Immature Entrepreneur

A recent article on BizBest.com advises small business owners that there’s a “new normal” in the marketplace and that they best address it if they want to survive and thrive.

Business makeover specialist Patricia Sigmon, president of LPS Consulting, is quoted in the article. She says all aspects of your business should be up for revision, including your mission statement, business and marketing plans, budget, sales and expense expectations.

Sigmon provides seven suggestions for giving your business a profit makeover, summarized here:

• “Fire” unprofitable customers. You know the ones: the high maintenance folks that require a disproportionate amount of your time and pay you the least. Start off the new year by analyzing the profit margin (or lack thereof) that each customer produces. If they’re not profitable, stop pursuing them and concentrate on those who are.
• Reward your best customers. Work off the profit margin analysis you just completed and create a list of customers who profit you the most. “Coddle them, woo them, don’t lose them!” Sigmon advises. “Offer them frequent buyer rewards. Send them a small gift at their one-year anniversary. Give them a random call every few months to ‘check in’, thank them, and ask what else they might need. Treat them like gold.”
• Start relationships by turning all one-time sales efforts into relationship sales. Some examples of where to begin with customers include instituting monthly maintenance plans, suggesting auxiliary services, selling complementary products or offering retainer plans covering a specific number of labor hours.
• Erase those expense lines. The idea is to reduce your operating expense budget to the lowest possible number because you can’t build a new profit base on last year’s expense model. It may mean closing an office or cutting back on little luxuries — so be it! Review your expenses line by line with an eagle eye towards savings.
• Outsource more instead of hiring a new employee or retaining an existing one as part of your new cost management program. Take a hard look at each department and/or staff member within your organization. Can any be eliminated (perhaps through attrition) or scaled back? Some options to consider are combining jobs, deleting processes and outsourcing certain tasks.
• Update your networking, especially online and in social media, to better compete in the digital world. “Businesses that don’t leverage social networking will be left behind,” says Sigmon. “Jump-start new relationships in 2013 with a burst of social media activity. Update all your social sites and accounts. Keep your online relationships fresh and dynamic with news, blogs, newsletters, tips, and surveys. Find an online forum in your industry and become an active contributor.”

Take your office with you. Cloud technology means you’re no longer deskbound in one location. Interactive cloud-based systems enable you to do your business wherever and whenever it suits you — just make sure that you have Internet connections on all of your devices! Encourage your employees to share files in the secure cloud for a more connected and cohesive team.

About the Author:
Beth Longware Duff is a professional editor and award-winning writer whose work on a wide variety of topics has been published in print and electronic media. She currently writes on a wide range of topics dealing with electronic payment processing and small business merchant services for Merchant Express.

If you’re anxious, it may be that you’re thinking too much about the future. Be present.

If you’re depressed, it may be that you don’t have enough joy in your life. Add some.

If you feel old, act young. Play.

If you’re unfulfilled, it may be that you’re chasing money. Chase your passion.

If you’re unsatisifed with your partner, it may be that you chose the wrong one. Change yourself or pick another.

If you’re negative, it could be that you have too many negative influences in your life. Replace them.

If you’re sad, it may be that you’ve made some poor decisions. Choose differently.

Everything in our lives is a direct result of our decisions. We have all the power. We just have to choose to use it.

What are you going to choose today?

Why do we believe what we believe? Take a moment and actually reflect on that. In many instances, we don’t know why we believe that which we believe, yet we hold to those beliefs with tremendous ferocity and divisiveness. Typically the reason we believe the things that we do is simply because everyone else does. This is a self-destructive trait humanity possesses called herd mentality.

Several months ago, I was at an event we co-hosted for one of our businesses. I happened to overhear a nearby conversation (I’m a people watcher) with a female guest I didn’t know. She was telling a story about a recent trip to Florida where she encountered an energy healer. With a smirk on her face, she went on to say how “all of that stuff is total crap” and that the supposed healer was just ripping people off. A couple of others chimed in with similiar remakrs and I could tell she felt vindicated, her belief system reinforced. Herd mentality in action. (Quick side note–energy is real and measurable. Quantum physics supports this but it’s not widely known/accepted information.)

These people had a close minded perspective. Their minds are quite literally shut off to any opposing information, which, by definition, is irrational. Conversely, an open minded person might look at that situation with consideration, wondering how such a thing may be possible. Open minded vs. close minded.

There are plenty of things humanity accepts, regardless of the fact that we can’t see them/don’t fully understand them. For example:

• Radio waves
• Air
• Gravity
• God
• Angels/demons
• An infinite universe

My point is this: be aware of why you believe the things which you believe. Admitting that we don’t know everything is the first step to true knowledge and understanding. We live in an amazing, magical world where there is wonder to be explored every day. The trick is that your mind must be open to receiving it. Otherwise, tomorrow is just another day at work and an evening at home watching sitcoms. It isn’t that those things are necessarily bad. But thinking that is all there is to life is allowing our self inflicted ignorance to dictate our realities and rob us of the wonder that is out there.

Science has proven that humans utilize less than 10% of our brains. I wonder what’s waiting in the remaining 90%?

“To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge.” ~ Benjamin Disraeli

We complain that nothing ever changes in our country, yet we vote the same 2 political parties in every 4 years. We complain that gas is too high, yet most of us make no attempt to work from home. We complain that health insurance costs too much, yet the majority of us don’t take quality wellness supplements to prevent from getting sick. We complain about our jobs, yet we choose not to follow our passions. We complain about huge corporations, yet we give them our money. We complain about our partners, yet we chose them. We complain about many, many things in our lives yet the reality is this–everything in our lives, good or bad, is there as a direct result of the choices we have made.

So why is this so difficult for us to accept? The starting point for this acceptance requires that we admit to our faults. We must accept responsibility for our mistakes before we can go forward with this train of though. Many times ego can get in the way here. If the ego’s need for self-importance outweighs the desire for personal development and discovery, then Mr. Ego wins everytime (and we lose in the process). Equate it to Dr. Banner’s struggle with the Hulk (geeky obligatory comic book reference complete).

Don’t let that inner monster win. He doesn’t have your best interests in mind. The true reality, the one that we won’t likely hear from our friends and family and those close to us is this: Just like He-Man, we have all the power. We’ve had the power all along. We simply have to choose to use it.

5 Organization Steps to Increase Your Productivity
By Guest Author Gwen Stewart from Outbounding.com

A cluttered office can do more harm than you realize when it comes to your productivity at work. If you spend at least part of every day looking for the tools or files you need to complete a job, you will benefit from getting organized. Learn five organizations steps you can use to increase your productivity.

1. Find a System that Works

Above all, the organization system you create needs to work for you. When you are creating a system, consider your workflow. Do you tackle just one project at a time? This style of work lends itself to using an in box and out box system. Or do you work on several different projects at the same? If this is the case, you may need as filing system that makes it easy access the current projects you are working on. Your tools need to accessible and not buried under the clutter of your desk. As you consider the tools you need, you should design your office in a way that makes it easy to access and use them.

2. Streamline Your Tasks

Once you have a basic organization system in place, it is easier to streamline your tasks. If you tackle your similar tasks together, it is easier to get them done more quickly, because you do not need to shift gears to finish them up. For instance, many people recommend handling the financial aspects of
your business at the same time each week. Similarly, you can streamline your marketing campaign by writing and scheduling posts in advanced or place all of your supply orders at the same time.

3. Clean Up Your Office

Take the time to clean up your office every day. A clean workspace does wonders for a more productive workday. Before you leave for work each day file any completed work and stack the incomplete work in order of importance in preparation for the next day. Tidying your office each day ensures productive
efficient work time and prevents your office from becoming a place you dread entering.

4. Cut Out the Small Interruptions During the Day

Organization can also help you stay on task by eliminating the small distractions that pop up during the day. A solid routine and to-do list can prevent small emergencies from cropping up doing your day, because you have handled all of your tasks on time. By creating a to-do list, you can make time for
recurring tasks—especially those with recurring deadlines. You can also set up blocks of times when your staff does not interrupt you, so that you can focus on your most important tasks.

5. Set Up a Good Filing System

A good filing system, whether it is on your computer or actual physical files can work wonders to streamline your productivity. Effective filing makes it easy to find the information you are looking for or to reference a similar campaign or project for ideas. If the idea of creating a filing system overwhelms
you, it may be best to hire someone to do it for you. You will need to continue to maintain the system by filing each day so you can reap the benefits of being organized. If you take a few minutes each night to file everything, you will be able to meet your deadlines and pay your bills on time.

About the Author:

Gwen Stewart is a business development professional and writer for Outbounding.com. Her line of work often requires she have a great solution for transferring large files and meeting tight deadlines. Any spare time she can scrape together finds her hiking, reading and enjoying the company of great friends.

Knowing that someone believes in you can alleviate self-doubt when those crippling thoughts sneak around inside our heads. Knowing that somebody will be there to catch you when you fall makes falling much less frightening. Knowing that you’re not alone, that someone is out there rooting for you, can keep you going through the tough times. Knowing that you have somebody in your corner can make all the difference.

Sometimes all you need is somebody to believe in you. Go be that person for someone today.

Fear plays a very interesting role in our lives. Fear can motivate. Fear can stimulate. Fear can paralyze. Fear can cause more fear. Fear can be so scary, in fact, that it needs no face, no object to hide behind. Fear, itself, can be fearful.

Okay, enough of that because I’m fairly certain I just jump-started an aneurysm. What makes fear so interesting is that we choose to allow its impact, good or bad, into our lives. There’s the little boy that sits on the side of the pool with just his legs dangling in while a little girl does a running dive off the high dive board.

So what’s the difference between the two? Is the little girl fearless? Not likely. As the little boy walks up to the edge of the deep, imposing swimming pool, his heart starts pounding. He looks around and sees other kids sitting at the edge of the pool–they’re probably scared too. So he decides to stick his feet in the water and cautiously see how it feels. Meanwhile, the little girl walks up toward the tall, imposing ladder leading to the high dive. Her heart is pounding, but she doesn’t care. She looks around and is sad for her friends that are afraid to jump in the water–it’s so much fun! So she hurriedly climbs the ladder and races down the diving board, jumping off head first into the pool below!

It’s not about avoiding fear or being fearless. It’s human to experience fear. Fear will happen. You will get scared. The unknown will surprise you. It’s about recognizing fear for what it is, a learning opportunity, and moving forward regardless of how uncertain the path ahead appears.

Manage your fear or it will most certainly manage you.

Typically when launching a new business, the starting point is built around how we will be profitable. We may have an idea, product or service in mind, but we are certainly also contemplating how much money we’ll make as a result. As we should be.

Rather than beginning with profit in mind, my challenge to myself and the world is this: first come up with an idea that can help the world, something positive you can put out there whether it’s on a small scale or massive, and then try to monetize it.

If we slowly begin thinking this way, think about how this would change things. Rather than your traditional P&L, we would begin to measure the unmeasurables such as employee morale, happiness, job satisfaction, creativity, ingenuity, giving back to the community, eco-friendly initiatives and so on. Trust would begin to become part of business again. Employees would once again care. People would develop loyalty to stores/brands. Maybe a salesperson would be called a helper or guidance assistant. Who knows, people may even begin having fun at work once more. (Gasp!) The list goes on.

Capitalism with a conscience, looking for mutually beneficial businesses/business models, is the next step in the world’s evolution. As taught in the classic book, “How to Win Friends And Influence People” by Dale Carnegie (which I strongly suggest you read if you haven’t already), look for a “both/and” solution. Typically we allow ourselves to be confined within an “either/or” box. In this instance, we can both make profit and do be a part of something good in the process.

So that’s the new starting point. Now go change the world.

As Gen X’ers begin to enter their 40s, a slow awakening is occuring. Generation X is unfulfilled, sold a bill of (unintentional) lies by their parents. It turns out when you chase money rather than follow your passion, that’s a pretty hollow existence. Better yet, Generation Y refuses to even play the game.

The Corporate America business model certainly has it’s share of flaws, but the most damaging mistake of all is this: the only metric by which it measures success is profit. Money. Pleasing the shareholders/CEO. That’s all that counts. Everything else is an afterthought (including you).

Human beings are complex. When you stop and think about it, we’re pretty amazing creatures. Although it has taken us some time, we’ve evolved from living in caves to standing on the moon. Its safe to say that we weren’t born to sit in a cubicle for 8-12 hours a day. Monday isn’t supposed to look exactly the same as Tuesday, which isn’t supposed to look exactly the same as Wednesday, and so on. Today’s normal is abnormal.

So the lie that has invaded the mind of society is this: you aren’t meant to be an employee. You are capable of greatness. You have something unique within that you’re meant to share with the world. You are here to pursue your own dreams, whatever they may be. So if you’ve had that nagging feeling for some time that something just isn’t quite right in your professional life, take a look at the picture above. The answer has been there all along. You may have just had your eyes closed.

I recently attended a meeting at a locally owned coffee shop (I always try to support the little guy). While waiting for my partner to arrive, I noticed a father and his young son approach the yogurt bar. The dad said, “Grab one of those cups and get what you want” and then walked off to the restroom. Following dad’s instructions, the boy filled up his yogurt cup and waited for dad to return.

Upon the father’s return, he noticed how full his son’s yogurt cup was and immediately (and publicly) screamed at him. “Why did you fill that so full?! That’s going to cost me over $10 dollars!” His son’s face turned red and he dropped his head in shame and embarrassment. They quickly paid and abruptly left the building, dad still scolding his son on the way out.

So what lessons did dad teach his son in this scenario?

• Be afraid of making mistakes
• Conform
• Blindly follow orders
• Don’t think for yourself
• A distrust/dislike for authority
• This is how to parent/manage others (by far the worst takeaway because it perpetuates the entire cycle)

Dad failed to communicate an expectation, yet became upset with his son for not meeting his expectation. I see many parents/managers use this method, which is ineffective at best and damaging at worst.

When managing behaviors, it is critically important to set expectations on the front end. The father in our story could have just as easily said, “Hey son, I’m going to run to the restroom. Go ahead and grab one of those yogurt cups and just make sure not to fill it over the top so it doesn’t cost us too much.” Same situation, entirely different outcome. But most importantly, the lesson learned is empowering rather than stifling.