Exercise Your Mind

"You are your greatest asset. Put your time, effort and money into training, grooming, and encouraging your greatest asset."   --- Tom Hopkins

In the hustle and bustle of running a business, a lot of things can get overlooked--- some of them intentional and some just because there is never enough time to cover everything.

One of the most commonly overlooked, and that results in one of the most destructive actions, is omitting our own personal development plan.

This can be a costly mistake because of all the people in the organization, we are looked to for answers and are expected to provide direction and leadership.  This can be difficult to do if we are not at our best.

In order to stay sharp and at our finest, there are three things we can do on a regular basis to feed our minds and increase our leadership knowledge and skills.

1.) Be a Reader.  If you are not currently a reader or read only occasional magazine articles, consider upping your reading materials.  You may have heard it said that good leaders are good readers.  It could be that you feel you don't have the time to sit down and read a book, but you may be surprised to know that simply 15  minutes of reading per night should put you through a handful of books per year.  

Pick up some good books on leadership and begin applying tips and strategies that will help you to become a better leader.

2.) Connect with Other Leaders.  Pick one or two Meet and Greets in your area or visit a Chamber meeting to connect with leaders in your community. Those events are a good place to start, but if you are like me, you may find it more beneficial to have one-on-one meetings with another leader to foster a long-term relationship.  These meetings help you gain new insights and perspectives that you might have overlooked.  Your feedback can do the same for the other leader as well.

3.) Share Your Leadership Skills.  This tip doesn't seem like it will be too helpful on the surface, especially since you are trying to improve your skills, not share them.  However, sharing what you've learned helps to solidify your knowledge and provides a platform to analyze your knowledge and skills as you share with others.  There are several ways you can do this:  You can become a mentor to someone either within or outside of your organization; you can join a trade group or other gathering where you can be the guest speaker sharing your knowledge; you can offer your insights in written form by getting published in newspapers and magazines; or you can volunteer for a charity organization using your leadership skills.

Sharing your leadership skills and knowledge is a great way to expand your learning and hone your skills, talents, and abilities.  You will learn what works and doesn't work and you may even find that what you once believed about leading an organization no longer applies.

Try implementing all three of these strategies this quarter and begin feeding your mind.  You will find these tips will provide you with a refreshing new way of looking at leadership and what you have to offer to your company.

Using the Written Word to Attract Customers

"Without promotion, something terrible happens... nothing!"  --- P.T.  Barnum

Nobody knows your business like you do.  You live it everyday.  It is yours to cuddle, feed, grow, and nurture.  Part of the growth plan is yet another aspect of the people side of business, and that is the promotional side.

For some it is difficult to toot the horn of a business and to promote the positives, but it is a necessary component toward building and maintaining success.  One of the many tools available for doing this is in the form of the written word.

Several variations of use of the written word for promoting your business exist and not all may be right for your business.  Let's look at three that you can incorporate into your marketing campaign beginning today.

1.) Bios and Profiles.  Creating a bio and profile for key members of your team is a great way to communicate to your market the attributes of the people leading the business.  This creative write-up allows you to showcase the credentials of team members and helps the reader to better understand the "brains" behind the business.  This gives your prospects and customers an introduction to the leadership team and an appreciation of how and why the business operates the way it does.

2.) Advertorials.  An advertorial is an article that is either about your business or your business is included in the piece.  Here is one about Google Glass that highlights the accomplishments of a particular business.  The piece is informative for the reader while providing great exposure for the business.

Your can do the same with you business both online and in print publications, focusing on publications that reach your particular market.  Publishing advertorials on a regular basis gives your business exposure as well as seen as an expert by your audience.  Most publications are hungry for content and willingly accept advertorials as long as they don't read like an advertisement.

3.) Press Releases.  Press releases are great tools for promoting your business and practically any change in your business constitutes a reason for publishing a press release.  A recent promotion, a change of location, a new product or service, a change in pricing policies and awards are recognition are all great reasons to create a press release.  Press releases are easy to construct and can be distributed by various PR companies for a reasonable fee.  Here is one I created for a augmented reality software company that has received tremendous exposure.

Using the written word to your advantage with these three vehicles is a great way to promote your business and gain momentum in acquiring new prospects and customers.

Providing Outstanding Customer Service

" Southwest Airlines is successful because the company understands it's a customer service company.  It also happens to be an airline."  --- Harvey Mackay

Our businesses depend on great customer service.  It seems so obvious stated here, but the concept escapes even some of the most seasoned business leaders.  It is as if after the business is up and running that providing great customer service takes a back seat to getting orders filled and out the door.  It becomes forgotten and left behind other priorities such as closing the sale, completing the project, and collecting on accounts.

All of these processes are important and necessary and in defense of business leaders that tend to lose focus on customer service, employees were hired to fill a role of providing for the customer.  Because of this the business leader is usually the last to know that the business is falling short in the customer service department. 

Unfortunately, if, and that is a big "if", a customer takes the time to complain about poor customer service, it is usually too late.  The customers that were upset have long since left and have told the world about
their bad experience.

Thankfully, in most businesses, it only takes a little bit of training and a lot of focus to get the team up to providing great customer service.  Here are three things a business leader can do to ensure that customers are being taken care of:

1.) Be the customer.  This means that you will need to take time to set up some role-playing scenarios to teach your employees how a customer is to be treated.  It is not that complicated.  Either you or someone you appoint plays the role of a customer.  Begin by having the customer be extremely polite and ask general questions.  In the next scenario, have the customer be a little bit irate and demanding.  Then, gradually, with each scenario, have the customer become downright vulgar.  Examine how employees handle the situation and review and critique each exercise.

2.) Ask a customer.  Invite a customer that you've met (or even one you haven't) and ask them to sit in on a meeting to discuss how employees could treat him or her better.  Make the event worth the customer's time by providing lunch, discounts, etc.  Solicit feedback from the customer and have your employees make note of what the customer likes and dislikes.

3.)  Love your customer.  Pick a day to have a customer appreciation day and invite a few customers to the event.  Have your employees plan the event and handle all the arrangements.  Put the ball in the employees court and let them love on the customers.  This will give your team members an idea of what it means to treat customers well and will also enhance customer loyalty.  Before and after the event, talk to your team about the importance of customers and that without them, the company will suffer.

Obama Scare

" Fear stifles our thinking and actions. It creates indecisiveness that results in stagnation. I have known talented people who procrastinate indefinitely rather than risk failure. Lost opportunities cause erosion of confidence, and the downward spiral begins.."  --- Charles Stanley

Papa John's is cutting the hours of its employees.  The CEO of the company, John Schnatter, says that the new healthcare program will cause him to raise prices $.10 to $.14 per pizza. 

A franchisee of Applebee's, Zane Terkel, stated that he will be cutting back the hours of his employees to avoid the costs of implementing the new program.

Dennys, Hobby Lobby, Darden Restaurants, and several others are taking steps to avoid paying more in health care costs for their employees, including filing lawsuits against the government.

No, this is not an Obama-bashing session (although if you feel that way, you are welcome to post your comments on our blog: HRVitamin), but an attempt to ease some of the fear we hear from business leaders about the new plan.

ObamaCare, also known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is scaring small businesses.  Some are fearing the unknown because many business leaders have never read the Act, and others are confused because it is unclear even to those implementing it.

Here are three steps you can take now to prepare your business for the upcoming PPACA challenges:


1.) Take time to understand PPACA.  Start a Obama Care or PPACA folder and begin gathering all the information that you can find.  Warning: Do not get the information from mainline news, but go straight to the source.  Begin here at the Department of Health and Human Services to review what the Act is all about, and continue here to get more detailed information that is applicable to your business.  Also, find out what politician is for or against the Act and go to their sites to get both sides of the argument.  Additionally, your current healthcare provider for your business is supposed to be up to date on the latest information.  Tap this source as well.  Of course, you can also read the entire Act if you have the time.

2.) Start now preparing your team for healthcare changes.  Your employees are watching the news and reading about the upcoming changes.  They are sure to have questions and concerns.  Set up regular bi-monthly meetings to keep them up to date and assure them that you are doing all that you can to provide in the way of health coverage.  If you are not currently providing health coverage, let them know your plan (please put together a plan now) and what they can expect when the Act is implemented.

3.)  Don't freak out.  There are more important business issues on your plate and changes in the healthcare system should not rank at the top of your list.  Here is why: There are so many "holes" in the Act that there will be a lot of fixin' going on for quite some time.  Already, there are extensions proposed by Senators and other politicians and business leaders are pushing for more time to figure out what the Act is all about.  In the meantime, stay informed, prepare as much as you can, and relax.  Don't let fear hamper your business's success.

Great Business- As Well As Life-Sense

Prior to reading The Legend of the Monk and the Merchant, I had heard great things about the book. However, just like when friends rave about a movie they've seen, I didn't want to dive into the book with expectations of being wowed. I've done that before and ended up being disappointed. Instead, I waited to find the right quiet moment (back patio with great view and good coffee) to open this book as if I've never heard of it before. I was quite pleased with the style of writing, the pace of the story, and most importantly, the lessons learned. In fact, there is a great deal to glean from The Legend of the Monk and the Merchant. I won't give a recap of the story because it is better read than summarized, but I will share some pointers that are worth remembering. Here are just a few I walked away with:

1.) Work Hard and God Will Prosper You. This is not one of those, "if you think it real hard, it will come to you," kind of advice. This is down-to-earth living that is so needed in our society today. In other words, work is more a gift than a curse. Like I heard it said one time, "the harder I work, the luckier I get."

2.) See Challenges As Stepping Stones, Not As Obstacles. This nugget of advice works for all works of life whether in business, in dealing with an illness, in raising children, etc.

3.) Be Meek Before God But Bold Before Men. In other words, just because the world stereotypes Christians as wimps and Milquetoast, doesn't mean it should be true. Great advice for today's whacked-out view of right and wrong.

There are plenty more words of wisdom in this book that should be a must-read for all ages---especially those in high school getting ready to go into adulthood.

Highly recommended read!

The E Myth Book Review: Helpful advice for the sign professional

The E Myth is a very popular business book with huge success because the author, Michael Gerber, included so many great useful principles for running a business in today’s market.  It would be difficult to include them all in one blog posting, but I will include what I consider strategies that any sign shop owner can apply today. 

As Gerber explains it, the E Myth, or the Entrepreneurial Myth, is based basically on two parts: 

• The myth that most people who start a small business are entrepreneurs

• The myth that an individual who understands the technical work of a business can successfully run a business that does that particular technical work  

In other words, the myth is the idea that most people who start a small business are entrepreneurs, risking capital to make a profit.  This idea leads to two misconceptions:

• The Entrepreneurial Seizure, a misconception that lures people to start a business to gain freedom and independence from their existing jobs

• The Fatal Assumption, or when an individual who understands the technical work of a business can successfully run a business in that industry.  

The work which used to be love and joy for the technician will turn into forced chores, and eventually the business will be too much for the technician to handle.  While the principles in the book are many, today I will focus on three major factors that can help you in your business today.

I. Wearing three hats

In the book Gerber explains why so many small businesses fail to grow, and where they stumble when they try to grow.  Gerber says that to grow, you as the business owner need to have three characteristics or traits.  These are the characteristics of:

• Technician
• Manager
• Entrepreneur

The problem is that very few small business owners are capable of being all three.   The challenge is recognizing which of the three you are and bringing in the other two people to fill the other roles. 

When you understand your unique talents, knowledge, and skills, you can continue to develop them while you find others with the talents and skills that you currently lack.  This doesn’t mean that you cannot learn the other roles, it just suggests that instead of putting the time into trying to learn another function of the business, it is usually wiser to bring someone in that already has the natural abilities needed. 

For clarification, Gerber defines the roles of each characteristic:

• Entrepreneur is to supply the vision.  This person is more of the dreamer focusing on the future

• Manager is to bring order to the business by putting systems in place

• Technician lives in the present and is more hands-on supplying the output

All three are necessary for creating a productive and profitable business.  As Gerber says, “Suddenly the job he knew how to do so well becomes one job he knows how to do plus a dozen others he doesn’t know how to do at all.  He discovers he must become three people in one.”

Ø      Key Point: Know thyself.  Know your role in your business.

II. Understanding the why

In The E-Myth, Gerber uses the story of a fictional character named Sarah who sells pies.  Gerber tells Sarah that, “…the purpose of going into business is to get free of a job so you can create jobs for other people.”  It is a matter of first determining why you are in business.  Once you have the “why” firmly in your mind, you can then create a plan to follow for your business.  The reason shouldn’t be to be free of a boss, but rather to go further in your field and to create something great out of your life’s work that makes a difference, and which naturally requires more organization and resources.  

The key question is not how small Sarah’s business could be, but how big it could naturally become with the right systems and organization in place.  So, the first and most important thing to do is to crystallize firmly in your mind where you want to go with the business and then put this goal in writing.  Gerber says that “any plan is better than no plan.”  

Most great companies set out with a vision of where they want to go.  Tom Watson, founder of IBM is quoted as saying, “I realized that for IBM to become a great company, it had to act like a great company long before it ever became one.”  Watson had a template or vision and each day he tried to fashion the company after it, however farfetched it seemed.  He had a picture in his mind how the company would look.  You can do the same with your business. 

Ø      Key Point: Know why you are in business.  Crystallize your answer and put it in writing.

III. Taking care of business

Gerber states that, “Contrary to popular belief, my experience has shown me that the people who are exceptionally good in business aren’t so because of what they know but because of their insatiable need to know more.” 

The key is to work on the business and not in the business by using systemization and business development. 

Gerber learned though his years of consulting that people in small businesses generally work far too hard for the return that they get.  He recommends:

§ Put systems in place that helps you to orchestrate your business.  You have to organize and standardize your business down to the smallest details, because the only certainty in your business is that the people that you hire will act unpredictably.  With proper standards, systems and accountability, you cut out that risk, and as a result the customer gets what they want all of the time.  

§ A business is like a machine that generates money.  The more you standardize and refine the machine, the clearer its value will be.  Gerber asks, “What does a master craftsman do when she has learned all there is to know?  She passes it on to others.  In fulfilling this duty, your skill can be multiplied many times.  Orchestration through a business system leverages what you know.” 

§ What are needed are idiot-proof systems and procedures that enable merely good people to do extraordinary things, or a way of operating that guarantees customer satisfaction, not by individual people, but by the system itself.  If you can build a great business around ordinary people, says Gerber, you don’t have to worry about finding extraordinary ones.

Ø      Key Point: Put systems in place so you can work on your business and not just in your business.

If you get a chance to pick up the book, please do.  Until then, strive to implement the three points outlined here.  Take your time working on them and try to remember the three personality types.  Remember that the Technician’s only model for his business is work, whereas for the Entrepreneur, the model is the business itself, and the work is secondary.  This is why Watson’s remark in the book is so timely today: “Every day at IBM was a day devoted to business development, not doing business.”

Big Ideas

"Business opportunities are like buses, there's always another one coming."  --- Richard Branson

June 7th was National Doughnut Day.  I hope you didn't miss it.  Places like Dunkin' Donuts, Krispy Kreme, Tim Hortons and more were giving away a free doughnut to celebrate.  The Salvation Army established this sweet holiday in 1938 to raise funds during the Great Depression and honor the “lassies,” as they called the female volunteers, who supported the soldiers on the front lines during World War I, serving them delicious meals, and of course, doughnuts.  Approximately 250 “lassies” provided assistance to American soldiers in France in 1917.

How does something as simple as a doughnut generate millions of dollars for Dunkin Donuts and Krispy Kreme?  Sometimes, it is the simple ideas, along with great marketing and outstanding customer service that produces wonderful companies.  The key is to generate great ideas within your business to capitalize on.  Here are three tips (reminders) for producing some profitable ideas:

1.) Set aside "thinking time" once a week.  Actually, once a week is only a start.  The really wise business leaders carve out time daily for thinking.  This is the time to clear your mind of everything that needs to be done and simply sit and think.  It takes practice.  You may not come up with ideas during the first or even second and third session, but over time, your mind gets the hang of it and ideas begin flowing.  Be sure to write them down as they come.

2.) Start an "idea journal" to record all of your outstanding ideas, as well as your not-so-outstanding ones.  Journal every idea even if you think it is nonsense at first.  This journal is for your eyes only.  If you don't record all your ideas, you'll get in the habit of discounting most of them.  This is not good because many you may think at the time are not good, may turn out to be the big hitters.

3.) Get team members involved in idea generating.  Tap into the wealth of knowledge, creativity, imagination, and talent of your employees to bring forth new ideas for your business.  They may have seen that in addition to the wonderfully produced widgets, the business can also offer thingamajobs to go along with them.  Be sure to allow some think time for your team as well and encourage them to brainstorm ideas during company meetings, picnics, retreats, and outings.

Ideas come from many directions and many points.  Good ideas may just change your business altogether or provide an additional stream of income for the company.