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Archive for category Growth

Connected people

Nov 23

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Growth, People! | 1 Comment

You have staff, you have customers, how connected are they?

How connected are you to your team?
How connected are the individuals in the team…

Does it matter, yes… and here’s why.

Your people are your biggest asset, they do the things required to cause customers to pay for the products and or services you provide. No connection, means no communication, no communication no sale. Here’s the issue, its all about having a ‘suitable’ depth of communication.

The same thing applies to the internal customer communications, no communication, no connection, therefore there is probably a low care factor. (seems obvious now I spelt that out huh…)
Change it, discuss it, explore it, push it, use the term “Care Factor” and raise it to a suitable level (too much can push things over the edge).

 

Now take a look at your “Care Factor” for ALL your team. Here’s some pointers to consider.

  • How much do you know about your people?
  • Ask them about their day, weekend, issues, thoughts, perspectives etc.
  • Chat about their hobbies and interests.
  • Discuss work issues face to face every now and then (not just by email or a brief chat as you pass in the hall way).
  • Invite them (not literally) to ask you about your interests etc…

Some of you will find this easy, others will struggle and have probably stopped reading for fear of connecting with their staff! Think about all of this carefully, because at the end of the day no connection means no sales, and business needs sales! (one way or the other).Your next questions should be how do I/we connect better! :)

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Power $$ profit, where will it go…

Nov 2

Posted by Steve Gray in Growth, Innovation and Creativity, Planning | 3 Comments

In a recent news article the NSW government has made a tidy $1.23bn profit from the part privitisation of their power resources in that state. Well done, let me be the first to congratulate them.

I have a question however, what will they do with it?

Suggestion, for a whole bunch of people who can’t afford to buy the solar panels on their roofs use the $$ to give low income earners a way to reduce their utility costs, this will then mean less coal gets dug up as well. Makes sense to me. However I won’t be holding my breathe waiting for things to happen. :)

In your business are there similar opportunities? Are you missing out because of lack of thinking, risk taking etc… look closer you might find some powerful opportunities right under your noses.

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Make it Work

Nov 1

Posted by Steve Gray in Growth, Planning, Risk Management, The Board Room | 3 Comments

How do you go about making a succession plan, and setting things up so you and your  business can have a rosy future? Let’s try a few things and see what we can come up with.

Firstly a business that works.

  • Great products
  • Great service
  • Good profit margins
  • Great systems – policies – procedures – plans – vision
  • Great team
  • An entrepreneurial spirit – some risks – great rewards

Now say to yourself, “What do I want at the end of it all?”

A retirement income

An enjoyable, sustainable and profitable company to work in forever (some people don’t want to retire)

So how much is the retirement income going to be and when?

  • Will it maintain your current lifestyle needs?
  • Will it offer you the chance to live a greater lifestyle than you currently do?
  • Will it provide you with the chance to do more things in the wider community
  • Will I semi retire early…

All great questions but now what.

  • Think about your income levels, where they have been and where they are headed, when you reach a std retirement age of 65, what will the income be?
  • Then think about it being able to build further as time goes on, if you are retired for 30 years what would your final ‘wage’ be.

So how will you do it?

By now you may have realised the level of income you want, and now you have to ensure your business can create the level of turnover to pay for your ‘vision of the future’.

I think it’s time to get cracking on making your business more profitable and seeing how it will run without you, because some day in the future your asset will either fade or thrive. Take action now!

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Stunning looks but what happened?

Oct 22

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Growth, Leadership, People!, The Customer Service Dept | No Comments

Have you ever had a friend who looked stunning but over time they ‘faded’, perhaps the look they once had is now ‘not in vogue’ or they have aged and the look does not fit the image, they should have altered to an image which suits their age, level of maturity etc…

I was out shopping today and started to see a few, “not quite Walmart’ people” but some a bit too close for comfort. Then a few who were the opposite, I started to put two and two together and thought… “Isn’t it interesting how the looks convey so much”. What I was now seeing was confidence, poise, pride, conviction, energy, warmth, integrity, strength, trust, beauty… “Guess which group this was!”

While on the other side there was, sloth, lack of care, little confidence, an unruly ‘dis-ease’, coldness etc.

It then struck me, it was a reflection of the shopping experience I had been having recently. Some businesses were, poised and confident while others, uneasy and fragile. Wow what a comparison, on the one hand people and the other hand businesses, yet there was a correlation to the way I felt about them both, a sort of emotional connection, ethereal and subtle but somehow strong at the same time.

Well that’s how I feel sometimes with some businesses I observe. The businesses I love are the ones who are consistently on top of their game. The ones who take care to present well, keep up with the times without following the latest fad. The ones who have pride and professionalism without an air of arrogance.

One quick example, I parked near a shop which sells Chef’s essentials, it’s open to the public so I took the chance to browse (I’m an avid cook so hey it was a great fit). On entering the store, one of the staff (although serving others) nodded and said “hello” I reciprocated and continued to browse.

As I went further into the store another service professional approached and said “It looks to me as though you are happy to browse, unless there is something specific you my like assistance with?” I smiled broadly and said “I’m quite happy thanks you read my interest well!” She smiled back reassuringly.

I wandered some more and selected a few things which took my fancy, on arriving at the counter, I was assisted with some light chatter and some ideas about one of the items I had selected “You can also use that for…” it was welcome info. I felt confident to ask a few silly questions without the store people rolling their eyes and I was met with some great responses which answered my queries well and helped me feel as though they were not silly questions after all.

I left the store pleased with the purchases and information I sought, nice… Mind you I have had the opposite on more than one occasion. Oh and by the way the store was well stocked (range and qty of each item) and beautifully presented, with items clearly labelled with price and other details.

To get back to the original idea of the post, I reflected on a not so good experience in a store earlier in the day, not enough staff, taking too long to serve and trying to find what I wanted in their crowded space was annoying, If I did not want the item so much I would have gone elsewhere. I walked out of there with a sense of disdain and grumpiness. Mind you this store had started out well a few years back but is fading off my radar the more I go back and suffer the little things which annoy me.

Stunning looks, but what happened? Take the time to figure out what’s happening in your business so  you can prevent this from happening and keep on top of your game.

 

Rushing headlong to “who knows where”.

Oct 3

Posted by Steve Gray in Finance, Growth, People!, Planning, Risk Management, The Board Room | 2 Comments

Lately I have had a few reminders of what I am about to chat about. It’s a bit unnerving when people ask “When are you planning to retire?” and I answer with “I’ll never retire, I like work too much!” that covers the fact I probably won’t be able to retire financially. But I guess it makes light of a serious subject and one I have to try hard not to think about too much.

Like a lot of people I didn’t worry much about retirement, putting cash away and anyway I keep hearing stories of people losing money overnight on the stock market and their portfolio value plummets again…

The reminder for this post, listening to people in business chatter away about how things have gone, what they will do when the time comes to retire, how they might sell their asset and in one case a lady who had sold her business, watched it fade fast into obscurity so she bought it back and is building it up again.

So what will you do, sell the business, put a Manager in to run it, expand it, resize it etc? All with the aim of having a nest egg to retire on.

If you do sell, will what you have the cash ‘invested’ in provide for your needs in retirement? How much will you need?

If you build up the business and put in a Manager how will that work out? Will the amount you need to take out hurt the business? Will it be run as you set it up or better? Will things fall in a heap and you need to rescue it… will you want to rescue it!

Lots of great questions in need of great answers. Hopefully your Accountant can set you straight, or at worst your own figures will project a rosy future for you. Lets face it, in the current economic situation there is little to smile about when the notion of retirement looms large in our thoughts. Unless of course you have an asset which keeps on giving.

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Your business culture needs work

Jun 5

Posted by Steve Gray in Growth, Human Resource Management, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, People!, Planning, Risk Management | 3 Comments

When you want a new staff member to ‘fit in’ you generally go for a good culture fit when you interview them. Usually this means the recruits actions and thoughts fit well with the rest of the team and the way they do things, their patterns of behaviour. It makes sense to do that, however what if you want things to change in your organisation… perhaps more growth, explore new markets, push some boundaries. Then things might be different.

 

Consider the role of a senior member of staff, perhaps a person in a strategic planning or Human Resource Development role. Your aim may well be to push some boundaries and open the playing field up to new ideas and options. In that case you may want a person with a different approach or cultural fit to the rest. This then raises questions about the type of cultural differences and skill sets you might want to have with this type of recruit.

 

How will you decide what culture and skill sets you require? That depends on the role and how much of a ‘shift’ you want to create in the system. Clearly if you go for a person who is totally different in their interests, values and beliefs to the rest of the team, you may end up with a situation where the gap between your current culture and your ‘imposed’ one is too great to sustain for any length of time. I liken it to a bridge trying to span a distance which is too great for the structure to hold for long, eventually it fails.

 

Your new cultural direction should consider the following points.

  • The change should be different enough from the existing situation but still maintain structural integrity.
  • Creative approaches or not? – if the existing culture requires stimulus to get it moving then a more creative skill set can do just that.
  • If the growth pattern of the enterprise is stagnant then a more profit driven or sales oriented person can add value.
  • Managing the change might need extra effort on the part of the HR dept, supervisors and team leaders to oversee the new direction.
  • Is this culture re-shuffle a part of an ongoing strategic plan? – If so it will probably fit with a core value of innovation.  With that underpinning the new approach, the team should see the benefits this will bring for the longer term.
  • Although a different cultural fit might be the main aim it doesn’t mean the core organisational values need to be ignored, in fact they are probably going to be strengthened by this new approach as terms such as respect – innovation and service get a bigger airing and may be explored at a deeper level.

Like anything changes to a business need to take into consideration various factors before being implemented but the above cultural development points might be a good starting point to consider.

 

How happy are your employees?

May 23

Posted by Steve Gray in Growth, Human Resource Management, People!, Planning | 2 Comments

How happy are your employees?

They turn up, they do the tasks, but how happy are they? Some of you are now asking “why should I care?” as long as they turn up and do the tasks…

Well a happy team will generally do things more effectively and with greater interest. If they are more at ease then they will probably be more alert and less stressed. Now does it make sense… So what can you do to assist them to be happier?

Survey them – Every few months or so develop a simple survey to measure how they are going in the happiness stakes at work – and loosely at home, you don’t need to pry too deeply but imagine if things are down at home, then it can impact the work situation, what will you ask them? well try doing an internet search for staff surveys and make a list of questions from there.

Do a Maslow – Dr Maslow came up with a list of needs people have in a range of situations, but the workplace is a great place to use it. Do a search on his list and then use it as a guide to measure with – It can be a very useful way to set up an induction program, or anytime a person moves to a new position or division and things change. It can give you a view into what sorts of things should be in place for this person to perform well. According to Maslow you should be aiming to get your people to a ‘self actualised’ position, this way they are in the best position to add great value to your organisation.

Is your workplace a brilliant place to be? – Take a look, is it a great place or a dump or somewhere in-between? Now figure out what can be done and when. It’s a great way to start forward strategic planning. When profit gets to x level you can update a few things, and continue on from there bit by bit until you get the organisation up to a great standard. As a one off big spend it might cost a lot, but in stages it can be a lot easier to handle. It could be developed by adding a question or two in the initial survey.

Keep on tweaking the list! – Use this list as a guide to improving your business and keep on tweaking it see if over time the results are showing up.

 

What do You Need to be Doing in your Business?

Jan 28

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Growth, People!, Planning, Risk Management | No Comments

What do you need to be doing in your business? It’s still early enough in the year to be thinking about planning and implementing.

I often think about what I would WANT to be doing in my business, yet the need to’s cut through the wants and nag me to pieces… Often it’s the wants which cause us to go off on inappropriate tangents.

Should you be…

  • Getting more new prospects.
  • Streamlining systems.
  • Finding ways to make things more profitable.
  • Developing cash-flow projections.
  • Looking after existing customers better.
  • Checking OHS issues and risks factors.
  • Implementing a staff happiness program.
  • Developing a marketing plan.
  • Implementing the marketing plan with your friendly branding expert.
  • Tweaking your business plan.
  • Developing your customer service strategies.

You know there are a whole lot more options you need to be doing, so what stops you?

  • Hate to do things which are forced on you?
  • Figure it will go away somehow?
  • You want to hire some one someday who can look after these things for you.
  • Don’t know where to start because the list becomes overwhelming?
  • You refuse to delegate?
  • You like to chat to suppliers rather than face the reality your business might slowly be going down the “gurgler”?

Looking for excuses will not help, you should take control and get the team together and make a list of what needs to be done and hand over as much of it as possible, then get on with doing your part of it.

In the end your business is just that your business, so it requires you to take on the responsibility which comes with the territory.

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Choosing the right franchise for you

Jan 7

Posted by Guest Poster in Finance, Franchisees, Franchising, Growth, Planning, Risk Management, Starting out in business, The Board Room, The Operations Dept | No Comments

Franchise opportunities abound, but choosing the right franchise requires careful thought and considered research.

Combing through franchise businesses for sale notices should be less daunting if you implement a well thought-out research strategy. Using online research, industry publications, news clippings and other methods is a great starting point.

When identifying franchise opportunities, consider what will complement your lifestyle, business goals and your skill set. Some aspects to consider are outlined below.

Brand strength? Behind every successful business is a strong brand, bolstered by an enviable reputation. Read widely about how the franchise brand is perceived by the industry, customers and business partners. Part of what you’re buying is the company’s brand equity. What do you estimate the brand’s equity to be?

Finding out about financial health How open and transparent is the organisation about its financial health? A company’s balance sheet can provide valuable insights about how well placed the franchise business is to harness future growth.

Expenses today and in the future Before you buy a franchise, you’ll need to know what set-up costs are involved. There could also be ongoing costs, such as marketing or advertising levies.

Strategic marketing, PR and advertising expertise? Dig deeper into the company’s marketing strategy. What level of investment and support is offered nationally and locally? What marketing and branding expertise does the company offer? How well resourced is the organisation to fund public relations programs?

Systems for success? Systems are essential ingredients in any successful franchise network. How efficient are the franchise’s systems and processes – do they help or hinder your ability to operate the business?

Investigate the level of support on the ground Do they have a dedicated operational and field support team to assist you? Investigate the ratio of franchisees to field support infrastructure.

Consider the commercial environment Determine the competitive dynamics that are likely to impact the brand. Do they have a well-defined understanding of their competitors, future opportunities, trends and issues?

Create a shortlist of franchise business opportunities? Once you’ve created your wish list, shortlist your most suitable franchise opportunities. Map out what works for you and what doesn’t, including the business must-haves e.g. IT and marketing support, costs (one-off and ongoing) and other forms of critical infrastructure.

Talk to franchise owners at the coalface Franchise owners are valuable resources. They can often provide you with the ‘inside story’ about a potential franchise business opportunity.

Lesley D’Arcy – As a franchise recruitment manager at Mortgage Choice, Lesley D’Arcy is responsible for recruiting franchisees to greenfield (new) opportunities as well as selling established franchise businesses. Her career in franchise recruitment spans over 15 years where she has worked with many major franchise brands. Lesley has a wealth of experience in recruitment of franchisees and builds on this experience by unearthing and developing the latest and most innovative ways to help franchisors build their networks. This experience has given her the skills to become an expert in the field of franchise recruitment, excelling in lead generation, screening, qualifying and selling to prospective franchisees.

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Business Basics

Oct 8

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Finance, Growth, Planning, Risk Management, Starting out in business, The Operations Dept | 4 Comments

I love chatting about business, and love to see people put an idea or three into action and get results, but unfortunately far too many people go to get started and so blindly follow the idea their heart runs off with the head and they fail. I don’t want them to fail but they do, the business owner does not want it to fail but it does… Fail, fail , fail… its not a good look!

Therefore, any chance I get I like to mention the basics of business in the hope to make a difference, I like to harp on about the basics and let people know…

  • Idea – Research – Action – Spend $$ – Make $$ – Have some left over – Invest – Repeat. (or close to that.)

Still people get it wrong, some end up with an image like this…

  • Idea – Action – Spend $$ – Make SOME $$ – Spend more $$ – End up broke. (Or some similar pattern to that.)

What’s the point of having a great idea and seeing it crash and burn? None, it hurts and can easily hurt others, so stop doing it. The challenge is however people don’t see the “crash and burn phase” they see a rose coloured world of $$ and happy customers.

Consider this, you want to learn to fly, you have the idea, you have the cash to buy a plane, you know full well you can’t fly the sucker until you have been trained and pass the test.

So why the heck do people jump into business (of any size) without the right training… Because they can, and you know what, you can sign up to get business registration on line, get a bank account and so forth and be in business in no time flat. Problem is no training, probably some skills, possibly and few helping hands to get started. and the rest seems to be “fly by the seat of your pants” and hope for the best.

Do some basic research BEFORE getting started and make sure you KNOW what you are in for PLEASE. too many failures in business seems such a waste of resources folks.

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Blitz your business now…

Aug 6

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Growth, Planning | 1 Comment

If you are like many people in business you are probably flat out keeping your business ticking over and doing your best to get and keep, ahead in tough times. you have all the usual things you do to keep things going and if you have a profit happening then you are doing some things right.

However it is also easy to miss out on getting things right in your business and in fact it can be VERY difficult to get ALL things right. Perhaps this “Blitz” idea might make a difference to how you go about things.

Businesses often have “blind spots”, in retail circles it’s often called “Store blindness”. It’s where particular parts of the business are not up to scratch and often go unnoticed, it might be one area of a display which has become tardy but is not noticed so we form a blind spot to it. My answer, “blitz your business”.

How? Simple, in retail for instance, draw a rough plan of your store, and have a blitz attack on sorting things out in that section, check cleanliness, stock levels, layout, lighting, signage etc… Then to other business aspects, marketing, operational systems, and management to name a few. Go through all of these one at a time and sort them out bit by bit.

Perhaps set up a blitz team to work on each part of  the business so the organisation can see the fruits of it, knowing it has taken solid action to get those results. Start now with a simple checklist of areas to focus on. Oh and remember to mix up the areas you focus on with your team so they avoid getting into a rut and follow a boring routine.

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Evaluating Your Small Business Strategy

Jul 8

Posted by Bren Ryan in Excellence!, Growth, Innovation and Creativity, Planning, Risk Management, Starting out in business, The Board Room, The Operations Dept | 1 Comment

Countless people set themselves personal goals in life, but in many cases, small business owners don’t do themselves the same favour.  Without setting time aside to consider, plan and implement a solid strategy for any business, its success can be often hindered or compromised.

In these tough economic times, owners are struggling to make their business grow, but strangely enough, there is great opportunity for companies to make leaps and bounds while the market is down.

Take a Step Back

Being in the day-to-day running of your business can alter your perception of how effectively it is run.  Take the time to look at every facet of your business to gain the most unbiased perspective.

What kind of relationships do you have with suppliers? Is there any way you can leverage the associations you have with them to gain better pricing or additional extras (like longer trading terms to increase cash flow) that they don’t usually provide?

Do employees see their position as a job or a career? One of the most difficult tasks an employer can face is motivating their staff so that they are more productive.  Try to introduce creative, cost effective ideas to improve staff morale, which will ultimately allow your business to be more successful in so many different ways – higher customer satisfaction, increased work output, less mistakes and a much nicer place for everyone to work.

What are your sales margins? Taking a realistic look at how much you are making on your products and services is crucial to allowing your business to grow.  A small increase in sales margin may not seem like much in isolation, but calculated over a year, this additional profit can make quite a difference to your bottom line.

In many cases, customers will expect to see increases in prices every few years, purely because of inflation.  If you do apply increases, be transparent to your valued clientele – it will only reaffirm why they should continue to spend their money with you.

What are your competitors doing? If they are blazing trails in your area or industry, find out why and how.  Start to follow their lead and see where you can even improve on their practises.  But another, far more powerful way to knock down competition is to find out what they are doing badly.  By being exceptionally great at what your competitors do badly, it will soon put you miles in front.

Planning – What to Consider

After all the research has been done, it’s important to spend some time planning how you will turn all of these findings into meaningful actions.  There is a fine balance between continuing to maintain a high service level in your business and being able to implement new processes, procedures and projects.  Figure out what elements can be immediately implemented into your business and what will take more time and resources. Once you’ve determined this, you can then allocate timelines to these more lengthy projects so as not to interrupt the flow of your business.  Many strategies tend to stretch over several years, so make sure you build some level of flexibility in to allow for changes in your business, the economy and the marketplace.

Implementation – Getting Your Hands Dirty

It’s all well and good to research and develop business strategy, but sometimes the hardest part can actually be doing the work involved.  The best way to avoid being overwhelmed with implementing the strategy is to break up each task and set key goals and milestones.  Once you have completed the task or project successfully, make sure you take the time to look back on what you have done and be constructively critical.  If you have an upcoming project of a similar nature, it will allow you to become more efficient in implementing your business strategy.

All in all, developing a business strategy gives you the chance to recognise opportunities and shortcomings that may not have been realised otherwise.  While each business can be very different, the foundations of a solid business strategy are ultimately the same and can be applied to most companies, regardless of their service offering or industry.

An article provided to us by one of our site sponsors – NRMA Business Insurance

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Do you do this with your marketing?

Aug 20

Posted by Steve Gray in Growth, The Marketing Dept | No Comments

I’ve seen it done a lot, I’ve seen it done really well and I’ve seen it work exceptionally even in a down market.

I call it Marketing overlap, there is probably a fancy name for it in market speak but for now that covers it.

Many businesses rely on just a few forms of marketing and can measure the results of those, however what most fail to do is overlap the marketing so that as one method of marketing runs out of stem the next one kicks in.

An example of this is when you have a range of great products, and this month you have a special on one of them, the next month another special with a  different item and so on. By focusing on one product special then another people can get excited about coming to check out what you have on offer, often to get the special, but guess what they do, they often buy more than just the special.

If your business is expanding and offering new products you can launch them as the “special” then as you move to the next special the first one has nearly run its course, and so the overlap effect occurs.

This method generally ups your average dollar sale, keeps people interested in what you have to offer and if you can couple it with a range of marketing devices you will probably see great results. Want to develop a plan of action, then try chatting to your friendly branding expert to see what you can do to make it work.

So on, get out your marketing plan and cram a few extra marketing devices into the mix and overlap each campaign to keep the punters interested, if you don’t, your competition just might and take your customers out from under you. Chances are you may not notice until it’s too late.

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Basics are basics…

Jun 1

Posted by Steve Gray in Finance, Growth, Leadership, Risk Management, Starting out in business | No Comments

It’s June 2009 the global financial crisis is still happening. Watched a documentary on Chinese businesses going under, huge factories closed down, lots of out of region migrant workers now displaced. Sure this was one province (Guangdong) and particularly one city Dong Guan, so probably not a big cross section to measure by. The show was on SBS Australia’s Dateline (May 31) and showed a range of businesses closed and gutted out.

Here’s a quote from the show “In Guangdong province alone, 60,000 factories have now closed down and millions of migrant workers are searching for work.”

My first thought was what were they making? well it’s interesting the businesses included a printing plant, toy factories, and jewelry manufacturing… My second thought was do they make for the local market or export, export… third question, is the product a need or a want, mainly want.

So it comes down to the basics if the majority of what is produced is not for needs when a downturn comes the wants are dropped first. When an external order from overseas is pulled then the whole thing can collapse quickly. as the local economy is hanging on wants, the failure of one is felt across all.

Learn from this huge scale disaster and make sure you have a balance of income from needs based sources as well as wants based sources. If you have shares in a grocery company Co for example it seems logical that they supply the needs of people, then take your own business think about how you can supply to the needs based customers. Think carefully about this as a form of insurance to ensure you can balance your wants and needs to ensure sustainability.

Business is…

May 23

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

There are many types of business primary, secondary etc… but I have just had a thought about other “types” of business and felt it useful to share.

In the most part a business is about creating a device to provide a product or service and make a profit from it, however it goes a bit further than that. I feel it’s important to make a few distinctions.

  • Job – not a Biz – Turn up – do work – go home – repeat.
  • Low level Biz Operator – as above – not much scope to get ahead – Some franchises can feel like this.
  • Low level Biz Owner – Some growth as the biz operator gets some leverage by having staff do the work, with input from the owner.
  • Mid level Biz Owner – Better growth limited input to the biz as the staff do it all with a manager in place or similar – perhaps develops other businesses or franchises of one business.
  • Upper level Biz Owner – As previous but developing assets to utilise the growth’s potential.
  • Top level Biz Owner – Utilises others to do the work, from developing more assets to creating more businesses.
Which level do you want to be at and what will it take to get you there? Notice it’s all about growth and profit leading to leverage, with leverage you can do more. When you learn the skills and mindset required to do this you get to play at a new level each time learning more skills and mindset tweaks to assist you. Note at each level and with more leverage you can assist more people, develop greater security and achieve more.

Arts based recovery?

Apr 19

Posted by Steve Gray in Growth, Planning, Starting out in business, The Board Room | No Comments

Years ago when the “recession we had to have” was on (late 80′s) there was a push at one stage for an Arts Led Recovery. Perhaps it’s time to look at it again and try a fresh tack in the “G.F.Crisis”.

Locally there is a small Arts following with a few commercial galleries and a regional one with some contemporary artists hiding in the bushes somewhere.

However on the Weekend I was in Melbourne for “Art 09″ a giant expo of art from a range of Commercial Art Galleries and a lot of “art” was bought, thousands flock in, thrashed their credit cards and went off with smiles and art in hand.

A lot of discussion took place (and will for a few weeks to come) about the merits of the event and the possibilities for those wanting to have display spaces next time, as well as other ways to “make art pay”. It’s a topic dear to my heart (being an Artist might do that…)

To get on with the process it’s probably important to say, it’s about income (when people buy stuff that’s what happens folks…) then about the art (the product), then the artist (the producer…) The flow on is therefore about sustainability to be able to then have a profit and see the spread of the income to the wider community. Note with no margin there is no spread so the profit is important (both monetary and other).

I’m thinking that not everyone wants a contemporary piece in their home, (well not a big 1 X 3 metre piece anyway). However there is sure to be ways to encourage people to consider the works (at the moment much is hidden under the bed of Artists wanting to become the next big thing…) to enlighten them etc…

One initiative I saw a while back, was art in vending machines, (clearly very small pieces). however it is not until people start to explore ideas that ways to “make Art pay.” will we see the flow on. Also the flow on of interest in creative endeavours and not just the cash transaction.

There is scope for exploration for ways to make it pay, for now lets consider the fact that we have a solid core of artists, galleries and punters willing to purchase. So lets find ways to get the ball rolling.

Always make the “little bit extra”.

Apr 11

Posted by Steve Gray in Finance, Growth | No Comments

Business, Enterprises, Co-operatives, not for profit groups etc… I implore you to ALWAYS make that little bit extra, that “profit” that “margin”, that bit on the end left over after EVERYTHING is paid for.

Here’s why… In tough economic times, those who can stand the test of time are those who put away for a rainy day, simple. Those with that “bit extra” can grow their business, provide more resources for their customers, give themselves more leverage and build an enterprise which is more sustainable.

I guess in an ideal world your “business” should be such others want to buy it, they covet it’s uniqueness, its service ethic and so on, to really do this you need to have the margin built in so the future of the business is assured, either for you or others who take it on as a franchise or as a “straight” business.

Know what your industry standard is for margins, then beat it by a bigger chunk (so you can have a greater edge in the long run.) It’s all about longevity, sustainability, offering the right stuff at the right time to the right customer mix… it’s up to you but a margin goes a long way to assisting you to be a business owner rather than a business operator.

A margin or cash asset can be the ultimate strength you need to borrow funds to grow with, and let the asset grow, let it provide other investment opportunities without having to spend it, let it be the vehicle to propel you forward ad give yo the edge. Most people when they get a profit spend it and enjoy the rewards (short term usually) that brings. I am advocating you put the money away and leave it away, watch it grow and provide the sort of stability every business needs.

Think carefully about the way you build your business and maybe you even have to alter your mindset/s about Cash and finance to be able to effectively put this sort of plan in place, no matter what, make sure you have a margin of some kind.

Down up, left right which way & what next!?

Mar 12

Posted by Steve Gray in Finance, Growth, Risk Management | No Comments

Positives and negatives abound in the new found financial meltdown news, some people have lost value but not $$ (Big business CEO’s who find their stock options are “a little short on value”) while others have lost $$ but not value (e.g. work has dropped off for some contractors).

Despite all this the average “Joe” is now fighting to keep their jobs or hoping to get another one where the boss is not giving them grief and so the applications for positions has gone down but the number of applicants has gone up. Strange times call for strange answers…

Ages ago I wrote about a tourist town in New Zealand doing Ok, but what would happen in tough times? they supplied to the “wants” of the world and not the “needs” of the world. This put a few noses out of joint, but unfortunately the minute things went haywire so to did the tourists… bye bye, back another day when things pick up. 

It comes down to balance (yeah too easy for me to say huh…) if the overview of the situation is too much one way (providing just wants) then  hassles occur… if you provide to just needs then there are no want type situations to be taken advantage of. (imagine a supermarket, which just provided basics and NOTHING else… It equates to all work and no play.

So much for macro economic theory (of which I know little formally) what about Micro? Well the situation is this. You are in charge of the $$ at home and the things under your control, so you had better figure out how to balance things there (strangely similar? yep!)

Basic investing 101 says “Have a balanced portfolio” so you buy shares across a range of areas, resources banking etc… This helps to balance things if one goes up and the others go down, but if the HWOLE share market goes down, stiff luck. What it really means is, have some $$ in shares, some in business, some in Investment properties, some in the bank. In tough times you can shift things about to suit.

For most people the balanced portfolio idea outlined is nice but few have the ability to fund this many investment options. Challenging and frustrating all at once, so this is where a BIGGER picture plan comes into being. If you have just shares what are you saving for? An investment property… or the chance to put profits into the bank. Either way your plan should show you the way.

Lets face it many people have been caught out by the current financial dilemma and many more will feel pain before it’s over, but there are those who have taken a balanced approach and will not be doing things so tough as others. Half their luck. let’s hope in the positive future we can all heed their wisdom and build a sustainable portfolio for long term financial support.

Jobs slashed, businesses fold… NEXT!

Feb 26

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

Pacific Brands Australia announced over 1800 jobs to go in the next 18 months.. jobs to go off shore.

Those who  are regulars here will know I have sprouted wistfully about the doom and gloom, however this time I want to take a “positive swipe” at the situation and ignore the nay sayers cutting jobs and propping up the shareholders (or so it might seem). 

I have long been a proponent for the Cooperative business model, it has shareholders like most businesses however they generally have a vested interest in the business and provide a “different” backbone or foundation for the business, as opposed to a seemingly “slash and burn” approach of some public organisations.

So I ask…

  • What if the workers were able to form a cooperative and take over from where their employer has left off.
  • What if the Company was to utilise the strength of unity of the workers and explore sourcing the goods from a Coop they assist to set up to keep the jobs here and not ship them OS.
  • What if people were put down as a profit and not as a liability…
Lots to explore, but in the end we let this stuff happen, perhaps it’s time to take a stance, set up some great business models to be able to handle these situations better. After all 1800+ jobs can be a bit much.

We are dumb… USE IT!

Feb 4

Posted by Steve Gray in Growth, Innovation and Creativity, People!, Starting out in business, The Board Room, The Marketing Dept | 1 Comment

Ok.. some of you are… (not you specifically…)

I wanted to raise your interest in a thought I had this morning watching the news, someone did something dumb and I thought “Derrh! what an idiot”, then I started to mentally add up the dumb stuff…

  • Stop violence against women, great idea, but why not just Stop Violence…
  • War, probably the dumbest concept of all time…
  • Teachers stand and deliver to classes with an attention span of two seconds, heck cut the crap give the kids engaging material which causes them to want to be interested.
  • Cigarettes, no nutritional value, no other value, not even cool anymore… BUT people buy them. I don’t get it, never have, never will, dumb…
  • Barriers on high bridges to stop suiciders jumping, no biggy put them in NOW! Or give them a trampoline to make it a fun exit… (apologies if that offends).
  • Transport ticketing systems that cost millions and don’t work, hmm other countries have systems that work, copy them…
  • Solar panels for power on roofs, umm, hey guys someone start a publicly listed energy Co that wants to put them on the roofs of businesses, let alone houses, the economy of scale makes it useful surely. Could be a way of stimulating the share market again…
  • Cars that burglars can break into easily still. just set a std guideline that says the car Co’s have to fix the problem now… how long has this been an issue… grr DUMB.
  • Paperless offices, great idea, simple answer, stop selling printers… then watch people sort out the issue fast.
  • Empty shops, as long as shops are owned by private enterprise there will be issues. Too many too expensive and in poor order. Too many are running at a loss so they don’t have to pay too much tax, yep that’s why there are so many crap ones about.
  • Too many grumpy old guys, over fifty, out of work, become grumpy and a burden somehow. No one likes a grumpy person, and too many guys over fifty (oops that’s me too!) have to contend with being redundant and replaced (young kids are cheaper, faster and tech savvy…. grr!) run down… I call it “Death of a Salesman syndrome” (after the play and book of the same name.) The wisdom these guys can have collectively should be used (somehow) and not shelved.
  • Councils… (I guess that speaks for itself in some ways.) many people whinge about them…
  • Defence forces (perhaps that should be offence forces) what if they were peace keeping forces that if a hostile situation broke out they could be quickly retrained to shoot etc… a humanitarin force not in combat camoflague.
  • Water, it’s every where, but not a drop to drink (too salty) but hey we have to import the technology and use up precious power to run a desalination plant… (when we get it) and will it be enough? and hey why not put the water in to the top of the river system so the whole state can benefit… dumb, and why not investigate a solar powered one? Anyone go a prototype of a portable model?
  • Too much alcohol is causing major punch ups and violence… so stop serving it in ways where people can consume too much.
  • No power, we are running out of power on hot days to run airconditioners, they still sell heaps of them though… any solar power cells in your area? What about a wind turbine? Heck there are enough power poles, can we have mini turbines to mount atop these?
  • We have water usage issues, yet they still sell inefficient washing machines, dishwashers etc. DUMB, just sell us the best, hey do that for power too.
  • Every year thousands of new businesses start up and lose HEAPS of money when they go belly up in a few months… DUMB! Lets come up with ways to set up these start ups so they have the BEST chance of thriving. lets create “thinkubators” to make it easy for them to learn about business, research, get started and supported in the all too important start up phase. heck a stimulus package for businesses like this could have BRILLIANT flow on effects… I guess this means the government ins DUMB for not thinking of it.
  • $2 shops, heck I can buy all sorts of garbage for next to nothing, do we need it? nope, do we want it? not really does it help the economy? hmm ask people in local manufacturing if it helps them… does it help the businesses in high st anywhere look good? nup… dumb…
  • Op shops that open in main streets next to or near fashion shops… ooh nothing drags down retail areas more than an op shop. OKAY! they have their place BUT can we have some control please… and why so many…(It’s a sign of the times I guess…) DUMB (perhaps it’s the council for not providing guidelines here.)
  • Hand done signs on windows of stores, sure Uncle Harry is a dab hand with a brush, but your specials painted by him on the window look like garbage… you saved how much? and made how much? Nup not bright… in fact DUMB.
  • Bullying… As the economy slips further down the gurgler, Bullies everywhere are able to inflict more pain and hassle on their victims… “they can’t go elsewhere, so they have to put up with me…” (sinister chuckle ensues). Its an OHS ISSUE plan for it, do something and kick their butts.
  • I need a license for a car but not to be a parent, that makes sense… NOT, DUMB… how many dysfunctional families can the world take! Teacher’s everywhere will be able to tell you the hassles they cause. Simple tip folks, a parent’s key role is to build the child’s self esteem… Does it happen enough… nope.
  • Welfare organisations, why so many? Surely five admin departments is better than 25… The cost saving surely is worth it. DUMB! “Oh lets help more people… oops no money left… oh what a pity…”

Go on add to the list (in the comments section please.)

BUT figure out ways to make money out of any of these ideas and you might well be sitting on a goldmine… :)

A thought to finish on… Frank Zappa (musician) in one of his songs loosely said “If we are created in gods image, therefore if we are DUMB then GOD IS DUMB, and maybe even a little ugly on the side…”

 

Stimulus package 09

Feb 3

Posted by Steve Gray in Finance, Growth, Innovation and Creativity, Risk Management | No Comments

The Australian Government is due to release details of it’s next economic stimulus package today 3/2/09.

The previous stimulus package drew bad reviews from what many saw was a flawed package (handouts to family’s). The feeling seemed to be that the money went to frivilous purchases (gambling among them) while some saved the money for “A rainy day”.

The answer? Well the new package will be interesting to see, however the view from my side is this… Support and stimulate those with the most to give back to the community (in long term possible effect) the smaller business sector.

Imagine if they provided a range of effective support services to allow them to sustain their businesses through the challenging times, and then provide a platform to grow from when things pick up. In short training the business community to survive so they can thrive.

Over time the statistics on business failures has never been favourable so perhaps now is a great chance to address this issue. For too long it has been too easy for people to THROW away their hard earned dollars on a business idea they figure will bring them riches beyond compare, yet many find they have to work harder than ever to attempt to survive let alone thrive.

There are already all sorts of support packages available to those in the know, however a more coordinated approach beginning with an online overview of successful business practices etc might be a start, then follow this up with enterprise training packages aimed at giving the end user short sharp answers to pressing business challenges. 

I know it may not happen, however the resultant flow on to the community could be immense.

Are you taking part in the economic downturn?

Feb 1

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Growth, Planning, Risk Management | 1 Comment

If you are listening to the news you are, doom and gloom at every turn.

Many businesses will give up, walk away and say things like “It was out of our hands…” “We were at wits end…” “It wore us down…”

So make a decision, to stand and deliver or fold under the pressure. The key thing is MAKE A DECISION.

  1. Is what you have still useful? – If for instance you are selling out of date fashions you were able to “buy for a song” you may be pushing uphill. Being relevant, researched and ready is a big part of the battle, so know if what you have is viable.
  2. Set solid goals – Where do you want to be headed? If you don’t know where you are going, how will you know if you get there? Goals for cash-flow, profit margins, staffing levels, marketing, management etc… make those plans ROCK SOLID then implement them.
  3. Make your systems work – No systems (or few) then get them up to speed. Some systems but not working, go for a tune up so you can reach full speed. Do some research find out if what you have is suitable, effective etc. You are on the net so start here.
  4. Get the team on board – You want to succeed? So do I… here’s the plan, sell more, smile more, do more with less, watch out for the competition, be great at what you do… (To name a few) now have a heart to heart with the team, and keep them on board! Now is not the time for mutiny.
  5. Chat to the Stakeholders – Thats the team, the customers, the banks, suppliers anyone connected to your business. Keep them quietly confident your business is here to stay, then use any chat to research what you do, is it good or great? Then use the info to make things work more effectively.
  6. Measure – How does your business measure up with the competition? What do they do better? Now ask if you can match it AT LEAST, or better it with ease.

Change Happens, Handle it…

Jan 23

Posted by Steve Gray in Growth, People!, Personal Development, Planning, Risk Management | No Comments

With lots of things happening in the world it makes sense to get a perspective on things, some change you are experiencing may be good, some the opposite. Here are a few things which you may find of value in changing times.

  1. Be positive and have a sense of optimism – So things are changing… You can say “Oh woe is me…” or you can say “Whoa! Things are changing WOO HOO!” the choice is yours, an optimistic approach generally works out for the better, it puts your “spirit” somehow into the right frame to handle and accept things.
  2. Change can be good – Ignore it and it can be bad too… – You need to decide fast what’s happening and what fits to your core values and beliefs, if it fits well then go for it, if it doesn’t consider taking another path.
  3. You have a range of skills to handle change already – You’re an adult right? You have fallen over and picked yourself up from an early age, some of us may seem to fall over more often, so some of us may have more skills to deal with the situation. Reflect and remember all those things you have overcome, were you stronger at the end of it? Chances are yes… Tally up the skills you have, now put them into action.
  4. Not letting excuses and negative emotions stop you – Feel the fear and do it anyway can be useful at times, and this may be one of them. Ask yourself what are my excuses and negative emotions around this issue and what would I prefer them to be? Go on write them down so you can tackle them HEAD ON.
  5. The more you resist change, the more things may not happen how you want – I am not saying this is always the case but often it seems this way, and have you ever met someone that said “I should have done this earlier?” uh huh… and where would you prefer to be, starting out early or late? And ask this was anything I resisted in a change way in the past ever really that bad?
  6. What stories are you telling yourself? – Your self-talk is the one thing, which might just be holding you back, check out No: 4 again… is it your self-talk trying to “protect you?” from what? The unknown? Is it really unknown? Or is your self-talk wanting to “set you free” and explore everything this new change may bring…
  7. Deeper meaning, is it part of that? – Some of you will have a faith, which may suggest you are part of a bigger plan, some of you may have figured it out for yourself… Some of you look at the chaos and challenges and say meaning is impossible, check out No:1 again and ask “Which do I want to be part of, a bigger plan or not, Chances are  your “gods” (or demons…) will make sure it happens for you the way you want.
  8. Get a support team – Ask who can help me, who will understand? Then take a leap of faith to get them on board, they might be an email contact, a person to call on the phone, a buddy you can catch up with live. Whoever and however, carefully consider getting a team, a rock solid positive team of people who can hold you to the standard you want to be held to.
  9. Create a plan and take action – If you have not started jotting down things from the above list already I would be surprised. I care not for what sort of plan it is, but write it down! Perhaps keep a plan journal, consider reading your key plan points daily, or a wall plan, gather photo’s and collage a new you lifestyle plan on a wall chart… Keep it simple, real and vibrant. It’s your life, live it the right way, the way that makes the most sense to you. Oh and yes, take action, all the best thoughts in the world are worthless without action.

Think Globally, Act Locally

Sep 21

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Growth, Leadership, People!, Planning, Risk Management, The Board Room | 1 Comment

I have just been to see WALL•E the animated film, it was fantastic, the graphics, the story, the whole concept was exceptional. So the environmental message? Yep there was one, and as such I figure on a local basis we can be doing things to prevent a “Wall – E – World” from happening… (hey that’s not new is it…)

I know our “Local Authorities” have a long term plan, is it all about growth or does it take into account looking after things,  being the guardians of the planet at a local level. If “all hell broke loose” Could our region survive? Would we have enough of the “right resources” to keep going?

Chances are the long term plan is laced with “Innovation” and “Leadership”, “growth” and the such like, yet down on the ground realistic local action that I can tangibly say “Yep they’re doing something…” is not visible.

Lets take it to our businesses, do we have the ability to diversify in a way that gives us a support base if things go bad? A Debt Reserve Fund of some kind? A range of other “business interests” that allow us to fully serve the wider community? Mostly… No.

I figure that if I went to the local “Planning guide for the next 50 years” created by local authorities and searched in there for business “goals” or “ideals” to assist my business I might go away a bit befuddled by the academic language, the jargon and the rhetoric, however I probably should be silent until I see the “beast” and let it prove me wrong, (or right…)

I urge all business people to act responsibly and find ways they can make positive impacts at all levels of “stake holder interaction” (there’s my chunk of jargon for the day… :) ) so our future can stand the test of time.

If I fail will the Govt pick me up?

Sep 21

Posted by Steve Gray in Finance, Growth, Risk Management, The Board Room | 1 Comment

So what were the Risk Managers telling the management at Lehmans bank… maybe they should be fired… GROSS Negiligence perhaps? or did their “leaders” not listen…???

I have often said that organisations should have a “Debt Reserve Fund” large or small, if they had a range of assets (cash is a start) then they would have been able to say “Our core business is falling, but our back up foundation is solidly in place.” Instead the US Government comes a ridin’ in, all guns blazin’… “Yahoo! here comes the cavalry!!!”

So if my business fails will the Government give me $$ to prop it up? Hardly, and I barely call the aged pension a payout for years of challenges and ups and downs.

So fellow business people ask yourself what are we putting away to buld a foundation in case of challenges like this, and I don’t mean insurance…

Finacial markets in meltdown…

Sep 17

Posted by Steve Gray in Finance, Growth, Planning, Risk Management, The Board Room | 1 Comment

The USA banks, the market slide, you name it the financial markets are taking a battering with trillions of $$ in value lost… The media is alive with speculation, and sensational headlines.

WOW the guys with the money seem to be in a squeeze, now watch as the rest of us suffer in the aftermath.

But hey, I remember hearing (back when Australia had the “recession it had to have”) that since the “Great Depression” (what was great about it?) That financial markets world wide had a range of stop gap measures in place to avoid a meltdown… Oops it looks like someone failed to read that section of the operations manual, oh well what’s a few trillion lost…

The banks are able to gear themselves to the hilt, meaning they have little cash and a lot on the “never never” so they are in a great but precarious position. Anything they make in profits seems to go into real estate (check out their multi-storied head offices) or CEP perks (I’m just jealous!). Yet little seems to build their “cash reserves” to be able to handle challenging times like these.

The same of smaller businesses, many are only a few weeks of “challenge” from real disaster and have to hope that their strategy of “run on a wing and a prayer” will hold up if things go bad (now try and tell me that’s not the case with your business?!).

Really we are all in a similar boat, never far from the dirt we eke a foundation from.

Probably the one thing that rings true in the fullness of time, is clarified by my memory of migrants that saved their pennies and stashed them in tins in the back yard, they paid cash for everything and probably still do. These guys know that a slight breeze can bring down a  house of cards, and as such  have an insurance plan to cover it, a real one… CASH, not a trumped up piece of paper with terms and conditions designed to trap the unwary.

The sprung leader…

Sep 12

Posted by Steve Gray in Chill out!, Excellence!, Growth, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, People!, Personal Development, The Customer Service Dept | No Comments

Following on from the spring cleaning theme… is your leader leading the charge? did they “twig” to the change of season? did they come in the door with a renewed spring in their step? Well if the answer is no, maybe you should take the lead and remind them.

Get them focused – ask them to be flexible – give them support and watch them flourish (if not just run the show yourself and do your bit to make the Biz better.)

You see, often it’s the small stuff which happens that makes a difference, and people notice. In a retail setting, pull things off shelves and give the place a great wipe down. In the office, get in a tad earlier and clear out the “crusty” bits from around your area, in the lunch room, in the client areas… make a difference, do it for you and of course you are doing it for “them” the customers.

Reframing, renewing, refreshing it’s all good, so make the most of it.

It’s spring…

Sep 11

Posted by Steve Gray in Chill out!, Excellence!, Growth, Innovation and Creativity, Personal Development, Planning | 1 Comment

With spring just 11 days young, it’s time to clear out, clean out, seek out, innovate, create, get nasty with “stuff” and make way for fresh ideas, colours, thoughts and so on. Explore the ether, the space, the things I know little about (well to some degree).

It’s fine for me to feel this way but what about you? Does the onslaught of “Spring” give you that edge to want to do things, do more, be more, have more and so on? If so where do you start, is there a system you follow, or is it more of a I know the goal and to hell with how you get there?

Whatever way you decide to do things, make sure it’s going to work for you. Think big, explore and enjoy the results.

How much are you really making?

Aug 27

Posted by Steve Gray in Finance, Growth, Risk Management, Starting out in business, The Board Room | 3 Comments

Maybe you have been in business for quite a while and have most things figured, but how much are you really making?

With so many variables, fixed costs, and “things that challenge your earnings” it can be hard to tell what the take home earnings are.

If you have fixed costs it pays to make sure you have those covered, and knowing how much you need to earn per day (min) to cover these. Recently I met a business person that was sure he was making a profit but in reality he had a surplus, and with added costs from variables he was actually only making a very small profit.

Your business requires you to know if you are making a profit so that longer term planning can take place, otherwise you may find yourself in a tricky business position and wonder how on earth it happened.

Take care to measure carefully what’s happening so you too can get ahead and explore the growth possibilities your business can offer.

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?

It’s 9:01am you’re open for business… Yes?

Jun 20

Posted by Steve Gray in Growth, Planning | 1 Comment

At this time in the morning many are open and ready to go, but there are those that seem to not get in ’til later… It sets me to wondering what business was like for them say… yesterday. Did they not get enough people in the door that they felt it’s not worth it? They have checked over the last week or forty and found no one comes in before 11am so why bother being there?

It takes a lot of things to be good in business and one of them is attitude, if the 9am start begins to fade, then what else might be fading too

I thinks its an opportunity lost and think they need to consider what else they can do in that time. The books, ordering, secretarial outsourced work (an hour or two a day of that sort of thing could be useful.)

It comes down to money, if you are not making any (or enough) to pay the way then you are not doing well in business and so a tough decision needs to happen, but I guess first off is recognising the challenge you face and then being able to take action on it.

So if you walked into your business late this morning take inventory… of yourself and where your business is headed.

P.S. I thanked a business the other night for being open past 5:30 (they stay open until 7pm) as I didn’t have to rush to get there. so refreshing when a store has figured out that customers matter!

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 Select the Right Person to Join Your Team

May 8

Posted by Jenny Stilwell in Growth, Human Resource Management, Leadership, People!, Planning | 2 Comments

The reason people select the wrong person is because they don’t ask the right questions in the interview, they don’t probe to uncover real competencies and capabilities, they don’t explore the person’s true personality and attitude, and they get swayed by enjoyable ‘chats’ that should in fact be probing interviews.

We all like to work with people we like, but we also need to make sure those people we employ are going to deliver and produce results for us. The process of selecting the right person is both subjective and objective, but it does need to be a process.

Focus on doing these 7 things:

  1. Know what you want done – write the Position Description first.
  2. List the attributes of the sort of person you want (not physical attributes..!)
  3. Understand your culture – be honest – and know what sort of person would or wouldn’t fit that.
  4. Then, after you’ve done that, meet and interview.
  5. Don’t be swayed by anything other than your original set of criteria, because that is what you want.
  6. After the interview, give the person a rating against your set of criteria, and use that objective method of assessment to recruit the right person into your team.
  7. You could also go to this website http://www.bossgroup.com.au/products/28 and download the 12-Step People Management Blueprint and simply follow the 12 steps! It really is that easy! (But hurry! The price will increase significantly after May 30th, 2008, so if you purchase before then you’ll make a big saving !)

How to Attract the People You Need

Apr 29

Posted by Jenny Stilwell in Growth, Human Resource Management, Leadership, Planning, Starting out in business, The Operations Dept | No Comments

Just because you select an ideal recruit for your business, doesn’t mean they will automatically want to work for you. Why not?

Many businesses overlook the fact that they have to sell their offer and make it an attractive option for prospective new employees.

If you operate in a competitive environment where good recruits are scarce, or when you are trying to attract very high calibre people, it is essential that you make your business, and the position, sound as appealing as possible.

Here are some factors to consider:
1. Consider what drives people to join new companies. They typically want:
a. a new challenge
b. more money
c. opportunities for promotion
d. to work in a larger company
e. to work in a smaller company environment
f. to work closer to home
g. to work in an environment where they can improve their skills and learn
h. to work in a company full of friendly people
i. to work for a market leader
j. a manager who will spend time with them to teach and mentor

Does your business offer any of these enticements?

2. If it doesn’t, you may have issues with how the business is structured, or how it is performing, and may need to make some internal assessments and adjustments before you are able to attract the kind of people you need and want.

3. If you do meet some of these criteria, then the next question is, how do you sell your business and the position to the candidate? At every point possible!

a. The advertisement
i. Outline what’s positive and different about your company
ii. Make it sound interesting
iii. Provide several ways to respond to the advertisement (email, phone call, fax) – it appears more professional
b. Your website
i. Presentation – professional or amateurish?
ii. Overview of your business – should provide reasonable detail
iii. Clients – some reference to clients is a positive indicator
c. The interview
i. Reception and greeting – friendly, and again, professional
ii. Positive interaction – encourage questions at the end
iii. Be animated when interviewing and talking about your business
iv. You and the company must reflect the culture (professional/casual, committed, creative, service focus etc.)
d. Follow up
i. Needs to be a fast turnaround if you want the person
ii. Well organised – timeliness, information in the offer

If you do all of these things it is more than likely that you will be able to employ a candidate who matches your requirements, and the culture of your company. Good luck!

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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 money or the end product?

Mar 10

Posted by Steve Gray in Finance, Growth, Planning, Risk Management, Starting out in business, The Board Room | 2 Comments

When you start out in business or develop a new product there is an inevitable challenge to figure out if the emotion that motivates the initiative is the only thing making it happen or the $$ are a motivator as well.

I guess the ideal is both. People want the product, you make it, they pay the $$ and at the end of the process you benefit by getting $$ in and make more than the cost of the item, therefore you have a profit.

Here’s part of the challenge as I see it, people want to provide “stuff” and so they do so with the intent of it being a, something people want (it fills a gap or need in the market place) or A, something they need. Sometimes however they run into the idea that they can do it at a good price and not need to make much int eh way of $$ (the emotion takes precedent over the practicality of having $$ to run the business and make it prosper.

Lets work on the idea that both can be useful and in the case of a business with two or so partners this might become an issue early on, one wants to solve a problem the others want to make $$. Not a long wrong with that, and in fact if a partner in business does not want to make $$ then I question if they realy should be in business.

So it’s a conundrum that many businesses face how far do I go with both the emotional and practical side of the business and how do I measure this to make sure I don’t tip the scales one way or the other?

Until next time I want you to keep checking your business or business idea for both and see if there is a balance that is readily struck or not.

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.

So you are in business… Are you making any $$?

Feb 12

Posted by Steve Gray in Finance, Franchisees, Growth, Planning, Risk Management | 2 Comments

You have the business set up and things are running ok. You handle customers well, you pay the staff, you keep things ship shape in the bookkeeping area, all seems well, but are you making any money, real money, real income?

In the scheme of things those that have gone from an employee to a business operator will no doubt note there is a big difference between turning up and getting paid and turning up and wishing for more customers, the hassles to stop, and the seemingly endless challenges that creep up and take you by surprise.

Lets do a basic sum here, if you were on $700 a week income (take home) in a job, you had few hassles, in fact you got paid if you were sick, or on holidays… Now as a business owner you are the boss and you only get holidays if your business earns enough, if you trust the staff to run things while you are away etc… the list probably goes on AND ON!

In your business you need to be able to take into account a range of things to ensure viability, the cost of overheads, materials, marketing and so on, then have a margin on top of that to cover wages… then a profit (remember to pay yourself from the wages area!)

So the way forward is to project the cash-flow for your business and see if the amount you have to earn per day is do-able, and not outside your threshold for earning… As an example, if you are used to earning $700 per week, imagine how it might be if you have to turn over $700 in two days, just to make ends meet. For some that trips their mental threshold on money and they fail fast in the business stakes due simply to this psychological hurdle.

Once you establish the cash-flow for the business and how it fits with your money threshold, then ask are other businesses in this industry area able to do that with ease… or is it a struggle?

Answering the vital questions on cash-flow will either open a “Pandora’s box” of issues and hassles, or show the way to prosperity from being in business.

Here’s a tip, if you are currently employed and are thinking about going into business on your own, take a few days leave and check out what similar business types do… if it’s a retail store do some serious spying on them to see how many customers walk in the door, and at what time. Then check out their marketing, is it enough? Is there too much competition? Or is there scope for a new player in the game to take the lead and give it a good shot.

So if you go into business and take the inherent risks that go with that notion, consider the above points carefully, otherwise you may find you will work flat out and get nowhere fast, in fact it may cost you a great deal more than the initial investment.

How to train to Win/Win

Jan 11

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

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

Training to win/win
You and your staff should be trained to make the whole show win, then the customers can win too. A great position to get to and stay in.  For some the idea of training staff means showing them the bare basics of their job, but go a bit deeper and encourage thinking around the idea of Win/Win, when they get the idea the concept will probably become infectious.

  • Find out more about win/win and how you might create some examples you can discuss with your team.
  • Look for examples of win/win already at play in your business.
  • Use the concept to develop a team get together every so often to ask about and pass on ideas in business development.

Getting all this together is a great way to cause the team to work effectively together and can build the business to a strong position where people feel valued. This will then pass on to the customers and cause them to feel valued as well, in the end that’s what we all want.

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