Were you lucky?

I am involved in a variety of different businesses.  Some are easier than others.  Sometimes timing is everything.  Sometimes location is everything. Sometimes connections and relationships are everything.

Often entrepreneurs try different things until they find something that works.  Sometimes they get lucky and stumble into what works on their first try.  

You can be good and unlucky.  (Of course, a different discussion is your response to what happens and making your own luck.)

You can be not so good and lucky.

You can be not so good and unlucky.

Or you can be both good and lucky.

Which have you been so far?

“Catching a big wave and being a good swimmer are two different things.” – Keith Cunningham

Speed kills. Wealth is made slowly.

When it comes to investments, most of the time any “get rich quick” idea is actually a road off a cliff.

Do this math – you invest $10,000 on the promise of big returns.  The first year you have an 80% return!  You now have $18,000.  Woohoo!  You double down and invest another $10,000.  Then you lose 80%.  How much do you have now?

($10,000 x 1.8 = $18,000 + $10,000 = $28,000 – 80% = $5,600)

You have turned $20,000 of hard-earned savings into $5,600.  Was it worth being a hero for a moment?  Did you go to parties and tell all your friends about the smart investments you made and tell them they should do it too?

Too many know what I am talking about too well.  

Worse yet you may borrow the money to invest and lose – that really hurts.

Wealth is made slowly. 

Yes, faster is better, but if that rule is unchecked it can lead us to do dumb things.

Your own example counts most

People are watching the leader.

Speech, behavior, responses, helpfulness, attitude, work ethic, loyalty, courage, and persistence.

You are going to set an example either way. 

Set a good one.

Incompetent Managers

Managers are responsible for the performance of their teams.  

Any manager who keeps incompetent or perpetually disengaged employees, is themselves incompetent.

Talk about that last sentence to your managers and see if they agree. 

Then see what they do next.

Becoming a better business leader

(First – I’m sorry about the TD Biz message that went out yesterday.  It was incomplete and you may have been confused.  I wrote the working title but nothing else, to be completed later.  Then I got busy this week with training people and I didn’t get back to that one before it went out.  BUT – it’s an awesome idea – “create great jobs” – and I will complete my thought for you in an upcoming post! Sorry!)

If you want to have business success in the ___(plumbing, software, retail)___ business, becoming a better ___(plumber, coder, shelf stocker/cashier_____ will not help you.   

You have to become a better business leader and team builder.

What have you been trying to get better at?

XXXXBuild great jobs

The purpose of marketing

The purpose of marketing is to get leads the sales team can sell, right?  But consider this –

“The purpose of marketing is to make selling unnecessary.” – Peter Drucker

What if your marketing was so good you didn’t need salespeople?  Or if it made it very easy on the sales team?  Think about that.

What can you do in marketing to make it so compelling that people want it badly before they meet your salespeople, or to presell what you have as much as possible?

Don't run out of money

“Lack of cash is kryptonite and it kills all superheroes.” – Keith Cunningham

In the good times, plan for the bad times.

Pay lots of attention to your customers

“The only time you lose your clients to a competitor is when you allow your competitors to pay more attention to your clients than you do.” – Joe Polish

Spend lots of time.  Build relationships.  Ask questions and listen.

Do you and your team pay lots of attention to clients?  

Which clients need more attention?

Get on it.

HOW are you doing the things you need to do?

You have things to do.  But how are you doing them?

Don’t do things in a way that makes you dislike your work.

Instead, do things in a way that makes you love what you are doing.

There are many ways that you can change HOW you are doing it – and you know which ones you will really like.