How honest are you prepared to be to grow your Business?
How honest are you prepared to be to grow your Business?
A new year, a new start and we are bombarded with daily headlines of increased violence, economic uncertainty and political confusion. The struggle to stay in business, to keep our job, to secure a future for our children, to improve our education and our social systems seems more potent then ever.
Struggle involves disharmony, upheaval, confusion, doubt, and frustration. Struggle can render us feeling weak, helpless and frustrated OR it can unleash a surge of new ideas, creativity and solutions.
Extraordinary times call for extraordinary commitments...
The time has come to choose wisely and take responsibility if we want our businesses to survive, our resources to be distributed better and our environment to be more user friendly.
It is struggle and adversity that can bring out the worst in us, OR the Very BEST. It is when the chips are down and when times are tough that we often make our most courageous choices, re-define our values, take a stand and feel compelled to walk our talk.
What challenges is your business going to face in 2009?
What measures are you going to take to grow your business?
How honest are you prepared to be to find real solutions?
Clearly, identifying and understanding the opportunities, shortcomings and challenges of your business is the first step. By understanding I mean to understand on a very real, basic level and to be very honest. The most common answers given to why the sales and profits are down are 'weak economy' 'unreliable market' 'people just don't have any money to spend'. And yes all of those are factors to be taken into consideration - but the real question is:
What could we have done or do better? And to really get to the bottom of the issues, to really focus on finding better solutions we need to apply a great deal of honesty.
1. I have found that the best way to start is by sitting down and identifying all the things you could have done and did not - whatever the reason. Simply make a 'What we failed to do list' with your team: 'We missed our bottom line commitment because we failed to d.... We missed our customer service commitment because we failed to... We missed our commitment to our staff team because we failed to... We missed our sales commitment because we failed to... In this way you take OWNERSHIP, identify the source of the real problems and get valuable answers.
2. The next step is to decide what needs to be done and to commit to specific, effective and innovative actions. Get everyone involved; the whole management and staff team. Sharing the problems, asking for input, coming up with new solutions and then identifying who will do what will keep everyone motivated. Ask each team member for his or her commitment (I commit to generating - revenue) and write down all the commitments you make. Making commitments is much more powerful than talking about reaching goals or targets.
3. Then follow up on a regular basis on how everyone is doing and make adjustments when needed.
So, this is it - 3 steps to take ownership and identify the real issues at any time.
With my best wishes for your success!
Christiane Pohl
How honest are you prepared to be to grow your Business - To learn more about this author, visit Christiane Pohl's Website.
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The times they are a changing.....
A new year, a new start and we are bombarded with daily headlines of increased violence, economic uncertainty and political confusion. The struggle to stay in business, to keep our job, to secure a future for our children, to improve our education and our social systems seems more potent then ever.
Struggle involves disharmony, upheaval, confusion, doubt, and frustration. Struggle can render us feeling weak, helpless and frustrated OR it can unleash a surge of new ideas, creativity and solutions.
Extraordinary times call for extraordinary commitments...
The time has come to choose wisely and take responsibility if we want our businesses to survive, our resources to be distributed better and our environment to be more user friendly.
It is struggle and adversity that can bring out the worst in us, OR the Very BEST. It is when the chips are down and when times are tough that we often make our most courageous choices, re-define our values, take a stand and feel compelled to walk our talk.
What challenges is your business going to face in 2009?
What measures are you going to take to grow your business?
How honest are you prepared to be to find real solutions?
Clearly, identifying and understanding the opportunities, shortcomings and challenges of your business is the first step. By understanding I mean to understand on a very real, basic level and to be very honest. The most common answers given to why the sales and profits are down are 'weak economy' 'unreliable market' 'people just don't have any money to spend'. And yes all of those are factors to be taken into consideration - but the real question is:
What could we have done or do better? And to really get to the bottom of the issues, to really focus on finding better solutions we need to apply a great deal of honesty.
1. I have found that the best way to start is by sitting down and identifying all the things you could have done and did not - whatever the reason. Simply make a 'What we failed to do list' with your team: 'We missed our bottom line commitment because we failed to d.... We missed our customer service commitment because we failed to... We missed our commitment to our staff team because we failed to... We missed our sales commitment because we failed to... In this way you take OWNERSHIP, identify the source of the real problems and get valuable answers.
2. The next step is to decide what needs to be done and to commit to specific, effective and innovative actions. Get everyone involved; the whole management and staff team. Sharing the problems, asking for input, coming up with new solutions and then identifying who will do what will keep everyone motivated. Ask each team member for his or her commitment (I commit to generating - revenue) and write down all the commitments you make. Making commitments is much more powerful than talking about reaching goals or targets.
3. Then follow up on a regular basis on how everyone is doing and make adjustments when needed.
So, this is it - 3 steps to take ownership and identify the real issues at any time.
With my best wishes for your success!
Christiane Pohl
How honest are you prepared to be to grow your Business - To learn more about this author, visit Christiane Pohl's Website.
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
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