker, Reiki specialist or Homeopathic doctors are all part of your team of people who can help you shift your energy when you notice something is out of whack. Whether it’s your thoughts, or a sinus infection wanting to happen – having a team of people you can call on in a pinch can help you manage your energy – physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally.

What belief or recurring doubt needs to be handled? Who can help you with that shift?

8. Working with a Coach or Mentor

When it comes to marketing yourself or running your business there is no need to worry about how to build a successful business. Find a mentor coach who has been there, one who models the type of business built with values you admire. You can learn from their mistakes, successes and resources! This will save you time in accelerating your business success!

If you would like to improve your business systems, then please 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.

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)

This week I will share with you about the importance of making sure there is sufficient capital available.

By “Capital” I mean working capital or sufficient liquid funds to enable your business to operate as it needs to.

The diehards might be saying or at least thinking, “I don’t need any more capital” my business is just fine as it is. And that might be so.

However, humour me for a moment and imagine if you had an additional

If $2 million dollars were available for investment in your business – what would you do with them?

I have listed a number of suggestions below:

1. Would you invest in additional buildings (or perhaps your own building)?
2. Would you invest in capital equipment? What equipment and why?
3. Would you open another branch of your business elsewhere?
4. Would you make your business more equipment intensive rather than labour intensive? (Are their productivity gains to be had? And what would be the annual wages savings?)
5. Would you expand into a new market within your industry?
6. Perhaps you’d invest outside of your present industry?
7. What about investing in additional marketing campaigns?
8. Or engaging additional staff – say Business Development Managers – to assist in the growth of the business.

What additional things would you do that are NOT listed above?

Now I am not talking about just blowing it all on indulgences like travelling around New Zealand or the world.

However, there is no reason why you wouldn’t or couldn’t use the capital to better prepare your business for sale so that you maximise your return on investment and then can take that well deserved break.

I mean you do have an exit plan or strategy for your business don’t you?

Now for many the exercise is only hypothetical. However if you treat the exercise seriously you may well uncover creative ways of approaching your business that you had not thought of before.

OK Tibor, so now I have thought of all these ideas, IF only I really did have the money.

So how do you go about accessing additional capital?

There are many ways and it is not my purpose to give an exposition on capital funding options as it is outside the scope of this article.

Nevertheless if you are in need of capital and you want to explore the traditional sources, by all means drop me a line, and I will connect you with professionals in my trusted network that specialize in all types of finance and capital raising.

That said there are often a number of overlooked sources of capital or cash within businesses.

Take a good close look at your operations and you will often uncover mountains of hidden cash that is lying untapped and unproductive in your business.

I can hear you say, “Tibor, you can’t be serious?”

I couldn’t be more serious.

For example, IF You could increase your Net Profit by 61.75% that would give you additional cash flow which could either form all or part of the capital required or enable you to service a debt facility that provided the capital required – would it not?

Clearly the answer is yes.

So, Tibor – how do I increase my Net Profit by 61.75%?

You can do this by implementing street smart strategies that

1. Increase your Sales by 5%
2. Decrease your Cost of Goods Sold by 5%
3. Decrease your Overheads by 5%

Now Tibor – you are teasing me (yes I am) – what strategies are these?

These are strategies that my clients appreciate and benefit from because they have invested in the street smart marketing, business coaching and/or consulting services of Better Business Strategies – Business Growth Specialists.

(You didn’t really think I was going to spell it all out for you did you?)

The good news is that you too can make a positive choice to engage external expertise that can greatly impact the profitability, productivity and ability of your business to access to capital it requires to go to the next level.

If you need any assistance with the above the please contact me.

Final questions for today:

If there was one primary obstacle you could remove from your path that is hindering your businesses growth and prosperity – what is it?

And what are you now going to do to get it out of the way?

Next time I will round off with the final article in this series on the 5 Growth Limiters.

Call us now is you require help in this area.