Are You Looking For That Magic Solution?

It’s very frequent for someone to look for that one diet to help them lose weight or the best cream to get rid of those wrinkles, but when you think about it there’s usually more than one thing which needs to be done to accomplish your goal. You need to find a balance of options to truly make things work, right? More often than not, e.g. to lose weight you not only need a diet, but exercise. The same is true with your business. Many people are searching for that shiny penny. In fact I have found many business owners spend thousands of dollars a year on programs that are going to make them rich or take away the pain, only to find out it didn’t work. There really are many reasons of why programs may or may not work, but in truth part of it is that your business doesn’t typically have only one issue to be solved.

Follow Up Or Lose Them?

You talk with a client or prospect, issues come to light, you may or may not make promises, but the key question is do you follow up?

BREAK THE RULES

I read an article in Forbes magazine that shared the results of a study on New Year’s resolutions. It showed that less than 25% of people stay committed to keeping their goals after the first 30 days, and of those only 8% achieve them. Why such a dismal percentage? In general, I believe people set goals for themselves and their businesses based on what they feel they should strive for and NOT what they WANT to strive for. This is where I think we should break the rules. Set your goals based on what you really want.

Don’t Let Your Numbers Slip Away

Know your numbers! This is one of the top five rules in business, if not the first, and yet so many business owners and CEOs are unaware of their numbers. A large percentage of businesses operate from the cash balance in their bank account or wait until they have to give their accountant their financial statements after the year ends to do their tax return. Some have their numbers available but they’re looking at the wrong ones, if they’re looking at them at all. Much of this comes from the unknown, fear of what they’ll see, or a lack of understanding. The problem is, when you don’t know your numbers at all times, you’re most likely not only losing money, but also opportunities!

Let Fear Propel Your Business Growth

We hear quite a bit of talk lately of people speculating a recession heading our way. In fact, within some conversations you can already sense the panic setting in. How will we manage the cash strains? How can the business survive? What should we be doing now to prepare? How will we keep our customers? Should we start letting people go? One of the root causes of this fear is the emotion we’ve tied between ourselves and our businesses. When you build a business up from scratch or buy it and drive growth it tends to become a part of who you are. It’s often difficult to separate your personal life from your business life because your personal life is so dependent on what you do in and with the business.