Business Leader Success Articles

You Can't Solve Everything Yourself

2009-11-05T14:00:00.001Z

Is the current economic recession getting on top of you?

Are you having money worries in your business?

Are you finding it hard to think of anything else?

Then you need to talk to somebody about it. You could talk to a trusted colleague or friend, you could talk to a family member or you could talk to a business counsellor.

Don’t let yourself get more and more stressed worrying about the whole situation, by talking to a business counsellor you can get it all out in the open and it will make you feel a lot better to be able to discuss it.

A business counsellor will be unbiased and will have the expertise to be able to discuss everything, giving you the right advice where necessary.

But the essential aspect of talking to a business counsellor is that they will ask you all the relevant questions to establish exactly what your individual situation is currently.

They will listen carefully to all that you have to say to them, without interruption and without any judgement on the actions that you have taken.

And they will tell you what your options are and what you can do to try to resolve your current business situation.

Once you have had a conversation with a business counsellor, you will have all the facts in front of you and you will be able to make the right decisions for your business.

As part of the discussion with the business counsellor, you will create an action plan to bring your business to recovery and determine the best way forward for your business in the future.

After talking with a business counsellor, you will feel a lot lighter and will feel as if a great load has been taken off of your shoulders.

In all situations talking can only help to solve the problems that we sometimes find ourselves having to deal with in business.

Understandably your mind is in turmoil because of the amount of stress and tension of trying to solve everything yourself and the difficulty that you are finding in solving anything at all.

So, talk to a business counsellor soon and then you can stop worrying so much.

List Your Top Ten Problems

2009-11-04T14:00:00.001Z

Business leaders have to deal with problems in their businesses every day, they call them challenges or obstacles, that are stopping them from being able to obtain a more successful business.

But, whatever they call them they are still problems that have to be solved as quickly as possible, so that they can turn their focus back to running their businesses smoothly.

As a business coach, when I meet with business leaders in the privacy of their own companies, one of the first things I will ask them is to list their top ten problems that they have with their business.

By writing the top ten problems, that you have, as a list on a whiteboard it is visible for you to see and discuss.

Then prioritize this list of problems, by which is the most important for your business to be solved, by which is the least cost to solve, or by which is the most resources needed to solve and by which are the most needed to be solved problems to give your business more success.

After that take the number one priority problem and drill down to the cause of the problem, not the symptoms, until you identify what is needed to solve it.

The rest of the problems in the list are treated in the same way, until you have discussed and analysed each problem in priority order.

Then look at the cost and resource implications for each one of the problem solutions and again, prioritize the problems, depending on the level of cost and resource that is involved in solving the problem.

Lastly make an action plan of which problem solutions can and will be implemented within your business, again in a prioritized order.

By prioritizing the problems like this, you will finish up with an easily manageable action plan, which you can immediately start to implement within your business.

Make each problem solution a specific project that can be implemented within your business that either you, as the business leader, or one of your management team can lead.

Make the decision on the cost expenditure, allocate the resources and delegate the responsibility, then watch each of the problems being solved.

Yes, there are challenges and obstacles that you will encounter in business, but they soon melt away when you prioritize the problems.

Follow This Principle For Business Success

2009-11-03T14:00:00.001Z

Successful business leaders have a principle that guides them in all that they do. That principle is that whatever may be the circumstances they will always give nothing but their best in the business interactions that they undertake.

This means nothing but the best for their customers, not just sometimes but every time without fail. In how they greet their customers and all the way through to how they provide customer service.

They will do all that is in their power to ensure that the overall customer experience is nothing but the best and one that will continue to delight their customers.

When it comes to employing the people needed within their businesses they will choose nothing but the best and most talented people.

And they will expect nothing but the best in terms of the hard work and professionalism from their employees.

The suppliers that those business leaders will choose to work with also must meet the most stringent requirements, which are nothing but the best.

The products must be designed, developed and produced to nothing but the best standards and regulations.

The services that they are offering must be nothing but the best and far superior compared to the service offerings of their competition.

The criterion that is set for those business leaders in the expectations for profitability by their investors is also nothing but the best.

With those successful business leaders it never enters their minds that they should find ways to cut corners in what they do in their businesses.

So, for all of the aspiring business leaders out there who are wishing to climb the ladder of success, ask yourselves this searching question:

Do you give nothing but your best in all your business interactions?

If, you find in any part, you don’t, well then you are only hurting your own business and stopping it and yourself from being really much more successful.

From now on, make it your guiding principle as a business leader to accept nothing but the best from everyone around you and most especially from yourself.

Have Faith In Your Actions

2009-10-29T14:00:00.001Z

You want to make a fresh start, to take a different perspective on your business life and you have a determination to not just survive, but to be even more successful.

Is that the way you are thinking?

Or are you only able to focus your attention on trying to see the light at the end of the tunnel?

Many business leaders are going through exactly the same experiences as you are at the moment, searching for a way to get their business back in order and to regain a sense of stability.

The only way to make that happen is for you, like them, to have a clear plan of action and a really positive attitude to the approach that you are going to take to implement it.

But before you can envision your plan of action, you need to set firmly in your mind precisely what the goal is that you want to achieve for your business.

That will require you to look into the future and decide where you wish your business to be and what it is you need to do to get there.

This will mean looking beyond the light at the end of the tunnel and for you to take a long term view of how you want your business to proceed.

Once you have done this, then you can clearly define the steps that will be required for you to be able to reach your business goal.

This will form the main backbone of your action plan, upon which you can add the necessary details of the things that will need to be done to make each action, or step of your plan happen.

With this action plan in your hands, you will now have something more tangible to focus your attention on and you will then be able to again start to make the solid decisions that your business needs.

Also with this renewed business vitality, your attitude to your business activities will become more positive and your people will have a leader to look up to and respect.

If all that you want for your business is that light at the end of the tunnel, then go ahead and keep looking for it.

But if you are the type of business leader who wants to find an effective way to survive and improve your business success, set your business goal and put in place your clear plan of action today.

Your motivating force will be your desire to succeed, have faith in your actions and be tenacious, never, ever give up; do not believe in failure.

Success Is An Attainable Goal

2009-10-28T14:00:00.001Z

Is your business going slow? Does it feel sometimes as if your business has stagnated?

Do you constantly find yourself wishing for your business to be better and for it to become more successful? Are you feeling that perhaps it needs a boost?

While all businesses experience highs and lows, most businesses, expect to succeed over time. So, why not give your business a kick start, by reviewing your business and implementing the changes that are necessary for increased success.

Business success is not a mystery waiting to be solved. It is very much an attainable goal, which can be achieved by any company continuously focusing on improving all the areas of their businesses.

But, to what extent do you expect to succeed in your business? What are the things that are currently undermining your success?

Within every business challenge, there is an opportunity for a huge breakthrough.

Where is your focus right now in your business, on the challenges or the opportunities? If you can see the opportunities clearly you will open the doors to new solutions and new possibilities for your business.

As a business leader you should understand that, in today’s economy, the windows of opportunity are measured in months, not years. Do not wait for the perfect solution to capture those opportunities. Act quickly to thrive in these highly changing times.

What new projects or opportunities are you delaying in order to achieve perfection? What will accelerate your bias toward action?

Put in place some of the improvements you have wanted to do for your business, that other time consuming distractions have stopped you doing.

Ask your business team what they think most needs to be improved within your business and then implement the ideas that make sense.

Review each change and keep the ones that work well, then try other improvement ideas until you are really satisfied that your business is becoming more successful.

Positive results will build your enthusiasm and you will find yourself becoming more motivated with a feeling of purpose and a renewed excitement for your business.
Make a decision today to kick start your business and get the success results for you and your business that you deserve.

The Real Science of Making Judgements

2009-10-27T14:00:00.001Z

What makes a good business leader? Intelligence and character are, of course, important, as is charisma.

But just as vital is good judgment. It is the essential quality that guides business leaders in knowing what they have to do to bring together and make cohesive organizations, which people to employ and which are the best opportunities to pursue.

The judgement of positioning the organization is making the choice of goods or services, or the market possibilities on which the business will focus. The most difficult one to achieve is the judgement of choosing the right markets or business models.

Sometimes there are signs that will indicate that an organization should reposition itself, such as the rise of new businesses, new customers or new competitors, as well as changes in customer patterns or the sudden emergence of new business or management models.

The real science is to judge when to reposition and when to ignore changes in a business’s operating environment. Business leaders who excel at this skill recognize trends and predict their effects. They can recognize when a change will be for a short time, how some changes may harm their organizations, and what opportunities the really good changes may offer.

Insightful business leaders need effective organizations, and business leaders who have not inherited effective organizations must build them by judging how to get people to work together.

No one person, though, can change an organization on their own, so you will need to judge how to develop a team of leaders who will ensure that the organization runs effectively and aligns itself with the corporate goals.

You will need to judge how every member of the team can master the basics of the business: its markets, market segmentation, customers, and buying behaviours; the nature of the competition; and what drives or inhibits the ability to be successful.

To direct teams effectively, business leaders must set appropriate goals and priorities for them to follow. They must seem totally achievable to the employees and be full of wisdom for your investors. But the goals are only words unless business leaders establish priorities to be able to meet them.

No matter how well a business leader directs an organization; outside forces can disrupt its course. Business leaders who fail to realize this will risk their organizations’ future.

Creating Fresh Growth For Your Business

2009-10-22T14:00:00.002+01:00

You can ask any gardener, farmer or horticulturalist and they will tell you that the only way to stimulate new growth is to cut back or prune.

This will mean in the future that you will have vigorous new growth and that your yield will be vastly increased, creating abundance, which in turn will further increase your monetary returns.

That’s how it works in nature and it is a well recognized way of changing your fortunes and providing a successful outcome.

But to apply exactly the same principle to business would cause totally the reverse situation. Cutting back or pruning your workforce will not in any way stimulate growth.

It would in fact, greatly inhibit the way your business functions and also reduce any opportunities that you may have to fulfil the current needs of your business, let alone any future requirements.

Cutting back your workforce may very well reduce your costs and make your profitability figures look better, but you are in all respects causing an amount of damage to your business that could take years for you to really recover from.

Now is the time to sow the seeds of success, by increasing the number of people that are in your workforce, this will promote immediate fresh growth for your business, because you can now meet all of the current needs and plan for all of the future requirements.

It will also give a strong indication to your marketplace that you are a business that intends to be around for a very long time and it will mean that you will be viewed as a safe company to do business with.

Don’t follow the ways of many other businesses that have automatically thought that the obvious approach to this economic downturn is to just reduce the number of people that they have working for them in order to be able to survive.

Survival in business is not only about the current financial status of you and your company, it is also about the welfare of your employees and the way you treat them will determine the respect that you will receive from your customers.

Be part of the growing movement of business leaders who are trying to reduce the affect of the recession and not be part of the cause of the recession becoming even deeper. Because when that happens your actions would only add to the already bad situation and the next set of people to lose their jobs could be your customers.

So, make the decision now to sow the seeds of success and join many other business leaders who are leading the way to economic recovery.

Is Your Business Life A Bit of a Strain?

2009-10-21T14:00:00.001+01:00

Stress is defined as a mental, emotional, or physical strain or tension.

But what does that mean for the business people that experience stress and what effect does it have on their business lives?

Stress is caused by having anxiety about the things that are happening in your business life. The anxiety may well be because of some financial difficulties, or perhaps it is about a customer relationship that is going wrong and there can be many other things.

If you have to put up with a lot of hassle from business colleagues, then this will create an emotional stress for you.

Stress can become apparent just by being in an environment of nervous tension, where attitudes of other business people sometimes create an atmosphere of uncertainty or insecurity for you.

There are many reasons why you may be finding your business life a bit of a strain, everything you do seems to go wrong, everyone seems to be against you and you feel as if nothing can be done to change it.

When you have to face the pressure caused by other people with their temperament, noise and general chaos it can all leave you with a feeling of stress.

Stress is around us all the time, but it is the way we respond to it that determines if we are to succeed or fail in our business life.

Dealing with and responding to the many challenges that you encounter in your business will cause you to have pressure and stress which may well result in the possibility of you experiencing health problems.

The only effective way to deal with stress is to not let it influence and control your business life. If you can find a distraction that is powerful enough you will be able to re-focus your work activities so that stress becomes less and is finally eliminated from your daily business life.

Being creative may well be the strong distraction that is necessary and it will significantly reduce the stress that you are experiencing; it is the only distraction that is really powerful enough to be able to do this in your business life.

Once you have been distracted by creativity, it becomes your focus and it soon causes a peace and harmony within yourself that the world of business chaos cannot touch and that harmony is your weapon against stress.

With creative things filling your mind, stress can no longer control your business life, you begin to be inspired and you begin to want to really make more things happen in your business.

Once you are truly inspired the ideas will start to flow and the positive adrenalin will begin to motivate you to transform your business life.

The Ability To Embrace Change

2009-10-20T14:00:00.002+01:00

Many businesses are closing and there is a changing face of business in the world market. All businesses are in some way affected by the world economic events.

Successful established companies, have faced over the decades many periods of adversity and those businesses have shown that they have an ability to embrace change, first of all to survive and then to go on to greater success.

All companies who are successful are facing a risk. Success leads to a certain amount of reluctance to change in response to a world which is now changing very rapidly.

Every successful business, small, medium or large, must have both the willingness and the ability to change as the world around them changes.

Customer’s lives have changed a lot, their requirements have changed and customers are now much more knowledgeable.

So, what is necessary to ensure that you and your business are ready for this rapidly changing world?

You need to create a vision for your company of what will be your future business success.

Make sure that you concentrate on what matters most in your business, your customers.

At all times provide a great customer experience everywhere within your business environment.

It should go without saying, but you need to be providing an excellent customer service.

Focus on building profitable customer relationships in all the business transactions that you do.

Always have full confidence in your people, who are in the team working closely behind you.

And continually provide for them your motivation and show them your leadership.

The personal development and training of your people is paramount to ensure that they are always ready to face this fast changing business world.

By investing in your people you will guarantee that your business has the best possible people working for you and the best chance of being successful in this changing economy.

Looking On The Bright Side Of Life

2009-10-16T14:00:00.001+01:00

We had the financial crisis, an economic downturn, a deep recession, which brought job losses, home foreclosures, as well as inflation and the inevitable higher prices.

But everybody seems to be acting as if the total situation is all doom and gloom.

Let us just for a moment look on the bright side of life and see things a little more realistically; what has happened is nothing more than a loss of confidence.

Take a look around you, your neighbour is still the same person, you have not lost confidence in them, your community is still the same and you have not lost confidence in that either.

The politicians are still the same, you have not lost confidence in them, otherwise you would not have voted for them to be elected.

The bank buildings are still the same and so are the people who work in them, what you have lost confidence in is whether your money is safe as an investment.

Fundamentally what has broken down is the system, the society that we all live in and work in everyday is usually a well oiled machine that runs very smoothly.

But what has happened is that the oil has started to be reduced, which means that the machine, which is our society, cannot run as smoothly.

The oil that I am talking about is money. And there is still money in the financial system, not all of it has disappeared.

It is just that the people, who determine how that money is moved about, have lost confidence in each other and have slowed down the whole process.

These people are the ones that are involved in the financial institutions of this world and they talk about liquidity as being the problem, what they are saying, is that the money is not running like oil through the system.

Yes, all of this will have an impact on our lives, but let us put it into perspective, if your car runs out of oil, then it will stop and you cannot use it for a while, but once you put oil back into it again, then it will run smoothly and you can continue your journey.

You don’t get despondent about it and start spreading doom and gloom because of it. Well the journey of life also has its interruptions and you should treat it in the same way.

Its not all doom and gloom, we will be continuing our journey again and it will soon all be forgotten.

Speak Up And Save The Business

2009-10-15T14:00:00.001+01:00

Most of the articles in this section have a focus towards the business leader and the role that they play within their business.

But this article is aimed at communicating a message to the rest of the business team and the main workforce of people that perform all the necessary functions of a business.

Of course, if any business leaders wish to read this article, then that is fine, but please bring it to the attention of all your other employees, so that they can gain the benefit of the message.

Many businesses are going through troubled times at the moment and are trying to find ways that they can be protected from the overall affect of the economic downturn.

As an employee within your business, you have the unique opportunity to observe all of the factors that make up your company’s business, but without any of the pressures that your business leader has to deal with.

So, if you have any suggestions, ideas or different approaches to how the business can be done better in this economic crisis, then speak up now, let your voice be heard.

Don’t be a passenger within your business and just watch everything collapse around you, if there is something that you have thought of that would be a benefit to the survival of the business, tell your business leader and allow them to understand your ideas.

Maybe you have thought about ways of improving, customer service, or customer relationships. Perhaps you have a suggestion of how your company’s business can make significant cost savings.

Whatever your ideas may be and no matter how many suggestions you may make, they will generate an opportunity for discussion within the business that can only be positive and progressive.

Yes, your business leader is responsible for leading and directing the business, but they cannot have all the good ideas, in your position in your relevant function within your business, look around you and find the things that can be improved.

Talk to others and motivate them to do the same, then combine your thoughts and communicate them to your business leader, they will be thankful that you are supporting them in their endeavours to keep the business running.

You may not be the real driver of the business, that is obviously your business leader’s role, but there is no need for you to be a passenger.

New Economy - Different Approach Needed

2009-10-14T14:00:00.001+01:00

Medium to large corporate organisations are finding that they now have to change their approach to business because of the economy and the way that the credit crisis has affected their ability to do business.

All organisations use processes to administer their companies, but now careful analysis of the processes are necessary to determine if they will still be effective in the current environment.

If the structure of your organization is rigid, which will mean that your company could be slow to act, try making it more flexible, which will allow your company to be quick to respond to your customer’s needs.

Think about how you make payment for your people, by performance and measurable value to the company, by surveying your customers and determining their satisfaction with your people, or with a bonus for significantly overachieving.

Should your product portfolio be innovative, which will mean a lot of investment in research, design, development and time to market, or a range of standardised products that are of consistent high quality.

The determination of product pricing could be by the volume that your customers are forecasting to purchase, or by the current turnover of the sales with them.

Competitive information is the oxygen of all serious businesses; this can be done by a dedicated marketing project, or by careful usage of internet research.

Most organisations forget, that the biggest source of information that they have is with the people that are in their own company.

A very important business process is the activity of customer selection, should you determine which customers you select by the industry that they represent, or the potential business that they may do, or maybe by the past spend that they have made.

The choice of your customer relationships is really fundamental to your overall business success, so do you choose, the customer relationships that are built on mutual trust, or the customer relationships that spend a lot with you.

Knowledge is the life blood of your organisation and there are so many sources for the acquisition of knowledge, but it should be accurate and accumulated from trusted sources such as your customers, or from within your own industry.

Knowledge is an intangible product, but if you share it openly with your customers it is seen as a sign of respect and it will give your company the reputation of being an industry expert.

Business process decisions are an integral part of a business and can make a huge difference to the success of any organisation.

Is Your Business Ready For The Recovery?

2009-10-13T14:00:00.001+01:00

The business world is continually changing and in order for a business to maintain its success the goals and objectives of that business need to be reviewed on a regular basis.

With the severity of this current recession the business landscape will change dramatically and your business outlook will require adjusting to align with those dynamics.

Now is the time to completely review your business goals, objectives and action plans, don’t wait until after the recession has ended, because if you create the vision for your business now you will be ahead of your competition.

Consumer confidence, customer relationships, loyalty and trust have all been greatly tested in this global economic downturn and in the future customers will have a different set of expectations and requirements for value and commitment will be high.

When you review your own business think carefully about what sort of affect these changed customer demands could mean for you in the way that you perform your business activities.

You will no longer be able to take for granted the normal approach that your customers have shown in the past. They are now more educated by the events of the credit crisis and more knowledgeable about what they are seeking, which is complete value in all that they purchase.

So in respect of your business does this affect your future goals?

It will in fact affect all businesses and many of them have come to that realization already and are drawing up new goals, objectives and action plans for their businesses to meet this new customer approach.

And they are doing it now because not only do they want to be ahead of the competition, they also know that if they don’t do it now the chances of them surviving in the changed business world after the recession will be very difficult.

Most businesses make plans for five or ten years ahead, but all of those plans will need to be reassessed in the light of the changes to business that have been caused by this global financial instability.

And there is no guarantee anymore that the money that you will require for all the business investments that you had planned will be so readily available.

The setting of new business goals and objectives for after the recession makes good business sense and will ensure your business success.

Think Different In The New Economy

2009-10-12T14:27:00.002+01:00

With the recession causing many businesses to close and for many of the people who worked for those businesses to find themselves without jobs, it would seem a strange thing to say that now is a good time for them to start a new business.

But it is not so strange really, when the economy is low then so is the investment needed to start a new business. And that business can now, because of the advances in technology, be made of brick and mortar or be a virtual business on the internet.

To start a new business you first of all need to make a few decisions as to what type of business you want to be involved in. Take a look around and establish what it is that most people need in this time of economic downturn.

If no one else or at least not many places are offering those products or services, then this could be the business venture that you should really consider starting as your new business.

And that business venture could be run either in rented premises that would mean an initial financial investment, at home, which would mean a very low financial investment, or on the internet at a very low cost.

For some people in this recession, they are in a position where they have lost their job, but they still have financial security. In this case an investment in starting a new brick and mortar business and making the necessary financial acquisition of premises would make good sense.

But for those people who have the get up and go, but not a vast amount of money, their choice would be much more towards the home business or internet business ventures.

A recent global survey showed that by the end of the year 2010 there will be almost fifty percent of the world’s adult population who are working, either from home or on the internet.

So, whether you finally decide on the very historically tradition brick and mortar business or for a business that is part of the world’s future trend, it is now a good time to start a new business.

Those businesses that start afresh in this period of economic recovery will quite possibly find themselves as part of the new upturn in business success that has always followed these times of recession.

Find your niche in the marketplace, offer the products and services that people will value and then start that new business that you have always wanted to have, but your job and lifestyle had before made you hesitate to do.

Work Together To End The Recession

2009-10-08T14:00:00.001+01:00

The only way that this recession is going to end and for there to be a full economic recovery is for there to be a complete noticeable return of the normally high levels of consumer confidence.

It has been the same in all recessions, when there is financial instability and economic uncertainty, the consumer confidence drops dramatically because people realize that they have to spend money more wisely.

But in this recession because of the huge number of global job losses and the highest number of home foreclosures in modern history it has meant that consumer confidence has been badly affected.

All business leaders have a responsibility to do whatever they can to start building consumer confidence, no matter what type of business they may run.

A lot of business leaders seem to have the opinion that the only real consumer confidence that needs to increase is related to retail business activities and that everything else will just follow.

Consumers are customers and every business that has a product or service that it offers to its customers is responsible for ensuring that those customers will be confident that it is money well spent.

What today’s customers are looking for is solid proof that the product or service that they purchase will add value to their lives and not find later that it is poor quality and not providing what they expected.

That holds true in all business transactions whether they are business to customer or business to business.

For the business world to see the quick return of consumer confidence another important factor must not be overlooked, that is the requirement to rebuild the trust in all of the relationships.

It takes a long time to build real trust, but if it is lost it means even more effort is needed to bring it back. In this current recession because of the activities of the financial institutions and large corporate businesses the trust has been severely damaged.

It will come back, as will the confidence but it will take the accumulated endeavours of all business leaders to make sure that it is sustainable.

Recessions may come and go, but nothing really changes in respect of the customer’s needs, which are value, trust and full confidence in all aspects of their business involvements.

So, to all responsible business leaders I say, start building consumer confidence and we will then soon be out of this depressing recession.

The New Value Driven Economy

2009-10-07T14:00:00.001+01:00

With the current state of the economy, people are becoming very careful about the things that they are buying. They are concentrating on trying to reduce their debts and some how survive with much less money than they would normally have expected to have available to them.

Their purchases are based on two very important criteria, is what they are buying a necessity in their everyday lives and if not, what is it about the product or service that provides them with a convincing value as a non essential purchase.

At least for now, gone are the days when people will just buy whatever possible bargain that they might see. And the purchase of any product or service, no matter how well presented and promoted it may be will only pass the buying test if it convinces them of the value that they will receive by purchasing it.

This obviously will mean that all businesses will have to think very hard now about the portfolio of products and services that they are offering and determine if they really do contain sufficient value to justify their customers purchasing them.

It is no longer good enough for business to use the cheaper price tag as a promotion, because even though it may be an item that is at less cost than the competition, it still has to provide that essentially needed value.

Many salespeople will still try to continue their normal approach to their customers by telling them all about the wonderful features that their new products have or the way they have packaged their service to meet their customers requirements.

But those salespeople will have to be ready to answer their customer’s now realistic question, which is, what is in it for me? In other words the customers will be asking for the absolute proof that what they are being asked to purchase has a value that will mean something in their lives.

If the customers cannot be convinced by the salesperson’s words or for that matter any other brochure or literature that may be provided about the product’s or service’s value then there will be no sale.

Value is all about the combination of quality, price, practical usability and usefulness. And in today’s tough times all customers will be asking for all that means value in everything that they purchase.

In the past the businesses that were the most successful were the ones that provided a measurable value to their customers. In this economic recession and the foreseeable future, all of the businesses will have to add value to their offerings in order to be successful.

Knowing Yourself Makes You Smile

2009-10-01T14:00:00.002+01:00

How do you start each day in your business?

Is it with a good feeling for yourself and your business?

And can you maintain that feeling throughout the day?

Successful business leaders feel good about their business. They feel good about their customers. They feel good about their co-workers. They feel good about their suppliers and vendors. They feel good about their business visions. They feel good, in fact, about everything in their business.

They don’t feel that way just because they are successful, it is part of them, whether they are in business or with family and friends, it makes no difference.

Feeling good flows through them as naturally as the blood in their veins or the air in their lungs, it is an inherent part of their being and they are conscious of it in every day.

When you feel good, it shows itself in every customer interaction and in every conversation that you have with your colleagues.

So, how do they get themselves feeling so good?

Anyone can feel good for a short while, usually because of spontaneous humour, or having drinks with friends, or because of something special happening within their families.

But, as a business leader, to be able to prolong that overall good feeling, you have to start to feel really good about yourself, not just about your physical attributes, but deep inside yourself.

You will have to get to know yourself well, to like yourself and all the things that you say and do. Getting to know yourself is about listening to your own words, as well as what others say about you. It is about listening to your instincts and responding accordingly.

Really knowing yourself is also about being frank and honest about yourself, identifying as many of your shortcomings as you can, as well as being realistic and not just proclaiming your strengths.

You will be surprised how good a feeling you get when you do this, you will have a sense of lightness and you will start to make actions for the future of your business, your business life, your business dreams and your business destiny. Now that you really know yourself, you will be able to keep on feeling good and also have a successful business.

When The Men Are Away On Business

2009-09-29T14:00:00.004+01:00

When the men of the family are away on business, what are the activities that the wives and stay at home mothers are getting involved in?

Many very busy business leaders are spending a considerable amount of time on business trips which take them away from their homes and families.

During these times the women that remain at home are trying to find things that will occupy the time while their men are away.

Some of them will get themselves fully involved in the kitchen preparing some wonderful Extra Easy Homemade Recipes which they can offer to their husbands when they return from their business trips.

Others take the opportunity to meet with their friends, drink a cup of coffee and then Visit The Wonderful Modern World of Bags where they enjoy a shopping spree.

Many just sit back and watch some wonderful movies with their families, with the 10 Most Watched Movies On The Planet being an excellent selection.

Some will also take a well deserved relaxing session at the health spa and discover The Secret To A Healthy Body And Mind and find out more about The ‘Key’ To Health And Vitality which will help them with their overall well being and make them feel refreshed for their men’s return.

If the fact that your men are away so often on business is causing for you some anxiety at home, then Women And Family Harmony would be a good choice of reading.

There are many other possible activities that the women who are left at home will be getting involved in and they will, we feel sure use their own imagination as to what they may be.

Whatever it is that you ladies chose to do while your men are away on business make sure that you get the balance right, spending half the time with things that are dedicated only to you and the other half with an attention on others.

Start To Reverse The Trend

2009-09-24T14:00:00.001+01:00

When there is a situation, like the one that we currently face, a recession that has caused so many job loses, the only way to reverse that trend is to create jobs.

Job creation is not just the responsibility of a government, it is also the responsibility of business owners and business leaders.

Yes, the government can help with tax breaks and some other financial incentives, but it is the leaders of business, who will have to make the decisions within their businesses to employ new people and to retain the people they already have.

Running cost cutting programs, which basically means laying people off, just for the purposes of manipulating your profitability figures is not only false accounting, it is also an abuse of the position of responsibility that you have, as a business leader, for your employees welfare.

It really makes no sense to let people go at this crucial time, those are the people you are going to need to help you to increase the success of your business.

Business leaders also have a responsibility to think long term and to make sure that all of the factors that will determine the growth of their businesses are firmly in place.

So, now is the time for you to make the needed investment in the new employees to generate the necessary momentum now, which will create your business growth of the future.

I call upon you as the responsible business leaders that you are to start creating and retaining those jobs now.

True business professionals know exactly what I am talking about, because they have walked this path many times before and have found complete success for their businesses by being respectful and totally loyal to their employees.

So, let us see those leaders of business stand up and be counted, let us watch them being true to their responsibilities by creating and retaining the jobs that will ensure that this economic recession is short lived.

We have already seen enough times, in this economic crisis, political leaders who have been indecisive and who have spent too long before they have taken the actions necessary to turn this situation around.

Leaders of business, do not follow their example, make the decisions today, take the actions immediately, job creation is your responsibility.

The world is watching and waiting to see what you do.

Do You Expect To Succeed

2009-09-22T14:00:00.001+01:00

All of us as business leaders have experienced the highs and lows of being in business, but successful business leaders expect to succeed over the fullness of time.

For such business leaders, failure is not an option.

Do you expect to succeed in your business?

If not, what are the set of circumstances that are currently causing your business not to be successful?

Identify all of those circumstances and then make it a commitment that you are going to eradicate them from your business and fix it firmly in your mind that failure is not an option.

By fixing it firmly in your mind that failure is not an option, you will also be making a statement of commitment to the success of your business.

Have you ever noticed that when failure is not an option for a business leader, when they are really committed, they usually seem to figure out a way to succeed?

So, show how committed you can be as a business leader and figure out a way of making the changes that are needed, because your business is really now depending on you to succeed.

Don’t make excuses for why you can’t do it that is not commitment that is accepting that failure is an option.

Say it aloud, mean it, you are going to remove from your business all of the things that are stopping you and your business from being more successful.

By identifying those things that are stopping your business success, you are already half way there, doing something about them takes you the rest of the way.

Not doing anything does not mean that your business has failed; it just means that you are admitting to yourself that you have failed.

So, make a decision today to succeed and keep it fixed in your mind that failure is not an option.

A Cup of Coffee Will Increase Your Business

2009-09-17T14:00:00.001+01:00

During your business life have you noticed that the majority of the new business ideas or solutions to business problems are the result of a conversation over a cup of coffee?

At the many thousands of business meetings that take place each year there is a lot of discussion, but the real solutions are found during the time that a few individuals have a chat over a cup of coffee.

It is the same at the conferences, conventions and seminars that most business people attend, the networking, or generation of new business opportunities, as well as, the many business problems that are solved, are because of the talking in the coffee breaks.

The reason for this is that while drinking a cup of coffee the tendency is to relax and this allows the thought processes to work much more effectively, which means that you are also more receptive to another person’s point of view.

Many business leaders have recognized these facts and have taken steps to make sure that they can use to their advantage these coffee cup conversations.

Within your business as you walk around you must see many times people chatting and drinking coffee, but they are without any direction from you, as their business leader, so they don’t know what the possible outcome of their conversations could be.

You should not waste another moment, give them direction and if you are not already taking advantage of this opportunity, now is the time to start thinking about it.

Recognition of coffee cup solutions as a natural way of doing business will mean that you can increase the creative thinking and generation of new business ideas.

With a focused approach to the time spent chatting over a cup of coffee you will really enhance your business productivity due to the increased number of solutions that are found to your current business problems.

Make it a policy within your business to have a thirty minute discussion, between the relevant parties, over a cup of coffee each day and increase the productive and creative opportunities that will mean more business success for you.

Your people will appreciate that they are being listened to for their business ideas and will quickly find the right people to help solve the most important business problems that are stopping your business from being more successful.

Nothing Is Going To Stop You

2009-09-15T14:00:00.002+01:00

You wake up, see the sun shining, hear the birds singing and jump out of bed looking for that first cup of coffee.

And then reality dawns on you once again. Your sales are down, your profits are down, you can’t afford to order more stock and you need to decide who you are going to lay off from your business.

You remember back to the time when everything was going good in your business, when you were able to go to the bank and get that loan for the expansion of your business.

In fact you had a clear vision of growing your business and substantially increasing the number of people that worked for you.

As much as you look back and think about such things you know that you have to really focus your thoughts and concentrate on dealing with today’s reality.

You cannot change what has happened; it has affected everyone in very much the same way, so complaining is not going to help anybody. What you need right now is a plan of action that will carry you through this crisis.

Instead of thinking that your business is going to come to an end, you should be thinking in the same way you did when you first set out in your business life.

Then you had to find new customers because you did not have any, you had to do certain things to make those customers get interested in your business.

Well do those same things now, only do them better, because you now have all the experience and knowledge of what worked and what did not work.

The only difference between when you first started out and now is the level of enthusiasm that you had then, so you only need to recapture that level of enthusiasm again.

Being positive, optimistic and enthusiastic will make you feel good and you will soon begin to see things happen within your business.

Dealing with today’s reality in this way will very quickly show you that there is nothing that is going to stop you from being successful and for you to be able to prove to everybody, but most especially yourself, that you are a survivor.

Waking up in the morning with that first cup of coffee will feel great.

Businesses Will Have To Think Harder

2009-09-10T14:00:00.001+01:00

With the current state of the economy, people are becoming very careful about the things that they are buying. They are concentrating on trying to reduce their debts and somehow survive with much less money than they would normally have expected to have available to them.

Their purchases are based on two very important criteria, is what they are buying a necessity in their everyday lives and if not, what is it about the product or service that provides them with a convincing value as a non essential purchase.

At least for now, gone are the days when people will just buy whatever possible bargain that they might see. And the purchase of any product or service, no matter how well presented and promoted it may be will only pass the buying test if it convinces them of the value that they will receive by purchasing it.

This obviously will mean that all businesses will have to think very hard now about the portfolio of products and services that they are offering and determine if they really do contain sufficient value to justify their customers purchasing them.

It is no longer good enough for business to use the cheaper price tag as a promotion, because even though it may be an item that is at less cost than the competition, it still has to provide that essentially needed value.

Many salespeople will still try to continue their normal approach to their customers by telling them all about the wonderful features that their new products have or the way they have packaged their service to meet their customers requirements.

But those salespeople will have to be ready to answer their customer’s now realistic question, which is, what is in it for me? In other words the customers will be asking for the absolute proof that what they are being asked to purchase has a value that will mean something in their lives.

If the customers cannot be convinced by the salesperson’s words or for that matter any other brochure or literature that may be provided about the product’s or service’s value then there will be no sale.

Value is all about the combination of quality, price, practical usability and usefulness. And in today’s tough times all customers will be asking for all that means value in everything that they purchase.

In the past the businesses that were the most successful were the ones that provided a measurable value to their customers. In this economic recession and the foreseeable future, all of the businesses will have to add value to their offerings in order to be successful.

Four Steps To Boost Profits

2009-09-08T14:00:00.001+01:00

One of the most common mistakes companies make when they are trying to boost their profits is to try and get new customers. Typically this behaviour is a reflection of their history. When they were new, they probably had zero or just a few customers. To survive, they had to get more. Getting new customers made sense.

For companies that are out of survival mode, and are instead trying to boost their profitability, acquiring new customers is not the best strategy. Studies by Cap Gemini and Gartner Group have shown that depending on the industry, it costs 3-7 times more money to acquire a new customer than to get an existing customer to make a new purchase.

The best profit boosting opportunities lie in optimising the relationships you have with your existing customers. Here are four simple steps to do just that.

Find and Strengthen Your Pillars

Do you know which five of your customers contribute the most to your bottom line each year? Can you name them off the top of your head? Can all the employees in your company name them? If not, that is a problem to be addressed, and addressed quickly.

Depending on the size of the organisation, a loss of any of the top five customers can range from serious to catastrophic. These clients are the pillars supporting your company. Think of your business as a structure sitting in the middle of shark infested waters. Five pillars are arranged in a circle and your business balances on top of them. What happens if one or two of those pillars shrink. What happens if one of them goes away completely?

Part of the key to optimising profits is securing your pillars. If you look at the amount of time your organisation spends on customer service, and break it down by customer, would you find that your "pillars" are the five customers who get the most service?

Most likely they do not. "Problem" customers usually command the most attention, followed closely by efforts to get new customers. Change that. Focus a proportionate amount of attention to customers based on how critical they are to your business.

Take the resources being applied to the problem customers and focus them on the pillars. Task those people with making your relationship with the pillars so strong, that they will never crumble. Challenge them to find ways to help the pillars be successful. Be a pillar to your pillars.

Inventory Your Offerings

Starting with your pillar customers, take an inventory of all the products and services that you currently provide. Rank them in order of profitability. When all the offerings have been identified, categorise them from one to five. Ones should be the twenty percent of the offerings that are most profitable. Twos will be the next twenty percent, on down to five, which will be those products and services that are in the bottom 20% in terms of profitability.

Now comes the interesting part. Create a grid with clients across the top, and offerings down the left side. Arrange the clients in order of how much they impact your bottom line. The client with the most impact should be the first one, and the least impact client should be the last. For the offerings, which are on the left side of the grid, keep them in order of most profitable to least profitable.

When you have finished creating the grid, go through and for each client put check marks on the products and services you provide for them. This is your profitability map.

Attack the Gaps

Look at your pillars. How are you doing in terms of providing your full suite of offerings to them? Any boxes without checks represent an opportunity for you to solidify your relationship. Start with the offerings that are ranked low and not being used by your pillars, and focus on getting those blanks filled in.

Now look at the rest of your map. Where are the check marks? Where are the gaps? Every gap represents an opportunity to boost your profits. Start with the more profitable clients, and try to fill in all the ones and twos. Educate those customers about the additional products and services you offer. Find out what needs they have and identify ways you can fill them. These efforts will not only strengthen your relationship, but it will also make them more profitable clients for you.

Learn From your "Lovers"

As you are implementing the above step, take another look at your graph. Find the five customers who use the greatest percentage of your products and services. These are the customers who just love what you do. They represent a tremendous learning opportunity.

There is some reason or group of reasons that these customers love you so much. If you can find out those reasons, you can apply that knowledge to the way you interact with the rest of your customers.

Perhaps a particular salesperson has figured out something that is really working. Maybe the account representative or customer service contact is particularly good. Whatever the reason is, you need to know.

Interview those "lovers" and learn from them. If they say it is because of a particular person in your company, interview that person and find out what they do that is working so well.

Within those interviews lies profit boosting information. Gather it and then apply the learning to the way you interact with your other customers. Again, start with the pillars and then work your way across the customer list.

Most organisations acquire customers by filling a single particular need. The key to boosting profits is not to go out and get more of those customers. Find and strengthen your pillars so that your organisation is well supported, inventory your offerings, fill the gaps, and learn from your "lovers".

These four steps are the way, to boost your profits and to ensure business success.

Only As Good As The Chances You Take

2009-08-26T14:00:00.001+01:00

Running a business and being successful, as the business leader, is more about courage than anything else. You have to take calculated risks within your business to increase your opportunities.

If you were to ask any successful business leader how they became successful, they would tell you that it is courage and the realization that you are only as good as the chances you take.

In other words, you have to be ready to take risk sometimes with your business decisions, gamble on the outcome; because business is a game of chance and the more calculated risks that you take the more successful you will be.

It makes you a strong business leader to have the courage to stick to your convictions, even though all the people around you are saying that you are wrong.

As the leader of your business you should have the courage to dismiss the employees that are incompetent and are slowing the successful progress of your business.

A business leader should also have the courage to stand up for what they believe in and without wavering from their committed business agenda.

To have the courage to tell a non-profitable customer, who causes you and your business nothing but problems, that you no longer need their custom in your business.

To have the courage to eliminate a competitor, who is at the bottom of the business ladder, from the marketplace and to acquire their market share.

To have the courage to tell the top management of your company that they are wrong, when what they want to do will really make a significant impact on the success of your business.

And for you as the business leader with the ultimate responsibility in your organization to have the courage to admit that you were wrong and that the mistakes that were made were all yours and not give the blame to someone else.

Having courage does not come easy, but when you start to realize its benefits, you will find even more courage to do even more things to make your business more successful. Your courage should be at the heart of your business.