You’d probably be hard-pressed to find a business owner that set out to have a “mediocre” or “marginally successful” business. Even so, the prospect of trying to create that amazing business we all strive for may seem daunting, or downright impossible.

Transformation, One Step at a Time

A – Accentuate Your Strengths

This applies not only to selecting your niche, but also to the manner in which you approach your business. Focusing your efforts on a market in which you are both well-versed and interested will play a large role in your eventual success. Your natural enthusiasm for the subject matter will reflect in your interactions with clients and employees.

M – Maverick Mindset

Entrepreneurs by their very nature possess a maverick mindset – they chart their own course and blaze their own trails toward success. Never willing to accept the status quo, these exceptional achievers often challenge traditional thinking in order to create new and inventive products and solutions. They are the pacesetters and the ones to watch.

A – Attentive

Z – Zero in on Your Best Prospects

I – Intuitive

N – Nurturing

The idea of nurturing your customers is perhaps best illustrated in Go-Givers Sell More, by Bob Burg and John David Mann. The message of the book is that the more you give, the more you have. Despite the fact that it flies in the face of conventional reason, it works.

G – Galvanizing

Lessons from Childhood…

This is part 2 of a two-part post about what makes a “real” small business owner and how trying to live up to messages given to us by others may not actually support our best performances and leave us feeling overwhelmed and indequate. This post focuses on the strategies to support getting comfortable with your way of leading and managing your SME.

In the first part of this post, I talked about how learning to play the bass guitar has parallels to developing one’s identity as a small business owner. I trained as a musician for most of my life so I knew that learning to play an instrument would include hard work, repetition, and the  inevitability of sounding really awful some days. And like the messages we receive about what makes a “real” business owner, there are loads of messages about what a “real” bass player sounds like. Most forums focus on the virtuosity of bass players like GeddyLee (Rush), Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers) or Victor Wooten (bass playing genius). While they are definitely inspiring, it’s also good to take a look at another style, more like Adam Clayton’s (U2) style where he complements the other voices in his band with bass lines that add texture or harmony to the whole song. Now, I’m not saying that the others don’t do this. They certainly do! What I am saying is that it is easy to get caught up in messages that tell you that you must play your instrument in one particular way without consideration as to whether this even fits your style and your intent.

Defining one’s style as a business owner is essential. It is about developing the part of your identity that you call “business owner.” When you try to fit into a mould of another’s making, it can leave you feeling scattered. You’re not really one thing or another. It can even create a cognitive dissonance that feels quite painful! Like a novice bass player studying scales and basic harmonic and rhythmic patterns, get clear about what is basic for you and your organisation.

Consider these questions as a way to practice the scales and harmonic or rhythmic patterns of your business:

• What is the basic purpose of your business? Re-commit to the reason you founded your business. Often our businesses evolve as they maure and we modify the original reason. Re-dedicate yourself to the revamped purpose.
• How about your business model? Service providers are wondering if  they must augment their offerings with products while product-based organisations are wondering if they must add consulting or coaching services. What is your experience? Analyse your metrics to see if your business model needs any tinkering or if it is humming along nicely.
• What role do you really have as business owner? It may be time to step out of being the number one technical expert and develop the skills to be CEO-like. And yet, you may be stronger as the technical expert and it’s time to hire or promote someone who is more talented at operations or leadership.
• What do you need to do to keep the revenues at least stable and at most growing? Review your actual money makers. There are times when we need to let go of a service or a product that doesn’t contribute to our bottom lines. Also assess if it is time to let go of  new ideas and return to your basic offering.
• How do you want to handle your mistakes? Most of the mistakes you make do not destroy your business. It’s easy to imagine that catastrophes lurk in the background but they aren’t as frequent as we imagine. After you’ve acknowledged your emotions, ask yourself what you can learn from the situation. As a colleague often reminds me, “make new mistakes.”

Becoming the “real” business owner you want to be is about tuning out any messages that trigger a scattered feeling. Listen to who inspires you as you build the business you want. There is no right or wrong. Yes, there are lots of messages about what is “real.” But, who is to say what is the “real thing? That’s why there are different styles of playing bass. Maybe you’re a business owner who is adept at  a down and dirty sound that just grabs your customers in the gut and they form a tribe. You might be more 50’s style rock and roll and your customers appreciate the conservative nature of your firm. The bottom line? Define your style as a business owner and “make your own kind of music.”

What do you “sound” like as a small business owner?

What questions challenge your identity the most?

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This post is part of the HP SugarTone contest: “Making your business amazing”, sponsored by Hewlett Packard

In spite of the advancement of technology and the expansion from a local to global economy, people still do business with people. So if your goal is to make your business amazing, then your first step is to develop two plans.

The first plan is called your strategic action plan or strategic business plan or just plain business plan. This is an overview of the following key areas within your organization based upon some very intensive research:

• Marketing
• Sales
• Customers (I prefer Customer Experience as this involves both external and internal customers)
• Management/Leadership
• Growth and Innovation
• Financials

Since strategy comes from the Greek meaning for a General to deceive his enemies, then this is your battle plan to out think your competitors while securing necessary benchmarks (goals) such as market penetration, increase sales, build customer loyalty through repeat purchases, etc.

Your second plan and this is the one that 99% of most organizations never considered is a Human Capital or Employment Development Strategy. Here you work on developing your internal customers, your employees, to be the best that they can be.

Effective employee development is truly not that difficult provided you are willing to embrace new ideas and remove yourself from the traditional K-16 experiences where are the foundation for the majority of existing non-effective training and development. Research from organizations such as American Society for Training and Development continue to report that anywhere from 50% to 95% of all dollars invested in training and development do not stick. This failure to deliver sustainable change is why so many executives view human capital as a liability instead of an asset.

There are a plethora of great employment development tools and guess what, they do not cost an arm and a leg. For example, a simple workshop on goal setting and achievement using a proven goal setting worksheet tool along with a proven process is very affordable and beyond that necessary since organizations run by goals. Unfortunately, consistent goal setting and achievement are not taught in the K-16 experience and this is one skill set that cannot be learned through osmosis.

Another employee development tool is positive affirmation statements or what I prefer to call positive belief statements. Due to negative conditioning many people have pre-wired their brains to think what is going to go wrong instead of what is going to go right. By actively reprogramming your own mind, you can change your results. This is the basic premise in the book, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.

A third employee development tool is a talent tool that assesses a person’s attributes, strengths or talents. Most people from my experience truly do not know their strengths and focus far more of their energies on their weaknesses and non-talents. Just imagine if your people knew what they did well. Awareness is the first step to improving any situation. Training and development tip: A talent assessment should not be confused with a personality assessment. There are two different instruments.

To make your business amazing does require you to be ahead of the flow. And this may mean you may need to find mentors, colleagues, business round tables, mastermind groups or even hire a business coach or executive consultant. Remember, people buy from people they know and trust. Therefore beyond the strategic goal driven well research action plan, effective employee development is the next action to truly be the Red Jacket in a sea of gray suits.

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This post is part of the HP SugarTone contest: “Making your business amazing”, sponsored by Hewlett Packard

It’s a week of firsts, children across the world beginning their first day at school, someone nearby starting their new job, another starting a new business.

I watch the social networks fill up with the trepidation of parents sending their little ones to the big world of primary or secondary school, and it reminded me of a client I have who is about to start a business. Like many others, they think they are alone, almost to the extent that they are in fact the only ones venturing into the scary world of paying their own taxes and owning up to their failures, mistakes and successes.

However, there is a certain quietness out there, beyond the madness of the noise in our heads as we endeavour to jump-start our new business. That quietness is also full of noise and busy-ness. What only the experienced business owner will realise is that even though starting a business is daunting, there are people out there who are watching, minding, and wishing us well. They are throwing us tit-bits of information and help, enough for us to catch on to, but not obvious hand-outs.

“To background voices, calling from a distance,
Silent partners, listen to the hush Silent partners, you know they don’t say nothing at all”
~ Pat Benatar (The Silent Partners)

These silent partners read our blog-posts, read our tweets, provide clicks and unique visits to our websites, or in the case of back-links. They talk about our businesses to their friends and families, or indeed at networking events.

We often think of the real helpers as banks, enterprise boards, mentors, coaches, and they are always in our sights as we drive our new business out of the safety of our dreams into broad daylight.

If you are starting a business, or in the process of expanding, think of the silent partners helping you quietly propel your business and your confidence to the next level.

Felix Dennis, author of “How to get rich” talks of the Sharks (investors, hedge-fund managers etc), the lesser deadly dolphins (venture capitalists) and then there are the fish (seed capitalists). The fish are the people who are close to us, and support us no matter what. These are the quiet swimmers who provide the network, the confidence and the unconditional “love” that we so desperately need as a start-up. They will help nurture our business without the demands of the dolphins or the blood hungry threats of the sharks.

Seek out your shoal, swim with the fish, and tap into the resources that are on offer for your new business. But most of all, remember the most important person in your new business – YOU! You are the goose that lays the golden eggs. Protect your eggs, but look after the goose.

Have you any stories to share that helped you when you were beginning? Please share them below, and then go vote for this post on Bizsugar!

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I do!  It’s the cry of more and more people regardless of their age – entrepreneurship is a growing trend – yet there is more to being a successful entrepreneur than being self-employed as anyone who has ever tried to build a business will know only too well.  Becoming an entrepreneur is not the “easy option” and most certainly is not for the faint-hearted.

Business success stories are never without challenges – and regardless of your motives that set you off on your business journey – the vision of success and the excitement of the BIG IDEA – have to be underpinned by some rock-solid talent for business planning, the rigour of self-discipline and reliability, and the tenacity of a Rottweiler to keep you on track when the going gets tough.

At the heart of every successful outcome is a cluster of personal traits that put the BOOM! into entrepreneurship.

Absolute Passion – for life, work, people, products, for planning ahead and goal-setting, and for getting the best possible results.  Driven enthusiasm lies at the heart of your motivation to be in business.  Passion and leadership are natural partners.  Others follow where passion leads.

A can-do attitude – positive in approach, full of self-belief, realistic in appraisal, brave in taking action.  You will see and seek opportunities for success more readily than other people.

Total honesty – with yourself, with others and with the ability to see the reality of every situation.  You will know your weaknesses as well as your strengths and will recognise when you need to ask for help.

Rather like a three-legged stool, these three qualities work together and support one another.  Take one away and the other qualities will start to lose their strength and stability.

You can run a business without these traits, you have some entrepreneurial success too; but if you are passionate in approach, can maintain a “can-do” attitude no matter what the circumstance; and have  the capacity to see the absolute truth in matters, then you are more likely to have the drive and ambition required to be exceptionally successful.

The Passion Factor

Passion goes hand in hand with energy.  One fuels the other.  Together they are the motivators that if focussed, with a clear purpose, can deliver exceptional results. Why do you need a passion in business? It’s the driving force which pushes you to go the “extra-mile” – for your customers, for your team – to work hard to get things right….  When it is directed in a positive way, it becomes an alchemic force that can turn a group of individuals into a focused team and transform a vague idea into something of brilliance.  It is “different”, it has an “edge”, it raises the bar for the competition; and it is excellent either in quality or delivery.  People with a passion for their business are exciting to be around, they bring people together and they can be a force for change.

It is vitally important to keep the passion alive and psychologists describe two kinds of motivation – internal motivation and external motivation.  Internal describes you innate desire to do something for the sheer enjoyment of the task.  External describes the promise of a reward – such as money or status.  I believe that you can only feel passionate about what you do if the internal and external motivators are balanced.  This is all very well but you may be thinking – if you haven’t got it, how can you get it?  If you have misplaced it, how can you get it back?  My experience has shown me that people tend to lose their drive when they lose their sense of purpose, when they are not getting the results they envisioned; when company growth has stalled or gone backwards.  Business passion needs to be directed towards a point of focus in order to deliver.  Effective organisation, clear objectives and measured outcomes will result in:

Belief – in yourself, your product, your purpose and your potential

Validation – from the market, from mentors and from your colleagues

Results – driven by planning ahead, setting goals, hard work and monitoring results

So to be an entrepreneur – with the WOW factor – requires huge amounts of dedication and hard work and I suggest that at the start of your “entrepreneurial” journey, you consider exactly what “success” means to you along with all of your expectations.  Add in a time factor against each of the expectations and of course be realistic!  You will need to refer to these “success criteria” throughout your journey – particularly when the going gets tough, which it inevitably will!

As we learn, change, and deepen our identity of “business owner”, we get advice and messages about what we’re supposed to do. From the moment we start our business to the time we exit it, there are messages about what makes a “real” business owner. This two-part post talk about how trying to live these messages undermines our peformance and can contribute to feeling overwhelmed or inadequate as well as strategies to gain clarity and spend your energy on the activities that will create the business you really want.

When I decided to learn how to play the bass guitar, I also discovered there are lots of opinions about what a “real” bass player sounds like. There are some people who believe that you aren’t a real bass player unless you have the virtuosity of Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers) or Geddy Lee (Rush). They do have incredible chops and how they play the bass amazes me! But what about someone with a different style, say Adam Clayton (U2)? He has a gift for playing bass lines that fill out a song so it sounds complete. He also has some riffs that remind you that the bass is not simply that low sound in the background. The inspiring part of these bass players is they understand when their instrument is grounding a song harmonically and when it is part of the melodic tapestry.

Reminds me of how easy it is for business owners to get sidetracked by what a “real” business owner is supposed to do. We’re given all sorts of messages about how to be perfect leaders and managers. For example, in one day, I saw an advice column that said that business owners should be dictators and another article about the new book by Tony Hsieh (Zappos.com CEO) which focused on happiness. How many gurus do you hear telling you to add products to your service-based business or services to your product-based business? It’s enough to make your brain hurt!

When a small business owner is unclear about what is most true for him or her, it is easy to get scattered. All priorities become number one and we try to do too much without clear business planning.  Fertile ground for procrastination! (There is a great meta-study by Piers Steel of the University of Calgary. He discovered that feeling overwhelmed by responsibilities and tasks is one of the major cause s of why we put things off.) The continuous messages about what makes a “real” business owner combined with all of the usual responsibilities  adds to the lack of focus and information overload.

Some of the common bad messages we receive:

• You’re supposed to work 50+ hours per week.
• You must be an innovative leader in your industry.
• Failure is not allowed
• All doubt is bad
• You must be engaged in all social networking sites
• You have to know everything

This list could go on and on. There are times when we reach our limits and say, what have I gotten myself into? If you’re finding your head is spinning, you’re not alone. Getting scattered can happen to anyone.  There is a client I work with who is generally very self-disciplined and focused.  And yet, she expresses feeling scattered and daunted by the prospect of hiring additional staff. So she has put off completing tasks that will lay the foundation for the next stage of her business. Her challenge? Decide whether or not to believe the message that failure is not allowed. We’re not even talking about a full-fledged, going-out-of-business failure. For her, it’s adjusting her management style and changing her in-person availability to the firm’s clients. To her, somehow not being on the job twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week is a failure.

Like the novice bass player finding her own personal sound, business owners have to find which messages are complete nonsense and what is truly special about themselves so they can create the business they want.

How do you describe a “real” business owner?

What messages do you believe are complete rubbish?

What do you want from market research? Ideally confirmation – of your expectations for the future development of your business.

More often than not, this is what happens. Your instinct and market knowledge has served you well: the segment does hold potential, their business idea is competitive, and the market value is significant.

Sometimes however, this isn’t the case. Here’s an example of where it all went wrong, and when the ugly truth was revealed.

The story so far

Company X was expanding its existing business to the UK market. Management had estimated ten thousand units as their market size, and all were strong potential sales for them. They built a sales and marketing strategy, and were beginning to action these, when a stakeholder recommended formal market research.

Problems revealed

We carried out a thorough market research and analysis exercise. Our conclusions when reporting back to the client were (in a nutshell):

• Market size figures were significantly overestimated: your market size is no more than two thousand five hundred (just 25% of the original estimate of ten thousand).
• Yes there is demand for your product in the UK marketplace: customers have expressed a strong interest in it
• Pricing must be keen, as the economic recession has focused customers on looking for the most cost effective services.

Quick thinking and innovation

While the bad news about their market size estimates was indeed that – very bad news – the company re-adjusted its plans accordingly. The initial shock and dismay quickly turned to positive thinking about how close they’d come to a really bad decision.

This company took on board the realities that market research revealed, and acted quickly. They were nimble and innovative enough to get back to basics, create an alternative business model for their company and change direction.

So what seemed like a disaster when they read our research quickly turned into a new opportunity. And what could have been a disaster was averted through research.

What do you expect from market research? Have you ever started a business with unrealistic expectations of your market or are you an effective market research user?

Nutrition is often top of the list for a healthy mind and body. Don’t forget that if you run a business, it is also organic, growing, and in need of nutrition. Check to see if your business is getting its “5-a-Day”:

Authenticity – Be yourself

If you are anybody else as you are pitching for contracts, selling your wares, communicating a message, or asking to be paid, then you are not yourself! The only person that has control over how you portray yourself and your business is you. Originality, authenticity, individuality is the one thing that can separate you from your competitors, so why try and BE like someone else, or another business? The business world doesn’t need a clone of companies to choose from, they need that something special that only the business owner can provide.

It’s difficult to decide who you are and what you represent as you launch your business, so give it time, let it develop and reflect you and the other people that drive the company. Your Business Plan can be helpful in defining what is your USP (unique selling point) and how you will drive the business forward.

Information – Be informed

The ostrich didn’t learn much as he suffocated in the sand. He was also blind to what was happening above ground. It’s bliss to be ignorant but that is not taking responsibility for the success of your business. It’s effectively “passing the buck” so that if things don’t work out, it can be blamed on external factors, and of course “not my fault”. We see a lot of businesses folding because of the “recession”, however, a percentage of these fold because their owners expect them to. They don’t diversify, change their outlook to suit the environment, and are mis-informed about the realities of downturns.

They have already decided their business has no chance, and it’s difficult to turn around a decision like that, so the business ultimately folds. I am generalising here, and not all business owners buy into the limited decisions that go with trends. So what type are you? Are you keeping up to date with reality, and keeping yourself and your business informed so you can make educated decisions on how to move your business forward?

Support – Ask for Help

Apparently the most difficult thing for business owners to do, is ask for help, assistance or support. Often, by the time they do, it is too late. Is pride worth all that hard work spent building a business? When you recognise that you need help of some kind, go out and seek it, before you decide you have to “do it all by yourself”.

Is it worth trading your business for your ego?

Empowerment – Support Others

So you are successful. You have worked hard and the business is doing well. You have kept sight of where you want to go, and nourished your business. You have used resources and help when required and are now reaping the benefits. Just as it is important to seek help, it is equally important you give back, thus empowering another business owner, which will significantly empower you further.

There are always others in a position you were yesterday, last week or last year. You always have knowledge and experience useful to others. Share it and watch others grow like you did. It’s rewarding, and gives you the opportunity to “give back” to the business community.

“What comes around goes around”

Honesty – Don’t Lie

A white lie leads to another. It takes much effort to support a “tale”. So stop before you start. Never offer services you know you cannot provide. There is a saying “under promise and over deliver”. I would suggest if you decide to go with this win/win concept, don’t do it to the extreme. However, it can be used to increase confidence in your clients if they know you can go that extra mile (but not a marathon).

And just like any close relationship, you need time away from your business. Make sure you recharge the batteries with a well-earned break.

Did you start the new year with bright shiny plans and a Can-Do Attitude? Everywhere you look are references to how the outlook is poor or changing at an obscenely slow pace. It’s enough to consider putting your head under a pillow and see if things will get better without you.

They won’t… so let’s try a different approach

We’re not talking about half-baked, “everything will be all right” optimism. It’s really about resiliency, a deeper form of optimism. Resiliency is an amazing trait that successful small business owners have in their psyche. It is the faith in yourself that you can cope with adversity successfully.

“I can see clearly now, the rain is gone. I can see all obstacles in my way”

Sure things aren’t all bright and shiny right now in the business community. Seems like they are more like that moment after a terrible storm when things are calm again, the clouds are lifting away, and  you can see the aftermath. In this moment of quiet, you know you can handle it. You’ve got the tools and the skills. You made it through the storm and you can make it through the clean up as well. This is resiliency.

So what really makes us resilient? Some of the factors named by the American Psychological Association in their article,

The Road To Resilience, actually sound like typical strategies we use in our small businesses all the time:

• The capacity to make realistic plans and take steps to carry them out
• A positive view of yourself and confidence in your strengths and abilities
• Skills in communicating and problem solving
• The capacity to manage strong feelings and impulses*

“Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind. It’s going to be a bright, bright sunshiny day”

When we’re in crisis or the crisis is swirling around us, it’s not easy to know the best course of action. Do you hunker down and wait? Do you continue with your original plans? People around us have opinions and feelings that buffet us. There are the people who say the sky is falling. There are others who say stay the course and keep a stiff upper lip. There are others who say adjustments must be made but everything will be all right. There comes a moment in resiliency when it doesn’t even matter if the crisis is still happening or not. This moment has a serenity when you know what you must do. You’re sure the sun will come back again eventually.

“I think I can make it now, the pain is gone, all of the bad feelings have disappeared…”

That asterisk after “the capacity to manage strong feelings and impulses” is an important one. Often we resist our crises and refuse to pay attention to our emotions. We figure if we stay busy going day to day, it will all go away magically. Emotions are often tied to expectations. Before the crisis, we expected things to carry on forever. When this doesn’t happen, we are actually experiencing a loss. Some of what eats away at our resilence are feelings of grief. Couple this with sense of insecurity, even the most confident person will have doubts and fears. Talking to a trusted friend or mentor removes the emotional charge that keeps us from thinking clearly. (Clients tell me that writing down everything that is in their heads in a journal or on a piece of paper can serve the same purpose.) When you acknowledge what you’re feeling, it clears the way to cope effectively.

“…It’s going to be bright, bright sunshiny day”

No crisis goes away overnight. Like I wrote in the beginning, this is not about some half-baked “everything will be all right” kind of thinking. Resiliency is a choice to manage yourself and your business positively. Acknowledge that things are bad or at least not ideal for you. Now make a plan that reflects how you want to build a thriving small business. You’re not alone and you’ve got the power of resiliency to weather anything.

How are you resilient?

What steps are you taking to keep yourself sane and your business thriving?

Recently on #kaizenblog (a hashtag Twitter chat), we were talking about how knowing your core competencies can improve your business messaging. As with any conversation about communication, people started discussing the art of  listening. That’s when Eric Tsai (@designdamage) shared some advice from his mentor, “My mentor’s best advice when engaging in conversation: W.A.I.T. Why Am I Talking?”

Conversations are supposed to be two-way events. Business owners are in conversations with customers, peers, prospects, vendors, employees and many other people every day. Who were you talking with today? Sometimes we get sidetracked by accident. A person could be tired or distracted and just not have the capacity to stop. Other times people fall in love with their ideas, the sound of their voices, or just not have the

social skills to focus beyond themselves. There are even times when we are so nervous that we get carried away and keep talking.

Reconnecting your brain to your mouth

We know that our brains can get disconnected from our mouths. Sometimes emotions hijack us (anger and anxiety are the most common culprits) and we stop thinking clearly. It happens. Maybe it’s not the way we really want to conduct ourselves and yes, active listening skills are important. However, there is one piece here that may help you reconnect your brain to your mouth even before you find yourself babbling away.

Take time to W.A.I.T.

What would happpen if we entered conversations with an intent? This is where our emotional intelligence serves us.

• Know why you are in the conversation-Take time ahead of the conversation to identify the purpose of the conversation. Identify who you are talking to and your agenda for having the conversation.
• Identify the triggers that derail your usual good communication skills. Sometimes it can be simply the time of day. Some of us are morning people while others are more alert later in the day. If you are entering a high pressure situation, use relaxation techniques or other healthy coping mechanisms to keep your emotions in check so you don’t cloud your message.

What will your business gain by using W.A.I.T.?

Perhaps the biggest gain is a business leader who is a calm and collected communicator who listens. Remember people love to be acknowledged. If you remember something they said to you, they will feel like you really saw them as a person. Listening skillfully also means we can tailor our products or services to suit our customer or know when they are not a good fit. When we stop talking, we are able to pick up information that will make our businesses stronger.

When do you use W.A.I.T?

What other tips do you have that make using W.A.I.T. more powerful?