Adapt to Changes - Part 9

“Sow an act, and you reap a habit.

Sow a habit, and you reap a character."

Charles Reade (1814-1884)

Our final habit in this series concerns a topic that can be very difficult to accept, especially if you have devoted an enormous amount of time and energy in creating your business. Many times we have faced those “little bumps in the business road” that have kept us up at night. Generally, we find a solution that is compatible with our business expectations; however, once in a while, we have to change course and plot a new approach or game plan. Adapting to change can be a very personal experience, but being willing to consider other options is critical in a changing economic environment, as we are currently experiencing.

Golden Mailer has found these nine habits to be very useful in developing our business model they have proven very beneficial in achieving a sustaining our place in a very competitive market. As a brief review here are the 9 habits have found to be the most useful in building our business:

1. Know Your Market & What Your Customer Wants
2. Develop a Mission Statement and Business Plan
3. Create a Repeatable, Scalable Business Organization
4. Develop a Culture of Discipline
5. Be Professional
6. Be Consistent & Follow Through
7. Stay on Top of Profits & Cash Flow
8. Keep Your Employees Involved
9. Adapt to Changes

Adapt to Changes
Possibly the most difficult habit to acquire is that of accepting change, after all, your whole existence for putting your business together was to achieve a specific mission that had been successfully implemented and was serving yours and the communities needs. At least up until the demand for your services or product began to falter, you may find it difficult to accept the need to alter your business plan or vision of the company’s future. Well, lets face it, if you are not willing to adapt to the changes in the market place, or to the impact of new technology, or to the competition’s improved innovation, your business is going to be run over, and you will be left in the dust.
How do you avoid such a disaster? Well, you adopt change, make it your partner, and seek out new ideas for conducting business, by either experimenting with alternative products or services, or by considering various “what if” possible changes. The commercial environment is not a stationary workplace, it is in constant motion, and so should you be in a constant state of awareness about potential changes that might negatively impact your business. You must remain a positive, up beat owner who is aware of the business environment and all the options that affect your life’s work.

One final thought; persevere in all that you do. The challenges you will face in your business endeavors will only be overcome if you approach them with a conviction of absolute commitment. Seek solutions until the last moment, you will discover that consistently pursuing these habits will lead to a better destiny than you had originally dreamed possible.

Speaking of adapting to change:

• What changes have you had to make in the past four or five years to assure your business remains competitive?
• How has your business adapted to the innovations in computer applications related to marketing, billing, and customer service?

Keep Your Employees Involved - Part 8

“Sow an act, and you reap a habit.

Sow a habit, and you reap a character."

Charles Reade (1814-1884)

Habit number 8 is possibly the most fun as well as rewarding for you and your employees. Aside from the importance of managing a success business, employee participation enhances productivity and quality assurance.

Golden Mailer has found these nine habits to be very useful in developing our business model they have proven very beneficial in achieving a sustaining our place in a very competitive market. As a brief review here are the 9 habits have found to be the most useful in building our business:

1. Know Your Market & What Your Customer Wants
2. Develop a Mission Statement and Business Plan
3. Create a Repeatable, Scalable Business Organization
4. Develop a Culture of Discipline
5. Be Professional
6. Be Consistent & Follow Through
7. Stay on Top of Profits & Cash Flow
8. Keep Your Employees Involved
9. Adapt to Changes

Keep Your Employees Involved
If you are a one person business, you may think this habit does not concern you, but that isn't true. Golden Mailer is a family owned and operated business because the family was always involved, either at the dinner table, or helping out on weekends and after school. So,even as a sole proprietor, you may want to keep your family involved, if for no other reason than a way to prepare your children or spouse to take over the business should you become ill or wish to retire.

From much of what was already discussed in the previous sections, you probably understand the importance of communicating the values, visions, and expectations of the business to your employees; however, employee involvement goes a step farther because good employees take their role in the business very seriously and you always want to have highly motivated employees, their involvement in the business will greatly enhance the potential for success.

Periodic informal meetings, luncheons, after work get togethers, or even weekend outings, give employees another format in which to exchange ideas or pleasantries outside of the formal business setting. These opportunities give people the sense of belonging and a feeling of unity. Employee involvement is a way of showing you care, but more importantly, it is another way of recognizing their contribution. It is also a way of rewarding them for the work they are doing. It's important that the employees recognize that you appreciate their role in achieving the purposes of the business.

Management of your staff is a challenge, but if you do it right, it can be one of the most rewarding aspects of your business career. Seeking to involve your employees is a habit that leads to enhanced productivity and better employee relationships.
Speaking of keeping your employees involved:

• How do you keep your employees involved in your business?
• What methods have you found to be most effective in motivating employee involvement?
• How important is employee satisfaction to you and the success of your business?

Stay on Top of Profits & Cash Flow - Part 7

“Sow an act, and you reap a habit.

Sow a habit, and you reap a character."

Charles Reade (1814-1884)

Paying close attention to your financial reports can save you many sleepless nights and uncomfortable conversations with your banker or your accountant. More importantly, tracking your cash flow will assure timely payments of invoices and payroll. Keeping a close watch on your profit margin we have found to be far more critical than market share, especially during slow periods or while in a down economy.

Golden Mailer has found these nine habits to be very useful in developing our business model they have proven very beneficial in achieving a sustaining our place in a very competitive market. As a brief review here are the 9 habits have found to be the most useful in building our business:

1. Know Your Market & What Your Customer Wants
2. Develop a Mission Statement and Business Plan
3. Create a Repeatable, Scalable Business Organization
4. Develop a Culture of Discipline
5. Be Professional
6. Be Consistent & Follow Through
7. Stay on Top of Profits & Cash Flow
8. Keep Your Employees Involved
9. Adapt to Changes

Stay on Top of Profits & Cash Flow
Maintaining this habit will pay dividends every day that you are in business. Most business owners underestimate the amount of capital required to cover unexpected expenses or periodic slow-downs in the economy. Sometimes, this lack of preparation is due to unrealistic income projections or an over confidence in the owner’s ability to control the costs of doing business. Whatever the cause, the importance of staying in tune with your profit margins and cash flow far exceeds your market share or increased sales volume.
The critical point is this: don’t spend more than your income. This does not mean that you should avoid borrowing. Short-term bank loans may be important during certain periods of the business cycle, and certainly during the start-up period; just make sure your operating expenses can be covered by your income for a given period or cycle. A business typically requires a year or two to break even. Also, any new product or service will also require a period of time before it is self-sufficient. This means you need to anticipate such financial demands and plan for the additional costs and funds required while sustaining the business through these transitions. Your ability to predict the amount of funds required to launch a new venture or expand existing services or products will determine the level of success your business will attain.

Of all the habits discussed, the challenges faced in your business usually surround the issues of money. So, endeavor to make this habit a “must do” effort every day before, during, and after you close the shop. It will help keep you in business and out of debt.

Speaking of staying on top of profits and cash flow:

• Do you have an accounting system that allows you to frequently review your profit margin and cash flow?
• How critical is the management of your cash in operating your business?
• Do you have complete control of all billing, collection, deposits, and payment of invoices, or do you delegate these tasks to others?

Be Consistent & Follow Through - Part 6

“Sow an act, and you reap a habit.

Sow a habit, and you reap a character."

Charles Reade (1814-1884)

Part six presents two habits that are directly related your management skills as well as your attitude. Being consistent means you hold firm to your agreements, and that your actions are compatible with your stated intentions. Of course, follow-through is act of being consistent. We have found in our business that these habits are important in sustaining long-term relationships and customer satisfaction. How well you execute this habit will be a major factor in determining the level of success you will have holding customers and building your business.

Golden Mailer has found these nine habits to be very useful in developing our business model they have proven very beneficial in achieving a sustaining our place in a very competitive market. As a brief review here are the 9 habits have found to be the most useful in building our business:

1. Know Your Market & What Your Customer Wants
2. Develop a Mission Statement and Business Plan
3. Create a Repeatable, Scalable Business Organization
4. Develop a Culture of Discipline
5. Be Professional
6. Be Consistent & Follow Through
7. Stay on Top of Profits & Cash Flow
8. Keep Your Employees Involved
9. Adapt to Changes

Be Consistent & Follow Through

Many business owners have failed because they were unable to develop or lacked these habits of consistency and follow through. Good management skills is another way to describe these habits because without them your potential to neglect your responsibilities to your employees, and your customers will surely lead to your business’ downfall. Attention to detail is essential to the success of your business. This includes not only the running of your company, but, also, attending to employee and customer needs. You are the “mother hen”, in other words, you need to watch over every aspect of your business until you shut it down.

As the leader of your business, you must provide the motivation and climate to assure the productivity of yourself and your employees. Your ability to hire, train, delegate, and manage your employees will be enhanced by adopting these habits of consistency and follow through. Your objective in embracing these habits will be beneficial as the manager of your business when you face new challenges, create new opportunities to expand, and think through all of the strategic issues you will face in the daily operations of your company.

Your business will be built upon your ability to get things done, either by your self or through others. To overcome indecision and procrastination, you have to approach each day with an urgency and commitment to complete every task as though the survival of your business depended on it, because it probably will. This habit has saved many from becoming a failed business owner statistic.
Speaking of being consistent and following through:

1. What management skills have you used to make sure employees follow through on assigned tasks?
2. How do you motivate your employees, and yourself, to stay on task?
3. Have you established a method to make sure you are consistently providing a level of service or quality that meets your standards?

Just as a reminder, here are the 9 habits we are presenting in this series: (1) Know Your Market & What Your Customer Wants, (2) Develop a Mission Statement and Business Plan, (3) Create a Repeatable, Scalable Business Organization, (4) Develop a Culture of Discipline, (5) Be Professional, (6) Be Consistent & Follow Trough, (7) Stay on Top of Profits & Cash Flow, (8) Keep Your Employees Involved, and (9) Adapt to Changes.

The following is a brief discussion of “habit” Number 6.

Be Professional - Part 5

“Sow an act, and you reap a habit.

Sow a habit, and you reap a character."

Charles Reade (1814-1884)

Golden Mailer has found these nine habits to be very useful in developing our business model they have proven very beneficial in achieving a sustaining our place in a very competitive market. As a brief review here are the 9 habits have found to be the most useful in building our business:

1. Know Your Market & What Your Customer Wants
2. Develop a Mission Statement and Business Plan
3. Create a Repeatable, Scalable Business Organization
4. Develop a Culture of Discipline
5. Be Professional
6. Be Consistent & Follow Through
7. Stay on Top of Profits & Cash Flow
8. Keep Your Employees Involved
9. Adapt to Changes

Be Professional
Owning a business is a serious undertaking and requires a certain degree of attention to conducting your affairs in a professional manner. By this standard, a business owner should project a level of quality in every thing that positively reflects back on you, your company, and your employees. This means ethical business practices, attention to details in yours and your employees’ dress, conduct, timeliness, and service.

A professional attitude will convey a certain status as well as offer an image of character and standing within your field of business. Your business is offering an important service or product to your community; how you conduct your business will speak volumes about you and your company. Finally, how you and your employees appear before customers can be the difference between a sale and a missed opportunity. Although, this is a short statement on the subject, it is, nonetheless, an important habit to have.

Attitude plays a key role in how we conduct our lives as well as in how we run our business. The challenges before you will be greatly enhanced if you face them in a professional manner. This is one habit that will reward you in a number of ways.

Speaking of being professional:

• What modifications to your business operation have you adopted that reflect a professional attitude?
• How often have customers commented about your company’s professionalism?

Develop a Culture of Discipline - Part 4

“Sow an act, and you reap a habit.

Sow a habit, and you reap a character."

Charles Reade (1814-1884)

Golden Mailer has found these nine habits to be very useful in developing our business model they have proven very beneficial in achieving a sustaining our place in a very competitive market. As a brief review here are the 9 habits have found to be the most useful in building our business:

1. Know Your Market & What Your Customer Wants
2. Develop a Mission Statement and Business Plan
3. Create a Repeatable, Scalable Business Organization
4. Develop a Culture of Discipline
5. Be Professional
6. Be Consistent & Follow Through
7. Stay on Top of Profits & Cash Flow
8. Keep Your Employees Involved
9. Adapt to Changes

Develop a Culture of Discipline
By now you have probably come to realize that discipline is a critical element in the formation, operation, and success of your business. As indicated earlier, there are a number of reasons why businesses fail, but failure to control yourself or your staff can lead to serious consequences. As with any habit, the examples you set to assure that you, your employees, and the company, in general, always tries to achieve a consistent level of service, quality control, and customer satisfaction will be rewarded with increased sales and productivity.

How do you establish the level of discipline that can guarantee success will depend on how consist you are in maintaining the standards of performance you expect of yourself, your staff, and your venders. Obviously, this starts with you and is projected to all concerned though your behavior, policies, and employee standards of performance. On time performance, commitment to quality of service and products, rapid response to solve problems, and a policy of fairness will only be achieved if you establish acceptable levels of behavior and follow through with consistent rewards.

Unacceptable outcomes are not allowed, but should be corrected immediately with training and an explanation of the company’s policies. Discipline is a way of producing a specific character or pattern of behavior based upon rules or guidelines that achieve the best intentions of the company.

Self-control is a challenge for most of us, but, if you can face the formation and control of your business with a sense of discipline, you will have overcome a major obstacle. And, gained a valuable habit in the bargain.

Speaking of a culture of discipline:

• What method would you include to assure the culture of discipline in your business?
• How have you structured your business to encourage employees gain an appreciation and awareness of the importance of discipline in their work efforts?

Nine Habits for a Successful Business - Part 3

“Sow an act, and you reap a habit.

Sow a habit, and you reap a character."

Charles Reade (1814-1884)

Golden Mailer has found these nine habits to be very useful in developing our business model they have proven very beneficial in achieving a sustaining our place in a very competitive market. As a brief review here are the 9 habits have found to be the most useful in building our business:

1. Know Your Market & What Your Customer Wants
2. Develop a Mission Statement and Business Plan
3. Create a Repeatable, Scalable Business Organization
4. Develop a Culture of Discipline
5. Be Professional
6. Be Consistent & Follow Through
7. Stay on Top of Profits & Cash Flow
8. Keep Your Employees Involved
9. Adapt to Changes

Part Three focuses on creating a repeatable, scalable business organization, that is, “habit” Number Three.

Create a Repeatable, Scalable Business Organization

The way you organize your business operation will go a long way in determining your survivability. Too often, a new business owner will not have the management skills to design and structure a company to meet the needs of customers, employees, suppliers, or lenders. So, first things first, make sure you have a sufficient understanding of finance, purchasing, selling, production, hiring and managing employees. Knowing what you do well and seeking help in those areas you are lacking sufficient skills will go a long way in determining your level of success.

We found that structuring our business in relationship to our level of skills, resources, energy, and staffing levels was critical to our ability to manage the company. By this we mean operate “a repeatable, scalable business organization”, which implies you only take on as much as you can handle and keep your operation simple. Another way to consider this approach is to remember: we all make mistakes. The challenge for you is to structure your business to allow for recovery from your potential mistakes. This is far more difficult than it might seem at first. So, constantly, hold to a routine for every function required to operate your business from the smallest detail, like how and when you order supplies to how you write-up a sales slip or monitor staff performance. Each aspect of your business should be performed the same way each time, i.e., repeatable operations. Further, you should never grow too fast or exceed your capacity to deliver products or services, i.e., scalable operations.

The most significant challenge you will face, in organizing and managing your business, involves the designing and controlling the growth of your company. By endeavoring to overcome the desire to expand to rapidly or create loosely control staff, but seek habits that avoid these problems, you will a better chance at securing a prosperous future.

Speaking of a repeatable, scalable business organization:

• How have you structured your business to survive the current economic conditions in your community?
• How have you controlled the growth or downsizing of your business during this market cycle?

Nine Habits for a Successful Business - Part 2

“Sow an act, and you reap a habit.

Sow a habit, and you reap a character."

Charles Reade (1814-1884)

The 9 habits we have incorporated into Golden Mailer’s business model have proven very beneficial in achieving a level of sustainability in a very competitive market place. Here, again, are the 9 habits we presented in Part 1 of these series:

1. Know Your Market & What Your Customer Wants
2. Develop a Mission Statement and Business Plan
3. Create a Repeatable, Scalable Business Organization
4. Develop a Culture of Discipline
5. Be Professional
6. Be Consistent & Follow Through
7. Stay on Top of Profits & Cash Flow
8. Keep Your Employees Involved
9. Adapt to Changes

Part two focuses upon the development of a mission statement a business plan, which is “habit” number two.

Develop a Mission Statement and a Business Plan

Every successful business has a business plan, but, before you can develop such a plan, you need a statement of purpose or mission. The significance of such a statement may seem obvious, but too often business owners forget to identify the core values that will lead to success, such as, always add value to your customers’ experience or share your vision with customers. This is sometimes done with a motto, such as, “Put the Law on Your Side” or “I Guarantee It!”. To develop an effective business plan you must first be able to clearly state why you want to start your business and what you expect to achieve by establishing such a venture. Of course, once you have established a mission statement, you can begin the demanding work required to draft your business plan, which should contain the following elements:

• A description of the business, and your vision for the business, which will include your goals and how you will achieve them;
• A task plan and staffing needs;
• An analysis of potential problems and how you plan to solve them;
• A financial plan, which includes: capital equipment and supply list, balance sheet, income statement, cash flow analysis, sales forecast, and expense statement;
• An analysis of your competition;
• A description of your marketing, advertising, and promotional activities; and,
• A description of how you plan to manage the company’s growth.

An essential aspect of this planning effort is to carefully study and describe how you will avoid overexpansion of your company. A common mistake, not realized until it is too late, is confusing fast growth, rather than controlled expansion, as success. This error in judgment has, too frequently, lead to many early business failures. Plan your business to grow, but at a pace consistent with income earned and within your ability to cover expenses. To achieve this objective follow the example of the next habit.

Your commercial endeavors will only be enhanced if you approach the development a business plan and your mission statement in a serious manner. By discovering the purpose of your business and creating a plan that addresses the critical elements that offers the best opportunity of survival are the habits that will lead to your success.

Speaking of a mission statement and a business plan, we'd love for you to share your thoughts on the following questions:

• How have you used a business plan to start your company?
• What elements of your business plan have you found to be most useful?
• What were some of the major changes you have had to make to your business plan?