May 18 2012

Is money the most important resource in growing a business?

Randy Joy @ 11:00 am

 

Money is not the most important resource in running your business.  Money allows you latitude to make mistakes until you figure out the right path.  The longer you stay in business, the more likely you are to move toward your vision.

The most important resource is wisdom.  That is a team of people guiding you away from lingering business issues and mistakes.  This team includes your employees, partners, investors,  mentors, and professionals.  Being open to advice is key to fast growth.

I was told by one of my investor colleagues of an incredibly quick-study entrepreneuer who was shopping around for funding.  At one point, he met a would-be investor and made his pitch.   The investor declined, saying that the business was not ready to be funded for five reasons.  The investor also gave the golden nugget advice of how to solve each one of those five issues.

A year later, the man had a meeting with the same investor.  The investor was curious why, this quickly, he was being pitched agian.  The entrepreneur shocked the investor by saying that in the past year he performed every solution the investor recommended.  On the spot, the investor agreed  to substantially fund the entrepreneur.

An open entrepreneur willing to learn and grow is rare.  The single most important resource you have is your willingness to acquire wisdom to grow exponentially.

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Category: Business Consultant,Business Planning,Strategic Planning

Apr 24 2012

Trackwork to Success

The Editor @ 9:06 am

 

I remember sitting in heated traffic 10 years ago while the AirTran at Kennedy Airport was being started, where what was being built was one tall supporting pillar at a time. Train riding along that expanse of space – it seemed that would never happen.  Many years later, I had the opportunity to ride the train for the first time.  Ever so smooth and fast…with the agony, cost, and time spent all forgotten.  Those who didn’t witness the construction assume these tracks have been around at all times and cannot imagine what life had been like before those pillars, the tracks and eventually the train got put into place.

The same thing happens when building a great company.

Many years of putting down a new foundation can be agony, cost and time, but will reap benefits.  Keep your eye on the prize at the end.
 
Here is how:
1.  Focus on the end vision
2. Read the vision weekly
3. Ensure all decisions and money spent are aligned with the vision
4. See each roadblock as an opportunity to leap closer to your vision
5. Look for opportunities to move things forward
6. Learn new ways to tunnel faster to your vision
 
Don’t get bogged down with how hard today’s work is — rather, look forward to the success destination.

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Category: Business Planning

Mar 28 2012

How to Create Excellence in your Business

Randy Joy @ 9:49 am

In an article about Tiger Woods featured in The Wall Street Journal, the author of a new book about this great golfer wrote  ”the constant need to improve and achieve is in his lifeblood.”  That is Tiger Woods’ secret to excellence, the need to improve.

To prepare for a great game Mr. Woods is known to rehearse his swing for 4 1/2 hours in front of a mirror.  This commitment to excellence by preparing for a great game is similar to myself preparing for a big speech or prepping a client for a major company change.  It can be the same for you, as CEO, preparing and rehearsing how your business will improve and expand.

Every misstep or failure is an opportunity for Tiger Woods to learn and improve.  Each swing that didn’t get the ball to where he wanted it is revised and new swing motions put into place.

In your business, every setback should have you heading to put new “swing” motions into place.

When excellence is concerned, the constant urge to improve is the key to success.

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Category: Business Planning,Leadership,Optimizing Operations,Strategic Planning

Mar 15 2012

The Result of Change

Randy Joy @ 10:00 am

This weekend the handle on my big white deep freezer fell off.  Actually, it was falling off for a while like a child’s tooth just waiting to rip off from its base.  Then finally the handle fell off completely and instead of being disappointed for the change, I actually smiled.  Once I cleaned up the area it looked so much better without the handle.  The handle’s purpose wasn’t there anymore for a long while,  but I had ignored it and left it dangling uselessly.  Now it was gone, and so much the better, for if it didn’t serve a purpose.

The same is true in your business.  At times things change and you end up not dealing with it.  You have that employee who isn’t pulling his or her weight.  Then comes the final change, the employee quits.   You might  smile and marvel out how that miraculous event cleaned up a mess faster than you would have dealt with it.

And then, I questioned myself.  Why didn’t I remove the handle before it finally fell off with clang?  Or, better yet, try to secure it in place before it was so completely disattached from the freezer body?

There are leaders who lead and constantly bring on change and as they grow some employees do not grow with there companies.  There are also some leaders that constantly brace themselves and try not to change because it feels too risky.  Like me, they see the dangling handle and look the other way.  They feel it is too hard to fire people, and so they leave hanging ends all over the place.

I prefer to seek out change and steer my own company because then I choose the long term destination.  The next time you notice something that is not aligned or secured properly to your company vision, deal with it right away.  If it can be fixed, so much the better.  And, if not, no need to have loose ends waiting to unravel on its own.  Deal with it right away.

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Category: Business Planning,Leadership

Mar 13 2012

Is your company a Speedboat or a Sailboat?

Randy Joy @ 10:30 am

 

As a business consultant I wonder what type of boat I would compare a great business too – a sailboat or a speedboat?

I would prefer a sailboat.  It does not run out of fuel.  It  requires much more wit and planning.  A sailboat also does not have motor parts that wear out, engines that need to be overhauled, or parts that need to be replaced.  A sailboat can cross the Atlantic Ocean just by natural winds.  Sure the speedboat looks cool, speeding through the waves.  Yet, it must dock quite soon to get refueled and will never be able to plow through ocean storms.

As a business owner having a self propelling business that you streer is ideal.  This looks like a constantly cash flow positive business with minimal overhead that can live on for years.  With a strong leader guiding the sails and the beams obeying your every direction.

Is this what your business looks like?

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Category: Business Consultant,Leadership,Strategic Planning

Feb 28 2012

To Repair or Permanently Fix?

Randy Joy @ 10:00 am

 

In the streets of Manhattan the construction workers seal the holes of the asphalt continuously.  See a hole, fill it.  See a hole, fill it.  Just like an entrepreneur who sees a hole in the market and fills it repeatly towards growth.  With growth, seeing the hole and filling it is fine.

However, when it comes to patching up things like roads, the scoop up some tar and put it in the pothole approach is not always advisable.  For at times, structural damage will ensure that the pothole keeps lurking an open pit and swallowing patch after patch to no avail.  At times, it is important for the road to be torn up and redesigned to ensure a smooth ride.

As a business consultant there are times to perform short term repairs on company issues and times to stop and think what the root issue is and permanently solve it.  Knowing the difference is key to the health of your business.

At times, you must engage in strategic planning to ensure the road to success is without gaping holes.

 

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Category: Business Consultant,Optimizing Operations,Strategic Planning

Feb 27 2012

Why Billy Crystal Was Chosen to Host the Oscars

The Editor @ 12:08 pm

There is a reason why Billy Crystal got chosen, yet again, to host the Oscars.  It is because he knows how to speak to everyone and keep his patter relevant.

Even as the crowd teemed with ostentation, Billy gave a shout-out to everyone that he gets the anguish of the stagnant economy.  Billy has the power to captivate audiences young and old, rich and poor, and make them feel included.  And just in case the younger 24 and younger set would not relate to Billy Crystal, the Oscars had Justin Bieber, he of teen fan fame, join in.

As the leader of your company communicating to everyone is essential to empower and motivate the team. Think about all the generations that might need to hear your busines message — whether it is Generation Y or the Baby Boomers.  Steve Jobs, the grand marketer, was able to captivate everyone including the techies, businessmen and teenagers.

Learn from the Oscars.  Make sure to engage all audiences with your marketing message.

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Category: Optimizing Operations,Strategic Planning

Feb 17 2012

The Dance Sequence of Leadership

Randy Joy @ 1:00 pm

 

Business leaders take your cue from fashion models.  Lead, then step back and let someone step forward.  The natural flow of movement is one of stepping back to allow steps forward, and stepping forward when those we lead step back.

 

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Category: Business Planning

Feb 15 2012

Building Your Brand — What Names are Connected With It?

The Editor @ 1:45 pm

You know those signs on the “Ye Olde Inn” facilities, the one that says “George Washington slept here”?  Or “General Patton drank here”.  And so on and so forth.  That marketing tool of name recognition, connecting your brand with the right people, is not just for cloying historic places.  It is relevant for many industries and businesses.

Today I visited Fashion Week, where such is standard modus operandi.  Fashion designers and jewelry companies ensure their pieces are seen on the right model or actress.  They make sure the right celebrities are there in their line of fashion.  It creates that buzz for their brand.

In medicine, it is also true.  There are the “in” doctors, the ones who celebrities use for their sculpting, which catapult their trajectory of popularity with the masses.

As you plan your marketing campaign, don’t overlook connecting your brand with the right people.  Figure out how to work in a few influential people into your marketing mix.

For an in-depth understanding of what creates trends and popularity for a brand, I recommend you pick up a copy of The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell.

Are the right people spotted using your products and services?

 

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Category: Cash Flow Maximization,Optimizing Operations,Strategic Planning

Feb 14 2012

Ramp Up Business – Corporate Expansions

The Editor @ 12:05 pm

In a tunnel under the border of France and Switzerland, protons are being smashed head on in a huge contraption called the Large Hadron Collider.  The point of the operation is to find the origins of creation, the Higgs Boson which, according to the theories of physicists, is the stuff from which all is built.

You can imagine the planning that went into building the Collider, the protocol put into place to ensure safety (after all, collision of the atom gave us Hiroshima!).  And now, it has been reported that more careful planning is leading to the ramping up of operations.  BBC today reported that now the scientists will  “increase the energies of the bunches of subatomic particles called protons that it smashes together.”  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17025708.

The ramp up will be a 14% increase, making a sum total “collision energy of 8 trillion electron volts.”

You planned for your business, created your business vision, the operations manual, all the protocol.  You are in business already, but you want to ramp it up a few notches.  What do you do?  Many business owners believe you just ramp up the energy.  However, many case studies will point out that just ramping up operations without solid planning can cause a business to fold.

Just as physicists must ramp up the pace in their Collider, a business owner must do careful, prudent planning before going for an expansion.

Your business plan has to be overhauled and updated.  New job descriptions and protocol must be drafted, employees trained and policies and procedures put into place that will encompass all the added responsibilities and activities.

Answer these questions before ramping up operations:  what resources will you need to increase operations, what additional staff and consultants, how will added workflow impact current successful outcomes and how do you keep your current success in place, even as you expand.

Explode profits, without imploding your business.

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Category: Business Consultant,Optimizing Operations,Strategic Planning
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