Archive for People
Building Trust is Key to Business Success
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The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines trust as “assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something”. In the real world, trust means different things to different people but it usually boils down to one thing: trust is critical to your success, both personally and professionally.
Our focus here is trust as a key to business success. It takes many forms during your various interactions with others, but it is always there, just under the surface, influencing and affecting your work and your leadership effectiveness. Building and maintaining trust is crucial because when it is there it helps you, but when it is not, it hurts you.
Trust and your employees
Building trust with your employees means demonstrating every day that they can depend on you. It happens in small ways, like supporting a person’s efforts toward professional development or advocating for your department’s ongoing needs. It also happens in big ways, like maintaining employee confidentiality and communicating honestly about company issues. When there is mutual trust between you and your employees, performance improves.
Trust and your peers
Think about your peers. There are a few that you can always trust, but some that are less reliable. You know who they are; they always have an excuse for missing a deadline, or never quite finish tasks completely or without error. Eventually you learn not to trust what they do or what they say because experience has taught you they are not trustworthy.
Are you one of those people? Be brutally honest with yourself. Chances are you already know if your peers view you as trustworthy or not. If the answer is not, then you must correct that facet of yourself to achieve long-term business success.
Trust and your boss
When your boss has trust in you, chances are your career will flourish as long as your performance remains worthy of that trust. He or she is willing to support you, challenge you, and even mentor you, if you demonstrate trustworthy character and reliability. Building that trust with your boss takes time and consistency. You must fulfill your commitments, perform at high levels, and demonstrate your personal character and integrity.
If your boss does not have trust in you, it will translate into lost career opportunities. Perhaps you’ll be given only a minor role in that great new project, or maybe you will not be selected when someone is needed to fill in temporarily because the boss is out of town. Think about the many ways trust from your boss affects your success and start now to make behavioral changes if necessary.
Trust and your customers
This is extremely important, because trust from your customers translates directly into dollars. How does this happen? Think about your own experiences as a customer when you trust a company to send a crucial part, deliver a package on time, or finish a project on time. If the company fulfills its commitment, you learn to trust them and will go back to them in the future. If the company does not fulfill its commitment, however, your trust in them diminishes and you are less likely to go back to them again.
Think carefully. Do you give your customers reason to trust you?
Summary
Trust is an important part of your success. It occurs in many different ways across your professional life, affecting your business relationships and ultimately your business performance. When you pay attention to building trust, as a critical component of your leadership development, through every interaction you become better equipped to achieve whatever goals you set for yourself.
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Successful Business Building Begins With Solid Footing of Your Business Idea
Posted by: | CommentsMichael Garr posted:
Have you ever wondered how a house is built? It’s really very interesting because building a house successfully to completion is no easy feat. It takes vision, a lot of hard work, good organization, a plan to execute, quality people and a concerted effort to stay on schedule. While some builders make it look very easy, anyone who has ever done it themselves would understand what I’m talking about, right? Any missing ingredient can lead to a headache of epic proportions. Every builder understands the importance of a solid foundation built right from the start. If the foundation is not correct, you will have structural issues following you throughout the project.
As an entrepreneur, you are also a builder. And, a lesson can be learned here.
Mike Keating, a friend of mine who once framed a house for me put it this way and I never forgot these words, “if your foundation is not right it will follow me all the up to the roof”. Mistakes like this are costly but they can be fixed. Adjustments have to be made and sometimes, you have to tear apart what you have already done. It’s not a place you want to go.
Look at your business as if you are building a house and pay particular attention to the foundation of your business as you build it. If you are already into your business and struggling, you may have to look at your foundation and think about what you may have to do to shore it up. As difficult as it may be, sometimes you have to tear apart what you’ve already done and fix it the right way.
VISUALIZING YOUR HOUSE
When I built my house, I had a drawing for the framers to work from but changes in my foundation plan effected all the measurements throughout the house rendering my working drawings nearly useless. I was fortunate because my framer, a designer and a Realtor were helpful with good advice as we quickly corrected the plan. The final design was excellent and helped me sell the house early on. However, I didn’t say the process was easy and it certainly increased my costs to make changes while framers were standing around waiting for someone to tell them what to do. At this point, everyone has an opinion. I would rather have spent a little more time understanding the full scope of the project and thoroughly completing the design before starting the project.
You see, I now realize I started too soon. I was not ready and I did not fully grasp all that I needed to understand how to build this house effectively. I had not properly vetted my entire group of sub contractors including my General Contractor who actually caused many of the problems. Organization was insufficient and I did not have proper measurement and tracking in place to manage the funds being paid out. Your business is not unlike this scenario. Your business starts with a concept but ideas are only that until you are able to articulate exactly what you want from your business and more importantly, what your business can do for others. Write it down then try to convey it back to others to test it before jumping in with both feet. If there is a hole in your theory or concept your friends and colleagues will surely punch right through it. Don’t forget to run it by your spouse or partner because you are already on uncertain footing if they don’t buy into your idea. Moving on around them without agreement? Well, just don’t do it. This is really important.
DON’T BUILD YOUR HOUSE ON A FOUNDATION THAT IS NOT SQUARE
When a foundation is not exactly square, plumb or level the framer will have to make critical adjustments to make it right because all of the cuts for framing will be effected by the foundation it rest on. If they didn’t, the whole house would be out of whack. The walls won’t be square and cabinets won’t fit right. The floors won’t feel level and the trim moldings will be a nightmare to the poor carpenter. For me, the biggest example had to do with the truss type roof system we had planned. It was cost effective and made sense initially until the foundation plan changed. Since my foundation needed extra attention in the beginning we couldn’t take final measurements until the top plates were completed on the second floor.
I mention this lightly but it was actually a very big deal. In fact, it created a domino effect and once we finally got the new measurements to the truss company they were back ordered. I can think of a nice Yiddish word: Oy Vey! As an investor, I wasn’t pleased watching my new house sit without a roof for a prolonged period time and several measures had to be taken to preserve the integrity of the house. So, why is this relevant?
Business experts vary on their view of what a business plan should look like. However, most will agree that it does force you to understand all aspects of your business concept from financial analysis of your markets, to understanding how much capital you’ll need to get started, the structure of your business and strategies for implementations. As an investor in a significant project, I did not consider all the aspects of this specific project. Consequently, I paid the price to fix certain items after the fact and believe me; it started not only with my foundation but also during the research and planning phase for my project. I’ve often thought about writing a book on how NOT to build a house because I made some very classic mistakes most builders would just snicker at.
At the end of the day, whether I was building a business or building a house (Let’s say the building project was a mini business). You must consider all aspects that make up the foundation of your business. Your business plan will help you frame all of this into the right perspective. It is your working drawing but you can modify it as you go. Having it on paper will allow you to share it with others so you can get the proper feedback you will require to move forward. Your plan also gives you a dynamic document you can refer back to measure where you are in the process of building your business at all times. Have you ever seen the working blueprint towards the end of a construction project? They are usually all marked up with pencil and ink with all the changes made on site. Your business plan will become something like that.
Running a business is hard work just like building a house. Everything has to come together in a timely way. Clearly, you must build upon a strong foundation if you want your business to survive in uncertain times because little things do matter and it’s the little things that ultimately destroy a business one piece at a time by chipping away from the foundation of a business one block at a time. Take the extra time necessary to thoroughly understand your business and how to execute your business strategy before you jump in with both feet. You can’t afford not to. Launching your business on good footing is one way to ensure some success while you grow your business.
Small Business Owners – It’s Time to Let Go
Posted by: | CommentsHave you recently opened a new small business? What an exciting new time in your life At the introduction of your company to the business world you may be tempted to do everything yourself. This is natural as the business is your own creation. However there is not a single lasting business that is run by literally one person. You must be willing to pass off some of the hundreds of hats that you have to wear in the very early stages. Not only is delegating responsibility to others acceptable but it is really the only way your business can ever hope to expand. Read More→
How To Start Small Business
Posted by: | CommentsStarting your own small business can be an exciting, profitable, and joyful venture. However, it is imperative that you begin with a great business idea so that can enjoy such successes. There are many small business opportunities available, you must find what you are interested in and go for it.
If you enjoy marketing with individuals and selling products, you can start your own business by selling products for companies who are in need of independent sales consultants. The possibilities of making money with this endeavor rely on your ability to sell the product. This opportunity also allows you to set your hours and be flexible if you need to.
You can also start a small business by simply using the knowledge and skills you already possess. If you are knowledgeable in a subject and are able to share that knowledge and teach it to other individuals, you may be successful at opening your own consulting business. With little overhead, this business can be a great startup for those with a low initial investment budget. People and companies will pay you to do something for them or show them how to correctly do something that they do not have the time to do or learn.
Another great small business idea is to start your own pet sitting business. Pets are becoming even more popular and are often treated as a member of ones’ family. When the family goes on trips and are unable to take care of their dogs, they often look for someone to help them. You can provide these services by feeding, walking, and taking care of their pets. This type of service is becoming very much in demand. If you enjoy being around animals this can be a perfect situation for you.
The key to starting your own small business is to provide a service or product which is in high demand and provide this service to the best of your ability. Doing this will allow for you to have happy customers who are likely to recommend you and will inevitably aid the success of your business.
Are You Ready To Build Own Business
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A lot of people want to be in business for themselves. It gives you a level of freedom that you generally don’t get to enjoy if you are working for someone else. I mean, let’s face it, if you are working for someone else you are lining their pockets with gold while you are eating dirt in most cases. Perhaps you want to go into business for yourself because it allows you a greater amount of freedom to decide when and where you are going to work and that gives you more time for the more important things in life like spending time with your family. But what are you going to do for a living so that you can make ends meet? Well if you are willing to live a simple life then you can get by on really working only about 20 hours a week more or less. I’ve done it for years. Here are some of the things that I’ve done to help pay the bills.
1. Start a cleaning business – Yes it might not be all that glamorous but it does pay well. I’ve done office cleaning and floors for grocery stores for years. The work is generally done at night so that is a consideration but it pays well and it gives you time to yourself while you are cleaning.
2. Work with apartment communities – Are you handy? If you are you can get some work helping out with the maintenance department at one of the local apartment communities. This pays well, depending on what you charge of course, and is a great way to earn some money. Generally you will have more work than what you can handle if you are good at what you do.
3. Wash some Windows – Window washing is enjoyable and profitable. If you land a few businesses with monthly accounts you can end up earning a fair amount of money. Try looking at some of the local car dealerships for work because they tend to have a lot of windows
Small Business Marketing Secret
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Here’s a little known secret to small business marketing, growing a business rapidly, that few business owners know, let alone small business owners. It’s called marketing momentum. What that means is that if you do whatever you do with your marketing one time, or just randomly, and sporadically here and there, you won’t ever reach what happens when you hit that “critical mass.”
That’s the level where, once you pass that point your marketing starts to explode into your market, bouncing around in your target market, producing results FAR above what “dabbling” here and there will do.
Ken, the owner of a small construction company, had been “dabbling” in his marketing. When I asked him why he was “dabbling” and not “turning this thing on” he said he was hesitant to turn it on fully because he felt that his marketing seemed to be a bit expensive and he was afraid that it might not work.
When I asked him, how many calls he was getting from his marketing he said, “Not much.” So, I asked him if he knew what his response rate is, that’s how many calls out of every hundred of his marketing touches he did.
He didn’t really know. So, he wasn’t in control of his marketing.
The intent of this article isn’t to go down that path of talking about what works in markeitng and what doesn’t. I’ve got plenty of other articles on that. However, the point I am making is that when your marketing is working at at least the national average for direct marketing, around 0.5% to 1.0%, and if that’s delivering prospects to your door at a price that is consistently that you can afford to acquire a client, TURN IT ON. Your questions shouldn’t be, should I do this, but “how many customers do I want to buy.”
The problem is that most people are looking at the “initial cost of marketing” and not at the “cost to acquire a customer.” Again, I deal with that in other articles.
But, where I’m going in this article is, that, for marketing that works, even barely, then there is such a thing as “marketing momentum” that is either working in your favor if you are consistently doing it, or is working against you if you aren’t doing it consistently.
Bakc to Ken, in construction, as long as he was getting a decent marketing response rate, 0.5% to 1.0%, around the national average, he shouldn’t be “dabbling” at marketing. If he was getting less than that, then “it’s time to fix it.” Don’t EVER fall for the myth that “it takes time to build a business” and continue “waiting for your business to happen.” If it isn’t happening now, it won’t happen later, or over time, just because you’ve done it for a long time.
One-time Marketing Has a Fixed, Repeatable Response Rate – Repeated, Consistent Marketing Explodes to Another Level
But, here’s my original point, if you are getting a response rate of over 1%, or close to it, then “don’t continue to dabble!”
Ken was not consistently sending out his email blasts to his list, nor consistently sending his postcard mailer invitation to his workshops, in fact he was doing his marketing only every few months instead of monthly. He also was working his networking rather sporadically. He was trying a little of this and a little of that and when he would get “a little interest” he’d say, “Well, that didn’t work very well” and back off.
When I had started coaching him, one of the first things we talked about was for him to speak to various business and social associations on a weekly basis. He had tried it once or twice, one this month, another a month or so later. When he didn’t get any calls from the first one, he was rather disappointed, and so he wasn’t anxiously going after others. In fact, the second one was on my insistence for him to get with it. He did get one from the second one who wanted to talk, but that one didn’t buy so he got gun-shy about trying it again.
