Thoughts on Building a Business

I’ve just started reading Stephen Coveys “8th Habit” book and must say that I am inspired. If you haven’t read (or listened) to any of Covey’s stuff then I would definitely recommend it. It’s probably the most powerful stuff I have come across (up there with napoleon Hill).

In fact, his “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” was the inspiration for most of Probity Partners Values Statement. So with this inspiration in mind, I thought I would write this month about the 7 Habits and give my take on it.

So what are the 7 Habits?

The 7 Habits are:
1. Be Proactive
2. Start with the end in mind
3. Put first things first
4. Think Win/Win
5. Seek first to Understand and then to be Understood
6. Synergise
7. Sharpen the Saw

1. Be Proactive
This seems pretty obvious, but is very often forgotten in our busy business lives. I believe we are all guilty of it, just at different levels. It basically means that we should always strive to be proactive rather then reactive. That is, be proactive at making change happen rather then reacting to change when it is thrust upon you. The best current example of this would be the doom and gloom of the “Global Economic Crisis”. Many people reacted to the media portrayal of this and became negative about their business. Rather then being proactive and looking for the opportunities that they could take advantage of. A Proactive person is in charge of their destiny.

2. Start with the end in mind
Yes, you guessed it. We all need goals. A successful business needs to have an overall vision that you work towards, otherwise where you end up is left to chance. This is true for even small projects. Take the time to quickly decide what it is you hope to achieve and then set about achieving it.

3. Put first things first
This goes hand in hand with Habit 2. Once you know what you want to achieve, you need to plan out how you are going to get there. Otherwise, you might get ahead of yourself. This doesn’t always mean a formal plan, but may simply be a to do list you keep in your head.

4. Think Win/Win
This is one of my favourites. Whenever you are negotiating with someone else, always aim to get a solution where both parties win. Never set out to rip people off and take advantage of them. This may work a few times, but will ultimately catch up with you. I’m sure we’ve all seen great ideas get destroyed by somebodies greed.

5. Seek first to understand and then to be understood
This is similar to the saying “you have 2 ears and one mouth, so use them in that proportion”. Most people want to put their side forward first (this includes sales meetings) and leave little opportunity for the other party to put forward theirs. A great way to get the best possible outcome is to really understand the other party’s issues first, before trying to fix them. This is especially true in a heated exchange. You will be amazed at how much people calm down when you simply listen.

6. Synergise
This replaces compromise. Often when dealing with people you may not get consensus (think price in a sales meeting). In these circumstances, we generally compromise to get an agreement. However, the very definition of compromise means that one party must lose out and what they really want (think habit 4). Synergise means to brainstorm to come up with a solution that is better than the first. One that means that both parties win. In a Sales Meeting you may not budge on price, but throw in an additional product or service. These may cost you very little, but mean a lot to the customer, leading to a Win/Win situation.

7. Sharpen the saw
This is probably my favourite and one that I can struggle with at times. It’s best explained by something that happened to me recently. When we build an online shop website, we need to organise the products into a spreadsheet ready for importing into the site. The price field needs to have “AU/” put in front of the price to signify that it is in Australian Dollars. Every time I set up one of these spreadsheets I start by trying to work out an easy way to add this to the 100+ products, but after a few minutes decide I’m wasting time and add it individually. This can take hours. The last time I had to do one, I decided to take the time needed to find the solution (Sharpen the Saw). After 30-45 minutes I had found it and it took me 10 minutes to complete the job. Now if I had done this the first time, I believe I would have saved close to a week of my time. So the moral of the story is, don’t let yourself get that busy doing stuff (sawing), that you don’t have time to work out a way to make it easier (sharpening the saw).

I hope you have enjoyed my take on these Habits. I believe that these are powerful and am just now starting to teach them to my 2 young sons, as I believe it will make them better people. I would love to hear your thoughts.

But what’s the 8th Habit?

As I mentioned, I’ve only just started the book, but fully intend to talk about it in the near future. But from what I’ve read, it is “To find your voice and inspire others to find theirs”.

Why not book into the 2009 "Camp Quality - Supper Club"?

The Chandon Supper Club has become one of Camp Quality’s most successful and exclusive fundraising events and is one of the hottest tickets on the social calendar.

The Chandon Supper Club is a unique fundraising experience marrying fine wines, intimate dinners, secret destinations, glamour, a big party and a generous serving of pure fun and energy.

Through the generosity of restaurants, caterers, venues and hosts in each city we aim to raise $1 million nationally in 2009. This money will help send up to 2,000 children with cancer on a camp where they will have the opportunity to have the time of their lives, forget about their illness and concentrate on being a child again.

To learn more, or to book, download the Brochure including a booking form. Similarly, check out which Restaurants are participating and are still available to book.

I appreciate that times may be tough and that you may already have given to the fund raising appeals for the Fire and Flood victims. But if you can afford to, this is a very worthwhile cause as well as a great way to really have a great time.

With our busy lives (particularly in running a Small Business), we quite often forget about key concepts or strategies that we know are important to our business. It just takes someone or something to remind us of it, to get us refocussed again.

This happened to me recently at a Networking Event when the Guest Speaker very quickly brushed over the Cashflow Quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki (Author of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad"). For those of you not familiar, the Cashflow Quadrant is:

This essentially shows you the normal stages of someone starting their business and growing it to its full potential. It is also a powerful concept when you think about what you want to acheive with your business.

Now this is something that I used continually as a Business Advisor to help explain the importance of growing your business beyond yourself. It shows how by doing this you can open up unlimited streams of income from your business as well as improve your overall lifestyle. On top of this, it also explains why growing a business beyond you is not easy and can lead to a lot of pain before you get there. But the journey is well worth it, because the destination can be so good.

If you would like to hear my take, simply download my Cashflow Quadrant info sheet.

I recently joined Facebook, purely as a Business Marketing exercise. With Social Media becoming such an important part of an Internet Marketing Strategy, I thought I should start to seriously look into it. Afterall, I can't sell Online Business Websites and promote the use of the Internet to grow your business, if I'm not doing it myself.

From what I can see, Facebook is no different then going to Networking Breakfasts, except it's easier, cheaper and better for your Waistline. Basically once you have signed up, you can then join the various Networking Groups that are already set up. These have titles such as "The Brisbane Small Business Group" or "Brisbane Networking Group". Or perhaps you might like to join an International Group.

Once you have joined a Group, you can then post messages to that group, but more importantly, you can approach other members to see if they would like to become a friend. Now I know many of you will cringe at the whole "become a friend" thing, but in business terms, it basically means that they are willing to go onto your Database so that you can communicate direct with them. Better yet, many of the members of the group will contact you to see if you want to become a "their friend". Whenever this happens, it's reciprocal. So you start building your database of contacts.

Now the rules of Networking on Facebook is the same as Networking face to face. That is, you don't go in there and start flogging your Products and Services. You go into there to build relationships. Once you have developed that relationship, you can then start promoting your products.

Now if you are like me and much prefer to meet face to face with someone, then this is possible too. Many of these groups will organise get togethers, so that the Members can meet.

If you want to be really pro-active, why not start your own group. This can be based around anything, as long as there are other Facebook users with a similar interest.

Lastly, the other advantage of joining Facebook is a personal one. This is something that I never contemplated when I joined. Since joining 2 months ago, I have been contacted by at least four people that I haven't heard from for over 20 years. Simply by putting my education info on my profile, I am getting contacted by my old class mates. Some of these were great friends that I just lost touch with after School (the problem with growing up in a small town and moving away).

So why not take a punt and join up. At the very least, you might connect with someone from your past that you'd forgotten all about.

The start of the year is a great time to take some time out to review your business and set some goals for the year ahead. Even though my business operates on the Financial Year, I find that the first week of January is a great time to do my Budget and Cashflow Forecasts for the year ahead. The trouble with trying to do this at the start of the Financial Year is that we are normally flat out. For this reason, I simply use this time to review and correct what I put in place in January.

So how do I do this?

Firstly, I take some time to revisit my overall Business Vision. This helps me get re-inspired and reminds me why I got into business in the first place. In some years, I may even rejig it a bit, depending on where I am at.

Secondly, now that I am inspired, I start to set some overall goals for the year. These might be Sales, Profit, Staff Numbers, Markets, Products or maybe even how many hours I want to be working. Just remember to make these goals, Smart Goals.

If you want to know more about Vision, Mission and SMART Goals, download here.

Thirdly, I now fill out my Budget/Cashflow Forecast spreadsheet to set clear monthly Financial Targets that I can then measure on a monthly basis. It also helps me make sure that my Goals are realistic.

Lastly, I compile my first 90 day plan for the year. This sets out the Actions I will be taking for the first quarter to ensure that I reach my Goals.

So what have you done to make sure that 2009 is a great year for you and your business?