DSEF & CBBB: Does Your Business Plan Have ADD?

DSEF & CBBB: Does Your Business Plan Have ADD?

By Lance Trebesch

In a recent podcast, Daniel Ek, the CEO of Spotify, was asked if he feels that he is a visionary or a genius. He demurred, replying, “Absolutely not. For me it’s all about execution.”

I completely agree with this twenty-seven year old millionaire.Execution is everything. It doesn’t matter how many great ideas an individual, team, or company comes up with. Until you implement one, you haven’t made any progress. Execution is what builds lasting success, and splitting your business’s energy among too many outcomes can hinder your ability to execute good ideas and achieve your goals.

Planning: Fragmentation versus Integration

Many organizations go through an elaborate planning processes. While their goals may be strategic, their process is lengthy and involved. If your method is overly time consuming, it takes away from more important work. More problematic, reliance on the idea generation phase of planning frequently results in a fragmented outcome. Whether you measure the results of your planning process in goals, objectives, or KPIs, if you’re trying to achieve too many outcomes, your business starts to suffer from Attention Deficit Disorder.

It’s tough to achieve your desired execution when your attention is split in a million directions.

Your Top Three Goals

One of the keys to execution is focus. You may want to achieve a hundred different things, but most of us find it impossible to focus if we’re intent on more than four all-important goals. In fact, four may be too many. I would suggest erring on the side of success: choose your top three goals and be uncompromising in your pursuit of excellence in these areas. A relentless focus makes a positive outcome all the more likely.

At TicketPrinting.com, we’ve found success by choosing three goals on which to focus:

Customer satisfaction
Revenue
Products (improving existing base or adding new ones)

It may not seem like a lot on paper, but executing these three goals is our focus, and we devote one hundred percent of our efforts into their integration. It’s become our formula for success, and it’s become the hallmark of our company. Every year we add or improve hundreds of products. Every day we work to improve customer satisfaction. And every moment, we seek to increase our revenue. For us, a focus on executing these three goals is the key to prosperity.

What are your 3 goals?

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4 Tips to Improve Your Business Marketing

4 Tips to Improve Your Business Marketing

Marketing for your small business requires a good deal of creativity, especially if you want to avoid wasting precious dollars on things that don’t work for you. No matter what type of marketing you choose for your business, there are some key concepts to keep in mind. For example, focus on what your customers want and how you can help them, and work on marketing yourself instead of your product or service. With these things in mind, the following suggestions can help you improve your overall marketing strategy.

Leverage your strengths. Many small business owners make the mistake of apologizing for what they don’t provide or services they don’t offer. Instead of doing this, emphasize what you can do for your customers by demonstrating the strengths of your business. For example, a mobile pet groomer does not service cats at all. Instead of drawing attention to this, she focuses only on marketing her business to owners of dogs only. Any literature she distributes refers to her business as a dog groomer, not a pet groomer. She emphasizes this so effectively that most people don’t even think to ask her if she services cats at all. In the rare instances that they do, however, she still responds by reminding clients that she grooms dogs of all breeds and sizes. Her ability to highlight her strengths and use them to attract the right customers makes her marketing efforts much more effective.
Look at your competitors’ weaknesses. Gather some marketing materials (flyers, newspaper ads, emails, social networking sites, etc.) from your competitors. Look at them from a customer’s point of view and decide what their weaknesses are. You might get a beautifully designed email in your inbox complete with hyperlinks to their website, scannable coupons that save you the hassle of having to print them out to use them, and a brief but memorable description of the services provided. The only problem is that some similar version of this flyer gets delivered to your inbox at least once a week. After the first couple of weeks, you know what you’re going to find, so you start deleting it as soon as you get it. The flyer itself is not the weakness here, but the frequency and lack of variation of the email. Learn from these types of mistakes and avoid them in your marketing plan.
Incorporate trends that make sense for your business. This requires some industry research, but can prove quite beneficial for your marketing efforts in the long run. Find out what others in your field are doing, and if possible, incorporate it into your business. Back to our mobile dog groomer, she has researched other local groomers and has found that they offer incentives for customers who are located within a 5-mile radius of her home base, have more than one dog to be groomed, and who use her services multiple times in a 6-month period. All of these perks make sense to incorporate since they are starting to become a standard in the industry, and they will help her stay competitive. It would be a good idea to point out these incentives in her marketing efforts as well.
Brainstorm with your community and customers. Feedback from your customers is a valuable tool that you should be using on a consistent basis. In addition to asking about how satisfied they are with your services, pick their brains about what kind of marketing gets their attention. It can sometimes be difficult to see something from a customer’s point of view when you’ve been so focused on your role as business owner. Strike up conversations within your community to gain a new perspective; your customers will appreciate your interest in their opinions.

Emphasizing your strengths, downplaying your weaknesses, and industry research can improve your marketing and help prevent you from wasting money and time on methods that don’t work.

How have you improved your marketing? Share your ideas below!

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The Power of the Success Mindset

The Power of the Success Mindset

As a small business owner, you work hard. But sometimes it seems that no matter how much effort you put in, your business is not growing in the direction you might hope. So you work even harder, but don’t get the results you’re seeking.

Have you ever stopped and asked yourself why?

It’s because the act of simply doing things isn’t enough to grow a business.

So what else is missing? What does it take to build a successful, thriving business (without killing yourself in the process)?

It’s about mindset.

You see, it’s very easy to be busy all day. To be a “reactionary” business owner that responds to each situation as it comes. But that’s not what successful business owners do. Instead, they are very intentional about setting each day’s agenda so that it corresponds with their goals. It’s not that they don’t deal with things that come up. But they choose the tasks and the direction most in line with their goals. Without taking the time to do this, you will never grow in the direction that you hope to.

So where do you start?

Fortunately, we at the DSEF have produced a free downloadable workbook that will help you with this process. Simply complete each of the activities in the workbook to focus your business efforts in the right direction. This is an essential activity for every business owner.

This workbook will guide you through the following steps:

Defining your why
Tuning out negativity and committing to positive self-talk
Making a plan
Building in accountability
Using visualizations
Making a plan for when you fall
Focusing on excellence instead of perfection

By printing out this workbook and completing each of the activities, you will find that you are much more intentional about each of the business activities you choose, and will find that your business grows in the direction you desire.

Download the workbook for yourself from our Facebook Page, and share it with your business associates and loved ones. It’s an incredible gift you can share. Here’s a link you can share with your friends, so they can get their copy too: http://bit.ly/dsefebook2

How do you create a mindset for success for your business? We’d love to read your thoughts in the comments below!

p.s. This is just one of the many free business resources we at the DSEF provide, no strings attached! We are committed to helping entrepreneurs with the resources they need to build strong, ethical businesses. It’s one of the cornerstones of our non-profit Foundation, so we hope you’ll enjoy this free resource, and check our Facebook Page daily for even more free resources and tips. Here’s to your success!

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Overcoming Your Doubts

Overcoming Your Doubts

It is natural to have doubts when taking on a major endeavor, such as starting and operating your own business. However, if you just ignore your doubts, you could be sabotaging your own efforts by letting them impede your progress. Here are some ways to face your fears head on and get rid of any doubts you have about your potential for success.

Establish an advisory group. Gather a group of like-minded people to share ideas and cheer each other on. An advisory group can be made up of fellow business owners, industry experts, or anyone that may be able to contribute to the group’s common interests. There is usually someone who takes charge of the group (sets a meeting schedule, creates an agenda, initiates tasks and long-term projects, etc.), but the environment should be informal enough that each member feels comfortable enough to participate in every way. Being a part of such a group allows you to gain a fresh perspective and can even boost your self-confidence.
Get a mentor. Mentors provide more personalized guidance, so finding one can prove to be quite valuable. Choose someone who can commit to regular meetings, has relevant experience, is successful in the field, and commands your respect. Take full advantage of the mentor relationship by outlining your desired results, preparing well for meetings, and initiating projects that will help you in your business.
Step away and clear your head. Many times we get so overwhelmed with a challenging problem that it can seem impossible to solve. Instead of banging your head against the wall, take a break from it and allow yourself some time to clear your head. Maybe you need to leave your workspace for a quick walk outside taking in the fresh air, or perhaps if you sleep on it you’ll be more equipped to deal with it in the morning. Giving your body and mind time away from a problem is sometimes the best way to solve it.
Do more research. Perhaps you’re wrestling with a difficult decision or aren’t sure where to go next in order to complete a project. You may need to research the topic in more depth. Consider looking to alternate resources not normally used. For example, most of us do the bulk of our research on the internet. We look at business articles, blogs, company websites, consumer reviews, etc. In addition to this, include in your research face-to-face interviews and professional development seminars. It’s even a good idea to browse the business section of the local bookstore. Sometimes having a hard copy of useful materials to flip through can give you some new ideas.
Calculate your risks and create a plan. Much of our doubt normally comes from our fear of failure. Carefully weigh your decision by calculating your risks. Come up with the worst case scenario and figure out how you would need to handle it. Do you have the knowledge and resources to deal with a major setback? Risk management and thorough planning can prevent you from making poor decisions and remove doubt that stands in your way.

Relying on your strengths and looking to others for help can take you a long way in your quest to overcome doubt. What strategies do you have for overcoming your doubts? Please share your ideas below!

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What You Need to Grow a Business

What You Need to Grow a Business

Congratulations! You’ve done something significant: you’ve launched a business and are maintaining a certain degree of success. Since the initial startup period has long since passed, it may be time to start thinking about how to take your business to the next level. You might think that doing so may take just as much “blood, sweat, and tears” as starting up your business from scratch, but there are simple things you can do right away to grow your business and continue achieving your goals.

Prepare financially and be ready to grow. Expanding your business will most likely require some sort of financial investment, such as a new marketing plan or travel costs for attending conventions and networking events. It is just as important now that you plan for these added costs as it was when you started the business. Are you prepared to see a slow return on your investment? Will investing this money take away from other key elements of your business? Once you’ve prepared yourself financially, make sure you are in the right mindset. Business growth will likely put more demands on your time. How will that impact your existing customers and your family? Only you can answer those questions, so make sure you are okay with the answers before you take the leap into business growth.
Think big and outside the box. One of the most successful entrepreneurs of our time, Donald Trump, wrote that “as long as you are going to be thinking anyway, think big.” Why put limits on what you can accomplish? You may not achieve every single dream, but selling yourself short before you even begin only keeps you where you are. Look for ways to grow your business that have large-scale impact. Be creative and try coming up with something original. You can always dial it back later.
Increase marketing. Growth cannot happen without some level of increased marketing. Assess your current marketing plan by figuring out what specifically is working and what is not. Eliminate the weak points and expand on the strong ones. If there is an untapped customer base or a marketing method you haven’t tried yet, give it a shot. You won’t be able to grow without adding to your bottom line, and that can’t be done without attracting more customers. Research what options will give you the greatest return on your investment and proceed full steam ahead.
Diversify and expand your team. Your team should consist of people whose strengths complement yours and each other’s. When looking to add to your team or staff, seek out different types of people. For example, you’ll want people who are strong face-to-face sellers, others who have a head for numbers and projections, and still others who are creative and contribute originality. A team that can pool their strengths and work together toward a common goal has the potential to be unstoppable.
Listen to customers. Ask them for their feedback about a variety of topics, including what new products they’d like to see, how service can be improved, what made them come to you as opposed to a competitor, etc. Customer loyalty has a huge impact on the success of your business, so it makes sense to pick their brains about how you can improve and grow. They will also appreciate your interest in their opinions.

Your business growth potential is limited only by your imagination. Use your available resources, your own expertise, and feedback from your customers to begin a plan for expansion.

What else do you think should be added to our list? Please share your ideas in the comments section below!

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How to Compete Effectively

How to Compete Effectively

Handling your competition as a small business owner can sometimes seem like an uphill battle. It is important to educate yourself in regards to who your competition is, what they are offering, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. You cannot control how your competitors run their businesses, but you can control how you run yours, and having a full understanding of your competitive landscape can help. The following is a list of strategies to use in your quest to compete effectively in your industry.

Help clients see you as a friend. If clients see you as a friend instead of just a business, they are more likely to be loyal to you. In order to do this, put their needs ahead of your own. If a customer is looking for something that you are unable to offer, be honest about it and even go so far as to recommend where they might find it. Clients will appreciate your honesty and that you didn’t waste their time trying to talk them into something they probably don’t need. Because you have demonstrated that you are sincere in your desire to satisfy their needs, they will likely come to trust your professional opinion and will return to your business again and again.
Use social media for word of mouth. The potential for exposure via social media makes it an extremely valuable tool of which you should be taking advantage. Creating a social media presence will cost little to no money, but it does require an investment of time. It isn’t necessary to tackle everything at once, however. Try your hand at social networking sites like Facebook or Pinterest, start a blog, comment on others’ blogs, create a YouTube channel, or reinvent your website. Decide which avenue will most effectively spread the word about your business and focus on that. Social media is this generation’s word of mouth, so be sure you are taking full advantage of its benefits.
Create partnerships. Creating partnerships with other business owners means less competition for you. For example, a local cupcake shop is having a hard time competing with the new frozen yogurt bar that has just opened up down the street. Health conscious shoppers are now shunning the high-calorie cupcakes for a refreshing treat that is easier on the waistline. The owner of the cupcake shop forges a partnership with the yogurt bar to bring in some fresh baked cupcakes in healthier varieties (gluten-free, low-fat, etc.) to create a yogurt sundae section. The cupcake shop gets a percentage of the sales, the yogurt shop is reaching a wider customer base, and they both get to cross-promote each other’s goods. Seek out other businesses who have similar interests and you can cut down on your competition.
Implement incentives for referrals. Referrals are often the lifeblood of small business. Consider offering your customers unique incentives to motivate them to give you more referrals. This can be anything from a tiered reward system to a one-time discount or VIP customer membership. Show your appreciation for their referrals in a way that will make them want to bring you more. Also, by creating incentives, you avoid the often uncomfortable method of flat-out asking your customers for referrals. You can introduce the program and incorporate the “asking part” into your presentation.

Staying ahead of the competition is a necessary part of small business ownership. How do you compete effectively? Please share your ideas below!

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DSEF & CBBB: Is Your Business Plan Fractured? Focus and Execution are Key

DSEF & CBBB: Is Your Business Plan Fractured? Focus and Execution are Key

By Lance Trebesch
In a recent podcast, Daniel Ek, the CEO of Spotify, was asked if he feels that he is a visionary or a genius. He demurred, replying, “Absolutely not. For me it’s all about execution.”

I completely agree with this 27-year-old millionaire. Execution is everything. It doesn’t matter how many great ideas an individual, team, or company comes up with. Until you implement, you haven’t made any progress. Execution is what builds lasting success. Splitting your business’s energy among too many outcomes can hinder your ability to execute good ideas and achieve your goals.

Planning: Fragmentation versus Integration

Many organizations go through an elaborate planning process. But if your method is overly time-consuming, it takes away from more important work. More problematic, relying on the idea generation phase of planning frequently results in fragmented outcomes. When you try to achieve too many outcomes, your business starts to suffer.

It’s tough to execute your desire when your attention is split in a million directions.

Your Top Three Goals

One of the keys to execution is focus. You may want to achieve a hundred different things, but most of us find it impossible to focus on more than four all-important goals. In fact, four may be too many. I would suggest erring on the side of success: Choose your top three and pursue excellence uncompromisingly in these areas. A relentless focus makes a positive outcome all the more likely.

At www.TicketPrinting.com, we’ve found success by choosing three goals on which to focus:

· Customer satisfaction

· Revenue

· Products (improving our existing base or adding new ones)

It may not seem like a lot on paper, but accomplishing these three goals is our focus, and we devote one hundred percent of our efforts to their integration. It’s become our formula for success, and the hallmark of our company. Every year we add or improve hundreds of products. Every day we work to improve customer satisfaction. And every moment, we seek to increase our revenue. For us, a focus on executing these three goals is the key to prosperity.

What are your 3 goals?

Free e-book “Business Owner’s Road Map to Success.” It has over 50 pages of techniques for everything a small business owner needs to master, from business planning and ethical selling to a success mindset. It’s all there and it’s free for you. To get it, just “Like” our Facebook Page here: http://on.fb.me/KsIN6P Pass it on!

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How To Build a Long Term Business

How To Build a Long Term Business

When you start a business, you hope that it will grow, and ultimately succeed. If you don’t start out with the right mindset and the commitment to work your business for the long haul, however, you may be setting yourself up for failure.

Here are some suggestions to help you build your business for long term success.

Create personal relationships with your clients. Building relationships in business does not differ that much from those that exist in your personal life. Personal relationships grow out of having something in common, along with a sense of mutual trust, respect, and support. All of these elements are also required in your professional relationships. Ask your clients about their interests and find some common ground, such as a devotion to the same baseball team or a love for the performing arts. Once your clients can relate to you, a relationship can grow. With that connection, you become more than the owner of a business they frequent, and they become more than just another customer. The result: a loyal client who is likely to recommend you to others.
Ask for feedback and use it to improve. You should make it a habit to ask for feedback from your customers, employees, mentors, etc. This can be done in a variety of ways, especially when seeking out feedback from customers. Depending on the type of business, you can create an online or paper survey, speak to them face-to-face, or incorporate it into a courtesy call. After collecting their opinions, reflect upon your findings and use the information to improve. For example, when following up with a customer regarding a recent order, you ask her what she thought about how you handled the sale. The customer’s response is mostly positive, but she does state that she found the online ordering portion of your website difficult to navigate. It might be wise to ask other customers if they had the same issues. If so, take the time to update the site and make the ordering process faster and more convenient. Asking for feedback is not always easy, but it can be an effective way to build your business for the long term.
Build value that exceeds what customers pay for. You may or may not have much flexibility in terms of product pricing. What you can control, however, is the value of a product. Show customers how it will solve a problem, how versatile it can be, and what services they will get by patronizing your business. Customers are usually willing to pay a little more for something when the experience of it all exceeds anything they would get elsewhere. What do you have to offer that your competitors don’t? The answer to that question will help you build value into your products and services, as well as setting up your business to prosper for a long time.
Do what you are passionate about. You’ll never last in a business doing something you don’t care about. Owning a business takes creative vision, time, and a multitude of other skills to make it flourish. What will drive you to continue if you don’t enjoy what you do? Look deep into yourself when deciding what kind of business to build. Perhaps you’ve always had a flair for cooking and are passionate about eating cleanly and naturally. If that is something that you’ve made a part of your daily life, it would no doubt make for a potentially successful business idea. Our passions motivate us to succeed, so choose something that you love doing.

What else would you include in your recipe for a successful long term business? Please share your ideas below!

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Making a Road Map to Your Goals

Making a Road Map to Your Goals

Goal setting is a crucial part of realizing your personal and professional dreams. However, it isn’t enough to create these goals mentally; you must write them down. The act of writing down your goals gets the process off to a head start and gives your brain its own set of instructions. The more specific your goal is and the more details you provide, the more successful you will be at achieving it.

Here are some suggestions for mapping out your path to achieving your goals.

Give yourself time each week to clarify your goals. It isn’t enough to just write down your goals and bury the list away. Frequent review and adjustment of your goals should be considered a requirement of achieving the goals themselves. Spend an average of 10-12 minutes a day revisiting your goal list and making necessary adjustments to it. For example, say your list of goals includes revamping your website, seeking out more referrals, and creating a new marketing plan. By revisiting this list each week, you can assess your progress. You may realize that you have spent most of your time on your marketing plan, but have completely neglected the other goals. This time each week can also be spent adding specifics to each goal, like due dates and relevant numbers.
Spend enough time on weekly goals. If you set goals that you want to be met by the end of the week, you should be spending at least 50% of your time doing what it takes to achieve them by Friday. So if you put in an 8-hour workday, then an average of four hours per day should be set aside for weekly goals. Keep this in mind when setting your goals for the week. Will you be able to invest that much time? What do you have going on this week that might prevent you from accomplishing your goals? Set your goals high, but be realistic about what is required of you to meet a weekly objective. Always set yourself up for success.
Build relationships with people who can help you achieve. Win/win relationships are those that benefit each person. For example, as the owner of a hair salon, you may form a relationship with the boutique owner down the street. During prom season, you could cross-promote services and exchange referrals. A relationship like this provides benefits for both parties and helps to achieve sales and marketing goals. Make win/win relationship building a priority when you create your road map.
Embrace the good and drop the bad. We all make New Year’s resolutions, but many of us fail to stick with them throughout the year because we don’t commit to making those resolutions a regular part of our lives. When setting your long-term goals, focus on forming 3 good habits and breaking 3 bad habits a year. You may decide that you want your customer service follow-up to become habitual, rather than sporadic and on an as-needed basis. You may have sabotaged your past efforts because you tend to procrastinate, so commit to dropping that bad habit as well. When making your goal list, consider what you will do to make a desired behavior habitual and an undesired one a thing of the past.

Developing a road map to your goals provides you with a clear path and increases your chance of success. How do you map out your goals? Please share your ideas in the comments below!

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Achieve What You Want

Achieve What You Want

“Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve.” This quote by the founder of Mary Kay Inc. and one of the most successful female entrepreneurs of all time, Mary Kay Ash, speaks volumes about the importance of mindset in business.

Everyone has weaknesses, but if you believe in your ability to overcome them, you will be able to achieve what you want and realize the potential of your business. Here are some suggestions for helping you succeed.

Visualize accomplishment. The power of the mind is often underestimated. While you’re lying in bed at night waiting to fall asleep, picture yourself carrying out a task and achieving the desired result. If it’s an important sales call or networking, have both sides of the ideal conversation in your mind. Regardless of the job at hand, visualizing yourself doing it successfully prepares your mind for success and builds the confidence you need to achieve it. Doing this repeatedly maximizes its effect, so continue doing it when you are in the waiting room at the doctor’s office, en route to work, or any other situation where you have a little downtime.
Practice! Actors don’t perform a play on stage for an audience on the first day they receive their roles and their scripts. They rehearse for weeks or months and work out any kinks in the production that prevent it from running as smoothly as possible. The same principle should apply to your business. Go beyond visualizing and rehearse that important sales call or networking. The more prepared you are, the more polished you will be, and the more competent you will appear to the other party. No one wants to do business with a person who doesn’t seem sure of themselves. Put in the time to practice your “role” to give yourself the best chance of success.
Implement a plan to overcome interruptions and offer ready solutions. Now that you have visualized success and have rehearsed your part, develop a plan of action for when things don’t go as planned because they rarely do. How will you respond to a customer’s doubt in your product? What will you say if someone has heard something negative about your company? If you have a plan in place to field objections and rejection, you will be less likely to have to think on your feet and risk saying something detrimental or giving the wrong impression. It’s impossible to be prepared for every possible scenario, but use your own expertise and outside resources to anticipate common objections and negative responses.
Assess results and make adjustments. Once you have completed the task, reflect upon how it went. Did you achieve the results you were hoping for? If the answer is yes, then pinpoint what you did right and how that helped you achieve. If the answer is no, identify where it went wrong and develop a solution to the problem. Use your results, both positive and negative, to make adjustments where necessary and continually increase your chance of success in achieving what you want.

By putting yourself in the right mindset and using your own expertise as well as outside resources, you are giving yourself the best possible chance of success. What else do you think should be added to this list? Please add your ideas to the comments section below!

All posts tagged direct selling

DSEF & CBBB: Does Your Business Plan Have ADD?

DSEF & CBBB: Does Your Business Plan Have ADD?

The Power of the Success Mindset

The Power of the Success Mindset

Overcoming Your Doubts

Overcoming Your Doubts

What You Need to Grow a Business

What You Need to Grow a Business

How to Compete Effectively

How to Compete Effectively

DSEF & CBBB: Is Your Business Plan Fractured? Focus and Execution are Key

DSEF & CBBB: Is Your Business Plan Fractured? Focus and Execution are Key

How To Build a Long Term Business

How To Build a Long Term Business

Achieve What You Want

Achieve What You Want

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