Plan the Action! Action the Plan!

I do get frustrated at things not happening quickly enough for my liking.  My frustrations tend to build up while I am waiting for things to happen.  You know what it is like, you finish a specific activity, and then you have to wait around for someone to either do the next bit or come back to you with an answer.  You can sit there waiting for a long time or at least that is how it feels to me.  Well, I simply don’t do it.  So what do we do about this never-ending cycle of hurry up and wait?  The truth is that there is not a lot you can do about the need to wait for others to complete their side of the job, so don’t make it an excuse.  If business is not going that well or at the pace you would like take ACTION NOW!

If I had a dollar for every time a client told me, “So and so has not responded yet so we can’t move on and we are just waiting for a few more responses before we make the next move”, I would be a millionaire.  Sitting around waiting for things to happen is so debilitating.  You certainly need to keep the pressure on people to ensure you can close the deal.  On the other hand, if you sit around waiting for their response you will begin to doubt their commitment or your product or ability.  Have someone in your office be responsible for making those “How are you going?” calls.  You don’t need to do it yourself.  You need to get back to your action list and keep on actioning! In fact, if you don’t have a good periodic action list i.e. daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly etc you will find that waiting for people to come back to you becomes a convenient excuse for doing nothing.

It is not difficult to set up a simple 90 day action plan using a excel spreadsheet.  Set out your weekly monthly and quarterly goals.  There are 13 weeks and don forget there are 7 days (not five) in week.  I find it best to reverse the order, so I set my goal or goals for the quarter and then work back to my weekly goals and then to the daily actions I am going to need to take to reach my goals.  Commit to this action list and do not deviate.  Distractions will arise each week so you will need to be completely disciplined. Stick to your guns here.  Give a copy of your action to someone who know cares about your success and will make you accountable each week for meeting you objectives.  Set up a convenient time to discuss each weeks achievements and the week ahead.  Discuss both your success and importantly your failures.  Why have you not undertaken certain activities or followed another course other than the one you committed?  Be rational and listen to yourself as you respond, you will sometimes hear the guy with the excuse trying to get out.  Don’t let him.  As much as we hate to admit to it without an organized actionable list few of us would achieve very much at all.  “Better offers” are presented every day you just have to learn to say NO. Do this religiously for 30 to 60 days and you will astonish yourself at what you can achieve in a day, a week and a month.

Until next time

Your, back to the list and into action, business coach

Neville@thesmallbusinesstoolbox.com

The Opportunity Value of Risk

I have just come away from a meeting with a client who is looking to implement a new strategy. Really, it’s an OLD strategy with a new twist, but who am I to say anything. The issue with this new/old strategy as with all strategies really is there risks involved. As we, all know risks need to be managed. The, 64 thousand dollar, question is how?

There are a couple of ways of looking at the management of risk in your business. One is to develop procedures and monitoring to ensure that the risk doesn’t arise. This is the eradication of risk approach, see it, and kill it off!

Alternatively,the second is to see the risk for what it truly is, an opportunity to be understood and managed. The eradication or, expunging etc of risk is by far the most frequent approach adopted by management and particularly by a Board.

The Board certainly do need to be concerned with risk because that s their job and in today’s nervous corporate environment, Board risk is an issue.

I know that you may have a small company and you are wondering how does all this risk stuff affect you. Just think about it.

Most of us risk our lives just getting up out of bed everyday. We cross the road, often against the pedestrian traffic lights and with traffic coming through a busy intersection (J-Walking. Oh sure you have!), or by eating a meat pie from a dodggy road side cafe, or jumping on a new low cost airline aeroplane to get to a holiday or business destination.

That’s different I hear you say. Well, not really!

Each one of the actions outlined above is calculated and when you proceed, you have decided thatwith the benefits being assessed to outweigh the apparent risk. Just because it is done almost instantaneously doesn’t mean you haven’t thought about and how you would manage the risk.

Take, for instance, booking on a low cost carrier out of London’s Stansted Airport or even from Johannesburg or Changi Airport in Singapore. The flight might well be delayed, or they send your baggage to your previous destination from two weeks ago! On board they might run out of food and, of course, worst of all it might not even make it to your destination. I bet you have considered all these possibilities (okay maybe not the luggage bit!) and you have developed a back- up plan to cover the eventualities. You didn’t write it down, or maybe you did. In any event, you thought the whole event through and proceeded on the basis that you had managed the risk. The outcome was , you had more money to spend on your holiday or business trip. You created value for yourself. Well done you!

Now, take this approach into your every day business life. You will face decisions, every one of which is subject to some form of risk. As with your holiday flight decision, where you saved mega bucks because you chose to take a risk on a low cost airline. The same will happen in business. Can you see what the potential value might be created in understanding how to manage you risks and realize the financial benefit, rather than expunging the risk and not achieving your financial goals?

Value Risk management is a tool or process available to all businesses and professionals regardless of what size your business is. The value of the process is in its ability to meet narrow or complex businesses needs. I have used it with companies that turnover $2m a year to $1.5bn a year and everywhere in between. The process is so simple it can be incorporated into ongoing management and Board level reporting. The benefits to business are that the strategy is managed on an ongoing basis rather than once annually in the planning meeting and then stuffed away until next year.

Valuing the opportunity of risk rather than mitigating it may seem counter intuitive but it is after all the very reason the entrepreneur exists.

Until next time Your, humble keeper of risk, coach

Neville@thesmallbusinesstoolbox.com

My Banker is a bum! (He won’t lend when I need it most!!)

A cent for every time I have heard those words and I really would be a millionaire and possibly even richer.  The thing is it is simply not true.  Now, please do not think I am a big bank lover. I am not; I hate bureaucracy just as much as the next person and unfortunately that is what many banks are. However, the reality of most Small and Medium Enterprise [SME] situations is that Banks are your business partner every bit as much as the taxman (I know) so take a chill pill and live with it. Learn to make the relationship work for you. “Get real” I hear you say, or words to that effect. Yes, you can!

A few years back I stepped into a medium cap company to hear from Chicken Lick’n (the CEO) that the sky was falling in.  Well I went to the Bank to see for myself. Ah ha, indeed the sky was about to fall in. To cut a long story short, we brought in some poles, bought some time, propped the place up for a while, and got things back on track.  In other words, we gave them a plan and executed on it.  Eventually the company worked its way out of its difficulties [all self inflicted] and is now part of a global engineering group, operating very successfully.

The reason that it got so scary for Chicken Lick’n was that the company had neglected to maintain its relationship with its Bankers.  This does require effort and while I agree it is a two way street, remember your [SME turnover $200k-$2.5m per annum] relationship manager probably has 100-150 SME customers to look after.  So guess who’s going to do the running? That’s right you and me.  So what do we do? Here are some simple rules that I apply in my every day business;

1.      Give yourself and the Bank the best information available about your business

2.      Have a clear but simple business plan that shows what you intend to do with the borrowed money [visit www.thesmallbusinessstrategy.com for some help] and how you will operate

3.      Prepare you business plan without ‘rose tinted glasses’. Under promise on your expectations and over deliver on results.

4.      Give the Bank a report at least once every 6 months and make a follow up call to confirm they have the information. The best times are without doubt  half way through the financial year and again after your year-end accounts are ready. This report must be simple.   Dot points highlighting progress against target are good.

5.      If things start taking a turn for the worse, do not ignore it. Front up and let the bank know the situation ahead of time and what you intend doing to resolve it. Keep them posted as you progress.  You might be amazed! Banks have a vested interest in your business succeeding – not failing!!

6.      Your relationship manager may change every five minutes.  I know how frustrating this is. Let it go and connect with the new person. Most of them can become little gems, look after them and your relationship will flourish.

7.      Don’t worry be happy!

Until next time,

Your, paddling like mad, business coach.

Neville@thesmallbusinesstoolbox.com

How to Get Your New Business Started

Thinking of starting your own business? We’d like to share this thought provoking article “10 Mistakes that Start-Up Entrepreneurs Make” By ROSALIND RESNICK

Online Business Education is a Winner

I don’t think there can be too many small business owners who would say no to having their business being given the once over by a business guru with a wealth of practical experience and the time to devote to picking the operation apart and then making suggestions of ways of making it work better!

The problem is, who would this guru be and how much time would a busy business owner have to put aside to educate this guru in the nuances of the business.

The reality of course is that it’s not going to happen! But that doesn’t make that nagging feeling that most business owners have go away – the feeling that if you could just make a few informed changes, then the business might take off, or this or that problem would become more manageable.

This is where online business courses come into their own. A well researched and presented online business course such as The Small Business Toolbox has many benefits for the busy but committed business owner.

Firstly of course, the business owner doesn’t have to brief anyone about the ins and outs of his business. All the knowledge that is required is right there between his or her ears – all the owner has to do is take that knowledge and apply it as directed by the online business course.

Secondly, the business owner doesn’t have to attend class at a specific place at a specific time. He or she can sit down at the computer and log on to the course anytime they want to.

Thirdly, – no keeping up with the Jones’s here, or waiting for them! With an online business course, you work at your own pace – fast or slow, it’s up to you.

And most importantly, when the course is put together by people who have been there and done that in the world of small business, then you know that you are getting a practical, tried and tested business education that you can immediately apply in your business.

It’s no wonder that online business education is seen as the best way that busy business owners can take their businesses to the next level. Try it for yourself – visit www.thesmallbusinesstoolbox.com