Archive for the ‘Business Secrets’ Category

If you own and run your own business, you may relate to the idiom, “its lonely at the top.” It doesn’t much matter if the top is being in charge of hundreds of employees, or just one. Being chief decision maker means taking all of the responsibility. That is why it is so important for small business owners to have people they can go to for advice. I wrote about this before when I suggested every small business owner should have a M.O.M. I wanted to revisit the subject because I believe it is one of the core things every business owner should focus on.

Specifically, I want to talk to you about creating an advisory board. You may think of this as an abstract idea or something for bigger businesses, but its not. Every business, no matter how small, should have one. I am currently a one person business and I am working on creating my own advisory board.

What an Advisory Board Looks Like

The main thing to understand is that this board can be made up of anyone, anywhere. You don’t need to pay the people who you go to for advice, at least not until you grow so big that you need a formal board of directors. Furthermore, an advisory board can be a give and take situation. Everyone on the board can be small business owners and can share ideas with one another. That is how Becky McCray created her board.

This might work for you, or you might want a more mixed board that you feel more accountable to. In an upcoming episode of my podcast I talk to Melinda Emerson, who suggests that your advisory board include at least one former executive, one small business owner or entrepreneur, one person from another industry, and one customer.

Setting up and Running an Advisory Board

Putting a board together is often as simple as asking. You need to take the initiative and schedule monthly meetings. You might meet with them all at once or one by one. Your board might be local so you can have face to face meetings, or all over the world. What matters is that you have people that you respect that you can go to for advice.

The second thing you need to do, once you have a board in place, is to actually listen to these people and act on their advice. An advisory board is only as good as the action you take.

Geoffrey P. Lamdin, of Left Field Solutions, LLC., had this advice to share in the All Business Answers Success in 2010 Free Report.

“Create, re-invigorate, or expand your Advisory Board. Then listen to them and ACT upon what they are telling you! Seek out the BEST of the BEST for your advisors, regardless of where in the world they are – the internet and Skype are at your disposal. Small businesses often suffer from isolation, “small business think” paradigm, and perceived limitations. These are a sure path to eventual (or sooner) failure. Reach out to successful advisors for continuous, energized mentoring – and go!”

Can You Use Advice?

Take a moment and think about what a little good advice can do for you. Think about what it means if that advice can come from a perspective outside of your business, or even from your customer base.

We all need advice. We can all benefit from a different point of view, and from someone else’s expertise. If you do not have people that you go to on a regular basis for advice, why not? I’d be willing to wager that it’s not because you are pompous S.O.B. who thinks you know it all. Instead, you probably just don’t know how, or who, to ask.

It is okay to ask for advice. It doesn’t make you stupid. In fact, it is one of the secrets to great business success.

This post is part of a series on Success.

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Hello, I’m Bradford Shimp. I’ll admit that I am usually more comfortable giving advice than in asking for it. But I really believe that getting good advice is key to building a successful business, and I’m working on it. If you need advice on how to optimize your website for search traffic and lead generation, check out my business at BroadRiverCreative.com.

If you have an idea that you are sitting on because you just don’t know if it will work, or how you can make it work, stop. Don’t sit on good ideas. Either do something with it, or give it away to someone how will do something with it.

The Dreamer

If you are an individual who wants to create a business, and you already have an idea, there is only one thing to do. Try. You may not have a clue how to succeed, but what can you learn from doing nothing? The experience of failing is far more instructive and useful then that of sitting.

Sure, maybe you are preparing. Read books, blogs, the horoscope for all I care. I believe in all of that (well, not horoscopes). But at some point, you just need to get out there and try. Otherwise, you will just have theory and no place to apply it.

Don’t be afraid of failure. Instead, fear doing nothing. If you have a passion, pursue it. You’ll pick up all the education you need along the way. And if you find that, indeed, you aren’t cut out to run your own business, then at least you will know.

The Owner

If you already own a business, your idea may take you in a different direction. It may not just stretch you, but your entire business. Its funny, but the person who took a risk and then was successful to start a business often has a harder time taking more risks on new ideas. Thats because its not just a job. There’s payroll, debt, and responsibility up the wazoo.

I don’t advocate just changing the direction of your company overnight. If your new idea has nothing to do with your current business, you need to either find a partner who can do much of the heavy lifting, or, if it really ignites your passion, either sell or systematize your current business enough to run without you.

But don’t let these hurdles stop you from trying. Many of your ideas will be related to your current business, but will take it in a new direction. Try them out. They’ll work or they won’t. You won’t improve your business without trying. One of those ideas could be a game-changer. But you won’t know until you have risked failing with it.

Get Your Education

So stop wasting good ideas by doing nothing with them. Push them, even if just a little. Learn if they are viable, if you can sustain your passion, and if you can succeed. Theory doesn’t help you here, just application. So get out and risk something. You’ll be amazed at what you can learn just from trying.

Bradford Shimp also helps small businesses succeed at BroadRiverCreative.com.

Your customers should be a primary focus when you own a business. You need to be able to understand them and communicate with them so you can create a better product and sell it like crazy. But customers are not the only important connections you need to develop in your business. You should take some time to build a network of colleagues. This would include other small business owners, including some in your industry. This network is another great resource for your business.

It is from a network of colleagues that you can learn about changes in business and with which you can brainstorm new ideas for growing your business. You will also find shared opportunities and chances to collaborate. While your customers will be focused on their needs, your colleagues will be more focused on the same needs you have as a business.

So how do you find colleagues and start talking to them? Here are a few ideas.

• Go to trade shows and focus on building these relationships, and not just on getting leads.
• Join LinkedIn and look for other people in your industry.
• Join Twitter and find other people who own small businesses. A great place to do that is on the Small Business Buzz chat.
• Reach out to the people you come in contact with as you sell your product. There are people who sell to the same demo, but who are not your direct competitors.
• Ask your customers what other local businesses they use and love.
• Host an event and invite other area businesses (that sell to your customer base) to attend.
• Join local organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce or a networking group.
• Join a mastermind group.

Share Experiences

The great thing about talking to colleagues is that you have a forum to share experiences. This is where you can talk the inside baseball of your business. The details of running a business is deeply interesting stuff for you, but its probably not an great topic for discussion on your customer blog.

By sharing experiences with other small business owners, you can learn from each other. Perhaps one of you tried something new in marketing, and it really worked. Now the others can adapt it to their businesses.

Being a small business owner can get lonely. Having a close network of other small business owners to help encourage and spur you on can make a lot of difference.

Brainstorm Ideas

Beyond the emotional impact and the sharing of experiences, you can use your network to brainstorm new ideas that you are working on. Its great to think through things ahead with people who have had similar experiences.

Colleagues will bring in a perspective of an owner, but with a different take than you. You’ll get ideas by brainstorming with this group that you could never get from customers, employees, or even friends and family. Other people that live where you are at will have a truer sense of what it takes, including the amount of risk that is acceptable.

Blow Off Steam

Sometimes, you need to vent. You can’t vent to customers or employees. And you don’t really want to bring it home to your spouse all of the time. Colleagues can understand you. If you are close enough with some of them, you can call them up and tell them all about the crazy customer, the tight budget, or whatever. Chances are that they can relate.

If your network is local, you can also get together and have some fun. Colleagues are people who share similar interests, so chances are you can have a friendly get together and forget the business woes, if just for a little while.

Collaborate

A good network of colleagues also presents opportunities for collaboration. By talking to these people, you are developing relationships with possible investors, partners, affiliates, or mentors.

If you have complimentary businesses, chances are good that you can work together on some marketing pushes, say hosting an event together. You can also send referrals each other’s way.

When a group gets together and starts helping each other out and investing their time in each other, everyone in that group benefits.

So take some time to develop relationships with colleagues. There are a lot of mutual benefits to be had.

When you exercise, whether you are doing some sit ups or going for a jog, it is worthwhile to have a goal in place. When you set that goal, you always put it at a place that you know will be a challenge, but still within the realm of possibility. If you don’t set a goal, you will not push as far. Instead of doing 25 sit ups, you might just punch out at 10. When you have a goal in sight, you are much more likely to push a little extra to reach that goal.

The same concept works in business. If you venture out each day without a plan, without goals, you will just be bushwhacking your way through a jungle without a compass. You need to set goals if you want to move ahead and even achieve greatness in your business.

Daily Goals

To help yourself stay on target, you should start each day by writing down some goals for that day. I take this a step further and create a series of tasks and the times I expect to be doing them.

Having these small goals will help you keep each day focused on the important stuff, and not distracted by what just comes up. Give a little time each day to the unexpected, but if you wish to move your business forward, you had better spend the majority of your time working off the plan.

Monthly Goals

Your monthly goals are more like guideposts. They help you stay on track with your long term goals. You should build tracking into these monthly goals. If you want to sell more units, be sure to track that and check it each month.

Your monthly goals will also inform your daily goals. If you know what you need to accomplish by the end of each month, it will be easier to pick the right daily goals to get there.

You can use your monthly goals to bring about great change in your business one step at time. Or you can use them to simply stay on track. Ultimately, your monthly goals should not bounce around from month to month. There should be a clear pattern, leading up to something.

Yearly Goals

Every year, you should be recalibrating your business. Hopefully, you have met the goals of the year before and are ready to become even more successful. If you don’t have goals, then you will never know if this is the case or not.

When making yearly goals, think ahead to what monthly and even what daily goals you can meet to achieve your yearly goals. Remember, your goals have to be challenging, but within in the realm of possibility.

If you don’t have  a plan for the year, you won’t be able to have very good goals for each month. You need to know where you are going in order to get there.

So take some time to think ahead to where you would like your business to be in a year. Lay out some achievable big picture goals. After that, think about what you can do this month to get you closer to those year end goals. Set in place good tracking so you can know all year long whether you are on track to meet your goals or not. Finally, take a moment to make some goals for today. Get your busy work done, but be sure to have at least one goal that will move you toward meeting your monthly goals.

Remember, with good goals and a little bit of grit, you will shape your business into anything you want it to be. With no goals, you will always pull up short, stopping at just enough. Go write down some goals.

photo credit: popofatticus

Bradford Shimp writes on small business topics and helps small businesses and professionals create a web presence designed to generate sales. Check out broadrivercreative.com for more information.

Don’t try to keep up with your competitors. Just don’t do it. It is the wrong move.

Think about it. Competitor A cuts her price in half and gains some customers. What do you do? Cut your price too, and hope to win back some of those customers? You didn’t get into business to be a copy cat. You need to set your own path.

Don’t Follow

If you are making moves because of actions your competitors are taking, you are inevitably sailing in their wake. The competitor becomes the leader. You are now making your business decisions based on their business plan and vision, and not your own. Congratulations, you’re a follower.
If you are the owner of a meaningful business, you will never change course in reaction to the actions of a competitor. Instead, you will make all of your decisions based on your own plan. Let everyone else follow some lemming over the cliff. You’re job is simple. Craft a business that works for you and for your customers.

Its hard to lose business to a competitor. The gut reaction is to think that you are doing something wrong. You will be tempted to change course, to play the game by your competitors rules. Well, don’t. You better have your own set of rules that you play by. If you deliver superior service, you have no business trying to compete on price.

You Don’t Get Every Customer

Here’s the thing. You can’t have every single customer. Even if you accomplished this, the government would step in and break up your monopoly. There are customers out there that you just won’t get to have. So stop coveting your competitor’s customers, even if they used to be your customers. You need to find your ideal customer niche, and then own that niche.

Losing customers by the boatload? Then, sure, you need to reevaluate your business. But do it on your terms, not someone-else’s.

Be Unique

Keeping up with the competition is a losing play from the outset. You have a completely different company. Different staff, different financials, different everything. So, if you try to model your business after the success you think you see, without regard to your unique business, you will be creating a monster. While you start to have some success, your internal engine will get all gummed up, and you will eventually go down in flames. Instead, focus internally. Make sure you have a solid company that can bring in sales, service those sales, and grow at a sustainable pace.

Look for Weakness

Have a competitor always nagging at the edges, cherry-picking your best customers? Instead of seeing their supposed strengths and trying to replicate, how about looking for their weaknesses? You need to find chinks in the armor of your competitors. Then you can return the favor, on your own terms.

If you want to win in business, you need to cut your own path. Don’t create a copy-cat company. Be the leader and stand for what you stand for. Find your ideal customer niche and live and breathe it. Look for weaknesses in your competitors and position yourself to be strongest in those areas. Do all of this, have a good heart, and you will win.

photo credit: gabrielsaldana

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Bradford Shimp is the publisher of All Biz Answers. He is also the co-creator of Idea Anglers, a place to see your ideas come to life through collaboration. Follow on Twitter @bradfordshimp. Let Bradford help you with your business – visit BroadRiverCreative.com