I recently had someone ask me what I thought the most important fundamental business principles were, so in order to provide that insight to others, I have decided to publish a series of articles on the “Top 10 Basic Business Principles.”
There is great benefit to reviewing the basics. Being fundamentally sounds makes it possible to build upon a rock-solid foundation.
Here are the principles that I will be addressing over the next several weeks:
- Decide what you do (and what you don’t do)
- Decide who you serve (and focus on them intensely)
- Decide what makes you different (and do it)
- Manage cash flow (very closely)
- Manage employees (incentivize them for success)
- Manage customer expectations (under promise and over deliver)
- Set goals (and go after them)
- Expose yourself (tell the market what you do)
- Persevere (through the tough times)
- Always maintain your integrity (in everything you do)
As each article is written I will turn the items above into a link that will take you directly to that topic. This way, you can bookmark this page, and when you return, you will have access to each topic from this page if you so desire. Another option is to subscribe to my RSS feed.
I saw this humorous picture on Facebook, and after I got done chuckling, my thoughts turned to how the poor lab in the lower right corner portion of the photo has represented me, and undoubtedly, other business owners who have looked at a humongous “to-do” list and “freaked out” at one point or another.
It is no fun to feel like you are out of control. There are only so many hours in a day, and trying to figure out the 20% of activity that will accomplish 80% of what needs to be done is not always easy.
Our company was designed to help small business owners get a handle, not only on time management, but the other key areas that will relieve stress and focus attention on what will make small business owners incredibly successful.
Fill out our contact form, and write “free executive briefing” in the message section to learn more.
I’ve been wandering around the office the past couple of days with a wicked head cold. You know the feeling. It is like you have stuck your head into a fish bowl that is murky. You see everything alright, but there is a lack of clarity in what you see.
It doesn’t require a head cold to create this kind of situation in our minds regarding our businesses. To borrow a military term, it is likened to “the fog of war”. Being in the middle of all the tasks that pull at us on a daily basis, plus all of the non-business issues we are dealing with can put us in a situation where we are likely to make decisions without “clarity”.
We cannot afford to make important decision unless we can see the issues clearly. Take some time today to retreat to a place of quiet and begin to think about what it is about being in business that you love. Begin to toss the clutter of the day-to-day behind and see once again the important issues. There is something therapeutic to this activity. Do it enough times and the important begins to bubble to the surface.
Once we pull our heads out of the fish bowl, we can see clearly enough to make the right hire, set the correct goals, and market in such a way that maximizes ROI.
I was reading a Dave Ramsey book and I came across the statement, “Even a turkey can fly in a tornado.” He likened it to people doing all kinds of crazy things with money when the economy was good, but not realizing that they were being unwise and risk taking with their money.
Your marketing plan has to work in a good or bad economy to be sound. That got me to thinking about how we business owners handle our “marketing money” in both types of economies.
I have seen money spent on some pretty crazy stuff. Expensive marketing endeavors that you can’t even track to see if it is successful outside of the cash register ringing. And even then you don’t know the source of the revenue.
The highest priority KPI (Key Performance Indicator) for marketing is ROI (Return on Investment). If you put $5.00 in to marketing, you want to earn $20.00 in return. That is a great goal. Just like your retirement planning, you want to make a sound marketing investment.
Let me quote Dave a bit further in his book, “Just because you see a turkey flying in a tornado doesn’t mean turkeys can fly.” Making wise marketing choices can keep you firmly grounded in the good as well as the bad times.
