Business 300

When there are so many opportunities for improvement, how do you know where to start? What is the most efficient and effective way to go about making things better? As in all things, there are a variety of frameworks, many of which are helpful. There are different ways to approach this question. The framework I have for you here is my go-to to get clarity quickly and efficiently, and get to action...

Here you have it. 7 things that your customer is unwilling to pay for. Which means, you are paying for it. These are all things eating away at your margins. Getting rid of them adds directly to your bottom line - either by flowing directly into profit, or by giving you the opportunity to improve your pricing structures, thereby winning more business. So, get to it. Get rid of waste, or it will be...

In order to have consistent production, you must get to executing - to doing the work. Doing is producing. And if you want to get from not executing anywhere to executing everywhere, crossing that chasm in one leap will be the same sort of failure. If your execution sucks, start by executing on something you can handle. Build sustainable deliverables. The point is to start producing consistently,...

Most businesses host some sort of a Christmas party. Whether extravagant or simple, businesses have a Company Christmas Party. But that seems a bit strange, does it not? Why have a Company Christmas party?  On this holiday, when we remember God’s gift to mankind and give gifts to one another, how great it is that we can celebrate together with the people that we work with, the ones with...

Delivering on expectations is a good summary of what every business owner does. We make promises and then deliver on them. This happens with all parties and transactions. Customers, employees, financiers, vendors. Business owners deliver on expectations. If you want to deliver on customer expectations reliably and consistently, you must take the responsibility to set and manage them. You must mana...

"Character matters" has become the sort of overused adage that is neither considered nor applied. Yes, character does matter. Of course it does. So much so that it's measured not with intentions, but with results. And when considering results, what matters is competence. If we had to choose, of course I'd choose success in certain roles over other ones. However, choosing between character and comp...

Whether due to fear, guilt, or naivety, business leaders have been beaten into the subservient role of "Servant Leader." Leading requires resilience in any context, but our cultural temperament of anxious envy suffocates leadership. Specifically in our context of not just disproportionate employee rights and entitlements, but a culture of empathy and feels, leaders have practically become follower...

Some people are naturally minutious. An extreme care for details is the way they look at everything. Others see big picture and concepts only, and have no desire for the details. There are business people of both sorts, but I'm willing to bet that most are of the second type. Visionaries see big things, and have no patience with little things. Well, I'm here to tell you that if you don't have the...

Playing the short game in your sales strategy is reactionary and frantic. It's pushing the product onto the customer. Playing the long game is proactive and free. It's pulling the customer into the product. You either have to spend time and energy pressuring leads to become customers as you squeeze droplets of juice by hand out of the single orange, or you spend time and energy building and mainta...

Too many business people tolerate mistakes and defects, instead of addressing the root cause and building a quality solution into the system itself. Following the Jidoka concept - actually both in our business and our personal lives - helps us to eliminate defects and mistakes; eliminate the waste that gets in the way of our margins. Once you understand the cause of the issue, implement a preventa...

The first factor was covered on the last episode, that being ownership for the plan. It matters that the frontline manager is bought into the vision and strategy, and embodies it for the people. The second factor is clear, but also often overlooked. Competence. In order for the frontline manager to be a linchpin for the success of your business, he must have the adequate competence required of thi...

One of the critical roles in your business is the frontline manager. This is the role of execution. The top leader has the vision, the strategy, the plans. Those are crucial aspects to ensure your organization is moving in the right direction. Is the frontline manager bought into the mission? Does he own it? This is the first factor to consider in making sure you have the right person for the job....

Identifying the source of the problem - whether accurate or not - is not the same thing as solving the problem. Identifying the source is not yet taking responsibility for it. But, taking responsibility for a problem is difficult because it assumes work must be done. Address the problem early and quickly without dragging it out. Pull the weeds while they're still small.

What if you choose not to grow? What if you look at your context and decide that you're content with the current size of your business? If growing it requires cash, what should you do if you want to cash in and stop growing? Listen to find out!

Growth requires cash. Because Working Capital is a thing. So, you need to get that cash somewhere. You don't want to outgrow your cash, which is possible. So, you must watch both. You must know what's in your wallet, and how to put more in there.

Growth and cash have an inverse relationship. The more growth your business experiences, the less cash it'll have. Which means, that if you want to grow, you need to make sure your cash can sustain it. This is why it's important for a business owner to understand and be aware of the Cash Flow Statement.

There are two things business-owners pursue that, in a sense, are mutually exclusive. Both of them are good pursuits, and perhaps necessary even if you're trying to maximize the good your business is doing. Both of them are near the core of the reason why a business owner comes in to work, investing his time and strength in building his business. And, reality is that he can only have one.. sort of...

Customers won’t trade their money for the product if they perceive the price too high for the quality offered. That information is vital for the Seller. The Seller must hear what the Buyer wants. That happens from the pursuit of profit. The Seller's free pursuit of profit enables value for the Buyer. And so, profit is for the customer.

Business people are after results. Actually, everybody's after results. It's just that a business makes it very clear if you have results or not. And, as in all things, results in this trade follow trade-offs. There is good. And there is better. Real results are better than good intentions. For you to have results, you must trade something. That's because, results follow trade-offs.

  If your customers are not constantly praising you for everything you do, that is in itself a silent recognition of a job well done. You’ve done it again. You want your customers to take you for granted.

All business consultants will tell you that you need to uncover the mission of your business. You need to know "the why." You need to know what your business exists for. But, what for? Why do you need to know "the why?" Why uncover the Mission? Find out in this Episode.

In order to lead others, you must be present with a Character of Gravitas. The presence of substantive character draws people in. The critical competency that every leader must excel at, if he is to have people follow him on his journey, is communication - the power of words. Gravitas, Vision, Words. It's what it takes to lead people, even if you can't pay them.

The ability to lead others boils down to 3 things: the person, the focus, and the skill. The leader is someone who knows where he's going, knows how he wants to get there, and is making progress in that direction, whether or not he has others helping him. The leader is obsessed with the vision. He is building his future reality.

Entrepreneurs trying to get a business off the ground have a lot going for them. But the one thing they need most, is mostly what they don't have. Money. So, what do you do if you need money and don't have it? The entrepreneur who doesn't have any money must rely on something more important: his ability to lead. A Character of Gravitas that pulls others in is what you need when leading people, eve...

A business needs a customer the way a husband needs a wife – it’s what defines the role. I’d like to propose a different sort of distinction to identify and pursue your target audience, one that is relevant in both B2B and B2C scenarios. Building a trustworthy relationship is less about customer service and more about the strategy, structure, and systems that drive your business and deliver a reli...