Its all about business.

Archive for category Growth

Transparent, secure and solid.

Sep 26

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Finance, Growth, Leadership, People!, Planning, Risk Management, The Board Room | No Comments

In Australia today, a transport company in Sydney McArthur Express has gone into receivership and has been found to be insolvent. This means the company is not viable and they will sell everything and pay out the creditors as best they can.The plight is a miserable one for workers, the creditors and operators of the business, let alone the customers… so the aim of this blog the idea of creating a secure and solid company through transparency.

I want to provide two ideas here… The first idea mooted is an old one it’s called open book management, the aim being to provide all staff with the opportunity to see exactly what’s happening in the organisation and I mean everything. In short the aim from doing so is to provide an environment and foster a culture of openness inclusion and interest. The second idea is to create a solid foundation for any sized organisation but in this case for a larger employer. The idea is to create a debt reserve fund, or a wealth account.

By being open with the “books” those interested can ask questions, see the stability and get a feel for the organisation as a whole. In reality many people do not take up the opportunity however the resultant positive effects can speak volumes in terms of trust and honesty. It tends to send the message that the company cares. The idea is simple enough but it often takes courage on behalf of the business operators to be so open as for most its “Their baby”. I tend to hold the view that sure its your baby, but the minute you employ someone its a shared baby.

The second idea of a wealth fund or debt reserve fund is to create the ultimate backstop, one that you hope will never be used! The idea is simple, out of the profits the company makes a % of that is put into a bank account, when it grows to a set size some of the funds can be put into other assets that earn a higher return. The amount int he initial account grows again and so on. As the company grows there is a point where the initial account amount should get bigger before the % amount leaves the account for bigger things… this gives the Co the liquidity it requires in an emergency.

The trick with both of these ideas is having the strength to do them, the will power to keep them growing and the sense to make sure they stay in place to build a solid foundation for everyone int he company and not just the owners.

To all involved in the crushing blow to McArthur Express, my sympathy, to those wanting to avoid these sorts of tragedies, I hope the ideas I present are useful…

The entreprenurial franchise?

Sep 22

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Franchising, Growth, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, Planning, Starting out in business, The Board Room | 1 Comment

It’s probably thought of as a no go zone, the franchisor wants their members to follow a system, and the franchisee wants to have a system that ensures ongoing viability, and therefore $$ in the bank to fund their lifestyle.

For most the entreprenerial activity in a franchise will happen at the “top end”, where the franchisor develops the business and puts a lot of effort into finding opportunities the franchisees can utilise. This is the real entreprenurial catalyst area, being proactive, being innovative and taking risks… But wait, what would happen if the franchisees did that too! ARRGH! You want them to follow not to lead… well yes… to a point.

Imagine you have a franchise with 100 franchisees, and only you provided the system and there as no feedback, sounds ideal right… but What if… they were to find ways of doing things better and pass them on to you. If each of them put in one small idea that impacted the business by 1% then you would have a business that was 100% better! (okay stop laughing its a concept not a mathematical model! But you get the point.)

Many franchises have fully functioning adults as franchisees, and over time you could utilise their collective intelligence to make a difference to the overall business, to their business to our business experiences as customers. Often all you need to do is ask.

- Provide an avenue for the franchisees to have input into the business, from start to finish.

- Encourage them to think outside the square (not to create headaches) to find ideas and opportunities that could make a positive difference to the way the business runs.

- Explore focus groups and think tanks so they can feel part of the whole business and ts overall success.

- Become a business that is known for listening and then acting when appropriate. Then encourage your franchisees to do the same.

Whatever the orientation of your franchisees entreprenuerial or not… utilise their expertise and experience to build a business that can offer greater stability and strength, in the long run a well managed entrepreneurial franchise will always beat the compeition hands down, due simply to being one step ahead of the game.

Red hot testimonials, with ease.

Sep 19

Posted by Steve Gray in Growth, Leadership, People!, The Marketing Dept, The Sales Dept | 4 Comments

The guys in the sales dept of your business just love to use testimonials from happy customers, the ones that willingly tell how good the company and product was. In some cultures its hard to ask for a testimonial (or as I like to call them a Yestimonials!) The one thing that stands out to me as to why businesses do not have red hot testimonials is that they do not ask for them.

Maybe the person asking for the testimonial is not sure that the person is really happy with their service or product, perhaps they think its going to take up their precious time, or cause them undue stress. Whatever they think its a shame, because an opportunity to gather another red hot Yestimonial.

So here are a few ways to get one.

1. ASK! – Tell the customers you love to get testimonials as they make the marketing so much easier and if they provide you with one it would only be as an endorsement of the service they got today. “Hey I’m being open here, if you don’t like the service write that down too!” Be open and honest.

2. Put it in a survey – The survey reinforces in the customers mind the things they experienced with the sale, at the bottom of the survey ask for a comment, a short testimonial to be used in your marketing.

3. Prompt them – Okay the sales is done and you might say “Thanks for buying from us today… I would like to ask you what did I do today to earn your interest and for you to buy form us?” they tell you a few points. “Thanks for that its important for me to know as I want to be surrounded by happy customers and the more I get to remember that the better we get. I wish I could have that in writing it would be useful to add to our testimonial file…” then hand them a business card so they can address the letter to you personally. It may not be as obvious as the first two ideas but with some customers it may well be the only way to get one.

4. The advantage? – Once you have peole giving you testimonials you can probably ask for referrals with ease as well, especially if it’s been a multi part sales process and the prosepcts have taken a lot into considerationbefore buying from you. the level of trust has built along with the relationship.

Make a list of your own and search for ways to get real testimonials so your buisness can stand proud on the service it provides.

The exceptional organisation.

Sep 17

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

The exceptional organisation according to Tom Peters associate Ed Michaels, is one that provides and nurtures rigourously the following…
“Remarkable challenges, rapid professional growth, respect, satisfaction, fun, stunning opportunity, exceptional reward, amazing peer group, full membership in ‘Club Adventure’, maximized future employability…”

All this leads to attracting more of the right people both internally and externally. In a world where skilled and motivated people are in hot demand then this list is just a starting point. Now take the list and make your organisation “fit the bill” or miss out, the race for influencing great people to partner with your organisation is fast running out of options!

The info was sourced from www.tompeters.com and makes for great reading.

Suggestion, make a list of the items above and get your team and or yourself to create a list of ways to make it happen, I would do it as a table or matrix and see what’s already in place and what can be added. Go on go for a WOW organisation!

The ideal monkey

Sep 14

Posted by Steve Gray in Growth, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, Negotiation, People!, Personal Development, Planning, The Sales Dept | No Comments

No this is not about Homer Simpson getting a helper monkey! it’s about the ideal clients we all want to chase, but hey there are issues about going for gold, its time, money and often our attitude.

Firstly the ideal customer “monkey” is at the top of the tree, try to climb it too fast you might scare the monkey (not good!) Those that have wooed the monkey in the past know that once they are off the ground and climbing, they have to entice the monkeey (influence it if you will) with the right food, if you have things right the monkey may even come to you!

Secondly you have to be aware that the non ideal monkeys don’t like to work so hard to get to the top of the tree, and therefore they stay to the lower branches and on the ground, they are lazy and want you to go to them, enticement or not, they cost time and money in the long run, but they help to pay the bills. These monkeys create a hard bond to break.

Okay, so it would be good if you could climb the tree quickly and quietly and be back in time to look after the monkeys on the ground, but the top monkey wants to be courted on their terms, not on yours, so what to do?

In an ideal world your sales rep could be trained to court the monkey in the right way while you keep the lower end monkeys happy, but until that happens not much can happen, and note how the lwer level monkeys keep you too busy and not earning enough to hire a sales rep?

Its an age old conundrum, if you take the slow path, costs can overrun you, but once the top monkey is in the giving mood you can then free yourself up to look after more of them and jump readily from tree to tree as the other top monkeys can see you coming at their level and are often more welcoming.

To get to the top monkey takes a strategy, and an action plan to ensure you have the steps in place to get to the right monkey at the right time. This is called a sales process, its a step by step method of research, sending info, and building up to the final presentation. Then and only then if they are happy with what your offer, will they give a little.

Some monkeys are a pest, but a top monkey can be a sought after leader in the pecking order of business, If you want to get the “monkey of your back” you have to find ways to get to the top monkey.

The attitude or the money?

Sep 12

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

In business there are many things to consider, but one of the most overlooked is the fact that you have to deal with people, staff, customers, suppliers, partners and support teams (accountants coaches and the like). The factor that makes or breaks the relationship that’s built is your attitude. But what is it, and specifically how does it fit to a business context.

Here are a few points to consider that go some way to making up your overall “business attitude.”

- Service orientation

- Persistence

- Practical and direct business skills (or lack of them)

- Planning and organisational skills – to set achieveable goals

- The ability to achieve

- Creativity and innovation

- Desire to succeed

- Honesty, intergity and sincerity

- Communication and leadership skills

- Motivation and drivers

All of these have a bearing on your attitude and if you take one or a few of them away or skew them poorly the money vanishes, or at best fades. In business profit is king, therefore you should be finding ways to enhance your “attitude” so you can attract more of the “right stuff” into your business and personal life.

Your aim is to have a Positive Mental Attitude and avoid a Permanent Bad Attitude!

7 steps to finding the right franchise

Sep 9

Posted by Steve Gray in Franchising, Growth, Planning, Risk Management, Starting out in business, The Board Room | 1 Comment

With hundreds of franchise business opportunities to choose from it can be a daunting task to find the right one, retail, service based, business to buisness and each has so many options avaiable, and to top it off the costs involved can make the choice easier (less options available) but harder (cheaper does not mean quality will follow).

If you have not been in business before find resources on getting started in business (Business forums, glossaries of business terms and books) and familiarise yourself with some of the terminology used, so that when you get into the research you can have a better understanding of what they are talking about and how it might effect you. It can be confusing to try and get your head around terminology you do not understand when a sales person is doing their level bet to sell you something.

Here are some tips for making a selection, remember this is not specific advice, but a starting point on the road to your education on franchises and their ability to provide what you need. Best of luck with your decision!

1. Competition and demand for the product – This is basic but can be overlooked, just becuase a franchise has developed a business system does not mean people in your area will want to buy. Ask about and do your own research on the competition in your area, (just because there may be none at the moment does not mean there has not been some in the past which may have learnt the hard way that the locals do not buy that service or product.) – Is the cost to the consumer feasilble? – Is the concept one that your community (or territory) finds okay and wants to utilise? – Is the brand brilliant? – Is there going to be sustainable demand for the product so you can be readily rewarded for your efforts?

2. Profitability and costs – This is what business is all about, you are not creating a charity, so you need to know how profitable the business is, or is going to be (and how long that will take!) Ask if the profit they might quote to you is after wages (your own included…) too many people find the costs too hard to handle and the profitability is not there despite many hours of hard work and determination.

3. Ease of operation – Does the company provide a simple business plan? – Simple operational systems? – Do other franchisees follow it? – Does it work ALWAYS? – How does Head Office respond to requests for assistance in this area? Now ask yourself this, if I am going to buy a busness is it going to be easy to run or a pain? I know what I would want! I also know that in time I would want it to be able to run itself so I can enjoy the passive income it can provide.

4. Support - Like anything a business can “fall over” with out the right foundation and support. You will need support from the company’s head office, your family and friends. This can include moral support when things get challenging (and they will!) Training, meetings to assess the group performance (Franchise meetings), one on one support from a company “area manager” or similar. Now ask yourself, am I able to listen to this information and put it into practice? Will I be able to work with them? All of this adds up to ensuring your business success.

5. Costs – There will be the start up fee, ongoing franchise fees and of course your overheads (the costs involved in running a business.) This is probably a good time to involve your accountant or even a bookkeeper, to work out some of the costs involved in running the type of business you are thinking of. For many people they go from being employed to running a business, they see the money come in and then (almost mysteriously) go out again! It can take a while to understand what’s taking place and how to handle it, for some what’s left after the expenses is not enough to live on. Understand the costs involved and even project what level of work is required to meet the costs so you know what sort of effort you need to put in to make the business thrive, not just survive.

6. Me! – Can you do it? – Do you have the skills required? – Can you learn the skills? – Do you have the right attitude? For many the answers will be yes, yes, YES! But in reality often this is due to the emotional excitement of the thought of running the business, not based on reality. Ask lots of questions of family and close friends. Chat to the company about how they go about assessing prospective candidates (their process should be vigorous!) Then ask yourself am I really up to this?

7. Research – Do lots of research, chat to many of the existing franchisees, and ask them all the same questions so you can really gauge how things are from the other side of the business. Get yourself into the business and offer to work with one or a few of the operators for a few days, pick their brains to save you a lot of stress later on. Find out what sort of hours are they putting in to the business to make it work, and watch out for two partners working and taking out one wage, it can look very productive, but in reality its two people earning half as much. When chatting to other franchisees, ask them about the franchise support meetings and the value directly to them, this an give a good window into the inside of the business. Also ask how many franchise owners currently make a passive income out of the business?

Thats the list. If you get into any business I wish you all the best, and franchising should offer you a great deal more than just trying to fly by the seat of your pants in your own start up phase, but you need to find out exactly what that is and how it will work for you, or not.

My 3 favourite articles…

Sep 4

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

 Okay world, here are my 3 favourite articles for the period Sept 2006 – 2007 our first year of www.freebusinesstips.com.au

Jenny Stilwell  3 pillars… Because at the time it knocked me flat! I loved the depth yet a simplstic approach that ANYONE in business could follow. I love most of Jenny’s work and so the link is her name, but this one article grabbed me, and to think that its available free for all to use WOW!

Business profiling a 3 tiered approach  Because it has the potential to make waves, waves of understanding, there is still more to come to add to this but time will tell. I am very proud of this one, and yes its mine… It came about because of freebusinesstips.com.au and my involvement in it, it was like shuffling through so many options and possibilities and then it hit me, it had to be done.

My third choice is a culimination of the many “Cries for help” that have echoed across the forum posts, some are loud, some are probably caught between the lines as pockets of distant hope, pockets loaded to the hilt with grief, drama and pangs of guilt. To those with the strength to put up their hand I salute you, to those that put in to the whole web page experience here at free business tips, then I say a HUGE thanks for assisting us to make this all possible.

“From the dirt and moisture comes a sprout, a tiny green organism pointing skyward, its roots grabbing tight to the ground its potential unknown. It may be a weed, a strangling vine or a mightly tree that lasts for a few hundred years. Either way it makes its imression on us, lets hope that impression is highly valuable.” 

My Favorite FTB Stories of the Past Year

Sep 4

Posted by Michael Crooks in Excellence!, Growth, Leadership | No Comments

When asked to write a short article on my favorite Free Business Tips blog stories I answered, “yes” before I should have. Have you read the stories?! Choosing my favorite stories is like choosing my favorite child. I mean sure, I’m always going to choose my own … but then when it comes down to choosing between two of my own … I can’t decide!

Well, creativity being the better part of indecision, I believe my favorite Free Business Tips story of the past year is … the story of FreeBusinessTips.com.au.

Two guys that didn’t owe anyone anything decided to do the world a favor. The result? Probably one of the most insightful, comprehensive and educational libraries of business articles on the face of the planet. More than 6500 articles on everything from waterless tattoos, negotiating and sales to marketing, better business practices and e-commerce. Articles written by people who are actively and successfully involved in the subject matter about which they write.

My second favorite story of the past year is the story of those who overcame business struggles with the help of Free Busines Tips.com.au. The dozens and dozens of start-up businesses that sought out and received solid advice, suggestions and insight from their peers and sometimes their competitors.

Sometimes, I can actually feel the anguish, fear and frustration about which a troubled business owner is writing. Equally as impactful, is the sigh of relief, written between the lines, of posts from grateful business owners thanking those who helped steer them in the right direction or through a minor difficulty, seemed large.

My third favorite story? Well, that’s the one that has yet to be written. For that’s the story of the future. A future that is made up in part, by a thousand little successes stories that had their beginning with FreeBusinessTips.com.au.

Thankful are we, to those among us who listened … when mommy told us to share.

It’s about the money….

Aug 31

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

In business it comes down to cash. numbers, $$ samoulians, do rey mi, dosh, call it what you will its the “stuff” that makes a big chunk of the world go round.

so check this out.

Where’s the money?

It’s a post in our forum, and it has some interesting twists and turns. basically it gets to a situation when you do the numbers, you might get a shock (and often not a good one…) so take a look and let us know what you think.

Your magic business…

Aug 30

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Finance, Growth, Health and Safety Dept, Human Resource Management, Innovation and Creativity, IT Dept, Leadership, Negotiation, People!, Personal Development, Planning, Risk Management, The Board Room, The Customer Service Dept, The Marketing Dept, The Operations Dept, The Sales Dept | No Comments

Today you are doing what SPECIFICALLY…

- to make your business more profitable?

- to cause the staff to LOVE you?

- to cause the customers to LOVE you and your team?

- to cause your suppliers to jump through hoops to give you great deals (and LOVE you)?

- to ensure your workplace is the best place to work, form both a safety and aesthetic perspective?

- to cut down on red tape?

- to create more elegant systems?

- to ensure your business is growing well?

The list can be as long as you like, with out this kind of input your business can stagnate and fade, in short it can shrivel up and die… So do something today to make it thrive.

Caring leads to loving… yes loving!

Aug 28

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Growth, Health and Safety Dept, Human Resource Management, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, People!, Personal Development, Planning, Risk Management, The Customer Service Dept, The Sales Dept | 2 Comments

Caring for your staff can lead to respect, the word caring means showing positive and real interest towards each other. I am suggesting we take a caring approach to build the love we have so we can avoid, bullying in the workplace, foster greater connection with our customers and staff.

This article mixes well with “Your staff and service made easy” and should probably be seen as the next step on from it.

Of course there are various levels of love and I am sure you will appreciate and respect peoples personal boundaries and expectations in this regard, the aim is not to get into “hot water” but rather prevent hostilities!

In the beginning love needs to come from people who appreciate love and indeed have love for themselves (I’m not talking about egocentric over the top love here…) so on the list of “lovers” it would probably look like this.

1. They love themselves – then they know what its like and can lo ve others.

2. They love others, their close personal team – family then friends and workmates.

3. They love the customers - without them you are not in buisness so give them some love too!

4. Love being in business – no point in doing something you hate…

5. Love your offerings - are you selling great products and services or???

6. Love you business environment – take a look around, is it a gret place to work? really? get witht he progra and sort out some of the details so you can make thing humm!

7. Love the work teams - you may not be able to have much input into how they work together but if you love the team principles you can have a more productive and fun work place.

8. Love their communications – go on foster some great communications, break down some barriers and watch the teams flourish.

9. Develop a love for leadership skills – and instil these in everyone, make them all leaders (of their own projects.)

Okay so how would you do all of this?

1. Get great at coaching – mentoring – supporting and leading. Find out what you can do to be good at these and you will become a powerful support device to cause your business to fourish.

2. Create systems and methods to create closeness – then watch how the individuals and teams work to make the most of the situation.

Your aim in doing all of this is to create a work culture that supports, cares, holds people in high regard… in short it builds the love.

Your staff and great service – EASY!

Aug 27

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Growth, Human Resource Management, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, People!, Planning, The Customer Service Dept, The Sales Dept | No Comments

Your staff and great service – EASY!

When it comes to service, practically all organisations I come across say they aim to have great service and if they don’t have it they will work on it. Problem is not many know how to make their service great, let alone good. Lets check out a bunch of points and shed some light on this always, topical issue.

Firstly there are a few things we need to get our head around, each business has people at the front line, they then have an environment (virtual and actual) and these coupled with human interaction create a culture. I put these in simple terms I call PEC’s (People – Environment – Culture). When these are coupled with Marketing, Operations and Management you have the nucleus or foundation structure of business.

Most people in business recognise this but are at a loss (often due to being too involved in the business to see it clearly) to be able to do anything about it. One feature of businesses that can improvise, overcome and adapt to situations are able to innovate and find creative ways to instigate the changes required to make things happen.

Lets put together some points to assist in the development of a customer excellence strategy.

  1. Why should they? – Chat to the staff about why good service is of value to them, the WIIFM or ‘what’s in it for me?’ try working the job security angle, or how it will make them feel giving great service.
  2. Train them – Ask them ‘Coach them – Model it’ By raising these issues and finding ways to create better service and setting the example yourself, you will be leading by example and acting as their service coach.
  3. Variety - Develop with the staff a range of ways they can respond to customers so they have to think more about the interaction  move from ‘Can I help you?’ through a range of other responses to make the relationship develop further than just a buyer and seller one. Give them the chance to build some depth with the customer.
  4. Do it in doses - Break up long customer service face-to-face and phone contact so that staff, don’t burn out.
  5. Put them in the customers shoes – Change the role around and let them critique the service exchange you could do it as a role play in a training session or simply send them to a few stores to buy things and report back on what’s working and what’s not.
  6. Develop great communication skills – “Ask lots of questions” use please and thank yous and explore building rapport which helps to build stronger relationships.
  7. Talk about caring - You cannot pay people to care (long term) but you (as the leader) can learn to push their buttons so they can learn more. Caring for each other builds trust and that equals easier sales processes.  if you can figure out the staffs buttons, they will be able to learn customers buttons as well. Here’s a clue its all about their motivation

There is more, lots more but for now that should give you and your team a great start to building a great service skill set and a culture of service excellence.

Why be in business?

Aug 27

Posted by Steve Gray in Growth, People!, Personal Development, Planning, Starting out in business, The Board Room | 1 Comment

You want to go into business? Some people wiill say you’re nuts and the rest of the world might seem to view you with suspicion! (well some days it might seem that way…) So why do people go into business? here’s a few starting points to consider…

  1. It can provide a great lifestyle for you and others.
  2. It can make you happy!
  3. It can be a good investment
  4. You can create something profitable out of a minimal outlay.
  5. You can assist the community to grow and develop. (think global act local).
  6. You can make a profit from developing a skill you have into a business venture.
  7. You can take an idea and profit from it.

Note in this list there are a lot of CAN’s in there, by being in business it  does not mean you automatically get or have those things, it means you have the opportunity to make those things happen.

So its one thing to get into business and entirely another to make it happen how you want it to. Welcome to the land of opportunity.

Your income and you…

Aug 24

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

So here is a question, how much personal cash did you make from your business in the last year?

I know a lot of you have transferred personal payments to your business where you can… and that aside HOW MUCH… $$ ok it’s an ozzie thing to not discuss $$ but hey I’m not asking you to tell us out loud.

I want you to seriously think about how much YOU made and can say “I took X home this year in cold hard cash!”

Was it $10k – 20k – 50k – More?

How much does it need to be?

Okay many of us are small business operators and will not command the multi mill $$ salaries of big execs, BUT they are paid well for the RISKS they take, the DECISIONS they make and the RESPONSIBILITY they take.

You do the same… so do I. So what is your goal for your personal income to make it worth while to make the decisions, take responsibility and take the risks you take.

When I go out and buy my next franchise I will be asking questions from many of the operators like “Do you make $100k+ ?” if not is it really worth my while?

What do I want to do? where do I want to be? how will I achieve these things?

Plan people, make a move, set a target, reap the rewards.

here’s a place to start Very Happy
http://freebusinesstips.com.au/wp-content/uploads/the-mini-business-plan.doc

Working a crowded web market…

Aug 9

Posted by Steve Gray in Growth, Innovation and Creativity, IT Dept, Starting out in business, The Customer Service Dept, The Marketing Dept, The Sales Dept | 1 Comment

Every man and his dog seems to be creating web pages, so the question for those serious about things “webological” would be to say “how do I make an offering that can set my business apart fromt he rest?” Well thanks for asking… Here is an outline to get the ball rolling. sure it can be adapted to other products and or services but the web is a competitive starting point.

In the main people put their service offerings on their own web page and hope for the best, often its price based, the challenge with that is it gets very competitive at that end of the market. The other big thing here is not everyone wants to buy on price… they want qaulity instead… so they may tend to breeze into the site and then out again just as quickly. So here is my two cents worth on a systematic way around some of those challenges.

Let’s use an example in another crowded industry, telcos, mobile ones in particular, note how they have cheap package deals to get you started and the expensive “other side…” if you go over a certain limit BINGO more $$ and the fine print… YOWSER! It’s a mine field! It’s like signing your life away. Okay I am not saying to specifically follow them, but lets pull apart some of the “why do they do that stuff…

Package deals, give people choices…add to that multiple phone types and models… Rolling Eyes and then the accessories… Shocked

Confused yet! most people just buy and deal with it later. Ok they use confusion, choice, cheaper entrance $$ but pick up on the other side (the dark side.)

All of that is important, now if you start a web site development service and want to go for a usp (Unique Selling Point) it would seem logical to make it easier for the customers by having a simple price and feature structure. But then what happens? it doesn’t work… why? Because people look at it, understand it and go looking elsewhere, its over and done with. Where as if the package is useful they read and get immersed in your offering.

Immersion, cause that to happen and you have a chance… Get them to think more about what they want.

Example two fast food outlets side by side, I park at one and go in, too busy, over to the next… (I’m not sure what I want but hey I have a choice). The next one is a bit quieter and I look at the menu… packages… hmmm lets see… err.. before I can think too much the person behind the counter has called me over to take my order (I usually stand well back to read the menu stuff). That’s it I’m sold (have not even really selected anything yet.) I am engaged in the process deeply now (immersed).

On the net people can breeze in and breeze out, they ‘glance and go’ What if they got immersed really quickly and you got them immersed in a process?

Here’s my process ‘de resistance’… Just for you guys…

1. Glance – Get them intrigued (short audio they can stop may work here) that INVITES them to look at x… X happens to be a click away and is a short sharp grab of useful things to note when geting a web site.

2. They read – view – listen – look at x… – You invite them to call you, or send in for a free pdf booklet on “7 steps to brilliant websites…” They sign up, and you have a member.

3. Communicate! – Send the member the PDF, then a special add on PDF or video file 1 hr later (here are more great points on why you need us or similar).

4. Build the relationship – Call them on the phone AFTER they have the second doc (which was sent 1 Hr after the first…) and do a survey to assess some of their needs, but don’t sell them anything! – Now send them the results of various surveys (including their info to get specific about their needs).

5. Qualify them - If your survey was good (or great) you know if they fit your IDEAL CLIENT status… then you want to proceed further.

6. Send them a gift – Yes via snail mail… and yes a real gift (not a 2c bookmark made of tin) remember these are targeted IDEAL CLIENTS! They will be worth their weight in GOLD to you (clients not customers). Send a note with the gift saying, thanks for doing the survey and becoming a member, I hope the journey thus far has been good.

7. Build the relationship further - By now you should have a person interested (immersed to some degree) in what you MAY have to offer… So… now is the time to evaluate their needs and present an offering. Email… “Hi X. I have assessed your needs carefully and can provide you with a solid solution. Yes we have std packages (and one of them may suit) but at this stage can I catch up with you to discuss the details…”

8. Present your offering – Get one on one and present what you think they need, keep the tech stuff low and the solutions high. Focus on- Ease of use – Ease of admin – Results! Leave it with them to consider and return as often as necessary to clarify details – send them a thank you note for the meeting. Remember its stillearly days yet so keep on building yoru relationship with them.

9+. Build raving fans – If you got the job using this process you have probably wowed them, keep in touch, send personalised greetings, hints, tips and ideas, perhaps its just a link to a new bit of info on your site… GREAT! but keep in touch… send them a card on their birthday, Christmas and every other chance you can, cause them to love you… For your service, your web skills, your ability to keep them informed, your care for their needs, your ability to refer other top professionals to them that might just be able to assist them.

That is how you COULD build a web business that stands out, stands up and will stand the test of time.

Reflect now, you might not get the chance later.

Aug 7

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

Ask the 2 big questions in your buisness, What’s working and what’s not.

Jot down a list of each, perhaps a coloumn each or a sheet of paper each. Take a solid look at the list and ask what can I do about the things that need to be better, and what can I learn about the things that are working.

This form of reality check is vital to be able to develop bigger plans, better business sustainbility and work towads realising your dreams.

Want to take it further? With the things that are working, how many of them actively bring $$ into your company… Sure your OHS kit might be great and the conference was a big hit.. but what about the sales, the $$ in? Is it time to push the list around to make MORE Direct sales show up on the list… (chances are YES!) So remember to add that to the list of things NOT working!

30 Day Challenge 2007

Aug 2

Posted by Bren Ryan in Excellence!, Growth, Innovation and Creativity, IT Dept, Starting out in business, The Marketing Dept, The Sales Dept | 2 Comments

Have you heard of the 30 Day Challenge yet?

Judging by how slow the servers have been for the last 24 hours I guess a lot of you have!

The 30 Day Challenge is a great concept by Ed Dale (and a couple of other guys whose names escape me right this second). The guys are offering their substantial expertise to train (over 30 days) people like me and you how to make money online.

It started yesterday (August 1st 2007) and I am signed up along with Ross & Steve (thats our team so far)

The goal this year is to create an online product and sell at least 1 x $10 sale in the first month, all without spending a single cent, thats right, nothing.

To be honest I am still a little vague about how it is going to work and what will be required of me in the next month (as if I need more to do!), however from what I have seen so far I think I am going to learn some very valuable lessons on online marketing, which can only help my other sites like this one and Black Dog Promotions.

Ed keeps telling me that it will be very easy, and so far it has. We have downloaded several tools for Firefox (all free) that will help us in the challenge, and just those tools alone are pretty nifty and worth checking out.

This is apparently the 3rd annual challenge, and previous entrants have had great success.

Like anything else, one of the main requirements is time. You will need the time to dedicate to the challenge, that in itself is a challenge for me! I see some late nights ahead :-)

I listened to the Day 1 Podcast and video and i am about to listen to Day 2. I will write a journal for the challenge as I go along, I won’t post everyday, but I think once a week will do.

Wish me luck!

Marketing Lessons From A Grade-School Lunch Box

Aug 1

Posted by Michael Crooks in Growth, Innovation and Creativity, Planning, Starting out in business, The Customer Service Dept, The Marketing Dept, The Operations Dept, The Sales Dept | No Comments

Remember when you were a kid? Lunch time held a certain magic. What did mom pack? The anticipation … the apprehension … the delight — and sometimes the disappointment at finding your stupid apple had crushed your snack cake.

If you’ve been using the same approach with your customers and clients for very long … it’s sorta like getting peanut butter and jelly in your lunch for 37 days in a row. It’s boring, predictable and memorable … for all the wrong reasons.

Lesson Learned: Keep your main offer fresh.

In today’s market, a fresh new approach can mean the difference between clients eating up what you have to offer … and getting your snack cakes crushed.

For example, I remember the day I opened my insulated bottle to pour my milk and out came CHOCOLATE milk! Mom had my attention. Yeah, making sure I had milk to drink showed she cared. And for a 9 year old that’s all well and good. But chocolate milk? Well that just moves mom up on the list of “stuff that’s swell”. And from that day on, there was a little twinge of excitement when I opened my lunch drink. Problem was … it never happened again. After a while, the slight twinge of excitement that came with opening my drink … disappeared.

Lesson Learned: Every now and then, you have to change it up to keep the excitement alive. Putting a different type of juice or chocolate milk in my lunch one day every three weeks would have done it.

By the same token, if you’ve been sending the same old postcard announcing the “Sale of the Month” … next month try sending the card in an envelope instead. Better yet, send it along in an envelope with a 25 sheet sticky notepad with your logo, name and number imprinted on it.

Think about that for a minute from the receiver’s standpoint. You’ve been getting a postcard from LMNOP for 2 years. SUDDENLY, you get an envelope from LMNOP. You’ll open it with renewed interest. Why? Because you don’t know what’s inside. Something unexpected and out of the ordinary happened. But because the same old postcard in an envelope could be anti-climactic, you want to include a little “excitement enhancer” with an inexpensive sticky notepad.

Mom’s lunches weren’t all bad, though. Part of effectively changing your approach is understanding that while an apple, an orange and a banana are all fruits … they are different fruits. Mom added variety to my lunchbox fruit course by constantly changing the fruit. She did the same with the veggies, alternating carrots, celery, sweet peppers, radishes and pickles. Similarly, a postcard, an envelope and a package are all direct mail, but they’re different. The same way a pen, a note pad and a refrigerator magnet are all promotional products — yet different. Even with postcards, you can change the design while maintaining the integrity of your corporate identification.

And now the main course — the offer! Mom knew I would be ok with ketchup on bologna even though I preferred mayo. Mustard is fine on pork/ham. PB &J was fine. Egg salad would fly like a lead balloon, sandwich spread was great and I’d eat anything with cheese on it …. except PB&J, hold the cheese, please.

Lesson Learned: Want to keep your target relatively happy and interested? Get to know them, keep changing the main offer and give them what they like.

What do you know about your clients and prospects? Do you know what they like, how much they buy or how often they buy? For small retailers it can be as easy as utilizing a punch card program. Swipe type cards coupled with the right computer program can allow you to capture a lot of useful data. But even the smallest retailer can send/give a survey and reward respondents with a low-cost, high perceived value promotional item. This is an excellent way to start or expand a database.

Change the main offer. Even if all you sell are chairs. Change the featured chair. Tell why it’s a great chair – features and benefits. Tell them something they don’t know. Give them something they can sink their teeth into.

Finally, the treat! Whether it was a piece of candy, a snack cake or a fruit pie, I always looked forward to the treat!

Lesson Learned: Treat your clients, customers and prospects. Treat them to a mint (regular and sugar free) at the cash register, have fresh coffee and hot water for tea available, have stickers or waterless tattoos available for the kids. Train your staff to treat customers and prospects like they are welcome. Treat them … like your business depends on them.

Your Business… Your success…

Jul 31

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

In business the success you get is often based on what you do as the business Owner/Operator, Director, Manager, CEO… Sure there is a matter of Luck, being in the right place and the right time (serendipity) but mainly the L.U.C.K. boils down to Learning Under Correct/Constant Knowledge.

Over time you might be able to ‘fluke’ a few results that make you feel good, look good etc… However there is often a more logical approach that can be taken to ensure your business success.

Firstly lets look at a few starting points, one being Business Profiles the other being your efforts towards success at the level of the profile you are at or want to be at. If you start with a level one business (and many do) the writing can be on the wall if you allow yourself to not see growth potential or take into acocunt the principal of making a profit. Mind you, you could do yourself in if that is all you were to see.

Business is a wholsitic device, which requires a number of things to happen to get apositive result. No matter what level your business is at you need to be aware of the positive and negative forces at play that can make or break it.

I would suggest that as a successful business operator you need to be able to have your finger on the pulse of what’s is happening, what could happen and what you want to have happen to make your business be all it can be.

Business failure rates are high, and to overcome that devices like the Business Profiles can give some indicators as to how you might explore the level you are at and decipher what to so to get to where you want to be.

Success is many things to many people and if it is about working towards worthwhile goals then your goal must surely be to create a successful venture. Using the profiles above and developing a plan of action from that to provide you with your goals is therefore an important factor in getting to where you want to go.

Using Promotional Products As Retail Babysitters

Jul 30

Posted by Michael Crooks in Excellence!, Growth, Innovation and Creativity, Starting out in business, The Customer Service Dept, The Marketing Dept, The Operations Dept, The Sales Dept | No Comments

I almost laughed out loud. A clerk tried to explain the features and benefits of a hair dyer to a woman who had a small child with her. The clerk’s sales attempt was interrupted every 20 seconds with, “Mommy, look at this!”, followed by mommy’s horrified look as she foresaw three possible outcomes: 1) Junior was about to maim himself; 2) Junior was about to maim someone else; 3) Mommy was about to spend way more than she intended on something that she didn’t want — that was about to be broken into at least 5 pieces.

Since it wasn’t my kid, I found it hilarious. The salesperson was exasperated. And mommy? Well, mommy finally said, “hell with it”, took Devil Child by the arm and exited the store after a carefully stacked display of towels suddenly became un-stacked — because Junior wanted the towel on the bottom.

When children hinder the sales process, salespeople can’t effectively do their job and profits suffer. Smarter retailers know they MUST occupy the children if they want mommy and daddy’s attention. That’s where Retail Babysitters come in.

For a promotional item to serve as an effective Retail Babysitter it should meet the following criteria:

1) Be age appropriate;
2) Be clean and mess free;
3) Consume children’s time.

A fourth criteria that, while not mandatory to keep kids from sabotaging your sales efforts, is VITAL if you want to get the best R.O.I.:

4) Whenever possible, Retail Babysitters should contain a tangible component to aid in the continuing promotion of your business or service off-premise.

Logoed items that meet the above criteria include stickers, sticker sheets, waterless tattoos, coloring books, crayons, your letterhead and custom activity sheets.

Businesses such as flooring showrooms, vehicle dealerships and furniture stores where children remain visible, can create a children’s area with carpet, a table and chairs. Suggesting to small children that they make a card or picture for mommy and daddy can work wonders. You can provide your letterhead, 8 1.2″ x 11″ sheets of construction paper, logoed boxes of crayons and logoed stickers or sticker sheets.

Waterless temporary tattoos can also be used in this way as they transfer well to paper products as well as the skin. Themed coloring books with your imprint on them along with the crayons are another good option.

For older children, create custom activity sheets. For instance, the sheet for a flooring store could contain a word search where kids search for words such as flooring, carpet, vinyl, etc.; a word jumble; a maze and other activities.

If you can’t create a Kid’s Corner, placing a coloring book & crayons with some stickers and waterless tattoos in a logoed paper lunch bag can fill the bill. Many kids will sit on the floor next to the parents, look through the bag and begin to apply stickers, waterless tattoos, use the coloring books or decorate the paper bag.

To aid in off-premise promotion of your business, offer a monthly coloring contest. The kids either finish a coloring book picture while at the establishment or finish it at home. The parents can drop the finished picture off later. (This gets them back in the store). Pictures are displayed and once a month, one or more winners is chosen and goes up on the winner’s wall. Each child who turns in a drawing gets an entry prize of some sort with the monthly winners getting larger prizes. (Monthly winners must come in to claim their prize.)

To provide the most benefit to your establishment, all prizes (water bottles, plastic flyers, knit caps) carry your logo and contact information. You can also get lot’s of play out of featuring selected children’s drawings in your monthly newspaper/print ads and on your website. You can also use the drawings to create a custom business calendar.

If you work with a competent promotional products consultant, they can be on the lookout for and bring select items to your attention that are on closeout or are seasonal specials. This will also serve to keep your prize selection fresh and seasonally appropriate.

Children can be a salesperson’s worst nightmare. But with a little thought and the right promotional products to serve as Retail Babysitters, children can actually become an asset as you use them to leverage favor — and sales with the parents.

Make it real…

Jul 28

Posted by Steve Gray in Finance, Growth, The Board Room | No Comments

Busy in business? most are… But have you noticed that these days we are so used to $$ coming in and going out electronically that we don’t realise it’s happening.

In the ‘good old days it was cash and Cheques, now its eftops and credit cards, bank transfers and the like.

We could become a nation of people seeing numbers and not cash. So what if you were to take one months ‘cash flow’ and look at it as $1 coins… or $10 bills. How would it stack up? how high would the income and outgoings piles be? and the profit pile? and the wages pile… Get the point.

Its about becoming more aware of the real terms of business and how the cash really stacks up, not just the numbers.

Bullying no thanks…

Jul 23

Posted by Steve Gray in Growth, Health and Safety Dept, Human Resource Management, Leadership, People!, Personal Development, Risk Management, The Board Room | No Comments

Of increasing annoyance is the challenge employers face in dealing with Bullying in the workplace. No longer is it just a blue collar “stir up the new apprentice with some pranks issue” but it’s a bigger issue involving all business types. It seems there are as many bullies as there are workplaces.

Finding out you have a bully is one thing, but dealing with them is entirely another… Often you find out you have one or three bullies far too late and their manipulative ways mean they may have already infected a range of people in your organisation. Poor productivity, lots of sick days taken, higher staff turnover may be just a few of the indicators a bully is in your midsts.

To combat this employers, managers and supervisors need to be vigilant that 1. they are not the bullies and that 2. they have a process of some kind in place for dealing with them. Finally 3. they have a way of discovering if they have any.

Attached is a document that can give you some insights into bullies and the ways they do things, use that as a starting point to pinpoint the behaviours bullies have and then work towards ways to over come these parasites feeding on your business.
Workplace Bully Information

Sustainability and the start up.

Jul 21

Posted by Steve Gray in Growth, Starting out in business | 5 Comments

You got into business to do great things and then what do you suppose happened when you discovered it was all going “pear shaped…” You wondered what you had done to deserve the hassle, the pain, the torment, the lack of dollars, the lack of customers the lack of support… the list goes on, and on… and it happens way too easily.

Here are a few things to get you thinking and in your initial start up phase these things should be priority number one!

  1. Have I done enough research? – Not so much research that the business never gets started, but enough to know that what you want to do will be able to turn a profit, meet a need or want for the customers and provide the income you need to make a living and keep the business growing.
  2. Will I be happy? – In a job you can duck and weave, take holidays, take sick leave and so on to get out of a ‘dud period’, in business however, you are it. So will your business keep you happy, make you happy, or build up to happiness? If not, why do it? Any thing less than happiness is probably misery, and in business you cannot just walk away without losing something (lots of $$, self esteem, respect, etc.)
  3. Sustainability? Whats that? – You have a business idea, will it last, will it be something that peole want to have for a long while to come or will it be something that fades out in a short time frame (a year or two.) If you are in the research phase check out carefully if this will be the case, there is little sense in putting a lot of time and effort into something that will be gone in a year or two (e.g. some software ideas have come in and gone out in a few years.)

Now lets take a deeper look at what can be done.

  1. Find out as much as you can about the buisness side of the industry – For many going into business will mean they have worked in a role for many years, built the skills and so on, but not really built any buisness skills to assist them in their endeavours. No need to do a big fully blown business course that take years, but do get any short term training to assist you in business. Then ask questions about growth prospects for the industry as well as finding out why a business needs to grow to be sustainable. Do the figures, how much do you need to earn to make things REALLY viable, its not dificult to do, it just needs some thinking and a calculator to bring it to fruition.
  2. Happiness – Ask questions to find out what being in business is really going to be like, are other industry leaders in your chosen field that run businesses really happy? And how would you measure that? Too often I hear people say… “It will be ok, it will be worth it.” they set up and then fail… Is that worth it? “I would not change a thing…” Even though there was a lot of heartache and hassle? loss of $$ is that really worth it?
  3. Do more than the basic research – It’s easy to research on the internet and chat to a few business people, but what is life really like for the industry leaders in your chosen business area? How will you find that out? After all going into business is not just about the money and satisfaction, its about lifestyle. It’s also about sustainability, so you can create an asset that will be of REAL long term value to you. Ask more questions, get face to face with the RIGHT people, not just supporters of your ideas. Start asking questions about buisness plans and chat to business owners about what plans they have… (if any). And also ask how much money they had to put up to get the business started…

It might sound like I want to put people off going into business, (actually I doubt that I would stop anyone that has a head full of emotion wanting to start a business!) but really I want to make sure everyone with a buisness idea sets off on the task with a clear head and a solid set of goals, after all it’s the lifestyle choice that will probably be your biggest one (and hopefully the most profitable one), so do it properly.

To find out more about getting started in business, or planning for more buisness check out the business profile PDf file for more ideas and information.

Business Profiles

What’s in your blind spot?

Jul 19

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Growth, Health and Safety Dept, Personal Development, Planning, Risk Management | No Comments

In a car you have a couple of blind spots that mean you have to turn your head to see out of a side window to see what is really happening, and I see the same in business, in retail it’s often called store blindness where the details become common place and things that need to be changed, cleaned up repaired etc are not seen. and I guess due to us being in our businesses so much many other things escape our attention.

Yet funnily enough the blindness disappears often when we go to someone elses business, we are able to turn on our radar and spot any number of minor things that irritate us.

So to be able to see the blindspots in your busness and then do something about them is vital. Here are some poitnsto consider.

  • Ask others – customers staff members, friends and family.
  • Use your professional support people – accountant – coach – bookkeeper.

Whoever it is get them involved in taking a look at what’s happening and give you real feedback. make a list of what needs work and do it or delegate it.

They say its true… 600 jobs gone…

Jul 18

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

The news today is saying they will drop 600 jobs at Ford in Geelong in the casting plant, as they can get the engines cheaper o/s. That might be true but what about the carnage… not just the jobs, the investment.

The Victorian Government has put in over 60million dollars investing in the car maker to keep it here, keep it viable and so forth, but now has that money gone down the drain? Probably.. Will the Detroit big guns be swayed by a delegation from down under… nah probably too late… Will we as tax payers see the millions back in our coffers… “Sorry boys we spent it already.

Someone has made some cash out of the whole thing.

One thing is for sure even ten mil could have provided for those 600 by providing jobs in other areas in the region. A think tank on how to use 10 mill to make a highly sustainable range of businesses so that jobs and enterprise could be secured would have been useful.

But instead the people in power have had their arms twisted to give away a lot more and get little back. Lets see if anything good comes of the situation as the Detroit big guns throw their hands in the air and say “Hey there’s nothing we can do!”

Welcome to the clever country peoples!

Time For A Business “Forms Review”?

Jul 18

Posted by Michael Crooks in Growth, Human Resource Management, IT Dept, Planning, The Customer Service Dept, The Marketing Dept, The Operations Dept, The Sales Dept | No Comments

When was the last time you updated your business forms? This issue came to light recently as I sat in a doctor’s office filling out forms. While I wasn’t there because of a pain in my rear, I was quickly developing one.

For starters, there was barely enough room to write my first name, let alone my middle and last name. Where I was to put ‘city” there was only enough room to put the first four letters of Butte. And I was only able to squeeze in 3 of the 5 zip code digits. To make a long story short, no one manufactures a pen with a fine enough point to allow me to squeeze in the information the form asks for.

Then I get to the medical questions. Half the stuff they ask, “if I’ve ever had’ — I just now developed as a result of trying to fill out the form, including eye pain, double vision, a headache and anxiety.

Then I read the following: “Have you ever had any of the following problems?”. Really?
Do they really mean

    ever?

1) Frequent Urination. Well, yeah. I mean, you simply can’t pound a six pack and not have frequent urination. 2) Testicular Pain or Swelling. Again, yeah … there were a few times in gym class during dodge ball I thought I was going to swallow my eyeballs. And, I don’t know any father who hasn’t fallen victim to an over-zealous 2 year old with a “cute little plastic baseball bat”. I’m rolling on the floor, writhing in pain, can’t catch my breath and my wife’s telling me to “man up”, get over it and take care of some heavy-lifting in the garage.

But seriously, when WAS the last time you updated your business forms? It may be time for a “forms review”.

Is there really enough room for anyone, including the elderly and those with arthritis, to easily fit their information in the space provided? Pretend your name is Samantha Allison Jamison-O’Hara or Johnathon Abernathy Wellington. Can you really fit a long street name and an apartment # in the address line?

Room to write is one issue. Another is relevant information. If you’ve been using the same forms for a number of years, they may be outdated. Many forms created years ago weren’t designed to capture “Late Trend” information such as e-mail addresses, cell phone numbers or allow for blended family name or female hyphenated name issues. A “forms review” is the perfect time to address these issues.
Seek input from your patients, customers or clients — those who must fill out the forms. Are the questions really clear? Is the sequence of the information asked for logical? And while some comments and suggestions will be totally irrelevant, by and large, you’ll end up with some quality input. It’s also a great PR move.

Your patients or customers will feel like they have some ownership in the form and it will create goodwill. You can even add a line at the bottom such as, “This form was designed with the thoughtful input of our patients to be as user-friendly as possible.”

In addition to having your office staff sit down and actually fill out your office forms, ask them if they’d improve anything. It’s possible they’ve been hearing complaints for months or years and simply smiled and nodded knowingly to the complainers.

Once the forms are redesigned, make full-size copies and have people actually fill them out and evaluate them. Have the staff do the same thing over a couple day period. Often, errors are overlooked in the rush to get it done. Take the time to do it right, because if past performance is any indication of the future, you’ll be using these new forms for years.

Pass me the keys please…

Jul 13

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

No not the keys to the car, the keys to my business success!

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a few keys to making your business better? For many in business its about building the team they have so they can leverage their time and money more effectively. So here goes, check these key tips out to help you create a team to assist you to be more successful in business.

1. Know you need to plan for people - If you aim to get staff at the last minute to fill a gap, chances are you will end up with a few challenges down the track, get a clear idea of what sorts of skills you want and the attitude you need to make the job work for you. Then hire carefully with these key points in mind.

2. Train them - Okay so you are not big on training, it does not need to be big, just effective. Make a list of what things they need to know and tick them off as you show them… Where things are, who the OHS officer is, how the system works, who does what, who their buddy is. Do it bit by bit and share the load with others if you have a few people in the team already.

3. Buddy them – Link the person to a buddy, a buddy will look after them for proably a few weeks until they know things inside and out. Then you can assess the persons performance three ways, from your observations, the buddies view point and a chat to the person in question.

4, Chat to them – Find out how day one went, then day two, day four, day seven and so on. Keep them in the loop about things that happen and things you expect. Remember to be friendly and fair, so tell all the team the same things in a friendly way, inspire them, don’t push them.

5. Start them late – Most people start a job on a monday, but what if its was a thursday or friday… they don’t get a brain overload that way and you ease them into the role in a more relaxed way… Chances are they will remember more of the info you want them to remember as well.

6. Career path - Provide a series of steps for them in the business, its probably only a title and then a small rise in pay, but it can build a sense of self esteem, self worth, growth and development and not just become another job they turn up to day in day out without any opportunities.

7. Reward them with incentives - It may only be a few small things, concession items like dinner for two, an award plague for x years of service, but the aim is to show you care about their contribution and provide the little things along the way that make their job worth doing. ure  you pay them but this little add ons can have a huge bonus effect becuase people generally love it when they are noticed for all the right things.

8. Share the businesses successes - Peoople often like feeling they played a part in the development of something and in this case it can be a big buzz to know you helped the business to win a job, create better systems and so on. BUT you have to tell them about it and not just expect them to figure out that things are going well.

So there’s a few keys to your business success, keeping the team firing on all cylinders. Its not rocket science but it can cause your busines to shoot for the stars!

Business Profiling a 3 Tiered Approach.

May 23

Posted by Steve Gray in Growth, Planning, Risk Management, Starting out in business, The Board Room | 4 Comments

This could be the start of a new era in understanding business. Okay I might be overstating things here, but at least take a look and check out the three levels of business and then check out where your business might fit. At any of the three levels businesses can be successful, and the descriptors utilised are to give a raw appreciation of the general lay of the land at each level. Enjoy I hope the comments will be thick and fast…

Business Profiles

This link will download a PDF file for you to look at. For those who have downloaded a pre Sept 07 version, this one has a few new additions to add depth to the discussion.

The spiritual organisation… Really?

Oct 16

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

Could non religious spirituality have an intrinsic and or extrinsic value to your organisation? And what would it take to foster this in your organisation? Would the team “buy in” easily or would things have to be disguised in some way to make it seem like a secondary thing…

Consider this, Non religious spirituality essentially could involve (but perhaps not exclusively) the following…

• An accurate Self Image
• Sensitivity to Others
• A Deep Sense of Mystery
• Connectedness
• Emotional Balance
• Inner Peace
• Freedom
• A Deep Compassion for Humanity

Some will be saying, I am too busy trying to get ahead to consider any of this. Others among you will be suggesting that without this your business can not even begin to make a profit.

In a highly material age, where the ‘me’ generation is mentioned at every turn, could this ‘sense of spirituality’ be a cornerstone to fresh development ideas for your staff? Could it be a starting point to discussing how your organisaton can move forward in a world cluttered with materialism, Me, me, ME! instead of We, we WE!

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