Is your business making your life better?

Your business is supposed to make your life better – that is why you started it.

Is it making your life better?

If not, you need to do it differently.  You need to be a different person with it, because it is only responding to you, and your thoughts and actions.

Are you making a business that makes your life better?

Start before you are ready

When will you be “ready”?

Who’s definition of “ready” are you using?

The fastest way to learn is by doing.

When you throw yourself in, you “have to, ” your awareness is high, you are paying close attention, and your best abilities appear.

Your life clock is ticking.  The greatest risk is not that you will fail or make mistakes, but that you will run out of time.

Start before you are ready.

"That dog bites"

Don’t blow up at people.

If they realize the dog bites, then they avoid the dog.

Then the dog doesn’t get communication, honest feedback, or news he won’t like.

Wag your tail.

Why older people have money

When people are younger they are learning and making mistakes.  They are not in their peak earning years yet.  They often do not spend their money wisely, and get into debt.

Young people get married and buy a house and have kids.  That eats up all the money.  They start making more money but one may stay home to care for the kids.  Then they send their kids to college (not necessary, but that’s another subject).  $50,000 a year, two kids three years apart….  Finally, that’s over and the kids move out, and the mortgage is paid off….

If they are still working, they have income and nothing big left to spend it on.  They are wiser and don’t spend frivolously.  They have been there and done that.  If they have saved money and made investments in years past, they are experiencing compound interest. 

That’s why many older people have money.

Who is your target audience?

Misuse of power

To judge someone as to their character and ego, you can look at how the more powerful people treat the less powerful.  

How does a leader treat the waitress, cleaning people, or the entry-level laborer?

If you acquire power with a title or because you have been around longer than everyone else, and you misuse it, it will be taken away from you – slowly or suddenly.

And remember, you may have power in your building, but as soon as you walk out into the world or into someone else’s building, they don’t know who you are – and they probably don’t care either.

Showing respect and being nice is not only the right thing to do, but it’s a good way to keep any status you may have come by.

Bet on the jockey, or the horse?

If you are going to bet on the jockey or the horse, bet on the jockey, because a smart jockey will get off the wrong horse.

Good people leave bad companies and bad leaders.  Bad people get pushed out of good companies by good leaders.  Good people want to be at good companies working for good leaders.

Is your company the right horse for the smart jockey?

Your business is a collection of what your salespeople believe

One salesperson goes out and is only comfortable selling half of your product line.

One never sells an important product because he doesn’t think it’s that important.

One doesn’t sell much at all because he never asks for the business.

One has low goals and is satisfied with a low paycheck.

One doesn’t understand a given solution so he can’t explain it so he never tries.

None of them are motivated by a leader/trainer/cheerleader who brings the best out of them.

Together, these salespeople ARE your company, despite what you think you are to the public.  They determine what gets sold, what doesn’t get sold, and how much of it gets sold.

If you want to turn your company around, turn around your sales department.  

If you don’t know how, find someone who does.

Leaders – own it when it goes bad, give away credit when it goes great.

A Leader can’t place blame when things go wrong and take credit when things go bad.  No one will want to be led by you that way.  It has to be the other way around.

Leader – “If it goes bad – I did it.  It goes so-so, we did it.  If it goes great, you (they) did it.”

Unlearn you?

In doing what I do, I get an up-close look at many business owners and see their results over years of doing what they do and how they are doing it.

In my experience, for the ones who are struggling, learning how to do this or that better is not going to help them too much.  It’s unlearning that would make a bigger difference.  It’s for them to STOP doing something they are doing that is killing their business progress.  

Since it almost always involves them personally, who they are being, and the decisions they are making, it’s hard to tell them and even harder for them to hear it.  They usually hate you when you tell them they are screwing up, even if you are gentle and tactful.  Everyone defends their ego.

Hard to hear – You’re being a bully.  You’re a pompous ass.  You are immature on many levels.  You have not studied even though the playbook was put in front of you.  You tried to reinvent what works – and it’s not working.  Your personal life is a wreck and great people won’t follow you.  You are not setting a good example.  You think you are better than others and they can tell.  You have the title but you are not doing the work (well).  You don’t understand money.  You are a know-it-all so you are unable to learn.  Your small success has gone to your head – and you can’t go farther because of it.

I have seen some real train wrecks.  They often go out of business. 

In these cases, learning a new skill is not going to help those leaders.  They have to unlearn something they are doing – maybe a lot.  A new attitude, a new approach, and mastering themselves has to come first.

Marketing and Sales

Are you good?

Who cares?

How do those people know you’re good?

You sure?