Let me just qualify what I mean.  Well, actually let’s qualify your clients.

Whenever I see a small business that advertises itself as a Full Service…  It makes me feel uneasy.  The expression “Jack of all trade, master of none” springs to mind immediately.  Most of us start our own business because we have a skill that people are willing to pay for.  You soon find out that, in order to pay your bills in the first few months, you start taking on work that you can do, but it’s not the area where you have real expertise.  What we’re doing here, from a consulting point of view, is spreading into a horizontal market.  That’s not where the money is!  It’s where the hard graft, long hours and low return can be found.

Ideally, instead of spreading ourselves thinly, we should dig deep and specialise further and further.  That is where the money is.  Clients will always pay a premium for expertise.  After all, would you rather have your GP or a brain surgeon perform brain surgery?  Your GP is qualified, knowledgeable, has a great bedside manner and you know them.  The brain surgeon charges a premium, you don’t know them, but, they specialise in brain surgery.  No-brainer, no pun intended.  Next question, which one plays more golf?

The transition from serving a thin horizontal market to developing a deep vertical one, is not a transition to make overnight.  There are a number of things to consider:

• will people pay for your specialised product or service;
• the available market in your location;
• how do you market and promote your expertise;
• determining a realistic market price for your “newfound” expertise;
• changing your existing customers for those who value expertise;
• developing valuable expertise whilst paying the bills.

Do you remember your first term at high school?  You make friends with anyone that will talk to you.  You then spend the second and third semester trying to get rid of most of them.  You’d much rather hang out with the cool, beautiful and sporty types. 

It’s very similar when you start a new business.  Initially you do business with anyone that will do business with you.  We hang on to customers and are afraid to rock the boat.  “They were loyal to us when we started out”.  Let’s be honest, either they were family and friends, people after a deal and you couldn’t afford to say “No”, or, they were so awful to deal with no one else would take them on.  Now you have a portfolio of customers and clients who keep you busy but not necessarily profitable.

You can’t just stop hanging out with your customers and hope they’ll get the message.  Much like High school you have to approach this in a way that will enhance your reputation not damn it.

• Position yourself and your business as THE expert, THE best in class.  This generally means being an expert in your field.  In his book the Zulu Principle, author Jim Slater considered that if you read 3 books on the Zulu’s you will be viewed as an “expert” amongst the population as a whole and if you read all the books on the Zulu nation that you can get hold of and visit there too, you could be viewed as a ‘leading authority’;
• Packaging: professional presentation is key.  Not just what you offer but also yourself.  If you want clients to take you seriously dress the part. You don’t have to have a 3-piece pinstripe suit, in fact that probably wouldn’t help, but you must look and act the part of the expert;
• Promote: no longer are you a ‘full service’ anything, you are now specialists and THE best! Use testimonials to verify it, talk at trade events, write articles for the local newspaper (ghost writers are awesome for this) and mine your existing network for referrals whilst extending your reach in your niche.
• Counsel out the clients that no longer fit your new business model.  Introduce them to your former competitors who offer “full-service” mediocrity. Don’t burn bridges, your former customers can still bring in valuable referral business.

Want to find out more about developing a strategy and mapping out action plans to transition your business?
Drop me a line now.

I say this, having grown up with
the expectation that my cousins and I would take over the family business from
my father and his brothers, who in turn had taken over from my grandfather. My
cousin’s also viewed the prospect with very little pleasure, however, we realized
that for most of us our families financial well-being rested upon the business
and therefore our succession into it. There are not many people who can say that
the African dictator Robert Mugabe did them a huge favour. My cousins and I
believe we are amongst the few who can. My family business was in the mining
sector and this was one of the first that Robert Mugabe decided to nationalize.
And what’s more we were actually paid a small percentage of its true value
unlike those who followed. Could we have told our family that we didn’t want to
take over? Had we been completely inept would the family have told us where to
get off? Luckily I’ll never know.
I have just watched two businesses go through a change of family ownership. One was enormously successful and has reinvigorated the business, the other has brought a fabulous business to the brink and left siblings estranged.
The difference?  Communication! Oh and a plan.
If you are thinking about passing a business down and are concerned
about your kids ability to give you financial security into your twilight years,
you need a plan.  Actually a strategic plan, with a needs analysis.  What do the
leaders of the future company need in the way of skills and experience. Where
are they now and what has to be done to get them there: further education;
training or working experience outside of the business.  This will help to
either get buy-in or prompt opt-out from the succeeding family.  Make sure it is
an inclusive process. Lead your kids gently to their own conclusion and vice
versa.
If you need to look elsewhere you have to prime your business for
sale.  Make it turnkey so it runs on autopilot without you there.  But that’s
another article altogether

1 – don’t even have monthly financial management reports;  (shame on
you)

2 –glance at them as you pick them up from your bookkeeper; (At least
you have them…right)

3 – occasionally review them with your bookkeeper but are too
busy/embarrassed to ask what they really mean; (Well done you are now in the
majority…don’t you want to rise above the crowd?)

4 – review them monthly and act accordingly to control your cash flow, chase
up old debt and make sure you have money available to pay your HST and taxes on
time; (Awesome, you’ll be around for some time!)

5 – have meaningful budgets in place, compare your financials and follow up
on variances every month (differences between budget and actual).  You use daily
cash reporting to maximize the interest you receive on your cash surplus.
(Fantastic, are you an accountant by any chance?)

1 to 3 – You better get up to speed or be left behind.
4 to 5 – You are financially literate and well ahead of the pack.

All too often small businesses use their bookkeeping services to make sure they pay their HST and payroll deductions on time.  The rest of the financial information is sent off to their accountants for corporation or personal tax calculations at the end of the year.  Is this an indicator of financial literacy?
A quick Google search on financial literacy brings up an article “Financial Literacy
Linked To Poverty And Beyond” which showed:

Canadians are more comfortable talking about religion or politics than money
- BMO Survey);
Parents are more willing to talk about sex drugs and alcohol than money with
their children; (Angus-Reid Survey for ING);

Did you know that there is a government task force on financial literacy?  A quick look on their website http://www.financialliteracyincanada.com/soon shows the “Men In Grey” hard at work looking bored.  Whatever happened to Will Smith and Men In Black?  In December 2010 the task force publish their recommendations.  The executive summary alone is 11 pages and contains 30 recommendations.
So on a national level the government recognises that we are not well prepared to manage our own finances.

What about small business owners?  You don’t have time to wait for the next generation of high school graduates to show you how to read your income statement.  What would I recommend?  Get a good book on basic accounting from your library.  Go through it in the same way that you would a book on sales or marketing.  Take notes about the important
concepts, ideas and principles you need to understand in order to run your
business effectively.  Alternatively take time to sit down with a qualified bookkeeper or accountant and get them to explain to you how your income statement works.  Which are the key performance indicators to watch for your business?  Learn how to read your balance sheet but most importantly you need to get a firm grasp of cash management.
As a former chief financial officer I am shocked that so few business owners invest
the time and training to become financially literate.

If you would like to take part in a “Small business financial literacy” workshop let me know
and I will organize one in early Fall. Just click here! I’m interested.

So, in order to make sure we have a good fit to work together in Business Boot Camp there is a strategy request form to complete.  It won’t take too long but does ask some searching questions about your goals and motivation.

Once we have your completed form (it all on the web) we’ll call to let you know if you meet the criteria and book a time for the free 45 minute strategy session.

It’s that simple so why not do it now!  Strategy Consultation Request

If you’re not familiar with the idea of mind mapping, Wikipedia gives a great description.  A mind map is a graphical representation of ideas or tasks around and links to a central concept or keyword.  They are very useful for organising information in a non-linear way helping with problem solving and decision making. 

I use mind maps the whole time with my clients as a way of gathering and displaying ideas and actions without prioritising them.  A classic example would be strategic planning.  If you look at it from a linear, organisational or timeframe perspective then benchmarking or situation analysis would be top of the list and action plan would be at the very bottom.  Our traditional approach to list making and problem solving not to mention prioritising would suggest that action plans with the least important part of the strategic planning.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

One of the fun things about mind maps is that you can use images and colours to help break up the traditional verbal style of recording information, ideas and tasks.  Mind maps have been shown to be a great way to engage both left and right brain thinking in the creative process.

Most of my mind maps look like a giant octopus holding onto a whole load of baby octopi.  Each of the legs of the giant represent a train of thought and the legs of the babies show the ideas, actions or connections to the giant train of thought.  The easiest thing is to show you a simple mind map I use to explain the strategic planning process.

Each of the branches represents a fundamental part of strategic planning.  On the right I have placed the more analytical, historical and emotional aspects.  To the left I have kept  ideas, forward looking and dynamic aspects of planning.  Looking at them radially no one item is seen as a priority, which is as it should be.

There are lots of different mind mapping solutions available for every depth of pocket.  The easiest and cheapest is a blank sheet of paper and a bunch of coloured crayons.  There is a very simple free web based program www.bubbl.us/ which is good as a starter.  The program I use is Inspiration 9 IE.  At the top end of the market are enterprise wide products which fully integrate with Microsoft Office the best known of which is iMindMap which will even generate Gantt charts for MS project.

As a bit of a mind mapping geek I’ve used them for everything from preparing presentations to planning vacations.  I’d love to know if anyone else uses mind maps and how effective they find them. 

As a side note if you are looking for a great book on creative thinking and alternative ideas for problem solving check out Dr Edward de Bono’s book “Serious Creativity”.

A staggering 66% of micro businesses in Canada fail within 5 years.  Here are some of the symptoms of upcoming failure:

• Stagnant or falling revenue;
• Dropping prices to “buy” sales;
• No short term game plan to get the business moving forward;
• Taking more cash out of the business than is coming in;
• No understanding of financial information;
• Feeling overwhelmed and afraid to make any decision in case it’s wrong.

Do any of those sound familiar? Luckily there is a lot that can be done if action is taken soon enough.

MISMANAGEMENT

One of the most disturbing facts to come out of research into small business failures is that the economic climate has very little impact on the failure rates.  Most failures are due to simple mismanagement.

The most common reason for a business to fail is that it runs out of cash.  “That often is the result of insufficient planning and the lack of a business plan” a recent statistical analysis reported.  It goes on to add: “concentrating on technical rather than strategic work; lack of vision, purpose or principles; poor financial planning and review; lack of market knowledge and over dependence on specific individuals in the business” as common reasons for failure.

A recent Australian bureau of statistics and analysis showed an amazing 65.4% of small businesses still operating after five years.  That’s 10% more still in business than in Canada.

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE

Australia has one of the most forward thinking business communities when it comes to business coaching. 

BUSINESS COACHING

In South Australia the Department of Trade and Economic Development (DTED) subsidises a coaching programme for business owners to help them develop their management and business skills.  Groups of owners meet with a coach on a regular basis too and also receive one-to-one coaching by phone or in person each month.  Business owners MUST commit to attending all sessions and work with fellow group members.  In return the government will subsidise up to 75% of the costs.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Planning is so important for success.  Not just long term strategic planning, but also really focusing on the next two to three months, on weekly objectives and daily to-do lists. These are the steps that keep a business moving forward and build momentum.

The difference between businesses that thrive and those that do not, is focus. Focus on the destination, be determined to succeed and focus on the details of each step.

THE 3 STEP GUIDE TO BUSINESS SUCCESS.

1.         Know your destination
Use visioning and imagery to build a detailed picture of what your successful business will look like:  how many employees; your organization structure; how many hours you work each week and even what your office looks like.  Create as complete a picture as you can and put it in writing.  Use this to create your business vision.

2.         Drive

The difference between a world class athlete and a talented one comes down to the mental edge required to succeed.  Business is no different.  You have to persevere, overcome failures, use your strength of character and leadership qualities. You have to focus on your actions.

3.         Details

These are the nuts and bolts of your business.  You must understand them, apply them and train others to do so as well: service quality, business processes, staff recruitment and training; knowing your margins; following budgets and really understanding your finances.

These are the unglamorous parts that often get ignored when businesses start to grow.  Details create consistency, allow delegation, promote growth and free up your time to control your business rather than it controlling you.

INVEST IN SUCCESS

Unfortunately not every government is willing to support small businesses past year one so it is up to YOU to invest in your success.

Maria Montessori, the founder of the Montessori school system, believed that education wasn’t just for school but that it should be carried on at home as well.  To make the method really succeed it’s important that parents and teachers work together pulling in the same, rather than in opposing directions.  Famous alumni of Montessori include Larry Page, co-founder of Google.

The theme for yesterday was independence.  What makes an independent child?  It came down to being able to do something on their own from start to finish.  Anyone with small children will know just how frustrating it can be, not to mention slow, messy and inconvenient, for a child to learn a new skill.  Just think about pouring milk into a cereal bowl.  I have this image of an upended four litre carton of milk, an overflowing cereal bowl and a huge mess to clean up all before getting to work on time.

Now translate this into the workplace.  You run your own business but you’re not a professional salesperson. 
Your milk and cereal bowl is making sales calls to potential leads.  Are you going to get it right first time? 
More by luck than judgement. 
When you don’t get it right the immediate reaction is that you are doing something wrong.  No one likes to do something that is wrong, so we stop doing it and say it doesn’t work.

Maria Montessori would say to the child that spills the milk “You’re not doing anything wrong.  You just need more practice.”  How often do we say that to ourselves when we’re running a business?  Almost never.  We have this illusion that we should be able to do everything perfectly and are masters of our own destiny.

So next time you are trying something new and it doesn’t work out exactly as you planned,  just remember you didn’t get it wrong, you just need more practice.

I was looking at the purpose of boot camps:
Training; Weight loss and Discipline.

If you’re tired, out of shape and underperforming then a boot camp is a quick way to turn things around. I should know as I started a fitness bootcamp program with Jumpstart Boot Camp 10 weeks ago.  I was a long way from the fit 20 something I fondly remembered.   Slow, out of breath, inflexible and easily tired out.  Does that sound familiar to you?

How about your business?  Slow, inflexible, easily tired out?  Not quite the fit 20 something you dreamed it would be.

With that in mind I have come up with a cunning plan to get flabby, slow moving and underperforming small businesses back in shape.

3D Business Boot Camp Programme will make you rediscover your love for your business, kick start your sales, get you focused and going in the right direction.

If you would be interested in being in the trial group starting later this month email me.