BUSINESS COACHING – Seize the moment!!

Well 7 years ago on May 19, 2006, Fleur de Silva (my wife) passed away… She was only 32. Time has literally flown (as usual) and life has been the usual roller coaster albeit mainly on the up side despite a challenging start for obvious reasons. It made me think how Fleur’s life was cut short and how much she did do and also the things that she, her and the kids and we were never able to do together… So why am I telling you this!! Anyway thinking of Fleur and being a “business man”, your mind often “merges”. There is a business parable to be had from real life events and learning’s…

 

In business almost 50% of new businesses fail within the first 5 years (ie. die) and around 70% fail in first 10 years. Excuse my stats if they are slightly wrong but they are ballpark. So that means that in 10 years time, of 100 businesses started in 2013, in 2023 only 30 will remain! That is a scary thought. And it means that few businesses started in 2003 are around today in 2013 (especially given what happened to the economy and the world in the late 2000’s)!

 

So what happened to these businesses? Of course every single person who starts a business does not start it expecting it to fail; they are enthusiastic and excited! So… Well firstly I could write something that resembled a mini bible if I had the time to explain from what I have seen all the things that can go wrong for businesses – so the following musings hopefully succinctly explain some of the more common (recurring) reasons that I have seen in real life…

 

There are the mechanical reasons for business failure like cash-flow. Yes that is obviously why businesses fail. Business 101… So will leave you to muse on managing your cash-flow better ie. spend less money and bring in more dollars and balance the books and some… Be really careful with the commitments to cost / assets that you make. Anyhow that is a whole different blog… Be wise with cash!

 

Onto other reasons which all contribute to poor cash-flow which is the cancer that ultimately kills any business…

 

For initial business start ups the biggest reason for failure is probably mis-reading how easy it would be to succeed in business in the market you are targeting. Many people start a business without even having a proper plan and in some ways are just throwing a dart in the wind, hoping that it lands where they want (which is not far off winning lotto). So how are you really going to win customers? Without customers there is no business… And you need a decent amount of cash or other resources (eg. family support) behind you as it can be really lean in those early days…

 

Being we are humans and most of us are optimists, we take too long to make major decisions in our business. Status quo (even when your business is really sick) is sometimes easier. Most businesses seem better these days given the recession of the late 2000’s but I think for a new business starting post that recession (ie. times are not flash at the moment, but obviously better than they have been), you need to remember to make a business decision yesterday (proactively) rather than tomorrow (death knell). Being in business required you to show guts, be a leader and face reality. Remember too, your business might have been around for 15 years, you still need to make those hard decisions!

 

We have touched on cash-flow… Beyond the obvious of not enough sales,  another classic problem for businesses (at any stage of their business life) is being laden with too many recurring costs… Be really careful when you decide on that premise to rent or that flash car for you and your 3 staff to lease etc. Push sales to the max (profitable sales) but keep those costs bare! I literally have a business with several associates but we do not have an office. Why would we need one (we would love one but do not need one!), we are virtual and hang with clients rather than sit in palatial offices. Keep costs down!

 

Employ the right people. Doh! Obvious but easier said than done… Beyond the 90 day rule in NZ (which you can lean on as a crux if you have to), once you have someone it is really hard to get rid of them. You want to employ people who share your values (go with your gut there, could you have a coffee or a beer / wine with them?) and personally I would always go for enthusiasm over some technical thing (albeit for some jobs technical is obviously really important).

 

Differentiate… Why should a customer choose you? If you cannot answer that question the writing might be on the wall for your business…

 

Read the E-Myth book… It is a good introduction in systems that you need in your business and has some relatively entrepreneurial ideas in there too. Speaking of which, I am due for my “every few years” brush up on it. There are lots of other good little business books too.

 

Get good advice (business coaching etc). You will need someone to talk to about your business – someone who is business savvy and who can challenge your thinking and you can bounce ideas off. Two heads are way better than one. So find that person.

 

Really, really, really proactively push sales. You do not want to be painful like a mosquito buzzing but don’t wait for the phone (email) to ring, go out there, make it happen and the biggest thing is making the most of your leads – they usually do not just “convert” themselves… Push in a non-pushy way! There are so many things you can do to show that you can add value.

 

Have a good (or better) website! Critical in both B2B and B2C. One of the first things that potential customers will do is look at your website, even before meeting you in person. If your website sucks, you will not get that enquiry or convert the sale. I went through 3 websites in 19 months (ha!) to get a website that I was pleased with. Wonder what the next iteration of my website will look like? Being found on Google is really important too. I have focused on this for Business Changing and are now pretty much # 1 organically on Google for the terms “business coach” and “business coaching” so as a business owner, having a good website and being found on Google (easily ie. page one) makes you feel really proud.

 

Have a real plan on how you are going to get from A to B… You might need help here too, so if you do find someone who can help you. If you have no plan, all the “tactical stuff and to-dos” that you do will be a slow death… You have to know your end destination. Business planning (and business strategy) is so, so important!

 

And have proactive information so you know how you are going (truly going!)… Information is power. Use it for good!

 

Enough little tips for the moment, sing out if you have any queries. Oh hey, and make the most of life (your personal and business life). Life is there for living, have fun, work hard, be successful (you will define what success to you means, forget about what others think) and the sky is your oyster…

 

Cheers all… Contact Zac for business coaching…