Biz Coach Steve

Tag: Coaching

  • 5 mistakes to avoid on LinkedIn

    5 mistakes to avoid on LinkedIn

    It seems people have been talking about LinkedIn quite a bit lately.

    They tell me, they love LinkedIn, but get lots of spammy messages and they are not finding prospects on LinkedIn. What I am finding out is that these people are complaining about the spam they get, but in turn, they are spamming others in the same fashion.

    Most people try to add and accept meaningful connections on the professional network.

    Still, there are reasons why you might not be making the connections you are hoping for.  Here are 5 simple mistakes to avoid on LinkedIn.

    1. You’re not sending a personalized message

    If someone walked up to you at a networking event and said, “I’d like to add you to my professional network,” you would probably give him a confused look. Sending a generic LinkedIn invitation to a stranger without introducing yourself is a big mistake.

    Instead, check their profile and find a meaningful interest that you share. Start by introducing yourself, and then mention the thing you have in common. Your potential connection needs to understand who you are. It is also crucial that they see how they, too, can benefit from this professional connection. Make sure it’s someone you want to connect with. Stop just inviting the world.

    2. Your profile is lacking significant information

    Hand down this is the simplest item to fix and the biggest mistake I see on LinkedIn. If you don’t have a headline or a professional profile photo, chances are your connection requests are going to be ignored. Having a complete LinkedIn profile and optimizing it for search help potential connections to know that you are legit.

    Don’t say in your message you are LinkedIn lead generation guru and your profile is not complete or use archaic phrases and show you are working at a fast food place.

    Make sure you have these important components:

    • Headline. Describe what you do and whom you work with.
    • Summary. This is arguably the most important element on your profile. The LinkedIn algorithm searches for keywords on your page, so take full advantage of the 2,000-character space to tell people what you do. Jazz it up by adding mixed media, such as images and videos.
    • Experience. Your profile will seem incomplete and humdrum if you don’t go beyond what’s on your résumé. Adding relevant images, videos, presentations or articles will help your profile stand out and enhance your credibility.
    • Endorsements. Unfortunately, our competitive society loves numbers. Opting out of endorsements or having very few will make your profile seem suspicious. Reach out to family members or co-workers to boost endorsements.
    • Connections. When someone is considering your invitation, they think, “How will this connection benefit my network?” Ten to 20 connections are a small, unimpressive network. Try connecting with friends, co-workers, family members, neighbors, fellow alumni, and former colleagues before you send connection requests to prospects and recruiters.
    • Customizable LinkedIn URL. You can create your URL based on your first and last name or the industry in which you are knowledgeable.

    Although there is no one right way to craft a LinkedIn profile, you will be more likely to connect with prospects and recruiters if your profile is complete and optimized.

    3. Your spelling, punctuation, and capitalization are flawed.

    If you have improper spelling, punctuation, and capitalization, people will be inclined to delete your request. Most prospects and recruiters will call you out for it every time. On a professional network, you must clean up your mistakes and have a polished profile. PLEASE DO NOT USE ALL CAPITALS IN ALL YOUR TEXT ON LINKEDIN.  That’s yelling and very unprofessional.

    4. You’re spelling their name wrong.

    Check and double-check the name of your potential connection. If you misspell their name or call them by the wrong name, you will be ignored.

    5. You’re trying to sell something.

    If you want to sell something to a prospect on LinkedIn, do not try to do so on your initial request. Many prospects and recruiters want to cultivate their professional networks. They don’t want you sending some crappy sales pitch to all their connections. Try having a more meaningful conversation rather than sending a template sales pitch.

    No matter how you change your approach to connecting, some people will not accept your request. Don’t take it personally; users have varied philosophies. It might just be an indication that your targeted person isn’t seeing what they would gain by connecting with you.

    Why do you accept or reject LinkedIn connection requests?

    Update your LinkedIn profile. Connect with your true target market using personalized messages. Don’t sell your stuff in your first message to someone.

    To your business success.
    Biz Coach Steve

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    Steve Feld, MBA, Certified Business Coach, and Author, a coffee enthusiast, provides training and business performance coaching to business owners, professionals, and executives. Steve also speaks to organizations and 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 shelve Knowledge?

    Do you shelve Knowledge?

    This past week I attended an annual conference for over 120 high-performing coaches from all over the world.

    Yes, it was amazing.

    All the presenters were coaches sharing their knowledge, wisdom, strategies, and tactics so we can learn from them and help our clients in a greater capacity.

    I know many of you have attended a conference of some kind. Maybe it was for your company. Your industry, or a conference/convention where you can gain more knowledge to help your own business grow or improve your life.

    As I am preparing for my first TEDx talk, I do mention how we as attendees to events like these, shelve our knowledge.

    We take the time to travel to these events and spend money on the event, hotel, transportation, food, etc. Sit in a cold conference room, and drink bad coffee. Listen to speakers that are giving away gold that could help us in our lives or business. Get the workbooks, handouts, etc. Take copious notes. Maybe even buy the presenters books or programs.

    The event is over. We go back home, tired, and excited, and do what 98% of the attendees do with that information.

    They put it on a shelf or in an electronic file and say, “I will get to implementing everything I learned – one day.”

    Sad to say, that day never comes for most people.

    Shelving knowledge.

    No one will get around to implementing what you took away from the event unless you block time out after the event to develop a solid plan of action to implement all that knowledge you just gained into your business or life.

    One technique I learned a long time ago was to block out time immediately after the event. As soon as the event was done, block out time to create a plan on what I wanted to implement in my business and my life from everything I just learned.

    I had everything down to less than one page.  Then rank each action item from 1 to 4.

    • 1’s are items that can be implemented very fast without doing anything else and would give me and my business the biggest impact.
    • 2’s are items that can be implemented that would lead to a big impact but may need to have to do something first before implementing.
    • 3’s are items that would time some time to implement.
    • 4’s are long-term action items that can be completed after all the 1’s, 2’s, and 3’s are done and may need some outside assistance to get them implemented.

    Once everything is ranked, then put a due date or timeline for each action item. Now put those tasks in your calendar to get them completed.

    One tactic I have heard (and it works very well) is to block out the first business day after the event to create and implement your action plan.  No matter what, just block out dedicated time to look at your notes, and all the materials, put down what you want to implement in your business and life, then rank them in the order to accomplish the action steps, put them in your calendar and start implementing those great ideas.

    One great idea that I took away from the conference was building a new Podcast – Experts over coffee.

    This podcast will be different than our current podcast – Biz Coach & Coffee.

    Looking to launch it in January of 2023 and have started booking business owners who are experts in their industry to share their expertise to help all the listeners grow their businesses and improve their lives.

    So, if you own your own business for 5 or more years, have more than 3 employees (who are not relatives), and are willing to be interviewed on the podcast. Then let me know. Or if you know of a great business owner that fits our criteria and would like to be our guest and talk about their business and industry, please let me know.

    If you have that shelved knowledge. Book some time on your calendar. Get that material off your shelf or computer files and look at it again. See what you could use to grow your business or improve your life. Then create an action plan and start implementing that knowledge.

    Un-shelf that knowledge.

    #

    Steve Feld, MBA, Certified Business Coach, and Author, a coffee enthusiast, provides training and business performance coaching to business owners, professionals, and executives. Steve also speaks to organizations and 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

  • What is Your USP?

    What is Your USP?

    What is your USP?

    You may have heard that question at some point when you were building your business or starting up. USP stands for Unique Selling Proposition.

    In very simple terms, why should I buy from you versus anyone else?  What makes you different? Unique?

    After presenting at two large business groups and hearing everyone’s elevator pitch, it still blows my mind how many people do not have a clear focus on what their business is and who problems they solve and to whom are they solving those problems.  We hear extra filler junk, such as. “I am like the UBER of XXX.” So, what I heard is that you have a billion-dollar valuation, are in the debt over a billion dollars, and have not been profitable and probably will never be profitable. Not good.

    This was from an INC magazine article. “A Unique Selling Point is a feature or a characteristic of a product that makes it stand out from the masses and allows the product to look more exclusive/valuable to the customer. The unique selling proposition is often the crucial factor why a customer bought a specific product from a specific company (A), rather than a comparable product with similar features to another company (B). Simply put: the USPs are the unique benefits a product offers its purchasers.”

    So how can you create your own very compelling USP?

    Simple. Follow this simple formula and create your USP. Think of it as your elevator pitch.

    First, write down your target market. Now you may have more than one, but not more than three. Why? Because if your message is trying to be everything to everyone, no one cares, and no one wants to hear it. They want someone to solve their problems-not the world. Be specific about who your market is.  If it’s dentists, then what kind of dentist? Orthodontist? Periodontist? General? Oral? Etc.  Be specific.  “My company works with orthodontists.”

    Next, write down at least 25 problems your target customer has, then write down 10 more. This will really help your business down the road. Identify the top 3 problems your target market has based on your list. How do you know what the top 3 problems are? Hopefully, you know why your customers are doing business with you. If not, ask them what problems/challenges your product/services solve for them.  If you don’t have customers yet, then meet with a mentor to have them help you find those top 3 challenges. You also may know what 3 challenges you want to solve for your customers-but it must be in alignment with THEIR needs.  I.E. Orthodontists problems are; patients not showing up for appointments, potential clients not having insurance to get braces (cost), and finding good staff.


    Now write down at least one solution to each one of the problems you outlined in the last step. Be specific. Using our dentist as an example; send out email, text, and voice mail reminders for the appointment, provide another insurance solution if they don’t have insurance, and use a systematic process to hire great staff.

    Let’s put it all together.

    “My company works with elite orthodontists who have challenges obtaining new patients and attracting high-level staff. We help them develop acquisition and retention strategies to build their practice and their team.”

    You may be thinking, how did I get that USP from the exercise? It’s simple. THEIR problem is getting new patients in because they don’t have insurance, keeping patients, and getting new staff. The USP says that in a language that is speaking to the orthodontist-not to anyone else. Now, if another type of dentist heard this, would they want to know more from you?   Absolutely. You can alter your USP to your market.

    I.E. “My company works with elite dentists who have challenges obtaining new patients and attracting high-level staff. We help them develop acquisition and retention strategies to build their practice and their team.”

    See how that works.  You must speak to your audience. It’s NOT about you. It’s about who you serve, what are their problems, and how are you solving them.

    Stop being the Uber, Apple, Tesla, Google, Amazon, or whatever other company you want to compare yourself to. They have their USP. Here are a few.

    Uber: Ride when you want, where you want

    Apple:  We provide a lifestyle with our products

    FedEx: When your package absolutely, positively has to get there overnight

    Coke: The real thing

    Google: Access the world from your fingertips

    Mine: We can uncover $50,000 to over $100,000 of hidden revenue for a business in 45-minutes

    You are NOT them. They have established themselves in the market, you are working on establishing yourself. Speak to your audience, be unique, and be you. They do not have to define their market; it has already been defined.

    Create your USP today.  Be clear.

    #

    Steve Feld, MBA, Certified Business Coach, and Author, a coffee enthusiast, provides training and business performance coaching to business owners, professionals, and executives. Steve also speaks to organizations and 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

  • Eight Signs it’s Time to Hire a Business Coach

    Eight Signs it’s Time to Hire a Business Coach

    As a leader, you might think you should have everything figured out already, but this simply isn’t true. While all of us have our talents, leadership skills are often something we have to learn along the way.

    Enter the business coach. A business coach oversees and guides a manager or founder in starting, growing, or developing a business. Like a sports coach, a business coach’s job is to help you develop the skills and resources you need to be successful. A coach is there to assist you in your business, not to tell you how to run your business. They can see your shortcoming and provide you the tools and resources to fill in those gaps to grow your business and improve your own skills.

    Whether you’re overwhelmed, in need of advice, or want to see better results, here are 8 signs that it may be time to bring in a coach into your business.

    1. You Are Overwhelmed

    One of the top signs that it’s time for a coach is when you hit that feeling of being overwhelmed. You are overwhelmed by feeling like there is too much to do and too few hours in the day to get everyone accomplished. You are overwhelmed by not knowing how much profit you are making at the end of your month. And you are overwhelmed because you don’t feel like you have control of your business, your employees, or your vendors.

    2. You Need a Confidant to Talk About Your Business With

    Standing center stage expects excellence. Who can you trust to speak without feeling exposed, or impairing your credibility or reputation within the organization or its clients? How would it feel to have a safe sounding board for honest feedback on your ideas and a partner to support you in the process of design, implementation, and evaluation? Time to hire a coach!  

    3. You Intellectually Know What to Do But Don’t Do It

    You need a coach when you “know” what to do but don’t implement. Lack of change typically occurs because you need to experience some paradigm shifts that require someone with an outside perspective to challenge your assumptions and because you need someone to help you translate general principles into specific steps that you can take in your own life.

    4. You Aren’t Getting the Results You Want

    Sometimes we think we know the right path to take in our career growth or business growth, but we come to find it isn’t working. To get the results we want, we may need guidance from someone who can see things from a more objective view, not a subjective view. Turning to a business coach can increase ROI, surge active engagement, and allow one to remove obstacles that are precluding results.

    5. You Want to Save Time and Money

    If you’re business or thinking about starting a business and thinking, “Wow, I could use someone to help me figure out the best way to do this,” you should be considering getting a coach. Going the “lone wolf” route can cost much more in wasted time and money, and that can all be avoided by working with an excellent coach.

    6. You Find Yourself Listening Only To Your own Ideas

    You need to hire a business coach is when you find yourself only listening to your own ideas. The higher up the ladder you are, the more people tend not to be honest and just comply. The same thing can happen to entrepreneurs because they have a tendency to work alone; they tend to only hear their own ideas. We all need checks and balances. A coach can help you.

    7. You’re Feeling Stuck and Frustrated by Others

    Einstien stated the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. I hear this all the time. My clients often have a similar story reappearing in their lives in different ways. A great time to work with a coach is when you find yourself repeatedly frustrated by others around you at work, or if you can see that you have some unhealthy workplace dynamics, but you’re not sure how to really shift them. The unbiased perspective of a coach can be just what that executive needs.

    8. You Want Your Company to Grow

    If you’re alive and breathing as an entrepreneur, you need a coach. I’m not only a coach I am also the CEO of my company with multiple people in the organization. I’ve hired half a dozen coaches (and have 2 coaches), been the beneficiary of a couple of dozen mentors, and worked with multiple strategic partners. Your company only expands at the rate of your own growth. Find a coach you can rely on and get to work. The ROI is ridiculous.

    Stop the madness and wishing your company can grow. Get the help you need to really have your business take off. It will be one of the best investments you ever made in your business and yourself.

    #

    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

  • 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?

    #

    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.

    #

    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

  • What is your EXIT strategy?

    Stephen Covey stated, “Think with the end in mind.”

    Many business owners are so excited and overwhelmed that they often overlook a big part of their business, operating plan.  Their exit plans.

    You may finally figure your target market. Your USP (Unique Selling Proposition). Your business structure and much more, but you have not figured out how it all ends.

    Here are the most common ways to end a business:

    • Your business dies. You must shut the doors. Usually due to lack of cash.
    • You die in your business-literally.  Do you have will set up on what will happen with the business when that day comes?
    • You get bought out. You worked hard over the years. Put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into your business, now you want to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Do you have a plan to sell? Is your business sellable?
    • You buy a business and they assume control of the merged company. Nice, what are you going to do next?
    • You pass it to a family member (legacy). Most family members do not want YOUR business. The ones that do, it may turn into a legal battleground.
    • You voluntarily shut it down. Could be due to some internal or external situation, but usually must happen rapidly and the outcome is usually not too good.

    The sale or transition of a business will likely be the single largest and most important financial transaction of a business owner’s life………and its level of success will impact the rest of their life in retirement.

    Mapping out a successful plan to exit the business can help business owners:

    • Avoid unnecessary or excessive taxes.
    • Minimize risk during the transition.
    • Realize the full value for their life’s work.
    • In recent years only 20 to 30% of businesses listed for sale ended up being sold. Many of them did not sell for what the owners initially thought they were worth.
    • The failure to plan and manage succession well is the greatest threat to the survival of a family business:
      • 41% of family businesses plan to pass ownership and management of their business to the next generation in the family
      • Yet…only 30% of family businesses last into the 2nd generation, only 12% into the 3rd generation and only 3% into the 4th generation and beyond. (Family Firm Institute)

    The key to exit planning is that it isn’t actually about the exit itself. It’s about the planning for the exit. The staging process that leads to a happy ending for the business owner, bringing them maximum value for the business when it’s sold.

    Here are some exit statistics:

    • Most business are owned by nearing retirement baby boomers 63% of all businesses. The youngest are now 56.
    • 80-90% of their wealth is tied up in their businesses. They have NO retirement plan.
    • 75% plan to transition over the next 10 years; 48% in the next 5 years.
    • Represents a transfer of 4,500,000 businesses and over $10 trillion of wealth.
    • 78% have no exit strategy team on board.

    How successful are we at transitioning businesses?

    • 12 months after selling, 3 out of 4 business owners surveyed “profoundly regretted” the decision. (Price Waterhouse)
    • 70-80% of businesses put on the market don’t sell. (Business Reference Guide, T. West)
    • 95% of M&A professionals believe a business owners unrealistic expectations of company value are the biggest obstacle to sale or transfer. (AM&AA)
    • Private companies are not generating returns on investment greater than their costs of capital. (Private Capital Markets Study, Rob Slee)

    A successful business exit strategy includes 5 key ingredients:

    1. A written exit plan, and related documentation, based on the owner’s objectives.
      1. A team of professional advisors to each help with their areas of expertise (Business Coach, Attorney, CPA/Accountant, Financial Advisor, Banker, Insurance Advisor, Business Broker, etc.)
      1. Positive cash flow in the business and determining a quantified business value.
      1. A strong management team.
      1. Enough time to prepare for a successful exit (typically planning 3-5 years, minimum, in advance of an exit…the more time prior to the owner’s planned retirement age, the better)

    Are you prepared to exit?

    How are you planning on exiting 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 the lead generation and revenue creation to get growth results for the business.

    Contact Biz Coach Steve today to see how he can assist you 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

  • 4 Simple Strategies to Manage Your Online Reputation

    True story: In 2017, Devon an 18-year old was charging his Dell laptop on his couch. It let out a big bang and then burst into flames. He blew the flames out. Unplugged the laptop and put it on the table outside. It exploded again. This time he used a fire extinguisher. As that wasn’t enough, it exploded again. It was all caught on home security cameras and became viral overnight and spread like wildfire across the internet. Thousands of bloggers started bashing the company and demanding they apologize. In a matter of days, the company’s hard-earned reputation and goodwill in the marketplace was in jeopardy as Dell issued the biggest product recall in computer history.

    Michael Dell started his computer company in his dorm room and transformed it into a multi-billion-dollar company. He spent years building his legendary empire and suddenly, the company’s reputation was at stake thanks to the power of Social Media.  This could happen to your company.  Are your prepared to handle your online reputation?

    Bad things Happen to Good Companies

    The internet is filled with stories of companies and individuals whose reputations have been in ruins overnight. Honest businesses fall prey to manipulating competitors out to ruin them and steal market share in return. Many businesses have experienced, through no fault of their own, scheming competitors bad mouthing and spreading false rumors about them through social media. Heck just read the fake Yelp reviews. These days, the means to spread rumors about a business are many and as a result, it is imperative for businesses to proactively manage their online reputation.

    In a study by McKinsey & Company, they stated how consumers really make decisions. Part of the study stated, that the number one-way consumers make a decision to buy a product or service is through online reviews and ratings. Online reviews are not just for major sites like Amazon. Today, a customer can research a product or service just about anywhere including blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and of course, within the dreaded search engine result pages. As such, business owners need to ensure that their company reviews are clean. By clean, I mean over 90% of reviews for your products and services should be positive. Of course, every now and then you will have that rogue customer who is not satisfied with your product or service and even though you may have gone the extra mile to satisfy him or her, it just didn’t cut it for them. But that’s the cost of doing business.

    Reputation Management online is not as tough as one would imagine and can be broken down into four solid pieces. Monitor, Listen, Respond and Amplify. Let’s look at each one of them:

    Monitoring your Reputation: 
    The starting point of online reputation management requires businesses to begin proactively monitoring conversations happening about their brand. Automated keyword searches can quickly reveal the topics and themes that customers (and competitors) are talking about. Companies often feel overwhelmed in the beginning due to the large volume of content on the internet. But proper configuration and tweaking of keywords can help tremendously. It is easy to set up Google Alerts. Use your company’s name as a keyword and have Google send you what it finds about your company. Set up a few different alerts. Include your name on one of the Alerts, Organizations you are affiliated with, Etc.

    Listening to your Customers:
    In this critical piece of online reputation management, a business needs to separate the noise from the real conversations taking place on social media about their products or services. The real conversations can be separated into two distinct categories; those that are actively talking about your business, and those that may warn of a storm on the horizon. The latter category requires you to listen carefully and diffuse the storm before it gains strength. Most social media managers categorize and separate these conversations into those that need “immediate attention” and those that require “active listening.” This allows them to be prepared and to strategize ways to diffuse the situation before the conversation turns into an ugly rant against their brand. Listening requires a careful plan of action with a fine balance between coming across as overprotective and defensive and simply monitoring your reputation.

    Responding is an Art:
    Effectively responding and diverging crises is an art. You don’t want your communication to sound like a well-honed PR message. People complain on social media channels because they are not satisfied, and they are usually hoping for a resolution. Always be sympathetic and put yourself in the customer’s position.  This does not mean that you should allow a customer to take your brand hostage while they are ranting against your company. However, responding means first analyzing what went wrong and how you can make it right. Most large companies follow a certain set of processes to ensure that they are responding to customer complaints on social media in a fair manner. These set processes can be setting up special email groups, hiring additional employees in the customer resolution area, and coming up with special offers to win these customers back.  Responding negatively will only do more harm than good. Watch your words.

    Amplify your Wins:
    I have seen many companies go to great lengths to satisfy an angry customer on a social media platform. It is not uncommon for complaining customers to receive complimentary gift certificates, free services, heavy discounts, you name it, in response to their public complaints.  At the end, both the customer and company are happy, and all is forgotten.

    A very critical piece that companies often neglect is to amplify the positive actions the company took to satisfy the angry customer. Traditional customer service folks are not trained on how to amplify positive remarks. This onus typically falls on the social media managers to let the world know that your company goes great lengths to satisfy their customers. Amplification of positive experiences with your brand or services goes a long way in the social media world. This amplification is not just leaving a comment behind but finding strategic, meaningful ways to communicate to the rest of the world. This is the art of social media.

    These are just some of the high-level strategy pieces that a company of any size can employ to manage their online reputation.

    What strategies are you going to take to manage your online reputation?

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    Steve Feld, MBA, provides training and business performance coaching to business owners, professionals and executives. Steve also speaks to organizations, conducts workshops and training.  Focusing on the lead generation and revenue creation to get growth results for the business. Contact Steve today to see how he can assist you grow 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

  • START 2019 OFF RIGHT 14-DAY GOAL SETTING

    “Any road will get you there, if you don’t know where you are going,” – Lewis Carroll

    ”A goal without a plan is just a wish” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery

    As they say,a goal with a plan is just a dream. Do you often find yourself daydreaming of having something-whether that’s brand new car, increasing your monthly income-personal and for your business, but then never working towards that goal?  That’s because you don’t have a plan of action.

    This 14-Day Goal Setting exercise is for anyone who is looking to achieve a specific goal in their personal and professional life, no matter how big or small. If you’re unsure of how to go about starting on a path to achieving your goals, then this exercise is for you.

    By completing this exercise, you’ll gain clarity into exactly what you want to achieve in every area of your life and determine a clear-cut plan for how to achieve those goals. We will be focusing on your BUSINESS goals. Of course, you can apply this exercise to your personal life as well.

    The 14-Day Goal setting exercise outlines exactly what you need to do during each day of the challenge to be successful. We want you to set yourself up for a fantastic 2019 and take your business to the next level and beyond. Over the course of the next year we will be expanding on your business goals and provide you with some more information that you can use to achieve your 2019 business goals.

    Day 1 -THINK: Think about your business as it is now and write down the things that are most important to you for your business.  I.E. What do you want your revenue to be at the end of 2019? How many new customer do you want to have every month?

    Day 2 -IMAGINE: Imagine that you could wave a magic wand and make your business perfect in all areas.What would it look like? I.E. Having a team that is all on the same page,working effectively to grow your business.

    Day 3 –WRITE IT DOWN:  Using your thoughts from Day 2, write down each goal you’d like to achieve in your ideal business. Make your description clear and detailed in every sense. I.E. You need to make X number of call a day to close Y number of clients that equal Z number of revenue per quarter, per month, per week, or per day.

    Day 4 –DECIDE UPON YOUR MAJOR DEFINITE PURPOSE: Ask yourself: If I could achieve any business goal on this list within the next 2 weeks, which one goal would have the greatest positive impact on my business? I.E. Upgrade the computer system to streamline the sales process.

    Day 5 –SET A DEADLINE:  Think of a reasonable date for you to achieve your goal. If your goal is big enough, set sub-deadlines. I.E. Will upgrade the computer system on X day and test it out on Y day, everyone will be on the new system on Z day.

    Day 6 –IDENTIFY ANY OBSTACLES: Identify any potential obstacles that you will have to overcome to achieve your goal. Determine how to overcome each of them.  I.E. Getting the IT department to install and upgrade the system. Find an outside IT firm that can do the job within the next couple of days.

    Day 7 –IDENTIFY THE KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS YOU’LL NEED: What one skill, if you developed and did it consistently, in an excellent fashion, would help you the most to achieve your most important goal? I.E. If you are not well versed in accounting, speak to your CPA or take a basic accounting class so you can understand your numbers to make better decisions within your business.

    Day 8 –MAKE A LIST: Make a list of everything (each and every step) you will have to do to achieve your goal.  I.E. Just start a list of each step that needs to be taken to move your business from where it is now to the goal. 

    Day 9 –ORGANIZE YOUR LIST INTO A PLAN: Organize your list into a series of steps from the beginning all the way through to the completion of your goal. I.E. If you need to make 10 calls a day, then your list should be made the day before on who to call with their contact information the day before, why you are calling, even have your call script ready to go.

    Day 10 –WRITE YOUR PLAN DOWN IN AN AGENDA: Write down each phase of your plan in your agenda all the way through completion of your goal. Plan each day, week and month in advance.  I.E. Block time in the day to make the calls,then put the result of that call in your sales tracker.

    Day 11 –DETERMINE YOUR SUPPORT SYSTEM: Make a list of every person in your life that you will have to work with or work around to achieve your goal. I.E. Contact your CPA to have them explain your numbers. Contact an IT company to upgrade your system. ETC.

    Day 12 –MAKE YOUR GOAL PUBLIC: Tell others what goal you intend to achieve and by when, especially those in your support system.  I.E. Get a Score mentor and tell them your goals along with the result you want with the date you are going to accomplish the goal. Join a master mind group.

    Day 13 –PRACTICE VISUALIZATION OF YOUR GOAL:  Create clear, vivid,exciting, emotional pictures of your goals as if they were already a reality.  I.E. Visualize yourself, your business after you achieved your goals. What does your business look like? How does that make you feel?

    Day 14 –DO YOUR FIRST TASK:  The hardest part is starting. On the last day of this exercise, complete the first task you’ve outlined for yourself and get started on the path of success.  I.E.JUST DO IT!! You first task may not be perfect, SO WHAT?  Just do it! Do not put this off and start taking action TODAY.

    By following this 14-Day goal setting challenge it will get you to develop your 2019 business goals. Be as descriptive as possible with realistic deadlines. Get the people in place to help you achieve your goals.

    Every month we will give you more information to keep you moving forward in your business,but you need to know where you want your business to go to before anything else. An archer needs to know where the bull’s-eye is on the target before they pull the string back and fire an arrow.  Start today to be successful in 2019.

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    Steve Feld, MBA is a certified business coach that provides training and business performance coaching to business owners, professionals and executives.He has owned and operated 6 businesses and operated 3 large corporations with Fortune 500 Companies and assisted hundreds of business owners achieve their business goals. #bizcoachstevef

  • Ready to Grow in 2019? Plan to tell a story, and tell it well!

    Have you ever considered that one of your primary roles as the owner of the business is lead storyteller? That beyond what you know and what you can do, there’s a more essential role that only you can fill? It’s time to stretch yourself in a different way and TELL YOUR STORY.

    Start by thinking back to this year-2018. If you had to choose a word or short phrase – something that captured the best of 2018 was about for your business, what would it be?  Was it a year of ‘growth,’ or ‘stabilizing our systems,’ or ‘innovation,’ or‘expansion?’  Even if you had a down year in terms of profits or revenues, can you find a positive thread, or a big decision you made and stood behind, that ran through it that you could build on this year?

    Finding a theme for 2018, and every year, can be very powerful. Just imagine if you knew what that word was in advance – on January 1 last year – and you talked with your team about what it meant, how it connected your long-term and short-term business goals, and could use it as a conversation starter to talk to everyone in the company about what the year was going to be like for them?

    Your people want to hear the truth. Sure, they’d prefer it was an optimistic truth, but it has to be the real truth…

    One of the most common errors business owners make is assuming that the only thing employees want to hear is that the company is growing rapidly. It’s just not true. Your people want to hear the truth. Sure,they’d prefer it was an optimistic truth, but it must be the real truth, because they already know what’s true on the front lines of the business, often times more clearly than you do.

    Take a few minutes to look at your organization from an outside point of view. Just sit and write down all the positives and negatives that occurred this year and wait until you can find that one word or phrase that captures what this year is all about. Maybe as you do, you’ll see that 2018 is a year of ‘stabilizing our finances’ and 2019 is really the year of ‘initial expansion?’ Whatever it is for you is fine, just make sure it’s the most true and real one you can find.

    Now, once you’ve got it, you’re going to make a really big deal of it. I mean a REALLY BIG DEAL. Schedule a company meeting, whether you have 100 employees or one. Tell them about the process you went through to figure out this next year’s theme. Tell them a (true) story about what you now realize 2018 was about. Show them how much you care about not just today’s results but the journey that your business is on – no matter how difficult or over whelming it might seem on any given day.

    “Team, this year was about                              , and here’s why:                              . Next year is about _______________ and here’s why: _______________”

    You’ll be amazed what happens when everyone – but especially your key managers – can feel how this year will lead to the next one. You aren’t selling anyone on anything, you’re just giving them an experience of what it will feel like when the business is that much healthier than it is today.And the pain – the gap – is what will motivate everyone to get there, including you. It’s what will inform and enliven all of your conversations about the specific strategies and tactics you’ve come up with and will keep coming back to throughout the year. And whenever you get stuck, all you’ll have to remember is that one word.

    So, what is that one word that describes your businesses 2018?

    What is that one word that will describe your business in 2019?

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    Steve Feld, MBA is a certified business coach that provides training and business performance coaching to business owners, professionals and executives.He has owned and operated 6 businesses and operated 3 large corporations with Fortune 500 Companies and assisted hundreds of business owners achieve their business goals. #bizcoachstevef