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Adam Sonnhalter Articles

Written by: Adam Sonnhalter

How Do I Know If I Have The Right People? - Click To Read Article
One of the most vital roles of any small business owner is to make sure you have the right people in your organization. The vast majority of the small business owners we meet, spend too much of their time mired in people situations. There are lots of "how" questions on the people front. How do I: i) find them, ii) hire them, iii) train them, iv) motivate them, v) pay them, vi) get them to take ownership, vii) fire them? All of these questions will eventually boil down to one big question, "How do I know if I have the right people in my organization?" If you've ever read the book Good to Great by Jim Collins, then you know there are two questions to ask to help you figure out whether or not you have the right people:

How Do I Make Sense Of My Numbers? - Click To Read Article
We had a client the other day who made a great analogy when it came to understanding the numbers in his business. If you've ever seen the movie The Matrix, early on in the movie one of the characters (Dozer) is looking at a screen with a bunch of numbers and he sees all this activity. The main character (Neo) is looking over Dozer's shoulder and all Neo sees is a bunch of numbers. Are you like Neo or Dozer when looking at your financials? Do you see all the activity that goes on in your business, or are you simply seeing a bunch of numbers?

How Do I Know If I Have A Good Partner? - Click To Read Article
Most people have a strong feelings about partners (whether it be in business or in life). In our unscientific survey over the years, we've been surprised to find that most people have negative feelings when it comes to partners in business. So one of the questions people often have for us is, "What makes a good partner?" While I could pontificate on many items that would make a good vs. a bad partner, the basic question you should ask yourself if you have a partner is this:

How Do I Find Time To Plan? - Click To Read Article
This is a question we hear from many small business owners. Usually this comes up when they are so busy doing the work of their business that they can't fathom being able to find more time to engage in something like planning. We contend that much of the reason behind owners not doing proper planning is that they are not really sure how to do it. While most business owners understand and agree that it's important to plan their business, it's often difficult for them to figure out how to plan on a regular basis. We contend that if you as the owner of your business are not taking time to plan, then you are neglecting one of your three key roles as the owner.

5 Simple Steps To Forecasting Your Sales - Click To Read Article
One common goal of most small business owners is to grow their sales. The trick is, most aren't sure quite how to go about doing it. One of the things we work on in our business coaching practice is to find simple and practical ways for business owners to run their business better. When it comes to sales, the best place to start is with a sales forecast. Forecasting your sales for the remainder of the year isn't as difficult as you might think. Here are 5 simple steps to forecasting your sales:

How Can I Make Decisions Faster - Click To Read Article
Some people are naturals when it comes to making decisions. Give them about 5% of the relevant information and they will make a decision and move on. Unfortunately for most of us it's not that easy! There are some good tricks I've learned to help make decisions faster.

How Do I Stay Calm When I Feel Out Of Control? - Click To Read Article
Do you feel like you're in control right now? I don't know anyone who does. So take a deep breath, and as a small business owner, take confidence in the fact that you're one of the most adjustable people on the planet. The ones who have it tough are those folks who have a job. That's all they really have confidence in, that they can do their job. Not that they can adapt and change with the times.

How Do You Achieve Work-Life Balance? - Click To Read Article
I received an email from a friend earlier this week entitled "Personal Balance in Demanding Times" with the following question: "How can we balance our personal needs with the most pressing needs of our community and the larger world?" Her email continued with some deeper questions including: - How are you doing this balancing act? - Who do you know who seems to balance well and what do they know? - How does your life touch the life of the larger world and what would allow you to feed your personal life while making a difference "out there"? - How can you feel satisfied you've given enough to yourself, your family and your community? Some pretty deep stuff, right? All variations of questions I've asked myself over the years. Perhaps you have as well.

How Do I Keep My Business Afloat? - Click To Read Article
"Plants don't want to die." Doug Maurer, Brian-Kyles Construction I was talking with my good friend Doug Maurer the other day. Doug is the founder and owner of Brian-Kyles Construction, which is a landscaping company based in Northeast Ohio. Doug was talking with me about a plant in my front yard that wasn't doing so well. He was explaining how I should cut the shrub down to its base to re-balance the plant so the roots were larger than the plant itself. And then he said the quote above regarding plants not wanting to die. It got me to thinking about how businesses are a lot like plants. Businesses don't want to die either. This is particularly true of small businesses.

Why Do Most Small Businesses Fail? - Click To Read Article
Depending on what you've read or heard, the failure rate for small businesses in the first 5 years has been estimated to be anywhere from 40% to 90%. Whatever the actual figure, it's higher than it needs to be.

When Does Customer Service Start? - Click To Read Article
Does customer service start once someone becomes a customer or does it start upon first contact with that person?

What Makes A Good Customer? - Click To Read Article
How do you define a good customer? This is a question that many small business owners rarely, if ever, stop to ask themselves. After all, aren't all customers good customers, you ask? Quite simply, NO! I mean, the fact that someone wants to give you their money in exchange for your product or service is a good thing, but that doesn't automatically make that customer a good customer.

What Does It Mean To Be An Entrepreneur? - Click To Read Article
I wanted to share my thoughts on a recent article from Inc. Magazine on an economist named Joseph Schumpeter who had a very insightful way of looking at entrepreneurs. I found that it captures the essence of the day-to-day grind most small business owners experience.

How Do I Make A Profit? - Click To Read Article
As silly as this might sound, many business owners seem to forget the fact that they are in business to make a profit (i.e. make money). Most owners, in fact, don’t have a plan for how they are going to make a profit this year, this quarter, this month. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Where Is America Going? - Click To Read Article
I was watching the movie Doc Hollywood the other night. It's a movie I've seen a few times over the years. A couple of things struck me seeing this film at this time in our history here in the United States: i) We've lost our way, ii) We have to slow down, iii) You should define what's important to make you happy, iv) House calls are important, and v) Experiential marketing works.

How To Get Stuff Done - Click To Read Article
Do you have a "To Do List?" Most people have one or multiple ones these days. I'm on a mission to rid the world of To Do Lists! I say, throw them all away!

How To Create A Team - Click To Read Article
I recently attended a retreat for a year-long leadership program I'm participating in called Leadership Lorain County. There are 45 people in my class. We walked in Wednesday afternoon as strangers for the most part. We left Friday as a team who knew and respected each other. So if 45 of us could do this over the course of just under 48 hours, why do most business owners we speak with have trouble getting their employees on the same page?

How Do You Network? - Click To Read Article
Networking is one of those words that typically conjures up some sort of image in everybody's brains. Some will be positive. Some negative. And some can take it or leave it. One of the things I've noticed lately is that there seem to be a lot more people "networking" lately. Many for the first time or for the first time in a while. The trouble is, most people are doing it wrong!

How Do I Grow My Know, Like, &Trust List? - Click To Read Article
The key to getting more referrals in your business is to help the people who Know, Like, and Trust ("KLT") you to refer you more often. While everyone reading this (including you) has a list of people who KLT you, this is a list you should constantly be growing. The more folks who KLT you and your business, the more referrals you will receive. Here are a couple of tips for how to grow the Know portion of your list.

How Do I Build Trust? - Click To Read Article
A great clarifying question to figure out if you Trust someone or if they Trust you is to ask, "Am I comfortable introducing this person to someone else and are they comfortable introducing me?" At the end of the day, that's what it all boils down to. And the answer to that question will be different depending on the person.

How Do I Keep Customers In Tough Times? - Click To Read Article
As David Sandler used to say, be a "fuzzy" source for your customers. For those of you not familiar with this terminology, it includes "warm fuzzies" and "cold pricklies." Warm fuzzies are those things that make other people feel good. Cold pricklies, on the other hand, are those things that don't feel so good.

Who's Your Market - Click To Read Article
When you first start your business, your market is defined as anyone who will pay you money for your products or services. After you've been in business for a while (whether it be a few months or a few years), you'll have some very valuable market data. You have a list of customers who have actually parted with their money to buy what you sell. So how do you identify just who is YOUR MARKET? This article should give you some good guidance.

Where Did All My Cash Go? - Click To Read Article
We hear this all the time from small business owners. They look at their Profit & Loss statement (a.k.a. Income Statement) which shows all this activity in their business, and yet their Balance Sheet (and checkbook) show little to no cash! So where did it all go? A big challenge for a lot of business owners is understanding the difference between profit and cash flow. While the P&L may be showing growing sales and profit, the owner may notice that their cash balance is shrinking or that they are struggling to meet payroll.

What Is The Pursuit Of Happiness? - Click To Read Article
As a new President is inaugurated in the U.S., I've seen and heard a lot of discussions regarding our forefathers. One concept that struck me is the idea of the "pursuit of happiness" which is spelled out in the Declaration of Independence. Did you notice, they left out the path for that pursuit? I mean, the next line in the Declaration of Independence doesn't say, "and this is how Happiness should be pursued."

What Do Quarterbacks and Business Owners Have In Common? - Click To Read Article
It's that time of year when there is a lot of football on TV. Everything from college bowl games to professional playoffs. No matter which games you watch, it quickly becomes evident which team's quarterback (i.e. "QB") is better than the other, and usually that is the team that wins the game. How are you doing as the QB of your team (i.e. your company)? How do you measure up against all those other QBs (i.e. business owners)?

What's It Take To Run A Successful Business? - Click To Read Article
I was reading an excerpt from a New York Times article that profiled a woman (Charlita) who opened a restaurant that failed after about 1 year. This is a woman who had spent 20 years in the legal field. A quote from the article that talked about her speaking to herself grabbed my attention: "How could someone with a law degree and as smart as you blow it this big?" I know that is a question that many small business owners ask themselves every day.

Why Is It OK To Plan A Vacation But Not Your Business? - Click To Read Article
I had two people tell me this week that they were taking a day to pack for a vacation. I mean, they were only going away for a long weekend, or maybe even a week. And they spent the entire day packing. They probably spent some time prior to this planning the trip as well. Why is it that we'll easily spend several hours (and sometimes even days or weeks) planning for a vacation or for a wedding, yet when the word planning is mentioned in business, business owners usually have an extremely adverse reaction?

How To Evaluate Your People In 2 Simple Steps - Click To Read Article
The world is filled with all kinds of assessment tools and ways to analyze your current or potential employees and it can get overwhelming in a hurry. We're big on keeping things simple. Whether it be in life or in our business coaching practice when advising our clients. Basically you can evaluate your people in two broad categories: i) Skills, and ii) Attitude. It boils down to this: 1. If someone has the wrong skills AND they have a bad attitude, YOU SHOULD GET RID OF THEM IMMEDIATELY! 2. If someone has EITHER great skills or a great attitude, then should invest in improving the weak area (i.e. the skills or the attitude). 3. If someone has BOTH the skills and the attitude, promote them as fast as you can and include them in as many things in your organization as you can. This is someone you want in your organization.

How Do You Know If A Business Should Be Condemned? - Click To Read Article
You've seen condemned houses right? I mean, it's not a pretty sight. Holes where there aren't supposed to be holes. Boards where there are supposed to be windows. All sorts of things could be or are going on in there that aren't good. Shouldn't these condemned houses just be torn down? So what's the difference between that scenario and what's going on with many of our industries, particularly here in the U.S. Can you tell me it's hard to see the similarities between the condemned houses and industries such as the U.S. auto industry.

How To Communicate Better With A Business Partner - Click To Read Article
About one-third of our business coaching clients have involved situations where there are multiple owners in the business. This has included spouses, siblings, parents & kids, in-laws, friends, and business acquaintances. One of the biggest struggles with multiple owners is getting all the owners on the same page. When the business is first formed, everyone is usually on the same page. But as the months and years go by, it's easy to drift apart. Here are a couple of keys for better communication with your business partner: 1. Understand Behavior Styles 2. Keep The Appointments 3. Do What You Say You're Going To Do 4. If You Feel It, Say It

How To Market Your Business In 3 Words - Click To Read Article
Many of us often unnecessarily complicate things. Especially when it comes to something as magical as marketing. Here are three words to market your business: Who Why How Those three words should guide all of your marketing activities. Who am I trying to reach? Who is my market? Who will buy my stuff? Who has been buying my stuff? Why have your customers purchased your products and/or services? Why do they continue to buy? Why have some stopped buying? How am I going to reach my customer? How do I know what to track? How do I know what advertising or marketing strategy works the best? How do I know which marketing dollars to spend and which ones to redeploy? How can I connect with my customers (especially the ones who don't know I exist yet!)?

How To Make Money In Your Business - Click To Read Article
The Profit Plan is the answer to how to make money in your business. If you can't plan it out on paper, chances are you won't be able to do it in real time with your hectic business. Pulling together a Profit Plan does a couple of great things for an organization: 1. It Pulls Everyone Together 2. It Allows for Ownership 3. It Prevents Monday Morning Quarterbacks

How To Find Good People - Click To Read Article
One of the most common question we get from both our business coaching clients as well as from business owners we meet is, "how do I find good people?" Ever tried volunteering for a community or non-profit group? Whether you're someone looking for good people or you are a good person looking for work, one of the most overlooked recruiting tools is volunteering.

How To Keep Your Business Afloat - Click To Read Article
I was talking with my good friend Doug Maurer the other day. Doug is the founder and owner of Brian-Kyles Construction, which is a landscaping company based in Northeast Ohio. Doug was talking with me about a plant in my front yard that wasn't doing so well. He was explaining how I should cut the shrub down to its base to re-balance the plant so the roots were larger than the plant itself. And then he said a magical quote, "plants don't want to die." It got me to thinking about how businesses are a lot like plants. Businesses don't want to die either. This is particularly true of small businesses.

How To Motivate Your People - Click To Read Article
f you do just a handful of things right as a leader, you're going to have tremendous success when it comes to motivating your employees. Here's what I keep in mind: 1. Keep Goals Simple & Laser Focused 2. Consistently Communicate 3. Lead By Example 4. Find the Energy In the full article I'll share examples of what I'm working on with my Rotary Club during my year as President.

Are You Afraid of Public Speaking? - Click To Read Article
It's common knowledge that fear of public speaking is one of the top fears for most people (not you of course). Why is that? In this article, I share some of the lessons I learned from an 18-year old exchange student from Germany who addressed a recent Rotary Club.

Are You The Joker When Networking? - Click To Read Article
One of my favorite superheroes growing up was Batman. My favorite shows almost always included my favorite arch-villain too, The Joker! Jack Nicholson reprised this role of The Joker beautifully in the 1989 version of Batman the movie. I was reminded of this character at a recent networking event where I met someone who had what I refer to as "The Joker" smile.

Are You Aware Of The Noise In Your Business - Click To Read Article
All too often, you're too close to your business to hear the "noise." I was reminded of this at a recent going away party I attended. I'll share some tips for helping to break through this noise to get a better handle on where your business stands.

How Do I Pay My Bills? - Click To Read Article
This is a question many business owners are asking themselves these days. While the trials and tribulations of many of the bigger companies have been well documented these past couple of months, chances are the government is not going to be writing any checks into your business to provide liquidity in the near future. So what's a small business owner to do? The short answer is to focus on the future. Can you see a future where you are making enough money to pay all of your bills?

How Can I Make More Money? - Click To Read Article
"Money, its a gas. Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash." by Pink Floyd Things in business can often get confusing. After all, isn't every business in business to make money? So shouldn't that be the #1 focus? Well, perhaps surprisingly to some, the answer is a definitive NO!

Do You Have A Brainstorming Partner? - Click To Read Article
Most small business owners don't have a person or a group of people to effectively brainstorm with. Quite often, it's simply the business owner throwing his or her ideas on the table and the staff just nodding their heads in agreement without really bringing too much to the discussion. Or the owner simply talking to himself or herself. If you are a successful business owner or if you know any successful business owners, chances are pretty high that they'll have a brainstorming group they meet with regularly. They may refer to it as a mastermind group, a sounding board, a partner, a business coach, or just someone to bounce ideas off.

Are You A Defensive Driver? - Click To Read Article
My partner Jack said something the other day that got me thinking. For those of you who don't know, Jack is affectionately referred to as Mr. Magoo when he drives. It basically means that he does whatever he wants and assumes everyone else will react to him. I think this quote from Jack explains it all. "Everyone is trained to be a defensive driver, so I count on them being defensive while I'm busy being Mr. Magoo."

How Do I Get More Referrals? - Click To Read Article
If you want your business to get more referrals, it boils down to answering 2 simple questions: 1. Who should I ask for referrals? 2. How should I ask for referrals?

How Could Ayn Rand Have Known - Click To Read Article
I recently started reading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. It's scary how many things in this book that was published over 50 years ago relate to our current times.

How To Stay On Top Of Your Game - Click To Read Article
Do you ever stop practicing? My wife and I were talking earlier tonight about this parenting class we took a little over 3 months ago. We both really enjoyed the class and got a lot out of it. The course was called Love and Logic and our instructor was a former grade school teacher and counselor named Ron Chidsey. He reminded us how important it was for us to come to the class because, not only did we get the chance to discuss our experiences over the past week, but it was important for us to do something every week to get better. It's hard to form new habits. This article provides a few tips for ways to stay on top of your game and form new habits.

How To Embrace Change - Click To Read Article
I recently came across the following passage from Napoleon Hill. It provides some terrific insight into why change is important. The article also addresses how those situations which can often appear to be a negative actually turn out to be a positive because they force you to change your habits and allow you to discover new things.





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