How To Survive To Success

Long term strategies are key, as well as agility in changing times, markets and economies.

I often recommend the article, "Are you Prepared to Succeed in Business" by Douglas H. Rogers, Jr., Winfield Akeley, Robert Edelson Content at the Biz Info Library.

Here is an extract:

"In today's competitive market, small businesses must deal with new competitors, ever changing markets, price sensitivity, and cash flow issues — flying by the seat of your pants just doesn't work anymore. Do you desire to lead your business to growth and expansion?

Rapidly changing technologies, instantaneous worldwide communications, and strong customer preferences require rethinking of how we manage a business. Technologies that lead to product life cycles of 18 to 36 months, and the necessity to focus on true customer desires affect most businesses either directly or indirectly. In order to meet dynamic changes in business conditions and customer needs, an organization must be agile and responsive to these changes.

The long-term success of a business is dependent on its long-term strategies. It has been said that a company can overcome inefficient use of internal resources if its basic strategy is brilliant, but not likely to get by with the wrong strategies even with excellent production and distribution capabilities.

Past success formulas might not work in the future. Therefore, a company must periodically reexamine its situation as objectively as possible and determine the best course of action for the future in order to meet its goals and objectives."

The article provides further details and case studies in strategic vision and planning by successful firms. It can be downloaded at no charge from the second, vertical, Box Net "References" cube at the link below.

Small Business Resources

How Important Is Attitude To Business Success?

Last week I had lunch with a young guy in the banking industry. I met about 4 years ago when he was just a teller and hadn’t seen him since then. Today he pulled up to the restaurant in a gorgeous new car, had on a stunning suit and is now the community director of a very powerful bank. I knew little about what had transpired for him in those last four years – but I do know he’s in an industry that has been struggling and has a whole lot of people who have been let go.

However, it was easy to observe why this guy has excelled. Every encounter was courteous and affirming for the other person. From the greeter to the servers to the random people walking by, each one received a great smile and a sincere “thank you” for their contribution, no matter how small or insignificant. I didn’t have to ask about additional degrees, certifications, or inside favors to understand why his career has soared. He doesn’t have to “game” his way to keeping his job. In fact, he told me of the constant offers he has coming his way from competitors who have seen his success. And he’s making more money than he ever dreamed of a few years ago.

He has guaranteed his position, not through manipulation or asserting his rights or having a contract, but by being a person everyone wants on their team.

That sounds strangely familiar – like it’s right out of a book written in 1937, right after the Great Depression.

I have no idea if he has a college degree. But I know how his value would rank against most MBA graduates.

By Patrick McFadden

Critical Questions To Ask When Creating A Business Strategy

The best guidance on this topic can be found in an article entitled, "Are Your Prepared to Succeed in Business" from the Biz Info Library.

The article can be downloaded in its entirety free of charge at the second, vertical Box Net "References" cube in the left margin of this resource ....

SmalltoFeds

Here is an excerpt .....

"How should you plan strategically? First of all, a distinction must be made. Business planning and strategic planning are not one and the same.

A good strategic plan will cover all areas of business, focusing on ....

Why a particular market, product, or service makes sense.

How a business might unfold and how its industry will react to it.

A good business plan will incorporate strategic thinking and planning emphasizing:

What the business will do.

How and when the business will deploy resources to generate revenues and profits."

I've seen a lot of businesses large and small with BAD or neglected strategies, but most people try and have some kind of overall plan.....

You need to have the standard approach:

- Vision
- Mission
- Goals
- Market and Competition Analysis
- SWOT
- Overall strategic approach
- Methods
- Implementation management plan (inc. sales and marketing)

Very standard, loads of templates around to download.

A Business Plan should be a "living document" in the sense of an interactive set of documents or even emails or intra-sites that let the plan evolve over time. It must NOT be a static document, written by a consultant and parked on a shelf and forgotten. The management plan needs to link directly to budgeting and into accounts in order that strategy and what follows is amended by interaction with real results.

Remember, "winging it" leads you straight down the tube ........

More Secrets To Business Success

Here are more tips on "secrets" to business success .....

1. Make friends everywhere. Friends will support you when times are good and when they're bad. Also friends buy from friends. There are different levels of friendship, of course.

2. Only ever go into partnership with someone you trust with everything you have. Be certain about that.

3. Set clear goals and focus on them. Remind yourself and your team of them often.

4. Check that you're on track. Fix it if you're not.

5. Be clear about what your business is. Avoid getting involved with activities that are shiny but don't have anything to do with your business. That's what spare time is for.

6. Work harder than anyone else. Make sure your clients know that you're working hard for them.

7. Work at being better. Better than your competitors, better than you were yesterday. Quality shows & no-one recommends the second-best.

8. Care more than everyone else. If you really care, it helps all of the above.

9. Be inspired; be inspiring. Nobody wants to be involved with a pointless activity.

What is the secret to business success?

"Find a hungry crowd and give them what they want"

OR more precisely....

Find a hungry crowd (enabled with disposable income - B2C /or generous budgets - B2B) and give them what they need while selling them emotionally on the benefits as something they want.

The hardest skills to harness in that simple statement is the ability to do so at enough of a profit to make it sustainable, and without sacrificing your personal moral and ethical standing to chase the 'almighty dollar'.

To put it another way .....

Providing more value to enough people that they'll pay you to cover your costs with something left over.

What Is The Secret To Business Success?

Truthfully ... there is no "secret". But here's some tips to point you in the right direction. The rest is up to you.

Focus, work hard, sell hard, market constantly, expand as fast as you can - success breeds success and it's easy to get stuck small and enjoyable rather than big and profitable.

Work with people smarter than you. Pay them well; as a rule you get more work out of fewer well paid people cuz you get better people and more motivated. Lean to trust them too. Let them do their thing while you concentrate on growth.

Most businesses fail eventually thru cash flow and insufficient capital - not profits. Be nice to your bank from day one. Make the manager a 'friend of the company'. Have other friends of the company and use their connections and knowhow mercilessly.

Success leaves clues. Follow them, but don't forget to take your brain along.

Gather people smarter then you.

Have focus.

Protect your integrity. It is the most valuable asset you have.

Stay hungry.

How To Fail In Business

This is a bit tongue in cheek .... from Geoff Quartermaine Bastin.

I haven't succeeded, so here's the reasons why I haven't:

1. I'm a bad judge of character. The most successful venture I invested in (fish farm in Thailand) we selected a manager who fried his brains with ganja... what a lousy choice.

2. I have daft ideas about what's interesting as opposed to what makes money... follow the $$$$$$$$$

3. I read all the "self help books" and bios of people like Richard Branson - what works on paper actually doesn't in real life... I can write ALL the success methods you want... but life has a habit of not conforming

4. I got "educated" at Oxford University - it's taken me 40 years to unlearn all that rubbish. Run fast away from academics!

5. I trusted my business partners (See 1 above)... don' have partners.

6. I'm too clever by half (see 4)..... be humble (or pretend to be)

7. No access to capital and my wife keeps the savings - she's smart and I can't touch them:) LoL

8. Most of my clients are in the public sector - 'nuff said

9. I've enjoyed myself too much failing to succeed... But man HAVE I HAD FUN!!!!!

10. I believed LinkedIn actually made a difference to business success.

Sorry for this.... tongue in cheek.... actually I've done OK. But these gung ho BE POSITIVE formulas for success drive me up the wall!

The real secret is be prepared (have basic skills, networks and experience), work hard, work for the right people (fire clients who are an emotional or financial drag or professional drag), work with the right people (who are smarter than you are), defend your reputation at all costs ....and have a little luck.

4 Concepts for Success in Business

Expert entrepreneurs know that the concepts of a business is simple and that it only becomes complicated as new ideas and possibilities are uncovered for implementation. If you understand the simple the concepts for success in a business, you are able to handle details well. There are many techniques that can help you become a success in your industry and keeping things simple is actually one of its ingredients.

You are going to make money in a business if you sell your products and services to the people that are looking for them. You should do a research on the potential customers that might be interested in buying what your business has to offer. Show them the product or service and give them a trial so that you can demonstrate how it can benefit them in return. This also increases their desire to buy what you have to offer.

It is easy to measure the success of a business and does not require rigorous auditing. Ask yourself the question “Is my business generating profit?” and then you will have the answer whether it is successful or not. To define profit, it is simply the money earned when forming, producing and delivering products and services which cost you finances from the start. In other words, profit is income wherein the net amount is greater than zero. You will know that you are going through a loss if your income is less than zero.

Successful business men know that there are four elements in the concepts for success that is necessary in a business. They know that if one of these elements are lacking, then the business is bound to fail in the long run. The four important elements are research and development, production, marketing and sales and finance. All these factors are needed whether you are running a physical business or a virtual one through the Internet.

Researching is the idea of finding out what people want and need in a certain time period. This is where you know who these people are and where they are. You will study facts whether your business will earn profit in this market or not.

When it comes to production, you need to research and develop a product or service that will benefit both you and your consumers. Once the product or service has been properly developed, you need to work out how you can produce them in a way that is cost-effective for you and is working in the right level of quality for your consumers.

Marketing and sales is where you find the people who want to pay you for the products and services you offer. It is here that you understand and deliver the communication which results in people purchasing from your business.

Last but not the least in the elements needed in the concepts for success in a business is finance, which in a shorter definition, is the proper management of your money. If you properly manage your financial resources, you can cover your costs efficiently and have money left over which is your profit. The higher the money you have left after everything has been paid for is the profit that your business is generating and this can be a basis of success for you


The above article courtesy of Get-Success.Biz

What Are The Top 5 Reasons Why Small Businesses Fail

Research shows that less than 5 out of 10 small businesses survive beyond first 5 years. Any budding entrepreneur planning to invest their time and savings into a new venture would not want to be a part of this sobering statistic.

The primary reason for a business to fail is very simple: Outgoing money is higher than incoming money. Sometimes it is called cash flow, but that is not what it really is. They are just spending it before they have it, and that will not work very long.

Some business owners think they can run several businesses at the same time, thinking that if one is low another will be high. Not so; they will probably both be low because the owner is not focused and using 100% of their skills and effort.

Frequently, a business does not know what business they are in. They think they make a great product or provide an awesome service, but they fail to consider what business their (potential) customer/client thinks they are in, or wants them to be in.

Sometimes a business fails because they were too lax with spending when business was good, and when it gets bad, they don't know what to do, or have no reserves.

Many fail because they had no business being in business in the first place. The owner had neither the skill, talent, willingness to work hard, didn't know luck comes from planning and working, etc.

Here's a simple breakdown of 5 "reasons" small business fail:

1. No Viable Market ....

You have this great idea for service or product which you think will change the industry, but have you stopped to think if there are customers willing to pay for it?

2. Poor Capital Structure and Cash Flow Crunch ....

It is fairly common for business owners to take up too much debt or underestimate capital required to reach cash flow breakeven, causing many promising ventures to shut down prematurely.

3. Lack of Marketing Expertise .....

Your customers won’t buy from you if they don’t know you are around.

4. Poor Management .....

Poor management ranks high on what not to do list of business owner.

5. Out of touch with customers ....

Most small businesses are able to have a personal relationship with customers. This is one advantage that huge corporations do not have. But ... you have to put the effort in to make it happen!

I also think that the top problem really is unrealistic expectations.

Let's expand this a little and add some more meat to the issues:

1. They don't plan or allow enough time to get up and running, and/or don't plan for hardships/unplanned activities. (They have unrealistic objectives, goals and no plan to get there. Aren't prepared for the long hours with little pay in the beginning, etc.)

2. They think they know more than they do. I've seen many folks who make decisions that aren't sound even AFTER consulting with an expert. If you take the time to spend money working with an expert, listen to them and understand why they are saying what they are saying. Otherwise, don't spend the money in the first place.

3. They don't have a sales strategy. It isn't just knowing the audience or having a plan it is knowing how to sell, or hiring the right people that can do it for you. Sales for some may be a numbers game (a game of odds), but the best method is to play with strategy (a game of planning.) Do the research, establish a relationship, build trust, act as a trusted advisor and THEN close the deal. (In that order.)

4. They lack a plan to retain clients/customers and/or grow from client/customer input. Smart companies know it is cheaper to retain a customer than find a new one. Smarter companies learn to grow from customer input. Wise companies know how to build business looking for more creative ways by building on relationships internally with staff, customers and vendors.

5. They don't keep up with best practices in their industry and do not understand benchmarking. Where are they now? Where should they be? How do they plan to get there. How will they measure progress? How will they determine success?

6. They are not aligned as a company. Whether micro or huge, businesses can't be successful if everyone isn't on board. Look to the most successful companies in your industry, what are they doing right, what could you do better. How can you get your business aligned from your janitors to your senior executives? Everyone should have the same mission and all be striving to meet the same goals.

7. They spend too much time whining and worrying and not enough time in the trenches. Running a business isn't for the faint of heart. If you can't stand to see the sight of your own blood it is time to jump ship and get out of business. There may be times where your clients make you frustrated, bills seem to pile up, sales cycles seem to slow, etc. but it important to remember that it is all part of a process. Athletes know that by focusing on the process and not on the distractions is what leads to the best results.

There are so many reasons why businesses fail, I think the question should probably be changed to "What Are The Top 5 Things A Business Should Do To Not Fail". Because no matter what business, what industry, what team and capital, if you don't plan and monitor as the owner/director/manager then things can not be successful.

As parents, we don't simply give them a task to do and expect it to be done, we ask them to clean their rooms or prepare the table for dinner or whatever the task maybe and as parents, we watch them, develop them and grow them through the hours, day, weeks, years, centuries, as a parent we feel it is our responsiblity to support them, develop them and encourage them. Not everyone "makes" a child and has hundreds of thousands of dollars in their bank accounts, so capital is not always the key. Man kids are expensive :)

But the moral here is, if we develop and continually monitor our children and even as they develop in life, we have a goal for them to be a positive person, well respected or well presented or in general simply be a good person and not off the rails, shouldn't our business be "our baby"?