Core Business Solutions Advice

• Am I a self-starter?
• How well do I get along with a variety of personalities?
• How good am I at making decisions?
• Do I have the physical and emotional stamina to run a business?
• How well do I plan and organize?
• Are my attitudes and drive strong enough to maintain motivation?

Burnout -- and the boredom that results -- constitutes the No. 1 reason small business owners pack it in and either sell out or shut down. According to market research published in Family Business, burnout is the primary motivator in 50 percent of all business closings. It makes sense. Successful business owners don't just commit themselves to their companies...they become consumed by the quest. Many put in long hours. They neglect their health, families and outside activities; then end up physically ill, emotionally depressed, even divorced.


Ironically, a major cause of burnout is success, achieving a
single goal long sought. That's why many owners get restless, discontented, bored.


Fortunately, it doesn't have to be that way.




1. Separate work and play...and be sure to take time to play. Example: Make it a household rule not to discuss business after 7:00 P.M. Or make the kitchen or family room and, most definitely, the bedroom a "No Business" zone.


2. Get adequate sleep...no less than six hours a night. Long-term sleep deprivation can distort thinking and reduce productivity. But adequate sleep can enhance stamina and clear-headedness.


3. Devote time to mental regeneration every day. Some business owners meditate, others read the Bible or review inspirational books.


4. Exercise daily, even if its only half an hour of walking while working out a business problem.



5. Have a mission...a sense of purpose. This goes beyond mere objectives. A mission describes (A) what you want to achieve and (B) why you want to achieve it.



6. Believe in what you're doing. There's nothing more exciting or challenging than being a business owner. What you do benefits your customers, your employees and, most of all, your family. Don't lose sight of that.


7. Have a Business Confidant – Talk over your issues or plans regularly with someone you can trust (family member, business advisor or coach, good friend, etc.) and who will respect your confidentiality and your goals and objectives. Get their feedback and vent with them when you need that.


8. Be organized. Maintain clear objectives and activity plans for the year, quarter, month, week and day.


9. Work smarter...not just harder. An hour of planning can save ten times that in increased productivity. Follow the carpenters rule: Measure twice, cut once.



10. Don't settle into success. Repetition of a successful process or activity can lead to mind numbing boredom. Take at least one calculated risk each year.


11.Maintain your priorities. Business is important...but not at the expense of health and happiness. Also, remember that it is relationships that give true meaning to what you do.
Maintain positive relationships with family, customers, business friends and employees. Avoid negativity [especially negative people]  at all costs.

As a professional busines advisor I can help you avoid 'burn out' by helping you to develop your priorities, plan and organize your efforts, keep you accountable to your goals and objectives and be a confidential and impartial sounding board when you really need to vent!


In about 2-3 weeks or so I'll review another subject designed to provide business owners with information they can use to help them work "on" their business.


Until Next Time : Live Simply, Speak Kindly, Care Deeply, Love Generously and Live In The Moment


All My Best,

Walt Morey

Core Business Solutions

Executive Business Advisor- Accredited by the Institute for Independent Business

http://www.corebizsolution.com/
Ph: 727-647-8242

It is said "you can't judge a book by its cover." But people do. It is the packaging
that sells it. The title and design of the cover will make all the difference in its
appeal. You can do the same to develop a big booming business with something called BRANDING.

Branding is the immediately recognizable "ah-ha there it is!" That is what you want
in your product and especially your business. People may see it as in a picture, or hear it in a phrase that
identifies the product or service as the one that focuses on them and their desires. Upon entering the brain
through the eyes, ears, or both, good feelings are triggered and drug-like chemical
reactions in the body flood all nerve receptors with desire for the product.

Branding is a form of mesmerism by easy memorization to your prospects, who
then become customers, because when they go to buy the product they think of
you. You get famous through branding. The brand is you, how you get known,
how you get success, and how you will get to charge more for what you have or
do. The jingle they cannot get out of their heads screams at them to buy and try
your product. It is a response, not a choice, because people know what they
know, and through branding what they know is your product.

Branding makes your product sexy, seductive, irresistible, and "must have."
Coming up with tactics for branding is your chance to be creative. Come up with
an overwhelming benefit of your business above what other businesses have and
make it catchy. Make it sing an opera, dance the twist, and sparkle like fireworks. This is what drives your
marketing into the minds and hearts of your market.
Be bold, be different, one-of-a-kind, outstanding, magnetic! Use branding to
be what only you can be and people will buy when you fill their need.

Here are some things people need:

• They need things FAST. 
• They need things that make them FEEL GOOD. 
• They need things that ELIMINATE  PROBLEMS. 
• They need things that ACCOMPLISH GOALS for them. 
• They need things that FILL VOIDS in  their life. 
• They need SECURITY. 
• They need to BE IMPORTANT. 
• They need GUARANTEED RESULTS. 
• They need LOVE. 
• They need BARGAINS. 
• They need HOPE. 
• They need RELIEF. 
• They need a FRIEND and ALLY. 
• They need to SURVIVE and THRIVE. 
• They need YOU to FULFILL THEIR DREAMS.

Satisfy any of these cravings once for your customer and you can add one
product after another to your business and the customer will buy. It will be
because YOU are the brand the customer has gotten to know with
fondness and learned to trust. Get personal with customers and keep in
contact.

          When Dave Thomas started doing commercials for his Wendy's Restaurants, the business revived
from its slowdown because people could see what a likable guy he was. Take what you do and present it to the public over and over in advertising and promotion and prove it in performance to your buyer.

Let's say your business fills the need in people to have what they want fast. Here
are a couple successful slogans that went far to brand these companies. For
Domino's Pizza - "30 minutes or it's free." For Federal Express - "When it
absolutely, positively has to be there overnight."

Such branding made an impact, made a reputation, and made sales. If you want
to establish yourself in business, you can have no better strategy than branding. It
is how cotton swabs become Q-tips, how tissue became Kleenex, how a copy
became a Xerox. Branding is what makes franchises so successful. You pay a lot of money for a
franchise because if you work at it, it is sure to work, because it is already
branded. McDonalds Restaurants are found worldwide as well as next door.

Brand yourself, your business, with the right ideas to motivate and excite, and
whenever people think of your product or service, they will think ONLY OF YOU!


Core Business solutions can help you Brand your company.


Remember: To get your business to the top, you must get off your bottom."

 In the next few weeks I'll post another article to help business owners work "on" their business.
Until Next Time : Live Simply, Speak Kindly, Care Deeply, Love Generously and Live In The Moment



All The Best,

Walt Morey

Core Business Solutions

Executive Business Advisor Accredited by the Institute for Independent Business

http://www.corebizsolution.com/

There once was a bunch of tiny frogs who arranged a climbing competition and the
goal was to reach the top of a very high tower. A large crowd gathered around the tower
to see the race and cheer on the contestants. The race began.

No one in the crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower.
The crowd began to call out... “That’s far too difficult!”, “You’ll never make it to the
top!”, “You will never succeed, the tower is too high!”

Sure enough the tiny frogs started to collapse one by one as the task became
too tough and the cries of the crowd began to affect them. Except those who
got a second wind and climbed higher and higher. The crowd continued to yell
out. “It’s too difficult, no one will make it!!” More tiny frogs got tired and gave up but
one continued higher and higher...

This one wouldn’t give up! At the end that one
tiny frog who made a big effort reached the top of the tower. Everyone wanted to
know how the tiny frog had managed it. A fellow contestant asked him how he
had achieved such a magnificent feat.

The winning tiny frog looked blankly at his fellow contestant and said that he had focused only on the goal - and didn’t hear the negative comments. The moral of this story...

Never let other people’s tendency to be pessimistic or negative take your dreams
and aspirations away from you! Always be POSITIVE. Focus on your goals when
people tell you that you should not try to fulfil your dreams.

BELIEVE and ACHIEVE!    Keep Your Eye On The Prize !
 
In the next few weeks I'll post another article to help business owners work "on" their business.


Until Next Time : Live Simply, Speak Kindly, Care Deeply, Love Generously and Live In The Moment

All The Best,

Walt Morey
Core Business Solutions
Executive Business Advisor Accredited by the Institute for Independent Business
http://www.corebizsolution.com/  

Dale Carnegie said “Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.”

Effective communication is essential in today's work environment. Good communication is as reliant on good listening as on coherent speaking. Here are some tips on how to be a better listener:

1. Look at the other person as they speak. Smile and acknowledge them as they speak. They will open up more as you provide a very positive and interested audience.
2. Ask questions as your conversation goes along. This will draw out more detailed information.
3. Don't interrupt the other person. Let them complete their thought before you jump in and provide feedback.
4. Don't change the subject unless the person speaking does. The more comfortable the speaker is the easier it will be for them to speak plainly.
5. Occasionally reflect back to the speaker what they said, in your own words. This tells the speaker you were listening and that you understand what they have said.
6. Express emotion with control. Try not to overreact to anything.
7. Respond appropriately by considering how you want the speaker to think of you.

Using the methods above can help you help others and be a better listener as well.

In about 2-3 weeks or so I'll review another subject designed to provide business owners with information they can use to help them work "on" their business.


Until Next Time : Live Simply, Speak Kindly, Care Deeply, Love Generously and Live In The Moment

All The Best,

Walt Morey
Core Business Solutions
Executive Business Advisor Accredited by the Institute for Independent Business
http://www.corebizsolution.com

It is official!  If you have a very tough decision to make - you are much better to 'sleep on it'.

A team of Dutch scientists has come to the conclusion that if you are making a simple and basic choice, like deciding which peanut butter to buy, then a conscious decision is better. However, these same scientists found that as the decision gets more complex and important, you're more likely to make a better quality decision if you 'sleep on it'.

A study in the journal "Science" gave the results of a series of tests which appeared to demonstrate that people who relied only on conscious thought processes tended to perform worse when decisions became more complex than those who were able to 'sleep on it'.  The research team explained that the problem with conscious thought is that the brain can only focus on a few things at the same time, which can lead to some aspects being given undue importance.

Lead researcher Dr. Ap Dijksterhuis said "The take home message is that when you have to make a decision, the first step is to gather all the information necessary for the decision. By going through this collecting process you begin to break down all the different parts of the decision as you think about each part of the information you need."

Once you have all the information, you have to decide and this is best done with conscious thought for simple decisions, but left to unconscious thought - to 'sleep on it' - when the decision is complex.
William Golding said  "Sleep is when all the unsorted stuff comes flying out as from a dustbin upset in a high wind."

Jonathan Schooler of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver told Science that "too much (conscious) reflection could be detrimental in some situations."

Strategic planning for a business involves many complex decisions that should be reviewed and thought through over time and this is why I explain to anyone who is doing business planning of any kind to understand that this 'is a process, not an event.' 

In about 2-3 weeks or so I'll review another subject designed to provide business owners with information they can use to help them work "on" their business.


Until Next Time : Live Simply, Speak Kindly, Care Deeply, Love Generously and Live In The Moment

All The Best,

Walt Morey

Core Business Solutions

Executive Business Advisor Accredited by the Institute for Independent Business

http://www.corebizsolution.com

Do you even have a specific plan for building customer loyalty?
Have you truly given the subject much thought? In most successful businesses 20% of their customers generate 80% of their volume.
If you currently retain 60 percent of your customers and you start a program to improve that to 70 percent, you'll add an additional 10 percent to your growth rate.

Because of the high cost of landing new customers versus the high profitability of a loyal customer base, you might want to reflect upon your current business strategy.

Here are ten ideas to help you improve customer loyalty:

1. Product Awareness. Know what your steady patrons purchase and keep these items in stock. Add other products and/or services that accompany or compliment the products that your regular customers buy regularly. And make sure that your staff understands everything they can about your products. This is crucial. Cross selling is easy if the product knowledge has been provided to your employees. Be sure your staff knows that they are 'expected' to offer the cross sale item. Train them.

2. Reliability. If you say a purchase will arrive on Wednesday, deliver it on Wednesday. Be reliable. If something goes wrong, let customers know immediately and compensate them for their inconvenience. The best way to handle this is to always under-promise and over-deliver. If you know it will take 3 days to deliver your product, tell the customer it could take 'up to 5 days'. When you deliver in 3 or 4 days your customer will be pleasantly surprised and a more loyal customer.

3. Be Flexible. Try to solve customer problems or complaints to the best of your ability and as quickly as possible. Excuses — such as "That's our policy" — will lose more customers than most anything else you can do. Remember- "The customer is not always right, but the customer is always the customer." Use the 'Golden Rule' here.

4. Use People over Technology. The harder it is for a customer to speak to a human being when he or she has a problem, the less likely it is that you will see that customer again. In the name of cost savings companies have automated much of customer service. This will cost more in the long run with lost customers in the name of efficiency.

5. Know Their Names. This another part of the 'human' equation to business success. Remember the theme song to the television show Cheers? Get to know the names of regular customers or at least recognize their faces. Welcome them to your business and thank them for coming.

6. Communicate. Here's that 'human' thing again. I call it "stirring the pot" It's also known as Appreciation Marketing. Whether it is an email newsletter, monthly flier, a reminder card for a tune up, or a holiday greeting card, reach out to your steady customers. This tells your customers you are thinking of them. This creates a positive comfort level in your customer base.

7. Customer Service. Go that extra mile and meet customer needs. Train the staff to do the same. Customers will remember being treated well and return.

8. Employee Loyalty. Loyalty works from the top down. If you are loyal to your employees, they will feel positively about their jobs and pass that loyalty along to your customers.

9. Employee Training. Train employees in the manner that you want them to interact with customers. Empower employees to make decisions that benefit the customer.

10. Customer Incentives. Customers need a reason to return to your business. For instance, because children outgrow shoes quickly, the owner of a children’s shoe store might offer a card that makes the tenth pair of shoes half price. Likewise, a Hair Salon, Massage Therapist or Auto Repair Shop may give a 30% discount off all services on every 3rd visit to any regular customer. A simple "Loyalty Card" program can work well here with simple tracking. In personal services businesses, keep a file on each customer to track their prior purchasing habits and preferences. Train your employees (& yourself) to review these files before a customer comes in for their next appointment. Ask them how their past purchases worked out. That 'human' personal touch will seperate you from your competition.

So to sum it up, creating customer loyalty is critical to the success of most businesses. Make sure the culture of you company/business is customer friendly and 'human'. Plan now to implement startegies to improve your customer retention in 2010.

In about 2-3 weeks or so I'll review another subject designed to provide business owners with information they can use to help them work "on" their business.

Until Then : Live Simply, Speak Kindly, Care Deeply & Love Generously.

All The Best,
Walt Morey an Executive Business Advisor Accredited by the Institute for Independent Businesswww.corebizsolution.com