The Power Of Many In One
Business Growth Tips Of The Month
Strategic Planning With Voice Of Your Customers - Jul '09
(Source: AllBusinessAdvisors, LLC)
Tip of the month is "Think Upstream"! When you go to plan a vacation, do you first think by destination - "Is it Hawaii, Costa Rica or Paris" or do you think "Do I want to be in the sun, see exotic grounds or shop till I drop?" Even if you were to think by destination, what is it about those destinations that rank higher in your current value/need system to allow you to pick them?
Then how come so many surveys out there asks me how I like their predefined solutions: "would you pay more to shrink class size or not pay to endure a lift in class size ceiling" for example?" Why don't they ask "Why do you put your children in this school in the first place and rank the importance and current satisfaction in general from options in the marketplace regarding those values/needs?" Can you imagine what opportunities that would unlock for them if they get those answers?
If there is one thing you can change to boost your growth engine, next time someone tells you to do a survey, ask them whether their surveys are value based or reaction based. Do they help you identify opportunity or are they validating certain solutions?
For more information, go to the articles section in this site and search the business planning area for "Value-Driven Planning Surveys".
Three ways to overcome a shrinking market - Feb '09
(Source: Scott Hallman, Business Growth Dynamics)
1. Go after a bigger market (different market / wider market). License your system of business, increase your online presence to go regional, national or global and optimize the system.
2. Add products / services to Your offering. Add new or different products & services. Optimize the system.
3. Increase conversion rates. Focus on the process and procedures in your marketing & sales functions. Add Sales Reps to follow up diligently.
Top 10 Outcomes from Coaching - Jan '09
(Source: International Coaching Federation surveyed coaching clients for feedback. Survey conducted by Amy Watson, Principle at PROfusion Public Relations)
1. Greater sefl awareness (68%)
2. Smarter goal setting (62%)
3. Work/life balance (61%)
4. Lower stress (57%)
5. Self discovery (53%)
6. Greater confidence (52%)
7. Improved quality of life (43%)
8. Enhanced communication skills (40%)
9. Project completion (36%)
10. Health or fitness improvement (34%)
Top 5 Roles of the Coach - Dec '08
(Source: International Coaching Federation surveyed coaching clients for feedback. Survey conducted by Amy Watson, Principle at PROfusion Public Relations)
1. Sounding Board (85%)
2. Motivator (78%)
3. Mentor (51%)
4. Business Consultant (47%)
5. Teacher (41%)
Top 9 Reasons Why People Need A Business Coach - Nov '08
(Source: International Coaching Federation surveyed coaching clients for feedback. Survey conducted by Amy Watson, Principle at PROfusion Public Relations)
1. Time Management (85%)
2. Business Advice (74%)
3. Career Guidance (74%)
4. Relationship/Family Guidance (59%)
5. Physical Well Being (52%)
6. Personal Guidance (Awareness) (45%)
7. Goal Setting (40%)
8. Financial Guidance (38%)
9. Creativity (11%)
Characteristics of a High Performance Organization
(Source: Andre A. d. Waal, Maastricht School of Management, the Netherlands - Oct '08)
Organizational Design Characteristics:
1. Stimulate cross-functional and cross-organizational collaboration.
2. Simplify and flatten the organization by reducting boundaries and barriers between and around units.
3. Foster organizational-wide sharing of information, knowledge and best practices.
Strategy Characteristics:
1. Design a strong vision that excites and challenges.
2. Balance long-term and short-term focus.
3. Set clear, ambitious, measurable and achievable goals.
4. Create clarity and a common understanding of the organization's direction and strategies.
Process Characteristics:
1. A good and fair award and incentive structure.
2. Continuously simply and improve all of the organization's processes.
3. Measure what matters.
4. Report to everyone financial and non-financial information needed to drive improvements.
5. Continuously innovate products, processes and service.
6. Strive to be a best practice organization.
7. Create highly interactive internal communication.
Leadership Characteristics:
1. Maintain and strengthen trust relationships with people on all levels
2. Live with integrity and lead with example
3. Apply decisive action-focused decision-making
4. Coach and facilitate
5. Stretch yourselves and your people
6. Develop effective, focused and strong leadership
7. Allow experiments and mistakes
8. Inspire the people to accomplish extraordinary results
9. Grow leaders from within
10. Stimulate change and improvement
11. Assemble a diverse and complementary management team and workforce
12. Be committed to the organization for the long haul
Individuals and Roles Characteristics:
1. Create a learning organization.
2. Accept exceptional people with a can-do attitude who fit the culture.
3. Enage and involve the work force.
4. Create a safe and secure work place.
Cultural Characteristics:
1. Empower people and give them freedom to decide and act.
2. Establish strong and meaningful core values.
3. Develop and maintain a performance-driven culture.
4. Create a culture of transparency, openness and trust.
External Environment Characteristics:
1. Continue to strive to enhance customer value creation.
2. Maintain good and long-term relationship with all stakeholders.
3. Monitor the environment consequently and respond adequately.
4. Choose to compete and compare with the best in the marketplace.
5. Grow through partnerships and be part of a value-creating network.
Top Ten Reasons Where A Strong Brand Makes The Difference
(Source: Mary Sausen, Independent Associate, AllBusinessAdvisors Sep 08)
1. Starting a new business
2. Introducing a new product
3. Weathering an economic downturn
4. Countering new competition
5. Acquiring a new company
6. Going public
7. Going global
8. Fundraising for a non-profit
9. Raising venture capital
10. Merging with another company
Seven Steps To A Guerrilla Marketing Plan
(Source: Pandora Pang, Certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach, Founder, AllBusinessAdvisors, Aug, 08)
1. Define the PURPOSE of your plan
2. Clarify the BENEFITS of your offering
3. Define the TARGET audience
4. Clarify your IDENTITY and your NICHE
5. Select the marketing WEAPONS (over 100 to choose from and half is free)
6. Decide on your BUDGET.
7. Create your marketing CALENDAR
Explanations for Guerrilla Marketing
(Source: Pandora Pang, Certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach, Founder, AllBusinessAdvisors, Jul 08)
Father of Guerrila Marketing, Jay Conrad Levinson identifies the following principles as the foundation of guerrilla marketing:
1. Guerrilla Marketing is specifically geared for the small business even though it's being mainstreamed into larger business, especially during cost-sensitive times for people looking for high-impact low-costs moves.
2. Instead of money, the primary investments of marketing should be time, energy, and imagination.
3. The primary statistic to measure your business is the amount of profits, not sales.
4. The marketer should also concentrate on the reasons why the marketing campaign is launched and measure religiously the appropriate parameters to understand successes and failures on a consistent basis. Documentation of measured results form the basis of a successful and proven Guerrilla Marketing Plan.
6. Create a standard of excellence with an laser focus as to who you are, what you do and what kind of specific benefits does doing business translate to your clients/customers.
7. Stealth attacks for profits to obtain more referrals, more transactions with existing customers, and larger transactions are emphasized.
8. Collaboration instead of competition is king.
9. Variety is crucial when deploying marketing methods.
9. Use current technology to level the playing field. Specifically, if you are a techno-phobia, Jay says, "Get Over It!".
Ten Reasons Why You Need A Strong Brand
(Source: Mary Sausen, Independent Associate, AllBusinessAdvisors, June, 08)
1. Brands make selling easier
2. Brands dominate commodites
3. Brands build equity and create company value
4. Brands create internal efficiency
5. Brands reduce risk and build loyalty withcustomers
6. Brands boost profitability
7. Brands drive successful new product introductions
8. Brands create barriers to competition
9. Brands attract good employees
10. Brands increase the odds of business survival.
Business Philanthropy
(Source: AllBusinessAdvisors, May 08)
Business philanthropy is an essential part of smart business practice. According to Ira Jackson and Jane Nelson ("Profits with Principles: Seven Strategies for Delivering Value with Values"), companies combining profit-making with a concern for values and the greater social good do better than those that concentrate only on the bottom line. Supported by empirical studies, they stated that the most successful and competitive companies of the future will be those that combine an explicit commitment to advancing the public interest with a commitment to profitability.
According to Stephen M.R. Covey in "The Speed of Trust", the main principle of establishing societal trust is contribution. It's demonstrating the intent to give back, to be a responsible global citizen, and it is becoming both a social and an economic necessity in our knowledge worker age.
Look for ways to give back. Run your company to gain profits so it makes a positive difference in the society.
If you are doing business in China, hoping to do business in China, or if you are a Chinese national, the Earthquake disaster relief is currently underway and they need a lot of help. Death toll potentially could be 50,000 with many more affected. The Red Cross has set up a China Earthquake Disaster Fund. Donate to help and call for worldwide support.
Here's a letter written by a friend of AllBusinessAdvisors (in Simplified Chinese) on May 15th, 2008 who currently is in Chengdo, China calling for help: China Earthquake
Top Six Systemic Business Growth Constraints?
(Source: AllBusinessAdvisors, April 08)
Businesses hit the brick wall due to a myriad of external and internal controllable and uncontrollable factors. Studies say that “not enough sales”, “not enough money” or “not enough time” are the three dominant constraints. However, as we pointed out in our last month's tips, those are symptoms. Our research points to six top growth constraints: Attitude, Skills, Knowledge, Access, Borders, and Automation/Technology (ASK ABA).
Attitude ▪ Attitude determines your altitude, drives behavior
Skills ▪ Skills separates an amateur from a master.
Knowledge ▪ Knowledge is power, timely and relevant information for decision making.
Access ▪ Access to the right people, right solution set, right time, right place.
Borders ▪ Guard your backyard and turn competition irrelevant with geographical boundaries neutrality so you can attack theirs.
Automation/Technology. ▪ Affordable automation and technology deployment levels the playing field.
Stay tuned for next month's tips to find out what we can do to breakthrough those constraints.
Top Three Symptoms Business Suffers?
(Source: AllBusinessAdvisors, March 08)
3. Not Enough Sales - Marketing & Sales Issues
- Failure to understand the market landscape
- Failure to anticipate market trends
- Failure to promote and maintain a favorable public image
- Failure to communicate the company's benefits, identity
- Failure to link your USP and why it matters
- Failure to cope adequately with competition
- Competition disregarded due to complacency
- Loss of impetus in sales
- Poor customer relations
2. Not Enough Money - Finance
- Undercapitalized
- Insufficient working capital
- Ignor adverse financial data
- Poor control of receivables
- Lack of forecasting
- Inadequate financial records
- Poor credit controls
- Inefficient cost and quality controls
- Poor pricing strategies
- Poor current & long-term asset utilization
1. Not Enough Time - Time, Organization and People Management
- Inability to reach decisions and act on them
- Failure to keep pace with management systems
- Failure to set and keep accountability of goals and objectives
- Loss of key personnel due to failure to care, communicate effectively, motivate, lead, reward & recognize individuals, and appreciate individual differences.
- Poor relations with suppliers.
- Loss of control through creditors' demands
- Inadequate insurance
- Inadequate tools at company, department and unit levels
- Inadequate training at company, department and unit levels
- Reluctance to seek professional assistance
Top Five Reasons Why Businesses Succeed?
(Source: AllBusinessAdvisors, Feb 08)
5. Discipline in balancing strategic and tactical planning and execution
4. Commitment to work ON the business
3. Giver's stance
2. Know where and how to seek quality help when needed
1. Surrounded by and leverage off of trusted advisors in all impact areas of growth.
Top Ten Reasons Why People Hire Advisors?
(Source: AllBusinessAdvisors, Jan 08)
10. For expertise they don’t have
9. To solve problems
8. To supplement staff
7. To act as catalyst to get changes rolling
6. For needed objectivity
5. To teach
4. To do dirty work e.g. cut staff
3. To create a new business
2. To influence other people
1. To bring new life
Top Five Factors why a progressive executive want to have a business coach?
(Source: AllBusinessAdvisors, Dec 07)
5. COMMITMENT to GROW Your Business.
4. Working ON the business and holding you accountable
3. Your SKILLS as an Exeuctive.
2. WEEKLY INCREMENTAL improvements
1. Having a CONFIDANTE
Ten Ways to Build Positive Outcomes With the Media
(Source: AllBusinessAdvisors, Nov 07)
10. Stop what you are doing ANYTIME the media calls.
9. Talk in an affable manner with facts.
8. Expect less from the media and cherish any positive surprise.
7. Know your limits. Stop trying to influence how the reporter is going to report.
6. Stop complaining about your coverage. Earn it.
5. Give ALL your contact numbers for ALL times. The press won't wait.
4. Be realistic about when the media will cover you.
3. Don't ask for duplicates for your articles or tapes. Pick them up yourself.
2. Research specific media you intend to use well. DO YOUR HOMEWORK.
1. Thank them. Write them a note, pat them on the shoulder.
Why Do People Buy?
(Source: Jay Conrad Levinson, Father of Guerrilla Marketing
Reprinted With Permission Oct 07)
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