Some people you just don't need

I have a guy who just won’t pay me when we did nothing wrong.  I have another guy who won’t return my phone calls.  I have another guy who said he’d do something he never did and now says I owe him.

When you have a business you have a net that catches all kinds of fish – even ones you don’t want.  Try to work things out, but when you see that you aren’t dealing with someone who is reasonable and honorable, let them go – even if they owe you.  It’s not worth the emotional energy or time to chase them or pursue justice.  Let them out, let them off, let them go, and don’t carry the emotional baggage from it.  

Free yourself to be productive and happy.

Nobody becomes successful by accident

If you want to be a good sailor, you study sailing.  If you want to be a good investor, you study investing.

If you want to be a good business builder, you study business.  If you want to be a good team builder, you learn about team building.  If you want to be a good leader, you study leadership.

What books are YOU reading?  What audios are you listening to in your car RIGHT NOW?

Even God and the devil need salespeople

Most companies fail because sales are not high enough.  Once you strengthen your competitive position with adequate innovation in the product, delivery, or other value, then you have to look to your sales department to get people actively engaged with your company – to make sales.

Are they trained well?  How often?

Do they have a sales system?  Does it work?

Do they know that system?  Can they demonstrate it for you? 

Are they prepared?  Would you buy from them?  How do you measure their results?

What are you doing to support and improve your sales department?

Straight Commission Sales

Straight commission sales removes the ceiling on your income – that’s great.  You have to perform and get results every day/week/month, so you have to believe in yourself and do the work.  Basically, you are self employed.

If you run a sales team who is on straight commission (and most sales teams should be), create a program where they can do very well and stay motivated.  The last thing you want is to de-motivate your team.  Give them everything they need to succeed.  

Their success is your success.

How to prevent "overwhelm"

You are causing your problems.

As your business grows, you have to constantly redesign your job in it so it doesn’t swamp you.  

What part of your job do you need to get someone else to do?  Do it.

What do you struggle with and do poorly that you need to get someone else to do?  Do it.

What do you dislike doing and need to get someone else to do?  Do that, too.

What do you need to just stop doing altogether?  Stop it now.

Designing and reinventing your own job is necessary for your survival and advancement.  

Overwhelmed?

Likely you’re thinking about all the things you have to do at once.  Pick one thing – the most important thing.

Slide everything else aside for now.  Get the stuff out of sight.  Work on the one thing until it’s done.

Then pick the next thing.  One thing at a time.  That’s all you can do anyway.

Breathe…you can do this.

"Technically challenged"?

To make productivity gains you have to invest in technology – including information technology.  If you aren’t good with computers you will have an aversion to them and it will hold back your entire enterprise.  

The good news is you can hire people who are great with hardware, software, and implementation.  

How is your business doing with information systems?

The perils of serial entrepreneurship

If you are the kind of person that chases every opportunity, you will divide your attention too small to have much success at anything.  Even if you are making a profit at each of your multiple businesses, you would likely do far better at any one of them by focusing on it.

You will amaze yourself, as I have amazed myself, at how far you can take a business with many years of focus and continued improvement.

You can do anything well, but you can’t do everything well.

What business are you all in on?

Straight Commission Sales Jobs

I had a new salesman in training who quit a month in because he “needed a steady paycheck”.  This guy was thinking he wanted a floor to his income, and what he’ll get is a ceiling (if/when he gets another job).  

Straight commission sales is a way to be an entrepreneur and have no ceiling on your income without all the hassle, risk and responsibility of owning a company.  (A business owner can lose money/everything, a salesperson can’t lose.)  

Yes, you have to be with a good company selling a great product (that’s us!).  You have to believe in yourself, become a learning machine, and get out there everyday and interact with people with total belief and confidence in your product.  

Straight commission sales is a great career!

How you respond is more important

There is what happens and how you respond to what happens.  Usually how you respond is more important.  If you allow negative events and others behavior to get under your skin, you are killing yourself with it.  They aren’t killing you with what they did, you are with how you respond.

Business is a game.  This happens, I do this.  That happens, I input that.  I put this in place and it yields these results.  It’s a never ending loop of inputs and responses from employees and customers and competitors.  

Play the game.  Control your responses and inputs, but don’t beat yourself up with poor emotional reactions.

You’re in charge no matter what happens.