A Great Tool For Business Decisions

One of my roles as an advisor is to assist my clients in making decisions. I look at this role as the person who can facilitate the business owner making the decision instead of telling them what I think they should do.

When someone is struggling with a big decision, I use the following tool:

I ask them:

“With respect to the decision you are stuck on, if you had to decide in the next 10 seconds, what would your decision be?

Quite often they will come up with a decision in less than one second!

Why does this happen?

The reason is by asking the hypothetic 10 second question, it gets past what your mind might be thinking and goes straight to what your ‘gut feeling’ is. This may still not be your final decision, but once you have the awareness of your gut feeling, you can understand more of the other reasons you are stuck trying to make the decision.

By the way, this technique doesn’t apply just to business decisions, try it out on your friends and family and see how it works!

When I shared this with the university students that I mentor, they reported great fun and success in experimenting with it. I wish you all the same fun and success – let me know how it goes!

Innovation in Business

Here at The Business Therapist we love seeing innovative businesses and we also love supporting local businesses. Recently we discovered a gem of a unique business offering that we would like to share. We hope this example may inspire other small businesses to create innovative products or services.

Oxley Beach Golf Course is a family owned and operated executive par 3 course located in cottage country on Lake Erie’s North Shore in Essex County, Ontario. 6 years ago, owners Richard and Christine Froese noticed a decline in the interest in the game of golf. Along with the beginning of an economic downturn, a rise in their overhead, strong competition within Essex County and nearby Michigan golf courses, and new, costly government regulations, the couple was working to develop new ideas and programs to stimulate interest in Oxley Beach Golf Course.

The Froese’s then came up with a fantastic, innovative idea; they decided to take a risk and approach some of the new local wineries about creating a ‘Golf, Wine & Dine’ golf league.

So, why do we love this idea?

By cleverly partnering with other local and independent businesses, the Froese’s are able to attract existing and new customers to a unique and local ‘experience’.

The program has been tweaked a bit over the years, but now at $30 per person and offered 10 times per year on Friday evenings, it’s an excellent way to create interest in not only Oxley Beach Golf Course and the partnered wineries, but as a re-occurring promotional event to get people to come back time and again and then go out and spread the good word to their friends and families.  

Participants come from all across the county for the Golf, Wine & Dine events. Attendees consist of couples of all ages (what a perfect date night!), groups of girlfriends, small company outings, and even father-daughter teams. The format is kept simple so it’s fun for golfers of all skill levels. Christine notes, “It was surprising to see how many locals came out who had never yet visited a local winery!” After 9 holes of golf, everyone travels to a local winery to experience their offerings as well as a fantastic dinner.

“The program is an excellent example of region building and of pride and passion for the region’s two biggest sustainable competitive advantages: wine and golf,” states Fabio Muscedere of local winery Muscedere Vineyards, “Chis and Richard are proactive passionate pioneers. People who participate always leave asking when the next event is.”

Even with the success of these special nights, the Froese’s aren’t sitting back – they are still actively seeking out ways to increase play at Oxley.

The ‘buy local – stay local’ trend of recent years has been an important area of focus for the Froese’s, “The networking and referrals that go on among our businesses is important and a good way to generate growth and interest. We’d like people to realize that there’s a ‘whole package’ of things that they can enjoy during a trip to this area.”

2 years ago with the co-operation of more than 25 businesses and strategic partners, ‘Explore the Shore’ was created to share the local treasures along beautiful County Road 50. Christine says, “From parks, golf, and activities at Colchester Harbour, to wineries, restaurants, fresh fruit & vegetables, to B&Bs and quaint little shops, there’s much to see and enjoy during a visit to this little neck of the woods!”   

“Richard and I would like to acknowledge and thank all of the wineries once again for their eager participation and warm hospitality. It has been a delight having them on board to create this special offering with the Oxley Beach Golf Course.”

We recommend that you get out and explore this area for yourself, and get inspired to be innovative in your business! See you there!

Grow Your Business – 4 Ways

There are really only 4 ways to grow your business:

1)      Increase the number of customers (of the type you want)

2)      Increase the average transaction value of each sale

3)      Increase the number of times your customers transact with you

4)      Increase the efficiency of your business to handle the growth

With respect to the first way, it is important to focus on increasing the customer base with your preferred A-type customer. All new customers are not equal. There are good customers and bad customers. If you’re not focusing on attracting good customers then you are likely attracting bad customers. The required skill is learning and knowing when to say ‘no’.

Increasing the average transaction value can be accomplished a number of ways: It can be a price increase or it could be done by packaging products and services together. A well designed package offering can create more value and convenience for the customer as well as increase your revenues.

Once a customer has enjoyed dealing with your business, it more convenient and easier for them to do business with you again.  All you need to do is stay in touch with them by email, phone, direct mail, thank you cards or customer appreciation events. Don’t assume that these existing customers know everything that you offer and won’t purchase anything else from you. My clients that are proactive in staying in touch with their loyal customers are always rewarded for doing so and the customers love the good service!  

Increasing your business efficiency is about building systems. Michael Gerber, the author of The E-Myth Revisited, says, “systems help ordinary employees accomplish extra-ordinary things”. An important part of implementing a new system is to be happy if the employee performs the new systematize task 80% as well as you at first. If you expect everything to be done 100% as well as you the first time you will end up doing more tasks  yourself – your choice.

The classic example of a system that an ordinary employee uses to increase the average transaction value is at McDonald’s. If your order doesn’t include fries, the employee is taughtto ask, “Would you like fries with that?”.  Did you know that question can result in up to 33% of the customers agreeing to order fries! And since fries are one of the highest profit margin items on the menu, that system alone often performed by ‘ordinary’ high school students makes millions of dollars.

I am willing to bet there is a simple little system you could implement in your business to increase your average transaction value.

Additional interesting comment: As I finished typing the last line at a Starbucks, one of the employees walked up with a tray and asked me if I wanted to try a taste of some fruit or some green tea lemon-aid. I wonder if this is a system to increase the sales of those two items?

The green tea lemon-aide tastes awesome by the way. 

Solve Business Anxiety with Action

Whenever I feel a little stuck and stressed about what to do, I find thinking more about it doesn’t help. One way to break through is to take action – and any action is better than no action.

Some examples:

Financial Stress: If you have clients that are slow to pay you, drive directly to their place of business and ask them, ‘how’s it going?’ Ask them if they’ve had any issues with the product or service delivery. Ask them if they remember the payments terms they agreed to. Then ask them to pay your bill!

Sales Stress: Come up with a new promotion. It doesn’t matter how crazy it is, just do it. This action is a conversation starter with customers and sales people at the very least. I have many retail clients who tried one of those crazy ideas and they actually worked!

Sales Stress #2: Make a list of your top 10 customers. Call them or go see them. Ask them how things are going. ‘Are we doing a good job for you? Is there any unmet need we may be able to assist with?’ Even if they are doing fine, ask them if they would consider providing a referral for you.

People Stress: If your employees are having productivity problems, jump in right beside them and help them do their job. Jump in the truck with the drivers, pull up a chair at the desk or join them on the work site. Get out there and shake things up a bit and see what you learn. Any time I have offered to pull up a chair at the desk beside an employee, they often decide to focus more on their own!

Time management stress: Look down your ‘to do list’ and pick two things you know are aren’t going to do – and just cross them off. Forget them or delegate them. Next choose two things that will take 5 minutes or less to complete – and do those. After 10 minutes with four things crossed off you will feel so great, you can now tackle the worst job that you have been circling around and stressing about for weeks!

The key in all the above examples is to do something – anything. Once you are taking the actions, the idea for the next actions will come to you.

The more action you take, the lower the anxiety. Next thing you know, the stress is gone!

The Definition of an Entrepreneur

Here is my definition of an Entrepreneur:

An entrepreneur is a person who has a clear vision of their future business. He or she has the ability to assemble a team and communicate the vision to them in a way that motivates everyone to work together in pursuit of the vision. The entrepreneur’s main role is to passionately lead the team forward to accomplish the vision.”

Contrast that with a business owner performing the technical skills of the business.

If you want to grow the business as the technician, you have to work harder yourself.

If you want to grow the business as an entrepreneur, you have to:

 -          Clarify and communicate your vision

-           Assemble a great team to work together

-           Passionately lead the team

For greater clarity, none of the entrepreneurial skills require the ‘working in’ the business technical skills.

In my opinion, thinking like an entrepreneur is working smarter instead of working harder.

Do you concur?

Be Different by Better Positioning Your Expertise

As a small business advisor, I am always observing the actions of every business encounter.

When I was in New Orleans last week, I went into a retail store that manufactured and sold gas and electric lights fixtures (www.bevolo.com). The salesperson was very 

polite and knowledgeable. After sharing some good information such as the fact they have over 500 styles and they never discontinue any of them, he made an additional offer:

If you send this light fixture company all the information about the location, style and dimensions of the place you want to put your new fixture, including as many pictures as you want, they will review it and make their own expert recommendations for the light fixture that is right for you. They do this free of charge.

This offer is a great example of positioning your expertise in a way the customer can really value it. It also changes the conversation from ‘How much is it?’ to ‘We will help you design the best fixture for you at no additional cost’. Once the business and the customer establish a relationship and start down the path of determining the best fixture, it would be pretty tough for a competitor to get the business.

When I discussed this unique expert offering with two Windsor, Ontario area business owners who happened to be there with me, I discovered they too offered this service:When the customer includes the value of the expert service received to the price of the light fixture, paying a little more money results in getting a lot more in total value.

Essex Home Furnishings (www.essexhomefurnishings.com) will look at your furniture needs from colours to patterns and room designs. The salespeople will even come out for a site visit to offer their expert opinion.

Great Lakes Safety Products (www.greatlakessafetyproducts.com) will do a walk through your business and assess safety issues. (When was your fire extinguisher last checked? It might be worth a call just to check on that).

Both these businesses offer these services free of charge. If you would like to try them, just tell them Paul sent you!

I also welcome your comments on how valuable the experience was for you.

David Byrne at The Zurich Classic – The Culmination of a Goal

It is an amazing feeling to accomplish a personal or professional goal. I often experience this great feeling when working with business owners who are successfully growing their businesses. Through my sponsorship of a young golfer named David Byrne and being a part of his attainment of goals, I have learned that the gift is truly in the giving.  

About a year and a half ago, Liz Grady, the Director of Digital Communications here at TBT, approached me about sponsoring a local golfer. After meeting with David, I was amazed at his natural talent and I admired his dedication of his goal to become a professional golfer.

Our team at The Business Therapist has truly enjoyed watching this young man achieve his goals. He won The Golf Channel’s reality show The Big Break Indian Wells. He has since had the opportunity to play in some incredible events, has met many golf legends and some of his idols (this week he played 9 holes with #2 ranked Luke Donald), and today, David tees off in his first PGA event, The Zurich Classic in New Orleans.

The greatest benefit of my sponsorship of David is experiencing each success with him. The feeling of admiration and pride by knowing this young man has been a source of great joy for me and my team. Not only is he a great golfer, he is also very kind and appreciate of every moment of this incredible experience.

This week-end my partner Jen and I, along with many of David’s family members, other sponsors and supporters from his home course of Sutton Creek Golf Club are at The Zurich Classic to experience the culmination of this goal with David.

Paul Foster (The Business Therapist), David Byrne, Dan Turner (Essex Home Furnishings)

We wish you well David. We are so happy to share in your first PGA event, and hope it is one of many. 

Happy Anniversary to Us!

The Business Therapist Inc. has reached another big milestone. April 21, 2012 is the one year anniversary of the launch of our website and blog!

This is a great time to reflect and revisit our purpose in the digital world. We focus on two main objectives with our content – One is about ‘business’ and the second is about ‘therapist’.

1)      Business – The knowledge gap

 For those business owners that did not receive formal business management training, we have simplified the required business knowledge into only five things:

(i)Vision and Clarity – The fish rots from the head down

(ii)Pricing and Differentiation Strategy – It’s better to be different

(iii)Employees – Understanding what really motivates them

(iv)Systems – Put down your instrument and start conducting the orchestra

(v)Activities Management – What you can measure you can manage

We suggest if you just focus on the five things listed above, your business will grow and prosper. But having the knowledge is not enough to make it happen. That’s where the second part of what we do comes in.

2)      Therapist – Business owner beliefs and points of view

We ask you to consider how your personal beliefs and points of view affect your business. Since it is easier to observe the behavior of others than reflect on ourselves, we gently explore these topics using examples of our experiences with other business owners. Occasional we challenge your current beliefs directly as any good therapist should. We hope you appreciate it is your own best interest!

We now have over 100 blog posts sharing the knowledge and challenging the points of view. We encourage you to search them for ideas.

New products coming soon!           

Our goal is to have a free E-book available for download on each of the five things to assist in filling in the knowledge gap. We currently have the Activities Management eBook available on our Resouces page.

Our Pricing and Differentiation Strategy eBook is ready and will be available within the next 30 days.

Our eBook on Visioning is currently having its final edits completed and should be available within the next 30 days as well.

The eBooks on Employee Motivation and Systems are coming soon.

We are very excited to be adding video to our Visioning Self Study Program. We have a prototype that we are beta-testing right now.

We have lots more projects in the works and we will keep you up to date on the developments. More importantly, we want you to tell us what you like and what you don’t like. We think we keep a pretty good pulse of the small business community but maybe that is just our own belief?

I think it is only fair for us to be open to listen and explore any challenges you may have to our business philosophies.  Please reach out with your comments!

And thanks for supporting us over our first year. It has been a lot of fun and we are only just getting started.

Cheers!

Business Style: Family or Corporation?

One of the intangible assets of any small business is its culture or style. In developing your own style for your business, there is a big difference between operating it ‘like a family’ or operating like a large ‘corporation’.

Besides the fact that many of the employees may be family and friends, the family style culture creates an environment where everyone supports each other. There is also a stronger ‘social’ component to the workplace as personal and business activities cross over more. For the employees that enjoy this type of culture, it is a valuable perk of being part of the business. They tend to appreciate and enjoy the ‘not a big corporation’ vibe of the business.

The opposite culture is the more business-like ‘corporation’ style. The operating style is more structured and there is clearly defined separation between workplace and personal interactions. The existence of any family or friend relationships are ignored and systematically eliminated from having any effect on the way the business operates…. Yeah right!

I don’t know, is that style possible?

Show me an example of a small business where there are either no friends and family as employees or if there are, the business operates completely as if the personal relationships don’t exist.

Assuming this business exists, I would be curious if it was considered a better culture?

In my experience, the existence of friends and family in a small business is only natural. I also believe this culture of family and friends working together should be embraced and celebrated.

Just like in a family, there could be the occasional hiccup. That’s only natural too. And just like in a family, everyone works together to deal with the hiccups.

Right?

Communication Skills

Who is right? A tip on how to win the argument!

But first a story:

Dan and Tom were having an argument. They were both very sure their position was ‘right’. In order to make sure, Dan had an idea. He proposed to Tom that he would go up and ask the old man on the hill. By the way, the old man is the smartest fellow in town.

So Dan went up to see the old man and presented his case to him. The old man considered his arguments and then answered, “Yes, Dan you are right.”

Tom couldn’t believe it when he heard this. Tom decided to go see the old man himself and provide his quite reasonable and logical arguments to him. The old man listened intently and then declared, “Yes, Tom you are right.”

During both these presentations, the old man’s wife was nearby listening. After Tom left, she challenged the old man by saying, “Old man, you can’t tell both Tom and Dan that they are right!”

The old man pondered her comments and then replied to her, “You know, you’re right!”

Recommendation: If you want to be right, you can be, you just need to allow the other person to also be right. Once we understand that it is possible for both to be ‘right’ we can proceed to find a solution assuming this truth.

It is as much a waste of time energy to try and take control of another’s beliefs and mold it to your own as it is to have them try and do the same to you!