Business Coach Firm

Why am I in such a rut?

If you are a Small Business Owner, the answer is you’re busy! That is the simple truth. It isn’t due to lack of mental certainty, life, family or friends. You are busy and have been busy for so long that you’ve forgotten the reason you started this game in the first place. When I point this out to many entrepreneurs I usually get the response, “I know. You want me to slow down and reengage with who I am and what I want, right?” “Not really,” I respond. “What we have to do first is address the issues that are keeping you so busy in the first place.”

What are the issues that keep entrepreneurs so busy? Of course they vary from business to business and person to person, but the central theme remains the same. The work has to get done, and there are always fires to put out. We often mask these issues with the belief that we can’t find good people, that no one cares as much as we do, or that if the clients don’t talk to us we will lose them. These concerns are valid; however, they shield us from the real cause at hand. Owners fail to achieve their full potential and move out of debilitating ruts, because their companies lack poor opening and closing procedures.

What!? Let me repeat myself–you lack good opening and closing procedures. There are two critical times in the day for any company: the moment the day begins and the last hour of business. Why? Because the mood, plan, focus and energy needed to succeed converge at these times.

If you start off sloppy and disorganized, then the entire working day will reflect its unfortunate beginning. This is why it is critical to lead the way every morning with energy, focus and certainty. At the days end, your system should allow you to set objectives for tomorrow while reviewing the current day’s results simultaneously. Remember, you fight sleepwalking and complacency with focused attention. In some ways closing procedures are more difficult to enact than opening procedures, because everyone is tired by the days end. Again, leadership and systems are required to get the desired results.

This may sound too simple an explanation as to why both you and your business are in a rut. All I can ask of you is to try my suggestion. Create opening and closing procedures and stick to them. Lead the way with energy, focus and certainty, and I believe you will be pleased with the results.

Owning a small business, at its core, is about one thing and one thing only–success. How does our capitalistic society measure success? Dollars, my friend, cold hard cash. Now before you start emailing me about “relationships” and “making a difference” stop to consider that without positive cash flow, your entire enterprise can shrivel up and die right before your eyes.

It is imperative that you separate you and your intentions from your business. Put another way, your business is not you and you have no right to impose your needs, financial or otherwise, on it. The survival and health of your company should be your driving force, so be very careful what decisions you make.

Another name for “relationships” and “making a difference” is “naming the lobsters”. Have you ever walked into a fine seafood restaurant and observed the Lobster tank? Inside are large lobsters waiting to be chosen for your next meal. In that moment–you make a decision. Will I eat them or not? If you let yourself emotionally connect to the Lobster, you will never be able to have them for dinner. The same principle holds true for your business.

Naming the lobsters is the lack of separation between an owner and their business and it becomes apparent to me when clients say things like:

• John’s been with me from the start, yet he loses more sales than he makes.
• I charge this client less because they can’t really afford my fees, yet they really need my help.
• Our kids went to school together so I sell to them at cost.

If you emotionally connect to people and customers, you will not be able to make the difficult but essential decisions that will ultimately determine the health of your business. Unproductive employees, less than profitable customers and abusive relationships weaken the very core of the enterprise. DON’T NAME THE LOBSTERS! Terminate relationships that don’t nurture your business, no matter how painful it may be.

Think about this. Relationship building is the core of business building, yet–what happens when you have an employee that becomes detrimental to the relationships you’ve built? What happens when you have a client relationship that demands a lot of your time but gives little in return by way of purchases or profit? That employee and that non-profitable client relationship: Lobsters. Don’t name them! Toss them back. One bad apple can truly spoil the whole bunch.

Owning, caring for and nurturing a small business requires true leadership ability, and can be a lonely road to travel. It is filled with difficult decisions and sleepless nights. I know, I’ve been there. Trust me; if you fail to embrace the truly hard decisions and you continue to name the lobsters, you are risking everything.

I am always amazed at how much information there is on the internet about doubling or tripling your business. “Just try my system and sales will go through the roof!,” these sites promise. If these messages are true, then why are so many businesses failing? The truth is that no single system works. Sure, a certain approach might bring in more business; however, doubling business could destroy a struggling small enterprise. People are looking for a secret to help them get ahead. Just look at the bestseller’s list. One of the most popular books out on the market today is named, what else, The Secret. There is no secret! There is only education, trial, error and hard work.

Before you get mad at me, consider the following. Sales are only one component of any successful business. Even if there was such a thing as a secret formula that once mastered would increase your sales by 500%, who would fill the orders? How would you ship it, stock it, pay for it, improve production, systems, storage, or functionality? How would you maintain quality control? These questions are even more complicated to answer if the business you are trying to build is already in crisis.

By definition, a business in crisis is one that is losing money or barely breaking even each month. A crisis can happen to any business at any time. True, crises are more prevalent in new companies, but history is filled with examples of large successful businesses that rapidly entered the crisis stage when fuel prices surged or technology changed. The potential for crisis exists in any type of business, regardless of its size. Unfortunately, if you are the owner of a small, independent company you often lack the resources to correct or react to such changes. This is why understanding how to survive a crisis is so important.

Surviving a crisis requires careful Crisis Management (CM). The Crisis Management phase begins when you consciously decide to address the real issues in your company and stop looking for the popular quick fix solution. In other words it begins when you stop “sleepwalking” and become determined to address the issues head on.

The first step toward effective Crisis Management is taking responsibility. Yes, you are responsible. Even if an asteroid was to hit your building, demolishing your enterprise, you share responsibility. Why? Your responsibility is in creating a well planned strategy to deal with this type of outcome. I am not trying to be facetious here. You are responsible, period. What are you prepared to do about it? In my book Small Business Pain I outline the basic steps to take in order to manage crisis in your business. The process involves getting emotional (Angry), because anger lessens fear and gives you the strength to carry on. It also requires getting organized and reviewing the financial state of the business. Most CM companies are in denial and live with unrealistic projections and assumptions. Facing the truth as it really is represents a painful, yet necessary, step along the journey to recovery.

Rushing out for new business is seldom a wise idea if your company is bleeding cash. It is better to look at your existing client base and find ways to add more value to them. When working through a crisis management situation within an enterprise, I often have to remind the owners to stop looking outside for solutions–there is nothing out there! The answer, no matter how painful, is always right before you. Are you drawing too much money out of the business? Are you trapped with relationships that have weakened your ability to adapt and grow? Have you become a “Nice Guy” to the detriment of the enterprise? Are you allowing people to withhold payments because you empathize with their issues? There are a thousand possible reasons why your business is might be suffering. One response is universal–the road to recovery begins with looking in the mirror.

You sit down at your desk determined to design the perfect Marketing plan for your business. You have considered all the essential aspects of the marketing game: who buys (Demographics), why they buy (Psychographics), and where they buy (Geographics). Having given a lot of thought to who the company’s most probable customers are, you have eliminated the need to please everyone. Focused Marketing–that’s the answer. After all, nobody wants a vanilla product. Now you turn to consider the exact message and the messenger that will bring this new found clarity to the customer base you have selected. You can feel the excitement. Something is finally going to happen.

Next you consider the cost factor. Should you spend your resources on print, radio, video, internet and referral, or should you be so bold as to find huge billboards on which to spread the message? Perhaps you don’t have the money to do more than one. It doesn’t really matter, because you have taken the time to analyze everything and have decided on the perfect arena in which to spend your capital. It is done and you are totally focused and determined to get the result. Let’s make it happen!

In my experience this is where most small businesses stumble. It was fun conceiving the plan, researching options and dreaming of unforgettable successes. Unfortunately, most small business marketing plans stall right here. They never survive long enough to grow legs and walk the earth. The reasons for this are twofold. If the initial push is successful, the owner gets too busy with a temporary sales hike to continue thinking about marketing and the plan ends. After all, there are sales and all of the issues that follow must be dealt with. On the other hand, if the plan fails to bring a measurable response, then panic and fear kick in. What if we spend all of our money and nothing happens? It is simply easier to go to “sleep” and forget the plan than it is to be in the moment and in pain.

Most small business marketing plans travel down the road of a wish rather than a burning desire and an unmovable goal. In the end, the owner wishes for an effective plan but settles for the status quo. Don’t let this happen to your business. Marketing is essential to every enterprise, but we ought to stop looking for the “WOW” experience. Even if there were a “WOW” experience, most of us probably aren’t equipped to handle it. I often ask my clients this question, “If your business doubled or tripled tomorrow, could you handle it?” The answer is a predictable and instant, “sure” followed closely by “no, we couldn’t.”

The answer lies in doing the work described above while adding to or extending your time perspective. Look at marketing as a yearlong planned task. Incorporate accountability and monitoring systems that don’t rely only on you. Measure risk against reward, and once a direction is chosen, follow through. Instant gratification is not what we seek with marketing. We seek the satisfaction of slow and predictable growth, new clients calling and the message being spread. Our marketing plan is a goal that never ends, an essential part of what our business is. Most of all, it is a statement to the world that we believe in our business, our employees and our dream.