#32. “Prioritize Your Activities”

Today’s entrepreneur shoulders a ton of responsibilities daily, each with its own particular importance and sense of urgency. With so much on your plate, the challenge goes beyond “what to do”, specifically your most important question is “what to do - first!”

It’s planning & order that create efficiency by linking one task to the next.

Don’t busy yourself doing things that don’t relate to your goals! Take control of your destiny. Identify what is truly important and make time for it before it becomes urgent! This approach to time management will greatly reduce your stress.

Any task that comes across your desk that you can accomplish in two minutes or less, always do right away and move on!

Stop by again next Friday for another weekly Business Builder. And for more on personal and professional growth, check out my article: “Don’t Let your Comfort Zone Become your Danger Zone” found here on my website… Larry

#31. “Expect the Unexpected!”

One of the biggest lessons that I have learned about life and about business is that preparation is everything. Early in my career I would simply focus on readying myself for the task at hand, a one dimensional approach that would often leave me off-balance when unexpected problems arose.

With that valuable experience under my belt and my preparation firmly in place I now expand my readiness by anticipating problems and making sure that the final stage of my preparation for every task, interaction or presentation is reviewing my Plan B should it be necessary.

So don’t let surprises rock your focus and affect the quality of your work. Always have a back-up plan in place to minimize set-backs. Use your experience in the past to positively impact the success of your future and you will marvel at the peace of mind that follows.

Stop by again next Friday for another weekly Business Builder. And for more on personal and professional growth, check out my article: “Creating an Action Plan to Help Ensure Success” found here on my website… Larry

#30. “Market Research Minimizes Risk & Illustrates Potential”

It is so easy to get caught up in the development of a special idea that you become passionate about and run the risk of losing your objectivity. The self-fulfilling prophecy theory tells us that we are inclined to hear the things that we want to hear and to subconsciously block out negative information. It’s human nature to want to be right!

But how dangerous is that when we are about to invest time, money and effort in a business idea?

Carefully orchestrated Market Research in the form of both Secondary Research (data, information & statistics gathered by an unbiased source) and Primary Research (collected personally one-on-one thru surveys, focus groups & observation) can provide you with valuable insight into your idea’s viability without relying on instinct, assumption or your gut feeling.

So before you move ahead with an idea, do your homework to help ensure your project’s success and minimize risk & potential loss. Once again the internet provides access to some wonderful resources like Survey Monkey to help you make it happen.

Stop by again next Friday for another weekly Business Builder. And for more on decision making and market research, check out my article: “What’s in a (Business) Name” found here on my website… Larry

#29. “Say It Loud, Say it Clear
and Say it Often in a Variety of Ways”

Far too often companies use a one dimensional approach to their advertising. The only plan or strategy that they have is to advertise when they are slow to get busy using discounted pricing until their sales recover. Wrong!

Successful businesses will use price point advertising when they are slow to get busy but they also advertise when they are busy using different types of messages to educate the consumer, position their products & services in the mind of the consumer and to increase their company’s credibility to ensure that they maintain their momentum and build brand awareness.

Your Promotion Strategy should be on-going and incorporate different types of media that reach each of your Target Markets in a variety of ways to ensure that your messages get through.

Carefully examine the endless ways that successful companies like McDonalds, Coca-Cola, Roots, Apple, and Tim Hortons promote & position themselves every day… and learn from the best!

Stop by again next Friday for another weekly Business Builder. And for more on personal and professional growth, check out my article: “Building Brand Awareness and Increasing Share of Mind” found here on my website… Larry

#28. “Planning Pays Off!”

What is the best way to get through those crazy, busy periods that at times seem like they will never end? With careful planning and priority management.

First, let me share with you a statistic that puts this into perspective…
“Studies have shown that twenty minutes of planning can save you up to one hour of wasted time each day”. Think of all the things you could accomplish if you had one extra hour in your day and the pressure it would relieve. I make sure I keep that little stat close to me whenever things start to get crazy.

Regardless of how much I have on my plate, I begin each day with my To-Do List which I review and update to paint the big picture. Then I identify my priorities – those important tasks that must get done. Being a morning person, I am most effective handling my writing and creative work first when I am most fresh.

If I need to spend time “on the road” I map out a route that will take me from appointment to appointment in the shortest time and use my iPhone to stay connected and return messages & email.

If you are truly serious about success, you quickly learn that planning is the key to moving forward quickly and staying focused on the right things.

Stop by again next Friday for another weekly Business Builder. And for more on personal and professional growth, check out my article: “Creating an Action Plan to Help Ensure your Success” found here on my website… Larry

#27. “You” are your Competitive Advantage!

The people who drive a business largely determine the degree of success that it achieves. A humble willingness to recognize and embrace yourself for the person you are, both good & bad, puts you in a position to play upon your strengths to open doors and build an action plan to offset your weaknesses - those areas that leave you vulnerable.

You cannot change what you don’t acknowledge which can make real growth and improvement impossible, until you are willing to face reality. Programs like True Colors and Personality Dimensions provide an ideal venue to learn and discover the unique and dynamic resource that is distinctly you!

So begin developing a policy today that calls for you… and your staff, to commit to honest self assessment, on-going learning and continuous growth – the key to developing that exciting competitive advantage!

Stop by again next Friday for another weekly Business Builder. And for more on personal and professional growth, check out my article: “Selling Yourself” found here on my website… Larry

#26. “Important Tools to Move You Forward ”

It’s a double-edged sword! Venturing into new territory is a must if you expect to be competitive and succeed in business yet it can bring fear, concern and plenty of stress that can be distracting and take you off your game plan. On the other hand if you don’t face those fears and boldly move forward, your business won’t go anywhere.

• Overall, a strong support staff, anticipation & continuous learning represent important cornerstones to building confidence and peace of mind as you grow your business.

• For specific projects, planning, preparation & attention to detail position you to examine possible outcomes before you risk time, effort, money and emotional collateral.

• And from a personal perspective, your positive attitude, experience & common sense (yes, common sense!) can convert fear and apprehension into welcome opportunities to grow in new directions.

Stop by again next Friday for your weekly Business Builder. And for more on successfully growing your business, check out my article: “Performance Under Pressure” found here on my website… Larry

#25. “Document Everything!”

Busy, successful people need accurate, easy-to-access points of reference to their business activities and appointments to be fully accountable and confident when dealing with controversial matters or questionable situations. With the workload that you carry it’s difficult to recall specific points about specific encounters that happened weeks or months ago.

A journal or daily calendar is a great way to document meetings, due dates, people in attendance and specific points that were made that can be referred at a later date when your memory fades. Photographs taken using a digital camera or cell phone can provide important references to job sites, attendees and project conditions before your work begins.

Creating a portfolio of “Before & After” photos can act as a valuable marketing tool on sales calls. Using a written quotation form customized to your particular needs will ensure that you address all important points in the jobs you quote.

Make one of your “Best Practices” to put everything in writing and take plenty of photos so you’ll always remember!

Stop by again next Friday for your weekly Business Builder. And for more on successfully growing your business, check out my article: “It’s Time for a Performance Assessment” found here on my website… Larry

#24. “Effective Advertising Reflects a True Understanding your Customer’s Needs and Expectations”

Unfortunately advertising often takes the blame for poor sales when really attention should be focused in the opposite direction - on your market analysis and research.

Advertising is not a substitute for selling and should not be held solely responsible for your sales. Instead, your advertising should be designed to support and complement your sales efforts. The job of advertising is to create activity (ie: make the phone ring, bring hits to your website or potential customers to your door) which in turn provides the opportunity to sell!

Hopefully Jimmy can keep his promises… LB

Successful advertising is always market-driven delivering the right message to the right people at the right time using the right media (or vehicle to carry your message). Investing time up front to research and understand the market that you are looking to reach is the key to successful advertising and this is where the return on investment is determined.

To develop advertising that works; make sure that you first, do your homework!

Stop by again next Friday for your weekly Business Builder. And for more on successfully growing your business, check out my article: “Building Brand Awareness and Increasing Share of Mind” found here on my website… Larry

#23. “A Complaint is an Opportunity to Do It Right”

Remarkably, studies tell us that only 4% of our dissatisfied customers tell us about a problem they have experienced. 96% go away quietly and 90% of whom never return.

Consider this: If only four out of 100 customers voice their concern when something isn’t right, how do you as a business owner know when you are making mistakes?

Develop a policy that encourages, embraces and rewards customer feedback, both good and bad. Never make excuses when a complaint is lodged. Simply thank the customer for caring, correct the problem and then be sure to let them know that their concern has been corrected.

One of the biggest reasons that people don’t complain is that they feel nothing will be done anyway and that no one cares. Your job is to show them otherwise.

Stop by again next Friday for your weekly Business Builder. And for more on positioning yourself to succeed, check out my article: “Adapting to Change Successfully” found here on my website… Larry