Biz Coach Steve

Author: Steve Feld

  • The Manager – Coach and Confidant

    The Manager – Coach and Confidant

    Your people are your most precious resource. Only your people can be made to appreciate you and the value you bring to them. All other resources and corporate assets depreciate over time. You need great people in your organization to grow your business.

    People leave jobs due to their manager and that person’s poor leadership and managerial skills. People stay at bad jobs due to how great their manager treats and lead them.

    Many organizations have managers that were promoted because; they talk a great game (the BS’ers), or performed well on a project, are great at shuffling paperwork, are well networked in the organization, due to nepotism, or were hired externally to make changes within an organization. Many managers are just that – managers and not leaders. There is a big difference between managing and leading.

    Bad managers may or may not know they are demoralizing their staff through their words and actions. The worst managers do not believe they are negatively impacting the business but believe the business is declining due to the staff.

    One big area I have seen managers and business owners fail at is providing effective coaching to their employees. They believe having that annual review with their staff, beating them up over something they cannot remember 10 months ago, and providing nothing, but negative comments are showcasing their great managerial skills.  They are doing it because that is all they know, and they need to check a box to say they did the review.

    The fastest and most effective way to increase the productivity and performance of your people is for you to give them timely and relevant coaching and counseling at the proper times in their careers. This is the exact opposite of what many managers believe. People cannot grow without honest, objective feedback and instruction from someone who can look at their performance and tell them exactly how they are doing.  The best managers are always communicating with their staff, coaching and guiding them. Correcting them if needed but in a positive and supportive manner.

    Everyone needs feedback and counseling from someone he or she respects and trusts to improve and to get better at their work. Many average people have become star performers within their organization as the result of a manager taking the time to guide them and instruct them on how to improve in critical areas of their work.

    One of the best managers I have ever met never wanted to run the company. They were very happy in their manager role looking over 50 people who were on the manufacturing floor.  The reason being his employees in his division had the highest output compared to other locations the company had as well as the industry average. His employee turnover was unheard of at 99% retention. He told new staff members that they will only work for him for a maximum of 5 years. His goal is to provide his staff with managerial and leadership skills to get a better job within or outside the organization. He had monthly group and one-on-one meetings. He did little talking at all the meetings. He listened. Asked the right questions at the right time. Provided guidance and support to everyone. All his current and prior staff members would walk through fire for this guy.  His passion was to be the best manager and develop leaders.  Could you emulate his vision and actions?

    You need to learn how to give timely and accurate coaching and counseling to each of your staff members regularly. If they are performing below par, take them aside and find out why. Ask them questions. Don’t start criticizing them and threatening them about their performance. You may be shocked to find out that person may have lost a close family member and that has impacted their performance. You don’t know. Treat them with respect and ask questions.

    Make sure you are clear about what is expected from your staff. If you just tell them to produce 100 units an hour, that is an expectation. Go deeper. Show them how to produce 100 units an hour. Sit with them. Ask them how they could produce 100 units an hour. What could they improve on to produce more?  Be clear on your expectations and be the coach and confidant.

    “The number one demotivator in the world of work is not knowing what is expected.”

    A great strategy is to have short monthly one-on-one meetings with your staff. The manager is there as a facilitator, the coach, guiding the meeting, but doing the listening and asking questions. To make these meetings effective and to coach your staff, they create the agenda for the meeting. Let them tell you what they have been working on in the past month. What their goals were in the last month and if they achieved them or not and why. They will tell you their goals for the next month and how they will achieve them. You will just ask questions to clarify anything they said and to push them a little bit to learn something new. Improve their production, their leadership skills, whatever it may be. You are the coach. Coach them. Be clear in your communication. No fluffy stuff. Be open honest and caring. Have them always reaching higher to achieve their personal goals and to achieve the goals of the business. 

    What are you going to do to be the coach and confident in your business?

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    Steve Feld, MBA, Certified Business Coach, Author, provides training and business performance coaching to business owners, professionals, and executives. Steve also speaks to organizations, conducts workshops, and training.  Focusing on lead generation and revenue creation to get growth results for the business.

    Contact Biz Coach Steve today to see how he can assist you to get the results you want in your business, [email protected], or www.bizcoachsteve.com. He is in the business of growing businesses. Need a speaker, contact Steve today.

    #bizcoachstevef #entrepreneur #smallbusiness #business #smallbiz #coaching #businessowner #businesscoach #leadership #marketing #speaking #keynotespeaker #meetingprofs #eventprofs #meetingstoday #businesscoachnearme

  • Develop a vision for your future

    Develop a vision for your future

    Where do you envision your business to be in a year?  5 Years?  10 Years?

    Where do you envision your personal life to be in a year?  5 Years?  10 Years?

    When I ask business owners these questions, I usually get them spewing a bunch of platitudes with no definitive answer on where they see their life and business in the future. They have no clear vision for their future.

    Simple questions, but with hard answers. 

    One quality that all leaders have in common is that they have a clear and exciting vision for their future. This is something that only the leader can do. By leader, could mean the business owners. Parent, Guardian, Manager, etc.…  Only the leader can think about the future and plan for the future each day.  Think of it like this. If you are the captain of a ship, are you just floating around the ocean? Or, do you have a clear plan to go somewhere or do something? Pirates had a clear plan. Sail the seas, find other ships, steal everything they have, and move onto the next ship.

    Excellent leaders take the time to think through and develop a clear picture of where they want the organization to be in one, three, and five years. Leaders can communicate this vision in such a way that others “buy-in” and eventually see the vision as belonging to them.

    Set aside sometime over a weekend and put some thought into your vision. Write it down. Be as detailed as possible. Then write one simple statement that you can say to convey your vision to others. This will help you get crystal clear on your vision and stay on track to reach your goals.

    Use your vision to motivate others. Your vision shows your future possibilities of what can be, and that arouses emotion and motivates you and others to give their best. The most powerful vision is always qualitative, aimed at and described in terms of values and mission rather than quantitative, described in terms of money. Of course, money is important, but the decision and commitment to “be the best in the business” is far more exciting.

    A clear vision that is communicated properly can encourage others, instill confidence in them, to help them to perform at their best. It does require you to lead by example and stick to your vision.

    A clear vision for your future can create great team players.
    A study at Stanford Business School examined the qualities that companies look for in promoting young managers toward senior executive positions, especially the position of Chief Executive Officer. The study concluded that there were two important qualities required for great success in leadership. The first is the ability to put together a team and function as a good team player. Since all work is ultimately done by teams, and the managers’ output is the output of the team, the ability to select team members, set objectives, delegate responsibility, and finally, get the job done, was central to success in management.

    Keep Your Cool
    The second quality required for rapid promotion was found to be the ability to function well under pressure, and especially in a crisis. Keeping your cool in a crisis means practicing patience and self-control under difficult or disappointing circumstances.

    Everyone Is Watching
    The character and quality of a leader are often demonstrated in these critical moments under fire when everyone is watching, observing, and privately taking notes. As Rudyard Kipling once said, “If you can keep your head when all around you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, then the world is yours and all that’s in it”.

    Your job as a leader is to have a clear vision of where you want to go and then to keep your cool when things go wrong, as they surely will.

    Action Exercises
    Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.

    First, project forward 3-5 years and imagine your ideal future vision. What does it look like? What steps can you take immediately to begin turning your future vision into your current reality?

    Second, resolve in advance that, no matter what happens, you will remain calm and cool. You will not become upset or angry. You will take a deep breath and focus on the solution rather than on the problem.

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    Steve Feld, MBA, Certified Business Coach, Author, provides training and business performance coaching to business owners, professionals, and executives. Steve also speaks to organizations, conducts workshops, and training.  Focusing on lead generation and revenue creation to get growth results for the business.

    Contact Biz Coach Steve today to see how he can assist you to get the results you want in your business, [email protected], or www.bizcoachsteve.com. He is in the business of growing businesses. Need a speaker, contact Steve today.

    #bizcoachstevef #entrepreneur #smallbusiness #business #smallbiz #coaching #businessowner #businesscoach #leadership #marketing #speaking #keynotespeaker #meetingprofs #eventprofs #meetingstoday #businesscoachnearme

  • Speed Networking

    Speed Networking

    When I tell business owners one of the easiest ways to expand your network is to attend a speed networking event, they always think I am pulling their leg.  I’m not.

    All business owners, salespeople, and those that live on commissions should always attend a speed networking event to “PRACTICE” your elevator pitch. This is the best testing ground to test your elevator pitch in a relevant environment.

    Speed networking programs are showing up all around the world. These events tend to be a fun, exciting, and effective way to make a lot of initial connections in a very different environment from the standard business networking meetings.

    Speed networking programs generally involve people meeting each other one at a time for a short interval and then moving on to the next person in line. They are fairly structured in the way people queue up to meet. For example, one variation is to have two concentric circles of people. The individuals sit across from one another and after the set period–generally one or two minutes–the outside circle of people gets up and moves in one direction around the circle until everyone has met.

    You might not be surprised to learn that I have some definite opinions and ideas about how to best use speed networking as a tool for creating viable referral partnerships. First, I think speed networking is a great way to meet other business professionals in a short period. It’s a good tool for business people to be the viability to a high number of people in a short amount of time.

    The potential downside to speed networking is if someone thinks this is “all” they have to do to network effectively. The key to making speed networking work is to take those contacts and develop them over time into “credible” relationships that lead to “profitable” referral partners.

    Some people have likened speed networking to speed dating. While there are some similarities, there is also a subtle but significant difference. Speed dating is done to eliminate potential suitors and keep from wasting time on people with whom you share no common interests and no mutual attraction. The presumption is that you are going to follow up with only the ones you connect with during the exercise.

    I don’t feel speed networking can be used to its potential if you treat it as a means to eliminate potential referral sources, but to attract potential referral sources. Developing a strong referral base is about developing relationships with a variety of people, even when it seems you have nothing in common.

    So how do you go about participating in a speed networking exercise with the proper focus to make the most of your time? Here are several points to consider:

    1. Start with the end in mind. You’re not there to bag the big one. You are NOT there to sell your stuff, nor is someone there to buy your stuff. You’re not there to eliminate referral sources or referral partners. You’re there to find ways to connect with every person you have the opportunity to sit (or stand) in front of for that one- to two-minute period.

    If you are going to a speed networking event to “refine” your elevator pitch, bring 3 versions and practice each pitch to a third of the room and gauge their reaction to your elevator pitch to see which one engages the other person to what to know more.

    2. Conduct the exercise as a mini-interview. Think in terms of what you can find out about the person you’re meeting. That’ll allow you to help further the goals of that individual. Forget about mining their database or trying to determine who they know to further your goals. In working to mutually benefit one another, ask questions that’ll clarify where and how you can best help your new referral source.

    3. Make notes during the exercise. If you’re not provided some type of contact card on which you can jot notes while in the exercise, be sure to use your pad of paper to write down the information you discover. Be sure to note the person’s interests and goals you could help achieve.

    4. Follow up. Follow up. Follow up. If you don’t follow up with those you meet during the speed networking exercise, you will only have succeeded in wasting your time–which is exactly what you were trying to avoid by attending the event in the first place. Collect the business cards of each person you sit with during the exercise. The magic happens after the exercise, in the weeks and months to come.

    Set appointments with each person, not to convince them they need your product, but to become better acquainted, finding out what their needs are and how you can positively impact their lives. You’ll realize the reason you went to the speed networking exercise in the first place: to develop more referral business.

    I believe speed networking can work if it’s done the right way. It can be a fun, energetic, and dynamic way to further your own goals of having a thriving, successful word-of-mouth-based business.

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    Steve Feld, MBA, Certified Business Coach, Author, provides training and business performance coaching to business owners, professionals, and executives. Steve also speaks to organizations, conducts workshops, and training.  Focusing on lead generation and revenue creation to get growth results for the business.

    Contact Biz Coach Steve today to see how he can assist you to get the results you want in your business, [email protected], or www.bizcoachsteve.com. He is in the business of growing businesses. Need a speaker, contact Steve today.

    #bizcoachstevef #entrepreneur #smallbusiness #business #smallbiz #coaching #businessowner #businesscoach #leadership #marketing #speaking #keynotespeaker #meetingprofs #eventprofs #meetingstoday #businesscoachnearme

  • Do you have scarcity in your business?

    Do you have scarcity in your business?

    Can you take on hundreds of clients or only a handful?

    Can you only have a specific number of people inside your store, building, business?

    Do you accept appointments 24-hours a day? Or do you limit the number of appointments during specific hours on certain days?

    Have you created scarcity in your business?

    Scarcity is a deeply rooted psychological principle which states that a limited supply of a product will increase the demand for that certain product.

    A new bar recently opened up, that created scarcity out of the gate even before they opened their doors. The bar can only hold 28 people – very limited. You must have a reservation in advance to be in the bar – no walk-ins allowed. They are booked 4 months out before officially opening up. You must adhere to their dress code.  They promise an experience that you have not had before in a bar that is under a restaurant. It makes you feel like you are sitting in the middle of a greenhouse. The drinks are created using elements such as fire and smoke.

    I bet you want to go and check out this bar right now, even if you don’t drink alcohol.

    Why?

    They created scarcity. 

    In Michael Port’s book, “Book Yourself Solid,” he talks about the ‘red rope.’  The red rope is the rope outside your business that keeps the prospect you don’t want out and allows you to only let those you want in to do business with you.  Think of that hot nightclub and the bouncers on the inside of the rope only letting who they want into the club or those on the list. Scarcity

    Scarcity does create attraction if it’s done correctly.

    Think of a restaurant, a bar, an event, or a store that has a line out the door, or a waiting list month’s long. They all created scarcity.

    If you are a Green Bay Packers fan that wants to get a season ticket for their football games, you will have to wait 30 or more years to get a season ticket at Packer Stadium.  Scarcity.

    How about a manufacturer who produces oversized wood benches?  This business has only 4 people working-including the owner and produces around 2 (maybe 3) benches per month. Here’s the kicker. All his clients are Fortune 500 companies. When they place an order, it is usually for 30 or more benches. Do the math. That means one order keeps his company busy for 15 months straight.  You may be thinking he should get more staff and produce more benches and you may be right. All his staff is highly trained woodworkers with years of experience. Each bench goes for around $15,000 to $50,000. Lifetime guarantee. They are customized to the company that purchases them and they are immaculate. His waiting list is 5 years long and the clients are more than happy to wait on him to get their benches from him. Why?  He created scarcity for his product.

    There is a difference between creating scarcity and just running out of your product. Knowing that a scarce item generates more attractiveness is a delicate subject for any business and overusing this principle or using it falsely will most likely lead to the opposite desired outcome, it will decrease sales and even the business’ reputation, overall.

    We could provide you with many examples of scarcity.

    • Why are there only 1 or fewer Lamborghini dealerships in a major city, but more than 50 Toyota dealerships?
    • When Tesla started selling their cars, they didn’t sell the cars through dealerships-appointment only showrooms?

    You may be thinking, I am giving you high ticket examples. Here are very low-ticket examples.

    • McDonald’s only has the McRib available for 1 to 2 months every few years.
    • People travel hundreds of miles to go to a corporate-owned In and Out Burger restaurant.
    • Chick-fil-a receives over 60,000 applications from wanting to be franchisees owners, and they only award less than 1% (.13 according to Business Insider magazine) of them a franchise per year. It’s easier to get into Harvard than own a Chick-fil-a.

    All these companies created scarcity.

    Think of your business. Do you cater to everyone, or do you focus on a particular target market and only cater to them?

    Why not improve your service? Improve your product?  You may have to work with fewer people, or not have as many items to sell as you did before. But that will eliminate those penny-pinching clients that are beating you up over price because they don’t see the value you are bringing them.

    Scarcity will not work for every business.  Do you believe that Coke-a-cola would want to create scarcity?  They will lose their market share fast if they reduce the number of outlets around the world.  They do create scarcity with limited edition collector sets and cans/bottles.

    What can you do in your business to increase the value of your products or services?  Put up the red rope and control who you want as a client. Create scarcity.

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    Steve Feld, MBA, Certified Business Coach, Author, provides training and business performance coaching to business owners, professionals, and executives. Steve also speaks to organizations, conducts workshops, and training.  Focusing on lead generation and revenue creation to get growth results for the business.

    Contact Biz Coach Steve today to see how he can assist you to get the results you want in your business, [email protected], or www.bizcoachsteve.com. He is in the business of growing businesses. Need a speaker, contact Steve today.

    #bizcoachstevef #entrepreneur #smallbusiness #business #smallbiz #coaching #businessowner #businesscoach #leadership #marketing #speaking #keynotespeaker #meetingprofs #eventprofs #meetingstoday #businesscoachnearme#bizcoachstevef #entrepreneur #smallbusiness #business #smallbiz #coaching #businessowner #businesscoach #leadership #marketing #speaking #keynotespeaker #meetingprofs #eventprofs #meetingstoday #businesscoachnearme

  • 5 Myths of a Business Plan

    5 Myths of a Business Plan

    Do you need a business plan? What will be the purpose of your Business Plan?  Are you seeking funding? Want investors? A new partner? Looking to be acquired or purchase another business?  Clarity & Focus?

    What many small business owners do not realize that the business plan is a living document. It shouldn’t be created then thrown into a drawer or on a shelf to collect dust. It takes many hours, days, weeks, and months to create -why create it only to never look at it again.  Many very successful companies look at their business plan every month. Why? It keeps them focused and on track.

    The biggest lesson any business owner should learn is that it is the process of creating the business plan is more valuable than words on paper. All business owners should go through the process of creating a business plan to understand where they want their business to go.  Think of it as your business blueprint.  Builders couldn’t build a home without blueprints; you shouldn’t build your business without a business plan.

    Here are just 5 myths many business owners believe about a business plan.

    1. We don’t need a business plan.
      If you are in business, or even contemplating a business, you need a business plan.  Success isn’t as much about succeeding, as it is about not failing.  A properly prepared plan forces you to think through the big picture and agonize over many of the details, before errors in intuition or judgment cost you or your client money, or even bankruptcy.  Without it, investors won’t invest and buyers won’t buy. 
    1. We need a business plan, but not right away.
      If you are a Visionary or a Start-Up, you need to begin assembling the elements of a business plan, almost immediately after your “business idea” hits you.  The best plans evolve over an extended period, and the less time you give yourself, the less credible the plan.  If you are marketing a business, the sooner you present a credible financial picture, the sooner a buyer will consider your price.
    1. We need a business plan, but we can do it ourselves.
      Given enough time, money, and the right skill sets, you will probably be able to generate a credible business plan, maybe even a very good one — but, at what total cost to your business? Your inspiration, energy, and vision are essential to the success of the plan, but the cost of becoming a business planning “expert” may seriously erode your ability to meet the challenges of actually staying in business. 
    1. We need a business plan, but we can’t spend more than “x”.
      If obtaining financing or attracting a buyer is critical to the existence of a business, then the potential value of a business plan should be the cost of not achieving the goal (i.e, the cost of going out of business).  It varies widely, but expect the cost of a professionally prepared plan to be about 1% of the benefit it is capable of achieving (e.g., $10,000, on a financing request of $1 million).    
    1. Thank goodness, we only have to do this once.
      A business plan is only as good as the results it predicts.  It should be viewed as a living document that requires constant nurturing and revision, as circumstances change and business knowledge improves.  Protect your investment, by periodically comparing actual vs. planned results, analyzing sources of variance, and using this information to improve the plan’s long-term utility and predictability. 

    The 3 main types of business plans are; executive (5-8 pages), managerial (20-30 pages), and operational (180-250 pages). There are alternatives to a full traditional business plan. One great alternative is the Business Model Canvas (BMC), which many companies like McDonald’s, and Lego use. Their BMC can be found online.

    No matter which plans you create, just go through the process to know the blueprint of your business and success.

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    Steve Feld, MBA, Certified Business Coach, Author, provides training and business performance coaching to business owners, professionals, and executives. Steve also speaks to organizations, conducts workshops, and training.  Focusing on lead generation and revenue creation to get growth results for the business.

    Contact Biz Coach Steve today to see how he can assist you to get the results you want in your business, [email protected], or www.bizcoachsteve.com. He is in the business of growing businesses. Need a speaker, contact Steve today.

    #bizcoachstevef #entrepreneur #smallbusiness #business #smallbiz #coaching #businessowner #businesscoach #leadership #marketing #speaking #keynotespeaker #meetingprofs #eventprofs #meetingstoday #businesscoachnearme

  • 10 Simple Rules for Family-Owned Businesses

    10 Simple Rules for Family-Owned Businesses

    Small business owners are the backbone of the U.S. economy. There around 5.5 million family-owned and operated businesses in the U.S. About 90% could be deemed family-owned. They could be just two-person partnerships to large companies.

    The secret to a successful family business is it must be treated like any business and not an extension of their family. Successful family-owned businesses can follow some basic rules.

    1. Do not create a job for a family member. Either you have an opening for which they qualify, or you do not. There is no creating a job for a family member. Interview them the same as you would anyone else. They need to show they are capable of working at the business.
    2. Have the family member work somewhere else first. They must prove themselves, to you and the other employees. It also helps the business if they come in with some outside experience, fresh ideas, and training.
    3. Treat family members the same as any other employee.   Family members may or may not try harder than the other employees. They need motivation from the owner or their manager, just like any other employee.
    4. If possible, have family members report to non-family employees.  Remember, family members who are not the owners now are employees and should not report to other family members.
    5. Build a firewall between family and business issues. Make sure family relationships stay out of the business. You don’t want to put other employees in between your family squabbles. This goes for family gatherings, no business talk. You don’t want to put non-associated family members in between your business family squabbles.
    6. Be clear about the business succession plan. The family members need to understand what is expected. If a family member is not associated with the business nor active in it, should not be looked at as a successor. They will not understand the business.
    7. Have one clear successor. It’s never a good idea to have 2 or more successors. Someone has to be in charge.
    8. Create a board of directors that includes non-family members.  You will run into tough situations within the business and need an outside perspective who can bring a non-emotion viewpoint into play. This way family members can avoid being swayed by other family members.
    9. Sell the business and don’t gift it.  Besides tax implications, it’s still a business that should be sold in one form or another. If you gift the business to a family member, they will not have the same respect for it, the employees, and customers as if they had to purchase the business.
    10. Make sure all participating family members agree to these guidelines.  This is where the saying, “it’s just business and not personal,” comes into play.  Have a firm guideline in place for family members and they cannot cross it.

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    Steve Feld, MBA, Certified Business Coach, Author, provides training and business performance coaching to business owners, professionals, and executives. Steve also speaks to organizations, conducts workshops, and training.  Focusing on lead generation and revenue creation to get growth results for the business.

    Contact Biz Coach Steve today to see how he can assist you to get the results you want in your business, [email protected], or www.bizcoachsteve.com. He is in the business of growing businesses. Need a speaker, contact Steve today.

    #bizcoachstevef #entrepreneur #smallbusiness #business #smallbiz #coaching #businessowner #businesscoach #leadership #marketing #speaking #keynotespeaker #meetingprofs #eventprofs #meetingstoday #businesscoachnearme

  • 5 Business Growth Traps

    5 Business Growth Traps

    Most small businesses will struggle to meet their strategic goals. Why? They fall into “growth traps.”  Sometimes they try to mimic their competitors to ignoring the lessons of failed companies.

    Here are five traps to avoid staying ahead of the pack. Not only will avoiding the traps lead companies away from the brink of disaster but be prepared for the traps.

    Trap 1: Playing your competitor’s game: The goal is not to win at someone else’s game, but to change the game to one that you can win.

    * Don’t get drawn into competing at the margin for incremental share. Even if you appear to win for a while, fringe customers can go as fast as they came.

    * Don’t do something just because your competitors are doing it. Only take action if it will strengthen your business.

    * Focus on customers, not competitors. Identify what customers value most from among all the factors your industry sees value in, and deliver it.

    Trap 2: Denying reality and missing an industry shift: Competition comes in many forms. The Internet always adds a wild card to the deck, making competition harder to predict. It means that competition can come from organizations you had never thought of as competitors – including companies from outside your industry. Newcomers like this need, especially careful watching. As a rule, they have no history, no legacy systems, and no intention of doing business the way you do.

    Trap 3: Creeping, not leaping, and failing to innovate: Slow growth will fail to attract capital and talent, and fail to deliver shareholder value. The antidote is innovation, although not necessarily in the technology area. It may be innovation in terms of product,
    service, or delivery, but it must offer value to the customer.

    Trap 4: Neglecting the lessons of the dot-com era and economic downturns: It is not just about placing some ads anywhere anymore. It is about the business of business, and about taking advantage of new tools that must either work for you or against you. Business owners have seen plenty of changes in the last few years with the economy, pandemics, fads, new social media platforms, and so forth.

    * Relationships between businesses, partners, consumers, and suppliers have been revolutionized, and open dialogue is not only possible but expected.

    * Technologies developed to outflank traditional companies are now being used to capitalize on new channels, improve productivity, and drive down costs.

    Trap 5: Taking on the world single-handed, without allies: In a static business environment, self-sufficiency might be an option. In today’s world, it is a major growth trap, setting dangerously inflexible limits on what the company can do and when it can do it.

    * Competitive pressures are forcing businesses to reconfigure their products, services, information systems, and processes to differentiate themselves from their rivals and satisfy their customers. These changes need to be made so fast that it is no longer feasible to rely on a company’s core competencies or to bank on being able to buy them at short notice. Increased complexity and the need for continual change are making partnerships essential.

    Here are a few recommendations to help avoid those traps:

    Recommendation 1: Deliver value innovation in leaps. Avoid the trap of tiptoeing to disaster.

    Recommendation 2: Re-examine assumptions, check facts, and do not discount evidence that contradicts your opinions. Identify the cliches and received wisdom-of-the-day and challenge them.

    Recommendation 3: Set revenue goals at twice the average for your industry, and set profit goals even higher, to spur innovative thinking. Shock your employees out of complacency. To reach both targets at once is difficult, but stretch goals are not meant to
    be easy.

    Recommendation 4: Harness social media platforms and other opportunities as more than just another sales channel. Look for nonlinear and disruptive forces that will redefine the way your business operates. Simply Web-enabling a business is not enough.

    Recommendation 5: Exploit strong alliances and shift the focus from competing on your core competencies to utilizing those of the alliance.

    What are you doing in your business to avoid the traps?

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    Steve Feld, MBA, Certified Business Coach, Author, provides training and business performance coaching to business owners, professionals, and executives. Steve also speaks to organizations, conducts workshops, and training.  Focusing on lead generation and revenue creation to get growth results for the business.

    Contact Biz Coach Steve today to see how he can assist you to get the results you want in your business, [email protected], or www.bizcoachsteve.com. He is in the business of growing businesses. Need a speaker, contact Steve today.

    #bizcoachstevef #entrepreneur #smallbusiness #business #smallbiz #coaching #businessowner #businesscoach #leadership #marketing #speaking #keynotespeaker #meetingprofs #eventprofs #meetingstoday #businesscoachnearme

  • 6 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Starting a Business

    6 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Starting a Business

    Do you have what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur?

    That is a question every soon-to-be entrepreneur should be asking themselves.  Many wantrepreneurs believe by being their boss will be great -and it is.  But, they do not realize all the hard work that lays ahead of them. The learning curve in many areas of business in which they do not know. How much money will be going out the door, before any money is coming into the bank account?

    Here are six simple things to consider before you make the jump into being your own boss.

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    1. Do you believe you have what it takes?

    We don’t mean personal characteristics — or not just personal characteristics, anyway. Do you believe you have all the skills, energy, money, people, and knowledge to start a business? Founders who carefully identify and evaluate their resources in pursuit of a well-defined goal display “entrepreneurial self-efficacy,” a trait many academics believe to be the best predictor of success. “It’s situationally specific confidence — ‘I strongly believe that I have all the resources I need, and here is what they are,’ ” says J. Robert Baum, an associate professor of entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland. “Overconfidence, by contrast, is partially caused by the absence of self-efficacy. ‘Let’s get going. I just know I can do this.’ “

    2. Are you able to let other people down?

    A founder may set out in a rowboat, but pretty soon, he is piloting a cabin cruiser with investors and employees on board and their families huddled below decks. Risking your own fortunes is easy compared with risking the fortunes of those who believe in you. “These people may not completely understand the business,” says Baum. “They may not understand the level of risk. But they think they’ll be OK because you are so smart. Breaking their dreams is very painful.”

    Leslie Mayer, a business psychologist who works with rapidly growing companies, tells the story of a client whose father had invested in his business even though he could ill afford to do so. Distraught over that sacrifice, the son was poised to accept a low-ball offer for the company just so he could pay his father back. “It took a lot of coaching to get him to understand that that was not what his father needed,” said Mayer.

    3 How do you handle setbacks?

    When youare smiling, the whole company smiles with you. In their book Resonant Leadership: Renewing Yourself and Connecting With Others Through Mindfulness, Hope, and Compassion, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKee explain that emotions are contagious: Morale rises and falls with the mood of the leader. Consequently, people who succumb to black moods or depression can fatally infect their own companies.

    Because some people have an inflated idea of their resilience, Mayer suggests performing a kind of reference check on yourself — ask people who know you well how you handle adversity. “If you are the type of person who needs to retreat for a period to recharge, that’s not possible in these situations,” says Mayer. “If you have a very high sense of responsibility and you take setbacks hard, you have to know that. Ask people to be honest about how they’ve seen you behave in hard times.”

    4. Are you really an inventor, rather than an entrepreneur?

    Raising a child is generally more challenging than creating a child, and the same is true of new products. Some people mistake the act of invention for the tough part. “Too many times, these inventor types spend an inordinate amount of time on the patent and making the prototype just so,” says Mike Drummond, editor in chief and co-owner of Inventors Digest. “They think once they’ve done that, the world will beat a path to their doorstep.”

    It’s also hard for some people to entrust their brainchildren to designers, engineers, and marketers. Drummond distinguishes between entrepreneurs like Sir James Dyson, the inventor of the bagless vacuum cleaner who surrounded himself with Britain’s best engineers, and “Caractacus Potts types” — a reference to the eccentric soloist who creates the namesake flying car in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. “My take is that product development is a team sport,” says Drummond. “Inventors don’t get that. Entrepreneurs do.”

    5. Can you accept that your company may outgrow you?

    Some entrepreneurs love to brag that they don’t need an exit strategy, because they are not going anywhere. But at some point, your business may need you less than you need it. That’s particularly true at fast-growth companies, at which entrepreneurs may not have enough time to develop the necessary leadership and business skills.

    Mayer has seen founders bring in presidents or senior executives from the outside, only to sabotage them. “They do it by not giving them the necessary information,” says Mayer. “They do it by not stepping back and by involving themselves with managers in a way that is inappropriate in the chain of command. They can be disruptive during meetings.”

    6. When you look in the mirror, does an entrepreneur look back?

    If so, and if that’s the reason you are starting a company, beware. Many traits — persistence, creativity, and risk tolerance among them — are commonly ascribed to entrepreneurs. But having those traits doesn’t much improve the odds that you will succeed.

    “Research into entrepreneurs’ personal traits says things like persistence and need for achievement explain only about 5 percent to 10 percent” of the difference between people who start companies and those who don’t, according to Baum. “They are less important than external predictors like the spirit of the times, the economy, and changes within an industry.

    “If there’s one thing I believe,” says Baum, “it is that trying to predict success in entrepreneurship based on personal traits is a fool’s game.”

    So, do you have what it takes to start a company? Grow the company?

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    Steve Feld, MBA, Certified Business Coach, Author, provides training and business performance coaching to business owners, professionals, and executives. Steve also speaks to organizations, conducts workshops, and training.  Focusing on lead generation and revenue creation to get growth results for the business.

    Contact Biz Coach Steve today to see how he can assist you to get the results you want in your business, [email protected], or www.bizcoachsteve.com. He is in the business of growing businesses. Need a speaker, contact Steve today.

    #bizcoachstevef #entrepreneur #smallbusiness #business #smallbiz #coaching #businessowner #businesscoach #leadership #marketing #speaking #keynotespeaker #meetingprofs #eventprofs #meetingstoday #businesscoachnearme

  • Understanding Your Target Market

    Understanding Your Target Market

    No business can be all things to all people. Instead, you must reach specific customers and satisfy their particular needs. As an entrepreneur, you must identify those customers and understand as precisely as possible what they want.

    Having presented many workshops to new and existing business owners, I continually hear that they truly believe everyone on the planet is a potential customer for their business.  That couldn’t be farther from the truth.

    Look at major corporations. The ones that are growing and making money have their products and services segmented out even though they may cross over. Proctor and Gamble (P&G) have 100’s of products. They know and understand who the target market is for each one of those products and market a specific product to a specific target market. That is what makes their brands very effective. If they had ads that showcased all their products at once their message would be lost and consumers would be very confused.

    The process of finding and studying potential customers for your business doesn´t have to be complex or expensive — but it is extremely important. In a nutshell, it requires you to find out everything you can about the customers you intend to pursue. Once you have that information, you´ll have a much better chance of capturing those customers for your business.

    The simplest way to do this is to look at your existing customers and see who they REALLY are. Many business owners believe they are targeting one market, but when we do a deep dive on who their customers are it is not the market they are targeting.

    The facts you need to know about your target market fall into these three categories:

    Demographics. Begin your research by checking the demographics of the region you plan to target. You´ll want to know the population´s make-up in terms of age, gender, income level, occupation, education, and family circumstances (married, single, retired, and so on).

    To find that information, you´ll probably need to visit the local library (can be done online if you have a library card). Good sources available at most libraries include:

    • Country and City Data Book, published by the U.S. Department of Commerce
    • Survey of Buying Power Data Service, published by Sales and Marketing Management

    Geographic and lifestyle factors. Give some thought to where and how your target customers live. Are they Southerners or Yankees, urbanites, suburban soccer moms, or country-folk? Are they risk-takers or conservative; athletes or couch potatoes; spenders or savers? The answers will help determine what you can sell to them, how you should sell it, and at what price.

    Customer needs. Consider all the reasons why people might buy your product or service. For example, say you´re opening a string of health clubs. Will your customers come to meet other people, to take exercise classes or to play racquet sports with their friends? Find out by talking to people in the local fitness industry and by quizzing friends or acquaintances who go to health clubs. Then you can design and market your club accordingly.

    Once you´ve considered the key demographic factors, you can begin to assemble a customer profile, a more focused statement that describes your target market in detail. Consult that profile when you make decisions about issues such as what products and services to offer or advertise; how much to charge for various products and expansion plans.  We could get into other areas such as Psychographics-looking at your consumers based on their activities, interests, and opinions. It goes deeper than demographics.

    For now, who is your true target market?

    Is your marketing speaking to them or someone else?   

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    Steve Feld, MBA, Certified Business Coach, Author, provides training and business performance coaching to business owners, professionals, and executives. Steve also speaks to organizations, conducts workshops, and training.  Focusing on lead generation and revenue creation to get growth results for the business.

    Contact Biz Coach Steve today to see how he can assist you to get the results you want in your business, [email protected], or www.bizcoachsteve.com. He is in the business of growing businesses. Need a speaker, contact Steve today.

    #bizcoachstevef #entrepreneur #smallbusiness #business #smallbiz #coaching #businessowner #businesscoach #leadership #marketing #speaking #keynotespeaker #meetingprofs #eventprofs #meetingstoday #businesscoachnearme

  • Be Yourself, To Improve Yourself

    Be Yourself, To Improve Yourself

    I’ve always been fascinated by the Japanese carp otherwise known as the koi. It’s a fish with seemingly unlimited growth potential. If you put the koi in a small fishbowl, it will grow to only be two or three inches long. In a larger tank or small pond, and it gets to be a foot and a half. But if the koi is placed in a large lake, where it can really stretch out, it can grow up to three feet long. The size of the fish is proportional to the size of its home.

    Well, it works that way with people too. We grow according to the size of our world. Not physically, of course, but mentally. You too can be a mental giant!

    Is it up to your supervisor to prepare you for a promotion? Maybe a little, but the real responsibility belongs much closer to home. You have to let your boss know that you’re always ready for a new challenge and will do whatever it takes to prepare. You want to be qualified before the next job opens up, not disappointed after. You want to be interesting at the office and after hours. You want to be interesting at the office and after hours. Your coworkers and friends can hear the same stores only so many times.

    Grow. Stretch. Transform yourself.

    A simple bar of iron is worth about $5. Made into horseshoes, the value rises to about $50. Transform it into needles, and now you’re talking about $500. But if you take that bar of iron and make it into springs for a Swiss watch, it could be worth a half-million bucks. You started with the same raw material; the value grew as the material was formed and developed.

    It’s the same with people.

    What could you improve on to grow your business? What tools, resources, knowledge or assistance do you need to to expand your business?

    What are you reading? Learning?

    You have the capacity to learn more.  Think of your brain with an unlimited amount of storage. What are you putting on the hard drive? Watching fake reality shows or reading industry publications to be knowledgeable?

    Steve Feld, MBA, Certified Business Coach, Author, provides training and business performance coaching to business owners, professionals, and executives. Steve also speaks to organizations, conducts workshops, and training.  Focusing on lead generation and revenue creation to get growth results for the business.

    Contact Biz Coach Steve today to see how he can assist you to get the results you want in your business, [email protected], or www.bizcoachsteve.com. He is in the business of growing businesses. Need a speaker, contact Steve today.

    #bizcoachstevef #entrepreneur #smallbusiness #business #smallbiz #coaching #businessowner #businesscoach #leadership #marketing #speaking #keynotespeaker #meetingprofs #eventprofs #meetingstoday #businesscoachnearme