Imagine your business is a massive stone wheel, nice and wide and with a flat outer rim for stability. It won’t fall over but is too heavy to push by one person. You and your team all need to be pushing the wheel in the same direction with roughly the same amount of energy. If you have one member even slightly pushing left or right and the rest are pushing straight ahead, it can make the job so much more difficult. Similarly, if one member is pushing too lightly, the it is usually the owners or senior staff that need to take up the push.  You can extend this metaphor in several directions and you will start to notice how members of your team and even you, fit in to it. For instance, there is always one pushing too vigorously, even though this is a good sign of enthusiasm, you as a senior person in the business, know that that person should be conserving their energy for a the hill that your experience tells to is just around the bend.

In thinking about this metaphor it becomes clear that one of the primary roles of leadership in your business is to set the direction and the speed and then importantly monitor the rest of the team for direction and energy.

It’s a nice simple analogy that makes what you should be doing in business obvious but if you are like me, you will catch yourself all too often with your shoulder to the wheel, head down and grunting. Don’t’ get me wrong, there is a place in business for grunt work but we must remember that by far our most important job is one of setting and monitoring the course and speed of the machine.

Now, there is a nice easy way to get all of your team moving in the same direction. Most businesses in this area are best described and micro or small businesses. Invariably, there are one or more family members working in the business. Even if family members are not “in” the business, they often have a strong influence in the direction and the speed of the wheel.

So how do you get family members, some with differing views and positions, others with different skills and expectations, all pushing in your direction instead of against each other?

One method I have used successfully in several family business to resolve this type of what is essentially “conflict” is a tool called “Logical Level Analysis”

I will tell you in detail, how this works in the next issue, however if you can’t wait, please email me at peter@specializedmanagement.com.au and I will be happy to send you an advance draft.

Peter Athey   – 0405 318 449  call anytime for more information or how you can apply this business tool.

See more articles at – www.backtobasicsbusinessbolutions.com

The full version goes like this:     If it ain’t broke, break it. If it is not breakable duplicate it or protect the IP. If it was breakable it will be inevitably broken anyway so you might as well break it yourself so you can control the rebuild and make sure the next version is unbreakable.

Proviso Number 1:  before you break anything, you need to be sure you can fix it and that your business can continue while you are doing the rebuilding.

Proviso Number 2: when you do build a new one, make sure it is unbreakable or someone else will.

WHY?  Well firstly I am not adverse to the original version of this “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it”. I don’t want to fix things where I don’t know the weaknesses or vulnerabilities. Breaking something is one sure fire way to get that info.

If “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” was your way of doing business, then it is a matter of time until your systems fail and when they do, from my experience, it will happen at the worst possible time and you will be in the worst possible position to repair it.

Let’s face reality, whether you like it or not, you’re in business in the most competitive market that world has ever known. Your customers have access to all of your competitors instantly. If you are not ahead of the pack with the newest best thing, then the only point of competitiveness you have is price. We all know where that ends up.

YES! It is hard work. You’re not in Kansas and this isn’t the 50s. Businesses who rest on their laurels and antiquated practices get sunk on a daily basis. Even those who were once world dominators and relied on the old ways of operating succumb to new and better versions of basically the same thing. Stay ahead of the pack and let your business be the one that swims.

If you are not already planning to do it differently and better, you will inevitably be left behind by your competitors who are.

It is a simple message but a powerful one. Just when you think you have everything in your business running well, you notice a competitor all of a sudden doing something differently or using a new technology or a new idea.

I can’t count how many times I have said these words to myself “why didn’t I think of that ?”.

The thing is, it didn’t happen ‘all of a sudden’. Your competitor was planning those changes for a long time and the reason you didn’t think of it was Absolutum Obsoletum.

Absolutum Obsoletum rule number 2: If your business is successful, what made it successful will not be the same thing that keeps it successful.

Absolutum Obsoletum rule number 3: If your business is not yet successful, don’t copy those who are. You already know where they are headed. Think forward. Either anticipate the future or better yet, create it.

For those of us that can remember the 80s, ask yourself what happened to that company that invented and dominated the personal computer market? IBM, once at the forefront technology and a world wide giant almost disappeared. They bounced back to become just another ‘also ran’.

Once upon a time in Australia, you could buy a Holden or a Ford and that was it. In 2011, both Holden and Ford had 1 model each only in the top 10 list, in 2012, Ford has dropped out of the 10 completely and Holden has been relegated by several Mazda and Toyota models with the humble Hyundai rivaling the sales of the once might Commodore.

In 2013, Apple, who previously owned the smartphone market, was trounced by Samsung. Apple’s share price dropped.

I could go on with countless examples but by now you should be remembering the ones that have connection to your own world.

The principle applies equally to Fortune 500 companies to Fish & Chip shops.

Now you know the problem, what can you do about it? Embrace it and use it. Build it into your business processes. If you want help from someone that has done it before, you know how to contact Specialized Management Services

Personally, setting goals has been great for me and when people ask me what my goals are I often tell them that I have none. It isn’t quite true, I did have a lot but achieved most of them and the remaining few are more long term goals that are on track and mostly auto pilot. Does that make me lazy? There is a system of setting goals that works. It works every time. It has never failed me. It is simple and anyone can operate it. It is not a secret. If you want to know, I will tell you for free but you need to ask for it. There is a good reason for that condition!

I would like to tell you a story about a student of mine that I had set some tasks for in relation to a Diploma of Business she was completing. The module was concerning professional development and her task was to produce a list of items that could be added to a personalised professional development program and them pick the top 3 and turn them into goals, time frame and track them etc. The student was absolutely brilliant at most tasks and the standard of her submissions was amazing however after a week or so of being overdue on this specific task, she confessed that she had no idea where to start with the list. Since the list itself was not assessable I thought I might offer a few suggestions of how to formulate it. This is what I came up with.

Step 1. Make a list of everything you might want to do professionally, even if it is only a whim or a fantasy, even if it is way outside of your current capability. Don’t stop until you have 20 or 30 items on the list. This was easy when you don’t have to confine yourself with reality nor even need a base in your own current skills & experience.

Step 2. separate the list into 2 lists, transfer each item onto 1 of 2 bits of paper, the first headed Realistic, and the second titles Too Hard.  Put the things that are easy and within your grasp on the the realistic list, even if they are just a bit outside of your league right now. The list, the Too Hard list, transfer the items that you really would like to do but are too afraid, have no idea where to start or are way, way out of your skills and experience.

Step 3. Neatly fold the Realistic list into halves and put it in the bin. The Too Hard list, cross out Too Hard and write “I really Really want to do this” as the title.

Well, it worked a treat. The end result of the assessment was outstanding and exceeded the student’s and my expectations by far.

Then I decided to take my own advice!
I found out that I wanted to go to Japan for a couple of years and teach English amongst a few other things that I had no idea that I really really wanted to do.
Try it! You might surprise yourself. I did.

I have been helping businesses start up and ramp up for over 15 years now and I have seen dozens of ways to fail. I’ve seen every mistake that I would have never thought of and made most of them too.

One of the simplest things you can do to attract more customers is position yourself correctly. It’s impossible to be all things to everyone and those that try learn that lesson in cold hard cash.

There are three ‘pivots’ in your position. There are many more factors you can use to position yourself at your market but these three, I like to call them pivots because everything else seems to be leveraged off them.

The pivots: Price, Product & Delivery.   I’m often told that I have missed ‘value’. No I didn’t, these things make value!  Depending on your business, Product could be replaced by Service. Delivery also includes the sales process and aftersales service.

The theory is that you can’t have all three. You can’t have the cheapest price, the best product or service and have the best, fastest or most convenient delivery.   If you try, one of the pivots will suffer and because you have likely made representations to your customers, you will end up with unhappy customers.

The best businesses I deal with focus on one and have some minimum standards for the other 2. I have seen several businesses successfully focus on 2 but never all 3.

Let’s look at a simple commodity such as soft drinks to illustrate the theory.

Plain brand soft drinks are quite cheap. Do you really expect them to be the best quality? The delivery is ok, (average), it’s right there in any supermarket but it is not available in say, a snack bar.

Compare that with your favourite branded soft drink. It is rarely on special or as cheap as the plain brand. In reality, the cost of making your favourite brand name soft drink is 1 or 2 cents different from that of the plain brand.  Branded is dearer, you expect good ( average)  quality and it is available at triple the supermarket price in snack bars, service stations almost everywhere.

There is a brand of brewed ginger beer that is very hard to find. The quality is superb. When I see it I can’t help myself making that choice and to be honest, I don’t care how much it costs. It is often half as much again as the famous branded soft drinks.

So, how have you positioned your product or service? If you are trying to be the cheapest and the best and the best sales/aftersales service, your days are limited.

If you want more customers, pick one or 2 of the pivots and focus your efforts on those. Decide on what level you will pitch the other pivots and communicate the reasoning to your customers. When your customers are making a value judgment, these factors have a pivotal effect. Be careful of what you wish for!

“The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer.” Peter F. Drucker

If you want help with your position let me know. I am happy to have a quick look at how you have your pivots in action and will give you a free, no obligation, report.

peter@specializedmanagement.com.au

I am part of a panel run by the Queensland Government to help mentor new and emerging small to medium sized businesses.  It is known as M4G, (Mentoring for Growth) and is run by The Department of Tourism, Major Events, Small Business (DTESB)

The M4G program can help your business grow, or deal with rapid growth. The program features a panel of 8-10 business experts who challenge current practices and suggest strategies for participating businesses to take advantage of opportunities.

It’s free for Queensland businesses to be involved in M4G because the program is fully subsidised, but in my personal experience not all businesses will be suited to the program.

I have been consulting for small businesses for over 15 years now and have coached quite a few businesses through to multi-million dollar successes.  I often wondered what the difference is between clients that have embraced my advices and those that fell by the wayside. I have never pushed a particular system, philosophy or business practice onto a business that did not have the willingness or capacity to benefit from this and I have had the luxury of being able to leave a client alone when they seem to be going in different directions and my advices are therefore less valuable to them.

So, I did a little research. I did some examination into past clients that although not unhappy with my work, did not seem to achieve the massive results that I have been able to gain for my shining star clients.  To my surprise, I found a common theme.  I had always assumed that it was just me, or that it was an issue of my interaction with senior staff & management. I took on the responsibility for the lack of massive success the same way I take the credit for when I see a client crack their first million or bust the 5 million ceiling.

This is what I found in almost every case:

• The past client was still in business but languishing at around the same level as they were when we parted.
• The past clients all said they were extremely happy with my work, even though, my gauge for successes is a massive improvement. I often link my income directly to the successes so moderate improvements are not very profitable for me.
• The past clients were all quite intelligent and resourceful business people, quite capable of running their own businesses but seemed to not be able to make it a run-away success on their own.

In a chance conversation, one past client commented that he had so much good advice to help him and that the courses of action that I lead him through were just as good if not better than others that were available to him.

I immediately went back to the other past clients and asked them if they too had plenty of good advice from people they were able to trust and they all agreed overwhelmingly. Then I asked them how much of those advices did they actually take up. The answers varied but I was quite embarrassed by the consistencies. The problem seemed to be that the client seemed to have had too much good advice and quite a bit of it was conflicting or at least in a different direction. Every past client I spoke to had the same issue. What I think was now happening is that these clients, all intelligent people, did not commit fully to any one direction or strategy. In retrospect I can say that this is generally one of the reasons I don’t pursue and ongoing relationship with a client.

I then went back and had a look at some of my M4G clients and looked at their operations through the lens of the advices I know they were given by very well qualified business consultants (including me of course). I know that in this microcosm, there are several valid points of view presented at the same time. It is almost a buffet of good advices where there client could pick and choose the bits that best fit their business.  I was only able to look at 4 but found that 2 of the 4 had changed nothing and the other 2 had taken on some advices and made significant improvements. I know that this is anecdotal but the businesses that changed nothing were surprisingly the ones that were already doing reasonably well.

May I pose this question to you?  How do you as an intelligent and successful business person, choose which advices to take up and act upon? What are the main criteria that you use to decide and what is the main reason that you “don’t” decide?

I am very interested in your answers and if you send me an email describing your experiences I would like to summarise my findings, remove identifying parts and report back to you on all of the respondent’s experiences.

Please email me at peter@specializedmanagement.com.au

If you want to find out more about M4G you can send them a request for more info to m4g@dtesb.qld.gov.au

Why do you go to work?   Hint – The thinking is that it has more to do with cake than it does with doe.

Here is a better question. Would you like to get more productivity out of yourself and your employees?

Ask any 10 people and you may get 10 different answers or 10 exactly the same,  however the question, “why do you go to work?” is important because you will find that understanding your motivations will be a key consideration in increasing your own performance. Whether you are an employee, self-employed, an owner operator or a business operator with your own employees, you will do well to ask the question.

There is a commonly held belief that money and other remunerative compensation is the most effective form of motivation to an employee.  Every time I ask the question directly, the answer is nearly always “money” however we know through extensive research and proven productivity improvements that this is not necessarily true.

A psychologist called Herzberg postulated in the 60s that high levels of what he labelled ‘hygiene factors’ such as pay, job security, status, working conditions, fringe benefits, job policies, and relations with co-workers would have a calculable effect on productivity, but then came some cake from Ikea. The Ikea Effect basically says “labour enhances affection for its results.”

Research indicated that housewives resisted instant cake mixes because they were too easy.  Ikea took the powdered eggs out of the cake mix so that housewives had to put an egg back in. Just that little bit of extra labour made the difference and increased the value of the cake.

Another study in the Harvard Business Review found that people undervalue products that they don’t contribute to, and tend to overvalue those on which they have contributed to.

Professor Dan Ariely built on this research and found that people are willing to perform even menial of tasks, for very little pay, as long as they considered the work meaningful or are recognized for their contributions.

He asked volunteer subjects to circle some words on a sheet and paid them a trivial amount per sheet and less for successive sheets. He had 3 scenarios. In one, the supervisor checked the work briefly and gave a brief positive acknowledgment. In the second scenario, he had the results put onto a pile without checking and with no comment and the third scenario, the completed work was immediately shredded without comment nor even a glance at the work.  He said that the third group could have easily cheated and made more money by just submitting incomplete or incorrectly done work.

It is not hard to work out that the shred scenario was going to give the poorest performance. Subjects quit sooner and netted less income than the other two groups. The first scenario netted the best results by far but the concerning result was the second scenario. It was virtually the same as the shred scenario.

Ariely devised some more research with origami. In one group he gave instructions and the other none but the subjects were allowed to purchase the finished product. The subjects without instructions origami finished products were not as good quality as the ones built with instructions and other subjects with no connection to the build, put a higher value on the instruction built origami.   Out of the two groups of origami builders, guess which group paid a higher price for their own works?   It seems that the less instructions given, the higher value is placed upon the finished article  (by the builder, not the disconnected buyer).

Maybe the secret ingredient is pride or even love. Can we conclude from this that giving workers work that demands more effort and thought to it, that they will value the work more?  A thing made with love is always more special to the maker and the receiver.

Is this why the results of the business owners efforts are always more likely to get better outcomes than those of their staff?

So, back to the original question. Why do you go to work?   If you are a small business owner and you don’t love what you do, we need to talk.

Do you acknowledge the work of your staff? Or do you shred it because it does not come up to your incredibly high “love” standard?  The biggy!  Do you acknowledge your own work?

Professor Dan Ariely says that we need to look at a revised model of labour.  Payment is a component of worker motivation whether it is you or your staff. He asserts however, that meaning, creation, challenge, ownership, identity and pride all play a bigger than expected and key part of the solution.

Cake anyone?

This tool goes hand in hand with “perfection is the enemy of profit”

It’s not about doing a shoddy job or giving poor value to your customers. It’s not about ‘everything’ being done badly, some things need to be done perfectly by definition. For example, I want my brain surgeon to do the job perfectly.

What it is, is a great way to get a new perspective on your profitability and marketing efforts.

It’s not new either. So if you have not heard this twist on the “if it’s worth doing it’s worth doing well” you might be surprised that we have been discussing it since at least 1910.

The idea was said to be first expounded by Gilbert Chesterton and is reportedly widely used out of context. Chesterton believed that amateurs and generalists could be defended against professionals and specialists, however this may well be out of its original context too.

No matter the origins of the idea, as business people we often need to look at issues concerning our dealings often from several perspectives and this provoking notion is always a good starting point.

Any manufacturer will tell you that the products they produce could easily be improved. This is true for everything from soft drinks to super computers. Let’s consider your favourite software. Have you ever installed a Microsoft product first version that was bug free? The programmers are smart enough to fix them, that’s not the issue.  How many times a month do various software products ‘update themselves automatically? So why publish something that is part of your reputation, part of your brand, that is essentially defective? The answer is of course, millions of dollars. Wait costs money. As long as the product still presents a value proposition, it’s always worth trumping your competition, or taking what you would have earned earlier rather than later. Does anyone remember their first XT computer with 8 kilobytes of ram and a 20 megabyte hard drive? The 40 megabyte hard drive was available at the time and it was easy to double your RAM. IBM just thought getting a cheaper product to the market faster would be better for their customers and better for their bottom line.  Getting to the market early with a substandard but cheaper product can build product awareness and actually create a need Especially when the product is new territory.. Who really believes that the iPhone 2.0 was not already a done deal even before the iPhone 1.0 was released?

What have you got on the drawing board? What secret profit have you got waiting for production that you are hanging off because it’s just not perfect yet? Everyone has a few pet projects that to them, look like a badly done job, but to a customer, if that represents a value proposition, you are missing out and so is your customer.

You owe it to your customer to think about “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing badly” however you owe it to yourself not to use it as an excuse retrospectively.

Ask yourself some questions.   Is it good enough as it is?  Would I buy it as it is? Will my customers still get good value?  If you can answer positively then go for it.

You can not learn this in uni!

“Faith it til you make it” can be the difference in ultra competitive or high barrier businesses!

I have tried both ‘fake it til you make it’ and ‘faith it til you make it‘ and I can’t impress upon you enough that the latter gets you by far the best results.

Something almost magical happens when you set your mind to it. Call it a goal or a business target, it is still something you need to achieve for a good reason. Since magic is not real, let’s look at why, when we decide on something, it materialises, and sometimes all we have done is talked about it. Other times of course, it can seem a never-ending battle barely worth the effort.

As business people we don’t always have the resources or skills or knowledge to achieve all of our business goals. What if those goals were mission critical? What if those goals were the difference between survival or not? Even if it is not a make or break scenario, some goals are just as important for many other reasons and the blunt facts are that business people don’t have every skill necessary to do everything that needs to be done every time. So how do we bridge the gap? You already know!

Faith means “confidence or trust in a person or thing” in this case, the thing is “you”. It is also defined as a belief that is not based on proof or factual evidence.
You already have an invaluable ability that is indispensable in business. If you did not have this already you would not be in business for very long. You have that ability to bridge the gap between your current skills, knowledge and the skills, knowledge and experience needed to achieve a business goal, target or outcome. When you don’t have it, you know how to get it.
These are the questions I ask of myself when I need to resort to my ‘faith it till you make it’ mode. Anyone who has developed a process chart of done some coding will get the simplicity here:

1. What is the payoff? Is the return on investment going to be greater than the energy and focus and monetary investment required?
• YES – Go to (2)
• NO – Go to ‘Give it up’
2. Has anyone else ever done it?
o YES – Am I as capable as a person that has achieved it?
 YES – Go to (3)
 NO – What skills, knowledge and experience do I need to achieve the outcome and are those available for me to gain?
• YES – Go to (3)
• NO – Go to ‘Give it up’
o NO – Is it worth having a go anyway, OR do I have additional skills or resources that none else has had.
 YES – Go to (3)
 NO – Go to ‘Give it up’
3. Am I passionate or committed enough to follow through and circumvent any obstacles?
o YES – Go to (4)
o NO – Go to ‘ Give it up’
4. Are there any insurmountable barriers to entry?
o YES – Go to ‘Give it up’
o NO – Go to ‘ Give it your best’

There is no evidence or proof that you will succeed but somehow, you do. It has likely happened to you before and you should draw on that experience to help you have faith in you. If you have never had that experience, I’m not going to spoil the surprise for you by detailing the psychological pay off. Enjoy! So when it comes to the crunch your choices are: ‘give it up’ or ‘give it your best’.

Give it up, this is not an achievable goal or a realistic outcome, it’s just a fantasy. It’s ok to have fantasies from time to time but let’s get real. Are you really going to invest your energy and focus on something that you can’t really have any faith in achieving?

Give it your best, ‘faith it til you make it‘. You know it will be worth it in the end. You know you can acquire the skills , knowledge and experience you need to fill the gaps. You know you have the passion and commitment to see it through. You know that the only insurmountable obstacle is your belief in yourself. Give it your absolute best, not just a good go. Leave nothing unanswered so if it does not work, you know there will never be any ‘but if I only(s)’ in your closet.

In business, if we did not have faith in our own abilities, we would never try anything beyond our comfort zone.

You can’t fake that!

I was working with a fitness organization with 4 gyms and had just expanded to 13 when I first heard the term “Zoomer”.

We merged with another chain of gyms in South Australia and then paid far too much for another chain in Western Australia to become Australia’s largest chain of gyms. ( in 12 months ) My then CEO, Greg Hurst accused me of all people of being a one. Thinking there was a derogatory element to term I did some investigation and was pleasantly surprised. It has nothing to do with going too fast. Fast is good and those that can’t keep up should get off the bus ( sorry for mixing my metaphors – if you know about the bus you will understand .)

Apparently Moses Znaimer coined the phrase to categorise a different type of “Baby Boomer”. We have a much increased life expectancy, alternate retirement strategies, reinvent everything we touch and colour outside of the lines. Basically Boomers gone hyper! Our defining traits include acknowledgment of our strengths and pursuit or our growth options. We don’t just cope better, we mastermind coping skills, have a sustained intellectual curiosity and a sense of purpose and importantly serve as inspirational role models to motivate peers.

We also use modern medicine, healthy lifestyles, and a grand “can do” attitude to get what we want. Some people predict that Zoomers are likely to live in excess of 120 years of age. Sound like you? Something else that Zoomers are known for is their business prowess. Everything just seems to work for us and I know why! If you are not a baby boomer, you can still become “Zoomer like” by copying our traits! Nice.

Zoomers make awesome employees, great employers and still out populate, out-spend and out leverage every other generation ever born. Now here is the kicker. It is way too easy to fall off the definition. When things start to go not quite as well as they did in your business, what I inevitably find is it is because the previously all-conquering Zoomer has lost their way and integrated back into the main stream business world. “Do what they do and you will get what they got.”

If you need to get some more Zee back into your Zoom, talk to me. Get back into the 9 traits and enjoy the business successes and the 12 decade life you deserve. ( Take away: get some more Zee in your Zoom! )