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Archive for category Excellence!

Their vision v’s your vision…

Aug 22

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Human Resource Management, Leadership, People!, Planning, Risk Management, Starting out in business, The Board Room | No Comments

How about this, an organisation has the following core values as part of it’s vision.

  • Responsibility and Leadership
  • Achievement and Excellence
  • Citizenship and Community
  • Initiative and Commitment

Sounds great, things to aspire to… one problem they don’t do it, well not all of it, here are some points…

  • Staff are failing to take responsibility, citing they do not have the resources to do their jobs fully.
  • Leadership is lacking, no one sure as to who they should follow or what they should do… whose roles is who’s and where do the ‘borders’ stop.
  • Excellence… again resources or the lack of them are cited as an issue… Systemic issues are cited… not enough time… not enough support…
  • Initiative and commitment… A stakeholder took initiative and they basically shunned it, the same stakeholder is working with another stakeholder to build commitment… guess what shunned again.

Not much left except for the third point and they probably have issues with that too…

The vision statement goes on to make a lot of claims about excellence in the provision of service etc… It’s all interesting but they are failing at it. My view, they are failing to hold up the core values and use them as a solid foundation to work from, instead it has become a blame game.

Here’s the irony if you like, this organisation is a school.

A bit deeper look will show that it’s not a simple organisation as there are various stakeholders, parents and students, teachers and admin/managerial staff, so the connections between each, if tenuous, can create a nightmare approach to communication, who said what, when, why, how and so on.

I would love to share the details but the story still has depth despite names and specific issues, but basically a parent supporting their child to achieve, have a commitment, and be accountable has come across some barriers in being able to make this happen.

The big point here is that a symbol has been created (the vision statement with core values) but not followed or fully utilised. I suggest the school (or any organisation for that matter) could alter this disasterous set of situations simply by making sure at every step that the foundation is used to build on, not to branch out from with tenuous connections.

Learning opportunity, if you have a foundation to work from, your role as a business operator, principal, teacher, owner operator, director or whatever. Do your best to work with that foundation, in this case the foundation extols excellence as a hallmark and so it should, but to have a range of stakeholders pointing at each other blaming and shaming, then the end result is far from excellent. By the way, you can “rest assured” the parent is sticking to their guns and will be holding the school accountable to their foundation or core values and hopefully the end results will be worth the rigour and affront.

Things to do to avoid just the title of leader…

Aug 7

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, People!, Personal Development | No Comments

Think in symbolic terms, if you were a warrior or a goddess, then the title of leader can become more, much more. If you imbue your role with this kind of title (perhaps even just internally) you can then develop a model to work with.

Lets go deeper. I have used the terms Goddess and Warrior, male and female counter rankings. Note I didn’t call the guy a god (that would be a bit much) yet it seems the title of “goddess” is one our culture is comfortable with.

Each of these would share traits in common, so lets put some key traits to the title of leader in here first and then we can start to build a deeper profile from there…

- Strong
- Ethical
- Wise
- Flexible
- Empowering
- Forthright
- Strategic
- Humble
- Hunter – Gatherer
- Spiritual – Inner knowing – Outer reflective
- Commitment
- Powerful
- Focus
- Patient
- Trusting
- Service
- Positive, beliefs and values

So there are “Some” traits a leader might have… and note they can be applied to either the Warrior or the Goddess… so then lets now split hairs and find the things that could shoe the differences between the Goddess and the Warrior.

The following are “loose lists” of possible traits that we can use as starting points for discovery (feel free to add your own to personalise the list for yourself).

Goddess
- Beauty
- Mystery
- Symoblic
- Imagination
- Radiance
- Healer
- Divine
- Evoke/invoke wisdom
- Inner glow

Warrior
- Awareness
- Discipline
- Athletic
- Bold
- Brave
- Openness
- Diplomacy
- Clarity
- Lead by example

Using these lists of “possible traits” our role as leader can now take on a fresh dimensionality. We can now explore what traits we want to build up and those we may like to regress. Some may want to use both the male and female traits and explore them as natural guideposts for the development of our leadership skills.

Think beyond basic leadership skills and open your hearts to the ideas of being a leader that can explore a higher state, a spiritual state if you will, so that the depth of integrity you exude as a leader can include heightened depths of excellence, both for you and for those you lead.

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The important parts of business

Aug 4

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Growth, Innovation and Creativity, People!, Planning, Risk Management, Starting out in business | 4 Comments

In the “game of business” it would pay to know about the important things, what they are. To me my list is fairly short. To you they might be different altogether.

  1. Product and or service – You better have something of value to offer or they won’t buy.
  2. Leverage – Your time, you work hard, then over time you create a business system that leaves you out of it so others can do it for you, you get the big rewards for the risk taking.
  3. Leverage – Your money, If you started with little or a lot you want to end up with more.
  4. Leverage – Your passion/ideas, You want to get into business perhaps because you have a passion, it may have started as a hobby or an insight into a possible business and now it has you in a tight vice like grip, and as time goes on it becomes even more compelling. So use it to your advantage and let the passion provide the energy drive to motivate you to make it work.
  5. leverage – People. Just because you have an idea or passion doesn’t mean it can’t be improved on, so utilise others to either work directly with you or to gain more information from to make your product/service all they can be. People are the soft resources that make the hard resources a reality.
  6. Systems – At first they might be crude systems to get you going, but over time these should evolve into more elegant devices to make a positive difference (save time, save money, improve health and safety).
  7. Get creative – Note I did not say “Innovate”… Creativity can assist with problem solving and give your business the edge, there are lots of ways to do it. Having an idea is just the beginning, getting things to evolve into practical outcomes might take some harder work, that’s where other practical problem solving might come into the equation.

There that’s a start… do you have any other points to add?

The “Ideal” business

Jul 11

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Planning, Risk Management, Starting out in business, The Board Room | No Comments

If like myself and other business people I have come across you probably have thought about the ideal business and what it might be like.

Well here’s a list to get you started on thinking about it, feel free to add any points via the comments.

1. It provides value – The product or service is needed or highly wanted.

2. You can charge readily – For whatever you are offering you know the price is good and you feel quite okay about how much you charge.

3. You make a profit – And that profit makes sure you can develop the business further and create a “device” that provides readily well into the future.

4. It has low overheads (costs) – You don’t want to wake up in a cold sweat wondering about when the next customer will buy… you want to wake up refreshed and happy in knowing the business is ticking along merrily.

5. Service – Value – Price – All of these are to a high standard, because you set it up that way! and you make sure it stays that way… Great service, Great value, Great price.

6. You know who to target to – Your customers are vital to your business and you can specifically pinpoint their characteristics and know how to get to them with your marketing.

7. You know how to target them – The customers are marketed to with ease and they respond readily.

8. Your plan works! – You have a plan that is written down and you pay attention to it, you follow it, you alter it to suit and you make sure things happen on time.

9. You have the funds to make sure it gets a great start – And that it can carry on past the “honeymoon period” If you want to last (and who doesn’t?) you will fund it properly right from the start.

10. You look after the M.O.M. P.E.C’s – this is the Marketing, Operations, Management, People, Operations and Culture of the business, If you don’t who will?

11. Research is constant – You check your competition and are easily a few steps ahead of them, you know why and how that is the case. Before you started you did some research into the viability of the idea you had.

There, that’s the list thus far, if you business has all of those then pat yourself on the back and keep on going! Remember becoming an overnight success can take some time to accomplish!

Motivated or driven?

Jul 7

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Human Resource Management, Leadership, People!, Personal Development | 1 Comment

In business you deal with people and as such they are an important aspect to the business (in fact read that as VITAL to your business!) so vital that without them things don’t get purchased, sold, manufactured etc… So in the scheme of things you need them, and as such the big question is do you DRIVE them or MOTIVATE them

Firstly the difference as I see it.

DRIVE – Push, bully, manipulate, rush, yell at, demean…

MOTIVATE – Influence, encourage, coach, mentor, support, work with them, respect them…

This goes for internal and external customers, (the staff and the paying customers) if you want the paying customers to stay and buy more of what you have, treat them right, and if you want to keep staff turnover to a minimum, the same TREAT THEM RIGHT!

Simply put figure out what you do, and what other people in your organisation do and see if it is MOTIVATING, because if it’s driving them, it will be driving them away.

Go on, take a REAL look at what’s happening, and if changes need to happen, make them and make them NOW!

When it gets quiet… you???

Jun 25

Posted by Steve Gray in Chill out!, Excellence!, Franchisees, Planning, Risk Management | No Comments

So what do you do when things get quiet in the business?

Do you…

- Wonder why?
- Start to do all the little things that you mean to do when you are busy?
- Start marketing?
- Sack some staff!?
- Sit and wait…
- Check how things were this time last year?
- Ask what’s happening?
- PANIC!
- Change things?
- Go back to the business plan?

Or a combo of the above…

Whatever you do when things go quiet make sure you do SOMETHING other than panic, as that usually leads nowhere fast.

A little enthusiasm can go a long way….

May 30

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Human Resource Management, Leadership, People!, Personal Development, The Customer Service Dept, The Sales Dept | No Comments

Here’s a short video from Tom Peters, if ever you wondered what comes first passion or skills, here’s Tom’s answer…

Thanks to Tom and the team at Skill Soft.

What’s A Burned Business Bridge Smell Like?

May 29

Posted by Michael Crooks in Excellence!, Growth, People!, Risk Management, Starting out in business, The Marketing Dept, The Sales Dept | No Comments

The reason burning business bridges are so fatal is because when you burn a bridge … it releases no odor. That means, you can be burning business bridges all over town and never even know it — until it smacks you in the face later.

Here’s an example:

There is a woman with whom I’ve been attempting to establish a business relationship. We spoke over the course of a couple months at a monthly business expo. She expressed interest in my products and services and sent me her e-mail for some “ideas”

I followed up asking for a face to face or a phone conversation so I could get a better handle on her advertising and promotional needs, wants and desires. I called, left a message and e-mailed her. No response.

After seeing her again at the business expo, I wrote her a lengthy memo detailing some great, usable ideas. I hand delivered the memo to her in an envelope at the next business expo. Again, I followed up by e-mail and phone several times. No response.

Today, here name is in my e-mail in box. “Wow”, I thought as I opened the e-mail. “Wow” quickly became “ow”. I shook my head in disbelief. This woman, who can’t or won’t return my phone calls and e-mails, has the audacity to send me an impersonal, e-mail blast solicitation for a donation to her golf outing.

It’s not gonna happen.

I simply can’t get across that bridge she burned by not taking the time to, at the very least, tell me she’s not interested. Yes, by ignoring me she “told” me that. Bottom line is: Now she wants something from me and she’s not getting it.

Are you burning bridges by not responding to vendors? Are you burning bridges by being rude to people you deem as “unimportant”. If you want it to matter to me when it matters to you … treat me like I matter — even when I don’t.

This is the basis of effective networking — making people feel as though they matter … even if they don’t. Sometimes it’s as simple and easy as acknowledging them with a return phone call, a smile or a nod.

Burned business bridges emit no smell. On the other hand, those who burn bridges do.

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It’s monday, what now?

May 26

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Growth, Leadership, Planning | No Comments

The weekend has been and gone, and here you are back at Monday, ready to face another week… Firstly are you excited about the prospect of another week? Or is it something you wish would end quickly? Whatever your state of being right now, take a moment to focus.

Grab a sheet of paper, then quickly write down the company goal, or mantra (if you have one) and then look at it. Now ask yourself, “Am I achieving the goal, is my team achieving it too?” or “Do the team even know what the goal is?”

Okay so the goal is sorted, and before you “beat yourself up” for not working towards the goal as well as you would like, then I suggest you jot down things you can put in place today, right now… to help to make the goal a reality.

Perhaps you can take each area of the business and focus on that.

- Marketing – Is this focussed towards the goal?

- Operations – How are things being done that help to achieve the goal?

- Management – Of all the things under this heading, what things are focusing me towards the goal?

Now you have your week off to a flying start. make all your plans, to do lists etc work from that.

Have a great week, make it a great week, but make it fit to the plan!

How to be a great coach.

Apr 25

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Leadership, People!, Personal Development | No Comments

Firstly.. Why be a Coach?

You would not expect your favourite sports team to be effective without a coach… nor would you expect the people you lead to be effective without a leader.

To get high-level productivity from the team your role as a leader takes in a great deal of coaching and mentoring skills. Therefore your aim should be, to be the best coach you can be.

How to be a great Coach…

Here are some great points on what makes a great coach, take a look a them and decide which of these skills you already have and which ones you may need to work on.

  • Love people – Great coaches know they are leading people in a great cause of some kind and that the value of that is very high, to get the most out of the team and therefore the task at hand they know that people will be the device that makes the task happen. If the coach loves people they will then find ways to enhance their teams skills to be all they can be. To do so they have to love people after all it’s all they have to get the job done.
  • Motivate them – If you want the best out of people yo need to motivate them in ways that inspire them to do great things, to go the extra mile and see the results of their efforts and be pleased with them. Motivation is NOT driving them, yelling and screaming, pushing them hard, its more about finding ways to encourage them to find those things in themselves if they need to.
  • Be a coach – Being a coach might even entail you putting on a Coach’s hat, then working with your people. Consider this, what if you had a team meeting and you did just that, put on a hat that said Coach. It would probably lighten the mood and let the team know you are coaching them, providing support, motivation, guidance and the skills to encourage them.
  • Get their opinions and thoughts – Why should you be the one with all the ideas? Let the team use their collective intelligence to explore more effective ways of doing what they do. You might just get a lot more than you thought.
  • Explore mistakes– In learning to walk you stood up and fell down a few times until it all came together, after a while the bruises, scratches and scrapes healed and you explored walking some more, no one said you couldn’t do it did they?Mistakes therefore are just opportunities to learn and grow and you need to ensure that in the pursuit of better outcomes that the more mistakes the team makes should therefore mean they are pushing the boundaries further to discover better ways to get results.
  • Be a great communicator – Listen a lot and when you speak or write make it elegant and effective. You will also want to be asking great questions so you can get great answers and allow you people to be all they can be.
  • Know there are differences and work with them – We are all different. A great coach will be aware of this and find ways to connect effectively with all people despite their differences.
  • Empower people – You have a team, how do you want them to do things? To their full potential or less? The answer HAS to be full potential anything else is a cop out. Therefore it is your solemn duty to find out how to empower them, and keep looking for ways to take it further.
  • Solve challenges and problems together – As a coach you may ask questions, which are more about how to solve challenges and problems, than telling them how to do things.
  • Keep meetings effective – Get to the point and stay on track with the agenda, get very strict about the meeting structure, that way you can sort things out better. Any chace you get, train your team rather than merely meet with them.
  • Work on the positive and reward the behaviour you want – Who wants to push a “negative barrow” about? After all it’s hard and like an uphill trudge, the more you push the heavier the barrow gets and the steeper the incline. When it’s positive you might just find the barrow carries you for significant parts of the ride, with the team taking it in turn to push.
  • Be an advocate for your people – As much as your team “puts in” to get results, be sure and back them up if the need arises. If they need a reference do it. If they need support in dealing with other issues at work do it. Be there for them, after all they are there for you and the tasks at hand, the pay off will be a team of truly committed people wanting to readily go the extra mile.
  • Self edit – As a coach your commitment to being all you can be will mean you are leading by example. Before long you will be seeking out every opportunity to hone your skills in all aspects of being a coach and editing yourself to get better results.
  • Take full responsibility – If you want your team to perform at incredible levels then you need to take full responsibility for them and for the results. Just because you have a person above you who you think should put their 2 cents worth in every now and then so you don’t look like the bad guy, think again. He or she probably put you in control to get results, while they may like to throw their weight around to maintain an air of authority, perhaps if you were taking full responsibility they might actually get on with doing more important things.
Put just some of this into action and see positive results fast. Put all of into action and let me know!

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What’s important to you?

Apr 8

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Growth, Innovation and Creativity, People!, Personal Development | No Comments

This might seem like the sort of question that might be more suited to a personal development blog or professional development series of some kind, but I felt the issue was of burning intrigue for me so here it is.

It’s of interest to me because I see so many businesses, and as I spend time analysing, pushing and pulling ideas, it becomes one of the key things I ask as a business support person “What’s important to you?”… Invariably I don’t get the responses I want from people as they hedge about on the issue and use all manner of creative avoidance to try and get around it… to no avail I come back to it time and time again.

So what is the question based on and why is this question so important (to me initially and then the client…)

I see people putting in LONG hours, building a business (often from scratch…) and getting to a point of exhaustion (mentally and or physically) and they ask, “Does everyone in business do this?” big question, small answer “no…” So the question is based on what are they getting out of the business (for the effort they put in). Then, is the output worth it in real terms… and so to the importance of what they are doing.

For me the question starts to give me a sense of what the people are doing and if it is really of value. To them and to the people they set out to serve (customers and their staff).

At the top of the “melting pot of concepts” here, is the notion of values (what’s important) followed by the notion of their beliefs. Beliefs seem to underpin values and are therefore vital for us to discover more about what makes this person tick and how I might best serve them to get more effective outcomes.

For you as the business person wanting to develop more ways to add value, create excellent service, be faster to market, be more profitable and so on, I suggest the values you seek are vital, as are the beliefs that support them and without some understanding of them you can not expect much to happen in your business other than marking time and hoping for the best. make a list of the things you value and then check out what you believe about them so you can chart a more effective path on the road to making your business all  you want it to be.

The connection…

Apr 2

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Leadership, People!, Planning | No Comments

Your business is all it can be due to a few factors and often it boils down to how people connect, customers to staff, staff to staff and any other stakeholders you may have in the equation.

You see it’s about your values and beliefs and theirs, if you are employing staff it is important for the business to connect (If there is no connection it’s like having one computer off a network and expecting someone to be able to work with it but of course they have no access to info and resources, so how can they.) To connect you need to be able to say what values and beliefs you have and how you are going to match those with the employee you want to hire.

It also works with customers and clients, get the right ‘connection’ and you are probably on the same ‘wave length’ as an ideal customer.

Take the time to figure out what is important to you so you can find out if they are on the same wavelength. The connection can be well worth it in the long run.

Really? That’s the BEST you can do?

Mar 20

Posted by Michael Crooks in Excellence!, Starting out in business, The Customer Service Dept, The Marketing Dept, The Operations Dept, The Sales Dept | 1 Comment

I received an e-mail from a supplier yesterday. They sent me a proof to approve and fax back to them.

First thing I noticed was that my Purchase Order (PO) number was wrong. The next thing I DIDN’T notice, was the fax number to which the supplier wanted me to fax the approval back. It was buried within 3 pages of blah, blah, blah … blah, blah, blah.

I faxed the proof back noting my approval. I also noted that my PO# was incorrect and what the correct number is. I then mentioned that they should consider putting the fax-back-to number right on the proof. Ya know, because it would make it easy for me.

The supplier wrote me the following reply:

Mr. Crooks.

When your PO came across our fax machine the numbers on it were hard to read. The Order Entry Department did the best they could considering what the fax looks like but, I assure you, I’ll change that one incorrect digit. I truly apologize for your inconvenience. I’ll forward your idea about a fax number being on the proof to the proper department.

In my opinion, the Order Entry Department DID NOT do the best they could. Their best would have been to call or e-mail me to verify the hard-to-read-information. So, if guessing is the best they can do … do I need to find someone with perhaps higher standards?

Look. You don’t have to be a genius to put a fax number on a form that you want a client to fax back to you. Nor does it take the wisdom of Solomon to verify information you can’t understand.

With regard to service, attention to detail and making life easy for your clients, before you tell someone, “That’s the best I can do” ask yourself, “Is that the best my competitor can do?” Find out before your client (ex-client) does.

Leadership is it… PERIOD!

Mar 19

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Leadership, People!, Personal Development, Planning, Starting out in business | No Comments

Leadership is it… If you have ever wondered about what makes a solidly compelling and successful company, well check the list and see what you think…

A leader leads by example… If it’s a brilliant business the leader is brilliant and that excellence is passed down with ease. They follow excellently because they were led excellently, and when they get to lead they do the same.

A leader plans… For the future, for the next five minutes, for the next five years to ensure success.

A leader is creative… It’s the only way to have an edge in business, call it innovation or any other term it’s creative approaches that work in a changing world. Anything else is a cop out.

Leaders go for positive results… That’s what they do because it’s good for business, good for staff great for customers and in the long run it can be fantastic for the environment.

Leaders love people… They know that to get the wheels turning it takes people, people to buy, people to sell, people to create, people to manage and people to lead.

Ever had a doubt about what it is that makes a winning business? Well not now, I have just told you… leadership of the highest order makes the difference…

Carnival of Australia – February 27, 2008

Feb 27

Posted by Bren Ryan in Chill out!, Excellence!, Human Resource Management, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, People!, Personal Development, Starting out in business, The Board Room, The Customer Service Dept, The Marketing Dept, The Operations Dept, The Sales Dept, Uncategorized | 8 Comments

carnival of australia

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Welcome to the February 27, 2008 edition of Carnival of Australia.

 Thanks to all the contributors, some great stuff there, enjoy your reading! 

Elias presents The day we said “sorry”! posted at Ramblings of an Australian teacher, saying, “I hope I can still squeeze in the current carnival.” – Yes and No Elias! I think you wanted to be in last fornight’s carnival, but you are welcome in ours :-)

John Crenshaw presents The Biggest Scam Your Bank Gets Away With Everyday posted at Truthful Lending dot Com, saying, “This little known scam accounts for a huge portion of fees paid to banks every year and is going on right under your nose. The worst part is, it’s completely legal.”

Micellaneous Mum presents Project book – introducing my Illustrator! posted at Miscellaneous Adventures of an Aussie Mum, saying, “The next installment in the series on how I’m going to publish my book this year.”

Business

D Robinson presents Diana Williams and Fernwood Women’s Health Clubs | Australian Women Online posted at Australian Women Online, saying, “This interview with Diana Williams is just one in a series of articles on successful women in business featured on Australian Women Online.”

Kathie Thomas presents Being Ready To Receive posted at soho-life.com, saying, “Helping clients to receive information.”

Leela Cosgrove presents How to Write a Professional Bio posted at Leela Cosgrove.

Leela Cosgrove presents The Seven Step Book Leveraging Program posted at Leela Cosgrove.

Michael Crooks presents Promotional Marketing Articles posted at Crooks Advertising Alliance, saying, “This article explains how salespeople can prevent children from sabotoging a sale.”

Martin Russell presents 5 Keys To Word of Mouth Marketing posted at Word of Mouth Marketing.

Dr. Gavin R. Putland presents Can you stop paying the mortgage and keep the house? posted at /etc/cron.whenever/, saying, “In America, thanks to reselling and repackaging of mortgage loans, the answer is often “Yes” because nobody can prove to whom you owe the money.”

Culture

bryce presents Tropfest Tumblings posted at a strangled duck, saying, “Tropfest was a great night with some great movies.”

Suzie Cheel presents There is a Fork In The Road: Which Path Will I Take? posted at The Abundance Highway, saying, “One morning walking on the beach I was fascinated how a tree branch thrown up by the tide was so beautifully positioned on the beach. For me, it was a fabulous image for a fork in the road. I knew then that one day I would find a saying or the words that would be just perfect to go with the picture.”

Michelle Sweeney presents My How Times Have Changes posted at Tonic Gifts.

Current Affairs

Dr. Gavin R. Putland presents Rationalizing stamp duty posted at Putland Uncensored.

Environment

Carole Fogarty presents Your Wealth Location for 2008: posted at THE HEALTHY LIVING LOUNGE, saying, “Locate your prosperity and wealth energy for 2008 and then elementally enhance and energetically uplift to bring new opportunities into your life. This is a potent energy that given the right conditions will surprise you.”

jen presents Semantically driven: blogging about blogging, parenting and living in Australia. » True blue posted at Semantically driven, saying, “This is a bit about what I do to save and reuse water.”

Family

Carole Fogarty presents The ultimate guide for a calmer driving experience: posted at THE HEALTHY LIVING LOUNGE, saying, “Ten practical and simple ways to ensure your car is not a metal container full of adult and children stress. Turn the calm dial up in your car now.”

Megan Bayliss presents Alleged sex predator masquerades as parent blogger posted at Imaginif…, saying, “What’s the time Mr Wolf? Time to take care because I have seen the avatar of an alleged child sexual abuser on many of your sites. Posing as a family blogger and all round decent human being is an easy thing to do…particularly when you want something. Be aware of who you are letting in the front door of your virtual home. Child protection is serious business. An investment in it nets returns beyond any current financial investment.”

PlanningQueen presents Ten things we should never say to kids. posted at Planning with Kids, saying, “A reminder to me as a parent about how I can impact my child through what I say to them.”

Food

Lightening presents Zucchini Lovefest posted at Lightening Online, saying, “Need some help using up those zucchini’s. Here’s a recipe or two for you to try.”

Gillian Polack presents Food History at the Royal Canberra Show – #1 posted at Gillian Polack, saying, “There’s a second article on bush foods, too. http://www.foodpast.com/food-history-at-the-royal-canberra-show-1-2/”

History

Romeo Vitelli presents Constance Kent posted at Providentia, saying, “Either a tragic victim or a brutal murderer (and maybe even Jack the Ripper). You make the call.”

Music

Duncan Macleod presents The Presets produce My People posted at Duncan’s Music Videos, saying, “Music video for My People, by Sydney electro pop duo The Presets, directed by Kris Moyes, younger brother of Kim Moyes. “I’m here with all of my people, locked up with all of my people. So let me hear you scream if you’re with me”"

Travel

Raymond presents Airline Credit Cards That Offer Free Miles posted at Money Blue Book.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of australia using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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Improve Customer Service: Turn Employees Into Customers.

Feb 24

Posted by Michael Crooks in Excellence!, Human Resource Management, The Customer Service Dept, The Marketing Dept, The Operations Dept, The Sales Dept | 4 Comments

I was sitting in the eye doctor’s chair. Only moments earlier I had been traumatized by that stupid glaucoma test where they shoot a puff of air in your eye. Well, they try anyway, because with me it’s more like testing the resistance of the surface of my eyelid. On the upside, apparently, my reflexes are still faster than a puff of air.

Anyway, the doctor examining my eyes, knowing I run an advertising agency, asked, “Michael, what can I do to improve customer service?”

I asked, “When your employees need to have their eyes examined or their glasses adjusted, you sort of fit them in somewhere during the day don’t you,”

“Well, sure,” she replied. “We just fit them in where we can. Just makes it easier. It’s an employee benefit.”

“Well,” I began, “If you really want to improve customer service, make your employees make an appointment like everyone else. Make them figure out how to get time off work to come in because you don’t have “after hours” appointments. Make them sit in your uncomfortable chairs that only serve to emphasize the fact that their appointment was supposed to have been 15 minutes ago. Let them listen to music they hate that is playing too loud. Make them look at magazines that are 9 months old. And let them sit in the waiting room and see how your receptionist, who has the personality of a tree stump, makes everyone who approaches her feel as though they are a huge interruption. At that point your employees may begin to develop some effective ideas on how to improve your customer service.”

She just stood there staring at me. I soon found out, in addition to the fact that the receptionist was her niece, that in her silence, she was merely calculating how much my critique of her business was going to cost me.

The money part doesn’t bother me nearly as much as the fact that she says I now need to come in weekly for a glaucoma test. The worst part? On my way out, I overheard her telling one of the tech’s, “We need to train the receptionist to run the “air gun” for Mr. Crooks’ weekly visits.”

Two lessons. First, being brutally forthright with clients, customers and prospects isn’t always the best way to go. A little “sugar-coating” goes a long way. Second, if you’re a business owner, don’t ask questions to which you don’t really want an honest answer.

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Lets say sorry and move on…

Feb 13

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Growth, Human Resource Management, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, People!, Personal Development, Planning, Risk Management | No Comments

In an historic address to the nation today Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said “Sorry” to the stolen generation. He said sorry for the pain, sorry for the ongoing indignation, sorry for previous governments not apologising, for taking indigenous children from their families many years ago.

In essence he is saying we are sorry for the human rights abuse that took place in less enlightened times.

In analogy, is this any different from a business which, may treat its people poorly, that may provide only scant regard for safety, that may let its policies of profit grabbing rather than capacity building be the norm, that may let or indeed support bullying and harassment.

In these enlightened times, lets say sorry for these indiscretions, and actively seek out ways to make our workplaces, places where people can be engaged without hostility, or fear, for our safety, security, esteem and lifelong education.

Let’s find more ways to truly engage with the people we do business with, and those we employ. Together we can ensure the future of contemporary business is one where the “vanguard avant-garde”, is a beacon of hope and inspiration. In doing so we can only hope these champions of business embrace the ideals of sharing to allow others the opportunity to follow in their mighty footsteps.

Lets say sorry for past indiscretions, lets forgive those that perpetrated those acts, lets then take steps to embrace the future by taking positive action to fully engage all levels of business to ensure we can stay clear of the problems and utilise the precedent which has been set to full advantage.

How to create a Unique Selling Point.

Jan 28

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Innovation and Creativity, Planning, Starting out in business | 3 Comments

From an original article on various business success pointers, here is an individual “how to” option on unique selling ponts for you to explore.

Market leading Unique Selling Point/s –
Creating a unique selling point is all about setting yourself apart from your competition, sometimes called a Point of Difference. It’s all about identifying what makes your business unique, unique in a rock solid definable way to ensure your team can communicate it, your clients know it and it most clearly causes them to come back time and again.

If you are a mechanic it might be the courtesy car you offer, or the full detail at the end of every major service.

Take a look at your competition and what sets them apart… if anything. Then ask yourself what is different about my business in a way that causes my target customers to want to buy from me and not the competition?

Do research if you have to, on what will work and what might not. Then you can tweak your business to suit. If you are looking at a franchise business to buy, ask this question in the research phase to be able to evaluate the business properly.

Good honest copy…

Jan 20

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Leadership, The Marketing Dept | 1 Comment

On a recent holiday we caught up with a family friend, retired well and truly from business and now taking a well earned lifestyle break from as he put it “All that stuff”.

He got chatting about his fathers business, it turned out he had a couple of retail stores that were really big and his business made it through the depression and WW2. So I asked (how could I not) about what made these businesses successful… He said “You know what I asked my father this on a number of occasions and he was unswerving in his answer. Be great with people and always have honest headlines and honest copy.” that was it.

I know I have even been guilty of trying to make copy do things it can’t do as it stretches the truth between the lines, but our friends father was implicit that the honesty be there.

I recall thinking how elegant the response was, ‘Great with people and good honest copy’. Task No 1, take a look at yours and ask how good is the copy, and of course if  you are followers of great business practices you will already be working solidly in being great with people.

How to create a business with great values

Jan 10

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Franchisees, Franchising, Growth, Leadership, People!, Personal Development, Planning, Starting out in business, The Board Room | No Comments

From an original article on various business success pointers, here are the individual “how to” possible options for you to explore.

Upholding great values
People love it when you are on a positive footing and in the values area it’s a great place to start (integrity – honesty, truthfulness etc.).

Start the business with a strong stance on the rights and wrongs, if you get caught by a staff member or a customer ripping people off, word will spread fast, not a good thing to have happen. Make your act squeaky clean and others will follow.

Make a list of the sorts of values you want the business to uphold, google them on your computer and find out more about what other businesses have as values, then find ways to integrate them into what you do, yes even if you have a one person business.

You may find you already have these values, they are automatic and things that inherently are of interest to you. But there may be areas you want to tweak so you can be better at those ones as well.

Over time the staff and customers will be certain to know your business has high integrity, honesty etc.. In a highly competitive market place these things can set you apart.

How to create a business where the overheads are easily covered

Jan 9

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Finance, Franchisees, Franchising, Planning, Risk Management, Starting out in business, The Board Room, The Customer Service Dept, The Marketing Dept | No Comments

From an original article on various business success pointers, here are the individual “how to” possible options for you to explore.

Covering overheads easily…
Overheads are often the thing, which can break the camels back, so make it easy for the camel and take the pressure off. In this case keeping the turnover and cash flow up so the overheads are not a challenge EVER! (I know, easier said than done…)

  • Sell things which are wanted by your target ‘ideal customers’ this will mean you have things moving in and out again fairly quickly, and that’s good for business.
  • Set your pricing right, sure beat your competition if you want, but make enough to make a profit too, then you are sure the overheads are covered.
  • Know what your industry average is for turnover and profits, this way you can measure (benchmark) against the industry average and see how you fit in the scheme of things.
  • Ask your customers what they want more of, it might be as simple as “better service” then you will know “It’s not the products or after sales service it’s the SERVICE!”
  • Know exactly how much your overheads are and how many things need to be sold per day to cover them, then anything over this amount puts you ahead.
  • Know what is selling and what’s not, aim to make every square inch of your sales area sell well, (even if it’s an online page!) simply by providing more of what your customers want. perhaps just moving something to another spot in your ‘store’ will make a difference.

Getting an objective view of your business is vital to figuring out which areas to focus on to improve cash flow and keep your overheads under control, so ask lots of questions, observe thoroughly what’s going on.

Now put these things into action and watch the results alter in a positive direction.

How to create an easy saleable range

Jan 7

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Franchisees, Franchising, Growth, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, People!, Planning, Risk Management, Starting out in business, The Board Room, The Customer Service Dept, The Marketing Dept | No Comments

From an original article on various business success pointers, here are the individual “how to” possible options for you to explore.

Creating easily saleable products and services
You want people to buy, not to um and err then walk away, so it should be easy for them to select what they want and then make the purchase with great peace of mind. Especially people in your ideal target market.

It may be one thing to provide a prestige product and another thing to have enough people in the right target market to meet the needs you have. Again it might be a case of having some prestige products and more of another not so prestige product.

When it comes to business you should be making sure that customer satisfaction is a number one concern, and a big part of that is the service and support your business provides. Make it EASY for people to get things serviced, not a hassle. Make it easy for people to select the right product, Make it easy for them to find a sales person, the list goes on.

So take a customers viewpoint and walk in and out of your store as if you were them, how quickly are you attended to? how gracious was the enquiry “How are you today sir…” How easy was it to get your bearings on where things are (online or in a physical sales environment…) Now ask yourself what can be done to make changes so the people walking in and out are really satisfied.

Also look at the things you may want to add to your range… How easy are they to market? And will people readily make enquiries that could lead to sales… These are all aspects of easily saleable products and services.
Taking all these things into account you should be able to”pull apart” the customer experience to know what’s working and what you can do about it.

How to create a business that really fills a need

Jan 6

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Franchisees, Franchising, Growth, People!, Planning, Risk Management, Starting out in business, The Board Room | No Comments

From an original article on various business success pointers, here are the individual “how to” possible options for you to explore.

Does your business fill a need and or want?
Hopefully it does both. If there is no need for what you have there will be no sales, therefore no business. This is a vital prerequisite for any business . Consider this, if you are selling diving gear in the middle of a desert you would not sell much, however a cold drinks stand would be a more obvious choice.

If you are just starting out in business do a lot of research to make sure what you have will fit, the local people, the culture, the psyche of the whole area, again if you are selling art in a working class area the amount you might sell may just be way less than a city where the arts might be more solidly valued.

Consider if are you providing for a want or a need, e.g. if you sell food, there is a need for that, if you sell dolls it’s more of a want, not a need. Ideally I guess the best scenario might be to have a needs based business that also sells some “wants” as well.

Watch out for things changing, cassette tapes were once the only portable music device, then came the CD… selling cassettes today would be a waste of time. So move with the changes so you don’t get left behind. What might start out as a solidly moving product range can become dead in the water fairly quickly.

How to create a business people love

Jan 5

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Franchisees, Franchising, Growth, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, People!, Planning, Risk Management, Starting out in business, The Board Room | No Comments

From an original article on various business success pointers, here are the individual “how to” possible options for you to explore.

Creating a business that people love!
Customers and staff a like love the business and what it does, heck why have a business that people despise? Go for love, it’s much better. But that’s easy to say… what can you do to make people love it?

  • Find ways to engage the customers. – Consider a database and keep in contact – Create special deals they can’t get anywhere else (think packages) and the list goes on, get creative and explore.
  • Engage the staff. Right from the start, cause the staff to ‘buy in’ to the philosophy, ethics, and other values and beliefs the business has, make it strong, make it real and make it matter, make it so the idea of turning up to work is a vital thrill in their day.
  • How about you? Do you love the business? Why shouldn’t you aim to create an entity that really rocks, so you want to be there in such a way that it causes everyone else to believe in what you have created and it builds from there.

Now you have some starting points, what will you do to go the next step? research, evaluate, plan, budget, implement? Whatever order you put them in, make it work for you.

How to create structural integrity in your business

Dec 30

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Franchisees, Franchising, Planning, Risk Management, The Board Room | No Comments

From an original article on various business success pointers, here are the individual “how to” possible options for you to explore.

Structural integrity
The systems and procedures for your business are vital to ensuring a solid foundation and the supporting structures up from there are suitable. The aim with developing structural integrity is to ensure that “when the wind blows” the house stays in tact, or when it rains and a tornado comes through after it that you have the ability to get the business back on track quickly.

Depending on the business will depend on how you plan to develop the structures to keep things in place. If it’s a retail store you might keep some stock off site, the same with databases and records in the event of sabotage (yes staff can do it to you if they are displeased…) or a natural disaster, you have a back up.

You can extend the idea right through the business to leadership, HR policies and so on, so that the organisations backbone is supported by healthy muscles, all finely worked and tuned to provide the right amount of support.

To begin working with ideas on structural integrity you would probably start with looking at the values and beliefs the business has and how the ‘culture’ supports that and vice versa, then you can identify strengths and weaknesses and start to see the spots to tackle.

How to create a sustainable and robust business

Dec 29

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Franchisees, Franchising, Planning, Risk Management, The Board Room | No Comments

From an original article on various business success pointers, here are the individual “how to” possible options for you to explore.

Sustainable and Robust
When you start up in business you probably do so wanting it to last, so you can get more than just the $$ it cost you to get started. So you need to think about what will make the business sustainable and strong so it can last. Ideally you will want to set up a profitable passive income device so that you can reap the rewards of being in business without having to be there.

Sustainable will probably mean your industry niche is one that means people will be require what you have for a long time to come, it may be a flexible area so that you can go with the flow and include new innovations with ease.

A robust business could be seen as one that has good investments in place that create passive income returns JUST for the business, so that it can be supported by its own wealth. This can be done by putting away a percentage of profits, so that in the event of a disaster happening you can weather the storm. (You still need insurance though!)

These are just some of the ways to create a strong business and over time I suggest you add these points to discussions you have on business planning, this way you can really know that they are being considered and acted on for the future.

Retain and engage staff, or else…

Dec 23

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Human Resource Management, Leadership, People!, Personal Development, Planning, Risk Management | No Comments

In the race to maintain and or grow their business many business operators find another hurdle that pops up far to easily, and that’s staff turnover. Some call it churn, but whatever you call it it costs the business $$.

Some businesses try to keep their wages above the award rates in the hope it will keep people in the business and not move on. Some use other tactics to retain the employees and even engage them further than the usual 9 – 5 arrangement.

In reality a lot has been written on this subject over many years and the fact that it is still a major issue is testament to the fact that not a lot has been done, or not a lot of understanding about the issue has filtered it’s way through.

Whatever the situation and the outcome, the effective engagement and retention of staff requires innovative approaches to ensure they are mentally stimulated enough to want to hang around and give positive input rather than just being driven by the $$.

Over time people can fade in their energy and interest levels, and this can have wide ranging effects on productivity, leadership, communication and probably a whole raft of other things in the business. So to ensure ongoing engagement, a variety of techniques should be employed, not just one.

Giving cash is one thing, but it’s often a short term fix, giving training is a good option, but should not be the only option as not all people want to be taken away from their work to attend leadership training for example. The astute business needs to find ways to adapt to the person and become more flexible in the delivery of retention devices.

Issues around working hours, family friendly work practices, and now health schemes are becoming more obvious as options for the team. Again innovative approaches need to be used to implement and develop these practices so the staff member can not grow or feel complacent, but rather feel more valued as the various options get rolled out.

Imagine a workplace where a range of options were put to staff, where they could elect some of the options to retain them, then there are more options they do not get to choose but are put in place as well (formal and informal training for example.) The upshot of all this is that an employee feels valued, to the point where they don’t want to go elsewhere, they want to simply contribute at 110%.

In an age where quality workers are lured by better players in the market any employer needs to consider the best ways to get and keep the best players, otherwise their business could find itself on the scrap heap faster than it might care to know about.

Successful business 21+ list

Dec 17

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Planning, Starting out in business, The Board Room | 3 Comments

Okay so I like lists, let’s face it they give us readily accessible starting points to build with, so lets jump in and see what a successful business should have.

  1. Sustainable and Robust – So it will last and be strong as well. Who wants a business, which will fall over with the slightest puff of wind?
  2. Structural integrity – The systems and procedures are built from a solid foundation. With no foundation how can we expect a building to stand for long, it’s the same with any business.
  3. Growth ability – Wealth is not a dirty word, it’s a leverage point, you want the business to grow so that it can absorb future price increases and be ab le to handle any changes that come along unexpectedly.
  4. It’s readily understood - By the clients and the staff, if you are in a niche the niche should understand it. Clarity can lead to power.
  5. Profitable – At the end of the day it’s what’s left in the kitty that counts. With no profit you’re a charity or a hobby, which do you want?…
  6. Strong brand - The customers know your brand or are getting to realise it has longevity.
  7. People love it! – Customers and staff alike love the business and what it does, heck why have a business that people despise? Go for love, it’s much better.
  8. Fills a need and or want – Preferably both. No need for what you have? No sales, therefore no business.
  9. Easily saleable products and services – You want people to buy, not to um and err then walk away, so it should be easy for them to select what they want and then make the purchase with great peace of mind.
  10. Enjoyable to run – Who wants a business which is a hassle? Who wants to work in a tough field? No one… make it a joy to be part of for you and staff that will rub off onto the customers over time.
  11. Overheads are covered easily – Overheads are often the thing that break the camels back, so make it easy for the camel and take the pressure off, in this case keeping the turnover and cash flow up so the overheads are not a challenge EVER! (I know, easier said than done…)
  12. Upholds great values - People love it when you are on a positive footing and in the values area its a great place to start (integrity – honesty etc.).
  13. Train to win/win – You and your staff are trained to make the whole show win, then the customers can win too. A great position to get to and stay in.
  14. Market leading Unique Selling Point/s – This will set you apart from the competition, then your aim is to make it known to everyone, therefore they will pick you over the competition, If they don’t they are crazy right?
  15. Duplicable – You can franchise this in an instant, or open other branches, either way its easy to duplicate (usually means it’s easy to run).
  16. Readily/easily established – You don’t want a business to take forever to get up to speed, you open and its up and running fast.
  17. Easy to plan – Your foundation will ensure the basics are in place, and from here the business plan is a breeze, if not you will avoid the business plan and lose sight of your goals. And of course have the plan on paper.
  18. Able to take massive action – In an instant, to get ahead, to make a stand, to stand apart, to innovate, to lead, to penetrate deeper. When the going gets tough, the tough get going…
  19. Know your competitors – Your research enables you to know quickly if you need to zig while they zag. If you know them intimately then you can readily compare prices, marketing etc.
  20. Niche flexible – You have a target to aim at, but you also realise there can be ‘sub niche’s’ e.g. a bicycle shop, sells kids bike, mountain bikes, racing bikes, but its main business is bikes, if its a sports store it has more niches.
  21. Maverick management/leadership – Your leaders and managers can pull great results out of thin air and do it all the time. Sure they make mistakes (how else will they learn?) the point is they can think on their feet and get great results. Therefore innovation becomes your middle name…
  22. Minimum footprint – Physically, environmentally, emotionally, resources. All of these (and probably more) are important make a big impact but do it without making a big mess of things.
  23. You get support - Family and friends appreciate and understand what you are doing and support you to make it successful. Without this support you are on your own in a tough wilderness and it’s hard to survive on your own.
  24. One great idea - Sometimes it’s two or three ideas (serial entrepreneurs), but in the main people in successful business do good with the one idea well researched and executed.

That’s it, easy huh? Now all you need to do is copy it and figure out if you can do it, can’t do it, want to do it and or have the guts to at least try… Go on, make a name for yourself.

Jerry Seinfeld’s 3 rules of life

Dec 10

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Franchisees, Franchising, Growth, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, People!, Personal Development, Planning, Starting out in business | 2 Comments

Here’s Jerry’s 3 rules of life, pretty simple… so lets add some business thinking points to it.

Print it, use it, tick things off as you do them, make notes, add to the list, include some of these points in your staff training and see what happens.

Thanks Jerry lets see what happens now…

Bust your ass…

  • Work hard, work smart, if it’s not fun, do something else.
  • Following your passion, you will then want to do the work, in fact the work will be so enjoyable it won’t seem like work, you will be early and rarely late….
  • On something that will make a difference for more people than just you, you win they win.
  • On being exceptional, who wants to be mediocre? Ok so lots of people do, but why do you have to be…
  • Getting the next goal, and then the next, the journey of a thousand miles begins with that first step. The sense of achievement is a powerful drug.
  • Providing what the market place wants, you will soon be happy with the sales, they will be happy you provided what they want and those that work with you will be happy you thought of it.
  • Getting people to know about your business in the start up phase and then to come back for more of what you have, often.
  • To influence others in your circle of influence to be exceptional at all they do.
  • To surround yourself with great people who want to pass on great information you can all utilise.
  • Living life to the full, when the show is over it’s over folks…

Pay attention…

  • To the details so that you can understand the bigger picture from within. No point in having a business that no one knows what’s going on, especially you…
  • To planning. No plan no house, it should be the same in business.
  • To how you present what you have to the market place… Get great at marketing and sales, then do it with the rest of your team.
  • To the way you learn, then you will be able to pay attention more effectively.
  • To how others liearn, your role as a business leaer means you will probably do a fair bit of instructing on how things are done, so teach others in ways they prefer to be taught.
  • To the way you communicate, so get very specific about what you communicate.
  • To the way you listen… Be an attentive listener, that’s why you have two ears and one mouth.

Fall in love

  • With what you do, how you do it how your team does it…
  • With causing others to fall in love… with the job, the business, the customers, the service the products, their life, their significant others.
  • With life. Life is what we do day to day so we should get great at loving it.
  • With how others see the world. This level of fascination is from the old American Indian idea of “walking in another mans moccasins” it hlps to give us perspective.
  • With the people you surround yourself with. Are they all lovable? Are they all worth fighting for?
  • With the glory and beauty of nature. If the view is lousy, I wonder what you are looking at?

The business of red-hot core values

Dec 9

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Growth, Human Resource Management, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, People!, Planning, Risk Management, The Board Room | No Comments

In business it’s too easy to fall into the trap of just doing business, then it can become a grind, the details become a blur and the idea of lifestyle enhancement as a value you wanted to chase can become minimal, in fact you may as well have just kept a job.

So where is the depth, the meaning that gives hope, strength, clarity, stamina, creativity, innovation and a whole raft of positive/emotive sensations?

These positive values are the core mechanisms that enable us to keep going even in tough times, to enable us to fall down and get up again, the resilience to bounce back, with a vengeance.

So here’s a loose definition of these “valuable business intangibles” as I see it, in this context. “Showing refinement, distinction and concern for the higher things in life.” This is where it comes down to the red-hot core values and some bigger questions to ponder in the business, and by individuals.

The points that follow are concerned with both team and individuals and how they connect or not. It’s about looking for and working with these distinctions to be able to create a business, which embodies these with a degree of ease and efficacy without having to consciously working towards them. So a degree of unconscious competence can kick in.

In reading the list, feel free to say, “If I had a business that had all these things I would be delighted, but it’s not going to happen today, nor tomorrow for that matter…” I appreciate this viewpoint and suggest the following… “You have these things in your business already, it’s a matter of ‘to what degree’ you have them”.

Your aim as the business-person would be to look at what you do in the improvements to your business that will add to the value of any of these. An example might be if you were wanting your team to service the customers more effectively, In chatting to them about the issue/s you might find yourself suggesting they be more tolerant, cooperate more with the customers and staff, show higher levels of respect and so on.

As you have just seen it may not be difficult to work with these as a group of items, but in isolation it might be. Note also some o the items are team based while others are more individual in their appeal and approach.

  • Honesty
  • Sensitivity to Others
  • Responsibility
  • Emotional Balance
  • Tolerance
  • A Deep Compassion for Humanity
  • Cooperation
  • Accurate Self Image
  • Respect
  • Development of self and others (for intrinsic and extrinsic value)
  • A Deep Sense of Mystery
  • Connectedness
  • Vision Mission – Personal and professional
  • Inner Peace
  • Freedom
  • Simplicity/Elegance
  • Strength – integrity
  • Holistic approaches to the development of – People – Environments – Culture/s

Taking a look at the list may be daunting, but I hope to show you ways to utilise each of these to enhance your business to be all it can be.

Finally, don’t think for a moment that this list is complete, feel free to add words you and your team might find that can be utilised to enhance the business further.

10-20-30 the planning guide for the rest of us…

Dec 8

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Finance, Growth, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, Negotiation, Planning, Risk Management, Starting out in business | No Comments

I have been on about the Guy Kawasaki 10 – 20 – 30 planning device for a while now (since I found it in early 07) Well this week I had the good fortune to use it myself and have created a template to be used in Power Point.

Unfamiliar with 10 -20 – 30? It’s a simple device for pitching ideas, I see it as a way point in the planning process, not so much as an endpoint which seems so logical when you figure it being used to pitch ideas to investors etc. Ideally if you have a business idea I would STRONGLY suggest you use this to assist in sorting out its usefulness.

So it’s 10 slides presented to a max of 20 mins and the smallest text is 30 Pt. see I said it was simple… but of course there are fairly explanatory headings and some body text in it to assist you to make your pitch viable/useful. I feel sure you will be charmed by the thing once it’s used a few times.

The 10-20-30 power point business presentation

As you will see when you download the file, it is a plain old BxW, simple presentation. All you need to do is put the words in that fit for your project even the basic animation is done (when you view the slide show, you can click the forward button and see each point come up one at a time, how it should be, and not a whole page of text.)

I used it on an idea as a way to ‘flesh out’ a few things and in following the headings I found I was really challenged to come up with appropriate answers, after quite a while of cutting, pasting and soul searching I got it to a point where it seemed to work.

I see all sorts of possibilities with this. For pitching ideas to a boss on an area of business or a dept, which is not doing too hot, to put thoughts together for a business partner to look over, then of course to show info to prospective investors. These days when people pitch ideas at me I say to them to do this, then show me the result, thing is not one has actually done it (yet).

Those in the know, figure that’s because it causes people to look at things logically and not just emotionally.

Have a play with it, read it though, jazz it up with imagery etc and see what happens, I’m sure it has lots of uses, I hope you find the same.

Running on autopilot

Dec 7

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Franchisees, Franchising, People!, Personal Development, Planning, Risk Management, Starting out in business | No Comments

This is the seventh in a set of posts designed as a series to complement the initial post… Strengths in your business The aim being to provide a simple “How to” guide for people daunted by the prospect of “how to” as it can be too easy to read and say “Oh yeah that’s it, I need to do that”, and then forget it and let it go.

Automatic functioning (the skills are already known)

After a while of doing a task you can become competent at it, then at the next level become proficient, at this level, things can seem automatic. Do that with the basics of what you do in business and a solid foundation can be built for your enterprise. Teach others to do the same and the base structure can become much stronger again.

  • Recognise the things that are BASIC skills for your business and then train (often its informal) you and your team to do them well, (effective beats efficiency hands down.) Then find a person in your team that picked it up fast and see if they have the skill to put the process in writing so anyone can learn it.
  • Chunk the skills into groups so as you and your team learn higher level skills, the previous skills have become proficient and form a solid foundation.
  • Review the skills you and your team have at all levels and work to understand areas to be developed further. (Leadership and communication skills are often good examples.)
  • Work to make your business a lifelong learning exercise so your organisation can be highly flexible in what they do.

Getting an organisation to run on automatic may seem like an easy thing to do, and that’s often the challenge to be able to figure out what skills are simply hidden due to them being automatic and therefore hidden.

Hello?! Are You LISTENING?

Dec 7

Posted by Michael Crooks in Excellence!, Growth, People!, Personal Development, Starting out in business, The Customer Service Dept, The Marketing Dept, The Sales Dept | 1 Comment

I’m on the phone with a salesman from one of my suppliers. He asks me, “So, do you sell to any medical practices?”

“Yeah I do”, I replied. “I have some dentists and a periodontist.”

“Great!” he exclaimed. “You’ll be interested in our new stethoscope covers!”

Really, I think to myself. Let’s see, when was the last time I saw a dentist with a stethoscope. Oh yeah … NEVER!
He drones on. “So can I send you a couple samples. They’re really great and they can imprint their practice logo on them, and they keep dirt off of them, and … I cut him off.

“Sounds great”, I said. “You send them to me and I’ll see where it takes me. I look forward to getting them, I’m so excited. Wow! Stethoscope covers.”

What a moron. Sure, maybe he doesn’t know that a periodontist treats gum disease. But then again, he’s the one selling medical equipment supplies. And furthermore, why would a doctor want an imprinted stethoscope cover? The people who would see the imprint are already in his office. A better tactic would be for me to take the stethoscope cover to a business such as a pharmacy or health club that wants to get their name in front of those the doctor has access to. They’d imprint their logo and distribute them to doctor’s offices.

But here’s my real point.

How often are you so focused on selling what you have to sell … that you aren’t even listening to the answers people give you?

Have you decided what to do yet?

Dec 5

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Franchisees, Franchising, Growth, People!, Personal Development, Planning, Risk Management, Starting out in business | No Comments

This is the fifth in a set of posts designed as a series to complement the initial post… Strengths in your business The aim being to provide a simple “How to” guide for people daunted by the prospect of “how to” as it can be too easy to read and say “Oh yeah that’s it, I need to do that”, and then forget it and let it go.

Decisiveness (Either a thing will happen or it won’t, often the decision is the only thing that stands in its way.)

I was once told that the best way to become better at making decisions is to make the, right or wrong stand your ground and see what happens, before long you can become very decisive and develop the skills and confidence to live with the outcome/s.

  • Make lots of them even on little things, and see what happens, avoid the procrastination cycle of saying you will do it soon.
  • Check out the idea of “Whats the worse thing that can happen if I make the wrong decision?” then check to see if it really is that big a deal.
  • Ask others to make the decision for you (delegate) and check the results, you can be surprised just how well this one can work for you.
  • What is the difference between a person that is decisive and one that is not? Check out those qualities and ask if you can readily develop the skill/s or if you will need assistance, then do it!

Keep on going with the concepts laid out and put together a personal list of achievements made by being more decisive.

The journey begins and ends with you and your goals…

Dec 4

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Franchisees, Franchising, Growth, People!, Personal Development, Planning, Risk Management, Starting out in business | No Comments

 This is the forth in a set of articles designed as a series to complement the initial post… Strengths in your business The aim being to provide a simple “How to” guide for people daunted by the prospect of “how to” as it can be too easy to read and say “Oh yeah that’s it, I need to do that”, and then forget it and let it go.

Goals (If you know where you are going it makes it easier to get there.)

In the story of Alice in Wonderland the Cheshire cat sat in the tree smiling widely as Alice asked which road to take at a fork in the road, the cat replied “It depends on where you want to get to” The goals we set will assist us in finding the right roads to take and in business the wrong road can cost us dearly.

Setting goals is easy, making them a reality is a different matter again…

  • Get smart about your goals -  specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and tangible. If these can not be thought out readily you will find the achievement of the goal nearly impossible. Write out the details in DETAIL… leave nothing to chance.
  • Work on small goals first and build up from there. – Often these are the basis for a “to do list” and chipping away at the small bits will make the big bits come to fruition.
  • Take action, avoid talking about what you are “going to do” and get on and do it. The world loves people who take action.
  • Consider how well you have done with goals in the past… Easily achieved them or… make sure you build up these skills if they are a challenge, then you can get more automatic in setting and achieving them.
  • Use your calendar – set time lines for the achievement of the goals, then tick them off as they are achieved, the sense of achievement is often a cause for some small celebration.
  • Use a project plan – These help you to break up a big goal into smaller ones and fit the details to a time frame. There is specific software for this or  you can create a table in a word-processing that can give you the basics to work with manually.

Go get ‘em tiger should be your catch phrase at this point and with the basics of goal setting up your sleeve the results should follow on soon after that.

Conviction, have you got the all important edge?

Dec 3

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Franchisees, Franchising, People!, Personal Development, Risk Management, Starting out in business, The Board Room | No Comments

This is the third in a set of posts designed as a series to complement the initial post… Strengths in your business The aim being to provide a simple “How to” guide for people daunted by the prospect of how to as it can be too easy to read and say “Oh yeah that’s it, I need to do that, and then forget it and let it go.

Conviction (You are sure it’s a great product and or service, otherwise you would not be doing it… RIGHT?)

This is an important area of new business and project start ups. It’s the strength of conviction you have that will probably appeal to people when you are selling your concept/s. the question is what is it and how will you develop it?

If you are starting out the product and or service should be convincing, to you and your target market, if they don’t want it and you are not sure about it, then how will you have the internal fortitude to make it work? I guess the obvious thing is checking out what you have from all angles to ensure it has a fit in the right product and or service niche and also in the buying niche of the intended audience.

So how to build in it?

  • Test the idea with people who might understand, family and close friends may not… so go for independent advice (accountant, other entrepreneurs and so on) see if it does have a place in this world. Sure there may be confidentiality issues, but just remember if an idea is any good you will probably have to RAM IT DOWN PEOPLE’S Throats to get them to be interested. (at least in the initial phase). Also telling family and friends about it can set you up for failure if they think you have a “hair brained idea” and want to put it down to help you “save face.”
  • You have done the research so you might need to know find ways to present the concept. A business plan is one way to do it, but before you get in too deep, consider the basics. then jot them down in point form. What it is, how it will be done, what it might cost, who will do it, how much time will it take, where will this happen, why it fits to the niche you have sought out, how it is different from other concepts and so on… This will assist you to assess the idea first.
  • Look at others who have done this type of thing before, how did they get started? were they confident from day one, or… If they were not confident, how did they build that confidence? If need be try different short courses that may assist you to stand tall and tell the world about what you have, This might be public speaking and or personal development courses of some kind. Whatever you do make sure you are sure about the conviction you have to make things work well.

I am sure there are more points that this start up list puts forward, but really give it some thought so you can formulate things clearly in your head and then articulate them on paper.

Building stamina and resilience

Dec 3

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Franchisees, Franchising, People!, Personal Development, Risk Management, Starting out in business | No Comments

This is the second in a set of posts designed as a series to complement the initial post… Strengths in your business The aim being to provide a simple “How to” guide for people daunted by the prospect of “how to” as it can be too easy to read and say “Oh yeah that’s it, I need to do that”, and then forget it and let it go.

Resilience – stamina (The ability to keep on keeping on and to bounce back)

I have put these two together as I felt there was a natural attraction to both, they cross more borders for me than they stand alone.

Have you ever noticed that some people give something a go once and give up trying… or they say “it’s not for me” often without really giving it a go so they can develop the basic skills to a reasonable level to fully assess if they “have it or not”. have you also noticed some people can go “hard” at the start and then fade out too quickly. If that’s the case then the following points may assist you to understand the issues a bit more and possibly even be able to assist you in overcoming the issues in yourself.

  • Do some soul searching, if you have given up on things easily in the past, is starting a business really right for you? And is the ability to start out strongly and then fade fast an issue? It’s better to face this now than later when the stakes might be much higher.
  • Can you build your resilience? Falling down and getting up again is one thing, but doing it repeatedly might take it out of you. What qualities do resilient people have? and are they the sort of qualities you can learn… and how long can that take if it is possible for you?
  • Having the energy to run a race is one thing, but if you trip during the race that often saps some energy you might need for later. If a sports person can build their staying power by more exercise in a carefully worked out training plan, can you do the same? and how will the plan differ for your business prowess as opposed to a sporting scenario…
  • Check out the biography of business people, and look for examples of how they built their ability in these areas, then ask are these things you can implement? If not keep searching and asking for answers that “fit right” for you.
  • Know your limitations, then push them a little each time to build your capacity to go a little further next time.
  • Having support from others can help to build your resilience and stamina, its that cheer on as the chips are down, or a welcome “You do this really well” when you may be in doubt. this can come from, family, friends and associates and can make a big difference to the way you ‘handle things’ being aware of this, ask yourself, can I foster this so I can get more support? The short answer, yes…

Enjoy building your stamina and resilience, hopefully the “workouts” to get you there will be well worth it.

Preparation makes all the difference.

Dec 2

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Franchisees, Franchising, Planning, Risk Management, Starting out in business | 1 Comment

This is the first in a set of posts designed as a series to complement the initial post… Strengths in your business The aim being to provide a simple “How to” guide for people daunted by the prospect of how to as it can be too easy to read and say “Oh yeah that’s it, I need to do that, and then forget it and let it go.

Preparation (No plans no direction)

The topic of preparation takes into account research as well as plans, so lets look at these.

Many people in business make the error of not doing full research or think they know better than any research often going off a hunch they have a great idea that will bring them great profits. Fact is many people are throwing away thousands of $$ by not getting the research in the start up phase right.

Some research basics

  • Find out all you can about your competition, chart it on paper and figure out what sets them apart from the rest in your line of business.
  • Find out what the basic profit margin is for your business then figure out how much you have to sell to be able to make that kind of turnover, then break that down into a daily figure to see how much you have to earn.
  • Know what it will cost to run the business (find info on cash flow and make a LONG list of every aspect of your business and its expenses.)
  • Know if it’s legal, do you need special licences or registration to run the business, find out now, NOT LATER!
  • Chat to an accountant or solicitor about the right structure for your business, there are a few options here, pursue them and know the difference.
  • Get smart around business terminology, create a glossary of terms (Google that, there are bound to already be a few.)
  • Know your target market – focusing specifically on a group of people or types of businesses you want to target then find out how these people buy
  • In business (especially in the start up phase) you will be selling, ideas, then products and or services so do some research on the right sorts of sales methods and then practice them to build your skills in this area.
  • How much money is required to set the business up.
  • How long it takes before the business will make money (They rarely make money from day one…)
  • How will you pay your way in the start up phase? (a wage or similar…)

Planning

  • A business plan is vital so you have a guide to follow, it can be The Mini Business Plan or a fully blown complex one but have one ON PAPER, they are no good in your head.
  • The plan will at LEAST set out the goals you have for the amount of sales, the way the business will run (management) and the marketing.
  • Because planning needs to have goals set, find easy ways to make goals work (the SMART system works well.)
  • Make the plan usable, and make it the FIRST thing you turn to when you need to have an answer.
  • Use a calender a 12 month one even if it’s a photo copy of a 12 month diary page, it’s better than nothing. Then write in all the things that will happen from start up day.
  • Check out a bookkeeper to handle the accounts do you can focus on your business and running it right. Learn the bookkeeping terms and how they effect you. If you plan to do your own books, make sure with your accountant this is the best way to do things. Some will not accept your input of the info and prefer a bookkeeper (a professional) do it for you. (accuracy counts.)

There is a starting point for for your business preparation. I hope it makes things easier for your business planning phase.

Using Gossip As An Effective Management Tool

Dec 2

Posted by Michael Crooks in Excellence!, Growth, Human Resource Management, Leadership, People!, Starting out in business, The Operations Dept | No Comments

Got a note from my 4th grade son’s school the other day. Seems he and a small group were standing in line and were overheard making comments about “getting wasted” in reference to drinking alcohol. They were immediately hauled down to the principal’s office and verbally reprimanded about “inappropriate topics of discussion.” What’s sad, is that the children learned they must be very, very careful about expressing their thoughts for fear an adult will hear it and over-react and “get them in trouble”.

One of the few ways we can know what’s on a kid’s mind is by hearing what they say. Once we know what’s on their mind, an opportunity presents itself to have a thoughtful discussion on the subject mater.

“Hey, kids. You know that alcohol has devastating effects on the developing minds of smart young people like you. “Getting wasted” can get you into a lot of trouble. If you have any questions, I’d be happy to answer them for you.”

What does this have to do with business? Plenty.

While the common adgage is, “Loose lips sink ships”, I believe loose lips can also help repair ships.

How many managers and bosses are walking around clueless to what’s on in the minds of employees because the employees are scared to be frank, open and honest? How many business boats are sinking because managers and bosses have created an ATMOSFEAR instead of an atmosphere within their organization.

With the exception of slander, racist remarks and vulgarity, when employees feel they are free to express their opinions, feelings and yes, even doubts … bosses and managers can “catch wind” of potential problems, insights can surface and opportunities for thoughtful discussion are created.

For instance. A manager overhears or “catches wind” that an employee is complaining about the manager. Instead of jumping down the employee’s throat and dishing out reprimands — what if the manager asked the employee for a brief meeting?

“Thanks for meeting with me, Jim. I think you’re a great employee and you have a lot of potential. But I sense there’s something I may be doing that’s keeping you from really achieving your best. What can I do … or stop doing to help you?”

Are your employees working on the good ship Stifled Expression? Or do you have an atmosphere that allows you to take full advantage of what is referred to as the grapevine, viral communication or the arena of the overhead?

Ancillary, random communication among employees can yield golden opportunities to effectively and productively solve problems and keep your business afloat and profitable.

Do you have this kind of strength for your business?

Dec 1

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Franchisees, People!, Personal Development, Starting out in business | No Comments

I watched this afternoon as a bunch of people stood up, stepped forward and got the living daylights pummeled out of them. They stood tall and after a grueling 3+ hours of warm up exercises it was an incredible feat.

I am talking about Karate not a street fight… (thank goodness!)

What I witnessed was people from youngsters to mature age, male and female do battle. As I watched it occurred to me that these people had not just put a up their hand to say “Yeah I’ll do it” but firstly they had to put in the effort to attain the skills required, then went on to train to develop those skills and sparring techniques… Wow it was intense at the end to watch the sparring, seeing people let down their guard and get hit, some fell down and got up again even though there was “some pain!!!”

Watching this I was thinking of the parallels to business. (how could I not!)

  • Preparation (No plans no direction)
  • Resilience – stamina (The ability to keep on keeping on)
  • Conviction (You are sure it’s a great product and or service, otherwise you would not be doing it… RIGHT?)
  • Goals (If you know where you are going it makes it easier to get there.)
  • Decisiveness (Either a thing will happen or it won’t, often the decision is the only thing that stands in its way.)
  • Comfort zone stretching (An elastic band is only working when it’s stretched.)
  • Automatic functioning (the skills are already known)
  • Risk taking (all business is this, the further you go the more risks seem to ‘pop up’)

All of these personal qualities relate to business, it’s probably this list and a few other points that cause sustainable and profitable businesses to make the grade.

Why is it then that there are businesses that fail, despite people knowing these guidelines? and why is it that even people that have put in the effort only get so far and stop?

Firstly it’s one thing to know the guidelines, and another thing entirely to putting them into action. Secondly some people achieve a goal and stop right there, not sure what to do next.

All of these great points take commitment, and often it’s as easy as turning up each day and learning something new, putting in the effort to plod on and look for ways to make improvements at each step.

If you want an exceptional business, then these guidelines should give you the start to a great business.

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