Tag Archive for 'Business Coach'

Accidental Business Success – the hard way

Published on December 15, 2010 in Uncategorized. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

What do you do when a series of events puncture your balloon of confidence; a slow leak to start with and then a big bang when you business goes from being a great success to a near failure almost overnight.

That is what happened to Sjorcha Daynes from Bubba Moe Slings. Daynes sold baby clothes at market stalls and to comfort one her new born child, she made up a sling to hold him on her chest while she worked. Customers started asking about the sling and if they could buy one.  Through word of mouth sales gradually increased until Daynes was approached by the first of many retailers in 2004 to buy the slings on a wholesale basis and sell them in their stories. Bubby Moe Slings was born.

A New Business Is Born

Daynes now found herself with a whole new business. She stopped selling baby clothes and focused on perfecting the baby sling with the help of medical professionals. Daynes built the first version of her website www.bubbamoe.com.au for customers and retailers to place orders. The next step was a warehouse and employees to make the slings and get the orders out.

Losing Confidence

Then in 2009 a string of events shattered her confidence and her business almost failed. Daynes was so busy on the nitty gritty of the business that she didn’t notice that competitors were entering the market and undercutting her on price. Then one night when she was working back late, she disturbed two men that had broken in to her warehouse. The experience shattered her confidence. She stopped marketing her business and getting out and talking to people; ‘the business became invisible’ Daynes said.

The phones stopped ringing and the orders on the website dropped away. Daynes didn’t know what to do or who to talk to. Her sister had taken her to business seminars where she “felt all Ra-Ra’ed walking out, rearing to go”, except by the time she got back to the business, “the Ra-Ra had gone”. She likened it to “being all dressed up and nowhere to go”.

Lack of Business Knowledge

Daynes realised that her business was going to fail due to her lack of business knowledge and “ignorance of the process of carrying the business to the next level”. She did some research on the web and found out about the Your Business Success Business Improvement Program and decided to buy it as way of improving her business knowledge. But to start with she didn’t do anything with the program. Then, late one night after 3 months of not sleeping, taking up smoking again and drinking coffee for the first time in 20 years, Daynes watched the first case study.

She was relieved to see that so many other businesses had struggled and then succeeded show she took on board many of the ideas started to make some changes.

As she worked through the program her confidence grew and she has a totally different business. These are just some of the ideas she has implemented.

Refresh the Brand

Daynes started by looking at the business from the customer’s point of view. She upgraded the signage, letterhead, office space and website.

‘So What’ Technique

One technique she learnt was to always ask ‘so what’ about every feature of her product, this forced who to think in terms of benefits for her customers. In particular she realised that the wording on her website was all wrong. She re wrote the copy in a way that wasn’t telling customers what to do but educating them on the benefits of her products. This technique also helped improve the copy of her brochures and sales script when talking to potential customers.

Time for a New Accountant

The more Daynes learnt the less she realised her accountant knew about growing a business. All he wanted to do was the BAS Statements and annual tax returns. Every idea she ran past him was dismissed. Daynes used her network to identify accountants who were focused on helping people grow their business and interviewed a number of them. When she found the accountant she wanted she moved her business and personal finances over.

Funding and Business Angels

Daynes had never heard of Business Angels and had never thought of approaching potential investors. When she ran the idea past her new accountant he did some research and introduced her to a couple that had just sold their business. They are now partners in Daynes business and have provided the capital to take her business to the next level. More importantly the new shareholders bring many years of business knowledge to the table and will be her mentors.

Diversify

One of the key lessons Daynes picked up was the importance of diversification. There was too much risk in having one product line so Daynes has started the process of expanding her range. The first new product is Mini Moe Dolly Slings for kids to carry around their dolls and toys.

Delegate Don’t Abdicate

Daynes learnt from one of the Case Studies she watched that she could improve how she went about employing and managing people. She had let people do their own thing and often been disappointed. What she now does is make sure each employee understands the direction the business and then delegate what she wants done rather than just abdicating responsibility. It is then up the each employee to their initiative to improve how things are done.

Networking is Vital

Everyone is looking for direction but when you are running your own business you can become insular. It is important to find other people to bounce ideas off and learn from.

A Bright New Future

Daynes says that with a new level of knowledge has helped her rebuild her confidence so “instead of closing the doors and shrinking away into obscurity, they are stepping higher”.

The Your Business Success Program has given her clarity and helped her understand that the business is the entity you need to work on – not just the product.

Can any business be successful?

Published on October 1, 2010 in Uncategorized. 1 Comment Tags: , , , .

Some businesses fail, some go on to be very successful and some are in what I call a perpetual state of failure. In other words, the owners are getting no return for their sacrifices yet they persevere anyway. Why do people do this?

The first reason I think is that people feel like as long as they stay in it they haven’t failed. We’ve spoken to business owners that are unhappy, poor, working around the clock and their families are miserable. They’ve been doing this for 5,10,15 years. But at least they haven’t failed right! If you have tried everything (truly tried everything) and your business is not working, wouldn’t you be better to redesign your model or go and do something else? The question is have you really tried everything? Do you even know what you should be trying? The solution: Face the facts head on and either try something new or look for another opportunity.

The second reason I think is that people wait for some divine intervention. We often hear people say “We’ll wait until next year and see what happens” or “Things will be better next year”. If you wait and see what happens, nothing will happen. You need to make things happen. The same business owners look for overnight, magic-wand solutions to their business issues. There is no such thing. The solution: Act or be acted upon.

The third reason. We often hear people blame their issues on the environment, the economy, their staff, their spouse, lack of time or money, the elections, their customers, someone from their past or some other external factor. The big problem in thinking this way is that you are essentially admitting that you yourself have no control over what happens to your business and therefore what happens to you. I’m not suggesting these things don’t have an effect but you should always accept responsibility for everything, control what you can control and make decisions accordingly. The solution: Don’t make excuses and take responsibility. Control what you can.

I think the fourth reason is because there is no real plan. There is no vision of what the business should look like when it is successful. Imagine for a second what your offices, your staff, your bank account, your customer base and your own personal lifestyle would need to look like in order for you to think “I’ve done it.. my business is a success”.  Without some sort of an indicator a business will plod along and never really get anywhere. The solution: Make sure you know where you are headed. If you can’t get there consider if you would be better to look at other opportunities.

Finally, I think there is a lack of innovation. I spoke to a business owner recently who owned a ‘run of the mill’ type of business with lots of competition. She was wondering why she couldn’t get her business to make millions of dollars. If a business does what all of its competitors do, charge the same prices, offer the same products or services, is not innovative in its products/services or marketing how can it become really successful. Innovation doesn’t happen overnight and that’s part of the problem. Have you ever had a headache when you tried to come up with a solution to an issue? The headache is because you are missing some information and your brain is going round in circles. The solution: Learn more and look for unique opportunities. Be patient.

On a positive note, we’re proud to announce that Marnie Douglas who we told you about a few weeks ago won the NSW Telstra Womens Business Award for Innovation. I’m  very proud to have played a small part in this story. Talk about having a vision, taking action , being responsible for her own business and being innovative! 5 years ago Marnie’s business was one of 168 physiotherapy practices in Sydney CBD. Now Marnie is selling a one of a kind software solution (which she owns) to national and multinational blue chip clients. Marnie is evidence that following the rules does work!

Written by Owen Joyce Business Coach with Your Business Success.

Are you hiding behind your business?

Published on February 23, 2010 in Uncategorized. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , .

At the moment there are supposedly 2 million plus businesses in Australia. This isn’t a very accurate figure because a lot of businesses get registered and never make it out of the gate. Plenty of other businesses do get started but trot along never getting anywhere. Many business owners remain at the helm of these under-performing businesses because;

  • they aren’t accountable to anyone and quite simply they can get away with it. As long as the business is treading water no-one will be any the wiser.
  • they think “What else would I do?”.
  • they don’t want to work for someone else.

The reality is that as business owners we can hide behind the façade and let everyone around us think that we are running really great businesses where everything is going well, staff are really happy and we’re making heaps of money. The real story is of course often quite different.

In one case I asked a client why he liked being in business. Essentially he told me he felt there was a certain prestige from having your own business and that he liked his friends knowing that he was a business owner. I asked him what he’d think if I brought his friends in and showed them his Profit and Loss. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the colour drain out of someone’s face quite so quickly.

The reasons above are not good reasons to stay in an under performing business. If your business is not profitable, not creating wealth for you, not paying you a good salary or leaning towards giving you a great lifestyle then you have to ask ‘Who am I fooling?’ and ‘How long should I let this continue?’. A quick way to determine whether you’re going well is to ask yourself this simple question; “If I hired a general manager to do my job and they performed like I did for the last 12 months, would they still have a job?”. If you’ve said yes, congratulations. If you said no, think about the consequences of your business never improving. The effects reach wider than your own pride.

So how do I turn this around?

The first area you may need to work on is you. If you have been in the habit of letting yourself off the hook then that needs to change. You need to be ready, willing and able to run an organisation that is goal oriented and target focussed.

Then you need to look at your model. Is the business model that you have chosen the best it can be? Is your business consistent? Do people want to work for your business? Many people focus on the product or service but it’s not just about that. You may have a product or service that is better than your competitors but if you’re not marketing, managing cash flow, hiring people and creating systems better than they do, your model is not working properly and could be improved.

How successful is your business model?

Published on February 23, 2010 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Here’s a question. If a trusted adviser analysed your business and told you that it will be very difficult in the current configuration to make significant profits, would you continue doing what you are doing or would you stop and regroup?

We often find that business owners continue along the path that they set out on even though years later they might be miserable, getting nowhere and making little or no money. It’s vitally important to get the ‘business model’ that you follow correct as early as you can.

I spoke to someone before Christmas who described himself as a ‘busy fool’ which I thought was a great expression. He elaborated by saying that he was busy all the time but wasn’t getting anywhere, had no exciting prospects to speak of and his business was barely breaking even. These are just a few signs that your business model is not working properly.

Here are the reasons why I think business owners sometimes get caught in this trap:

  • They often want the grand plan to unfold overnight and when it doesn’t they lose patience and motivation.
  • There’s often a sense of being trapped; they can’t stop what they are doing otherwise the money will stop and they wouldn’t survive for more than a month.
  • They avoid the things they don’t like doing mainly marketing, sales, debt collection, budgeting or managing. These things require them to be out in front of others or focusing on areas they are not strong in when they’d much rather be doing things they like.  
  • They don’t do a good enough job measuring what’s happening in their business – targets, staff performance and marketing effectiveness which leaves them ‘flying blind’.
  • They don’t recognise that their own skills and knowledge are a big part of being successful and are often missing key pieces of information.  
  • They wait for opportunities to come to them rather than go after opportunities. They don’t realise that unless they make something happen, nothing will happen and they often depend on ‘low hanging fruit’.
  • They think that there are magic wand / quick solutions to problems or that doing something the wrong way over and over will eventually lead to a favourable result.
  • They let their pride get in the way of sound decisions even when deep down they know that they shouldn’t do so.

We want to encourage business owners away from making these mistakes so that they can make good business decisions and develop a business model that will deliver sound results over time.

By investing time on yourself, you will learn the skills and attitudes you and your staff need to avoid the thinking that leads to the issues above. Making mistakes is part of being in business but continually making the same mistakes is not.

 

Thinking about your model, is it a good one? Do you have all of the information you need to make good decisions? It’s not uncommon to feel overwhelmed by the amount of work that needs to go in to correcting flaws in your model however remember that you don’t need to fix everything .. just choose one problem and persist with it until it’s a problem no more.

Business Coaching: what you need to know before choosing a business coach

Published on August 19, 2009 in Uncategorized. 1 Comment Tags: , .

If you’re considering bringing a business coach into your business, the first step is for you to have a clear understanding of why you need one.

The following are statements we commonly hear from business owners we come into contact with. If one or more of these statements rings true for you, then engaging a business coach is a proven method of propelling your business to the next level.

  • I’m so heavily involved in the day to day tasks, I don’t get time to look at the business at a high level
  • Nobody can do things the way I do them. The buck stops with me so I get bogged down in the detail in order to survive
  • I know that I’m going wrong but I just don’t know what to do about it. There’s never a good time to address the issues
  • I don’t have time to look for long term solutions to problems so I end up putting out fires all the time. My working week seems to get longer and longer
  • I can’t seem to find the right people to fit my business and even if I do, they don’t stay. Often, they leave at the worst possible time
  • I don’t have the time or money to change things
  • I can’t see how this business is ever going to help me reach my personal goals

How Business Coaching can help

Business coaching is well-established as a sure fire way to grow a successful business and get your life back into balance.

A business coach will:

  1. Boost your business skills and knowledge. Your own personal development is an important outcome of a business coaching relationship and will be vital as your business continues to grow.
  2. Assist in your decision making process. A good business coach will increase the number of positive decisions made and will always provide unbiased opinions.
  3. Allow you to draw on the successes and failures of others to help you properly direct your business. A coach will help you solve problems once and for all rather than ‘putting out fires’.
  4. Act as a sounding-board and provide an objective / aerial view on the conditions in your business. It can be lonely at the top and a good coach will make you feel more at ease about your decisions.
  5. Save you time and help you to reach your goals quicker. Most businesses encounter similar problems and there’s a good chance a coach can immediately answer a lot of your questions.
  6. Offer you someone to be accountable to. Setting goals and meeting them is not only important but vital in order to make your business successful.
  7. Guide you in the creation of a bullet-proof model for your business and help you to continually build value in this important asset. Your business coach will ensure your business is aligned with your personal goals and ambitions.

Introducing the Your Business Success Program

Your Business Success is a business coaching program designed by experts, business coaches and highly successful entrepreneurs to be effective and affordable in the current economic climate.

The program uses 80 business case studies on DVD, workbooks containing over 2,500 ideas, questions and concepts and one-to-one contact customised to your business and your budget.

Much of the material is taken from over 11,000 hours of interactions with business owners during the last 10 years, so it is well-proven across multiple industries and scenarios.

The case studies feature real businesses being assisted by some of Australia’s best known business men and women, as well as an army of marketing, sales, financial, human resource, IT and operations experts. You won’t find this much business knowledge in one place anywhere else.

So you get a taste for how it works, we’ve complied 9 short video excerpts from the Program which you can access FREE just by registering here. Simply enter your details and access instructions will be emailed to you immediately.

Click here to register