Dream Big to Grow Your Business

February 10, 2015 | News

Dream Big to Grow Your Business in 2015

Time is quickly flying by

It’s hard to believe that we are already into the second week of February. Time is quickly flying by. Recently I conducted a workshop on jump-starting your business in 2015 in which we discussed the need for clarity of direction in our business and personal lives. If we want greater success in 2015, we must clarify where we want our business to go. The need for clarity of direction is critical to our success. Success in business starts with clarity of direction or a clear vision. Without that clear vision, like Alice in Wonderland, of which I wrote in a previous blog post, any road will do. Without clarity of direction we won’t arrive where we want our business to be at the end of this year.

And since it is our business and our personal life, why not dream big? What would our business look like if time, energy and money were no object? We didn’t start our business by thinking small, so lets not let our small business make us small minded. Dream it, visualize it, picture it and then write it down.

As we begin 2015 we are the one holding the pen to write a new future for our business and personal life. It’s our future; why not describe it, as we want it to be? If we don’t take the time to clarify where we want our business to go, nothing will change. We have an opportunity as we have begun a New Year to do things differently. Lets commit to improving our business and our personal lives this year by making this our best year ever. Someone has to be the best, why not you? Be bold and be you in 2015

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A Vision of Climbing Mt. Rainier

January 13, 2015 | News

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]I remember when I decided to Climb Mt. Rainier (14,411’) in Washington State. I knew that it would be very difficult having read that only 50% of those who attempt to summit actually make it to the summit. In preparation I upped my exercise program to twice daily. I knew that in order to be successful in my attempt at summiting I would have to have a very clear vision of what I wanted to achieve and I would need to set goals in order to achieve this vision.

Day of the Climb

On the day of the climb we started at Paradise Inn located at the 5,400 ft. level. We carried 65 lbs. on our backs and headed to the 10,000’ level where base camp would be. But before we left Paradise Inn, we looked at the map and decided where we would stop and take breaks along the trail. These became our goals to reach on our trek to 10’000’. We had a vision of reaching base camp by a certain time in the day.

Base Camp

After setting up our base camp we began preparations for our climb to the summit and achieving my vision of summiting. We again looked at the map and determined our goals to help us reach the summit and measure our progress. Our group of seven, left base camp at 2:30 am. When we reached 12,000’ half the group that had left an hour before us was coming back down the trail. They had given up. When we arrived at 13,000’ the other half of this earlier group was sitting along the side of the trail, also having given up. We never saw them summit.

The last 14,411’ was the hardest thing I have ever done. It was incredibly steep and visibility was limited. I still had my vision of reaching the summit and this kept me going in the face of this difficulty. My measurement of success to achieve my vision of summiting became smaller as I climbed. I would put my head down and count 200 steps, then, I would look up, put my head down and count another 200 steps. This continued until I summited at 8:30 am. I had created the vision of what I wanted to achieve, set the goals necessary to be prepared, and then set intermediary goals to reach the summit.

What does this have to do with business? It is what happens every day with successful business owners. Great leaders create a vision of their desired future and what they want it to look like. Creating a vision is the first step toward achieving our desired future. We create a vision of our desired future so that we have a target to aim at. It is an expression of optimism on our part. This doesn’t mean that it won’t be hard work, but knowing where we are going and what the future will look like when we get there can be incredibly motivating. It will motivate us to do the hard work necessary to hit the target and our sub-conscious minds will also go to work to help us achieve our vision.

As we begin 2015, it’s an excellent time to sit down and decide what we want our businesses to look like at the end of this year. What is it that we want to achieve? What does our desired future look like? Once we know where we are going we can set goals to guide us along the way and help us measure our progress.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Make 2015 Your Best Year Ever

January 7, 2015 | Business Strategy

MAKE 2015 YOUR BEST YEAR EVER!

As we start a New Year, it is a good time to reflect on 2014, and ask ourselves some serious questions.

Our goal is to make 2015 a much better year then 2014. But we can’t keep doing the same things over and over and expect different results. We have to think differently. Taking time to reflect on the past year and planning for the New Year is the best way to get better results. If we have a good start to the New Year, we will most likely have a good finish.

Questions to ask ourselves:

1) What went well this last year?

List the things that you accomplished.

Compare the list to your goals that you set for last year.

How did you do? What can you do better?

2) What didn’t go so well this last year?

What can you improve on moving forward?

What strategies have you already tried to improve your business that worked or didn’t work?

3) What do you want to accomplish in this New Year?

What is your vision for 2015?

What will be your goals to help you accomplish your vision?

What do you think you need to do to double your business this year?

4) How can you develop more clarity of direction?

5) How can you become more focused in your business?

6) How can you become more disciplined to accomplish your goals?

These are just a few of the questions we can ask ourselves to ensure that we have a prosperous 2015. The number one reason that closely held businesses fail is due to lack of clarity. They don’t know where they are going. Don’t be that company. We can help you clarify where it is you are going and help you set the goals to achieve greater success in 2015.

I am here to help you achieve dramatic success in your coming year.

Click the link below:

http://achieve-success.businesscoachingportland.com/

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Alice in Wonderland

December 30, 2014 | News

Alice in Wonderland

I remember, and I imagine most of us remember reading the story or watching the animated movie of Alice in Wonderland when we were kids. It is funny how even now I can still remember a lot of the story of Alice falling down the rabbit hole into a fantasy world and her adventure there. I remember the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, The White Rabbit, The Queen and King of hearts, and of course The Cheshire Cat.

Alice in Wonderland was written in 1865 by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll.

What you might ask does this have to do with a business blog? It has to do with vision and direction and a story I heard in regards to Alice and Wonderland.

You see, when Alice was trying to find a way out of Wonderland she came upon a crossroad and did not know which way to go. So she turned to the Cheshire cat that was sitting there and asked the cat which way ought she go? The Cheshire cat responded, that it would depend on where she wanted to be. Alice then responded to the cat that she really did not much care. Smiling the Cheshire cat said to her, then it really does not matter which road she took.

You see unless we know where we are going, where we want to be, it doesn’t matter which road or path we take, because we aren’t going to get there anyway. Here is where a vision for your business and your life is so critically important. We have to know where we are going. A vision is a picture of our desired future. What do we want it to look like? Where do we want our business and our personal life to be a year from today? Creating a vision is the first step toward achieving our desired future. Without it, it doesn’t matter which direction we go.

A vision is an expression of optimism. Its purpose is to clarify the kind of organization or personal life we wish to create.

What do you want your personal life and your business to look like a year from today? What kind of success do you want to have in 2015? If you do not plan for it, it is most likely not going to happen.

The best time to have a map is before we enter the woodland if we can get off to a good start, we are more likely to have a good finish.

We can help you to clarify your current reality and assist you in creating your desired future. Do you want to dramatically improve your results in 2015? Do you want greater success, to make more money, to have more free time? Do you want to learn to work on your business rather then always in it? Don’t settle for a mediocre 2015. Take time to create a vision of what it will look like.

We can help you achieve amazing results in the year to come. Contact us.

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Six Tips for a Successful 2015

December 22, 2014 | Business Strategy

Six Tips for a Successful 2015

With Christmas and the New Year fast approaching, it’s time to think about what we can do to have a great 2015. Without a clear direction for our business, it is unlikely we will achieve the results we desire. The best way to have a great finish is to have a great start.

Recently I gave a talk on the importance of having a clear vision and setting goals for our business if we want to be successful in 2015. Without a clear vision of our desired future and written goals, chances are we will not reach that desired future.

In addition to a having a clear vision and specific goals, here are an additional six tips to help ensure your success in 2015.

1) De-Clutter: Take a look at your life and your business. It’s important to clear your office and business of useless clutter, but it’s also important to de-clutter your schedule. Are you focusing on unimportant tasks? Is that holding your business back? Figure out what tasks you need to focus upon and which you need to delegate to someone else. Focus on the 20% of activities that generate 80% of the results.

2) Implement Team Huddles: It’s crucial to take time to meet with your managers and employees throughout the week. Try having 15-minute team huddles once a week to discuss your goals challenges and accomplishments of the week. Having everyone on the same page will provide the whole team with clarity and empowerment.

3) Focus on Marketing and Selling: Even the very best technician can’t run a successful business without realizing that we are in the business marketing and selling. What are you doing to market your business? Consider what affordable marketing strategies you can implement over the next year.

4) Stop Worrying: They say you are what you think about, so if you’re worrying, you can’t be focusing on making your business the best it can be. Successful business leaders focus on what they want to happen, looking ahead toward their vision.

5) Become Less Important: If you can’t take a vacation from your business, you’re too important. You should own a business, not just a really demanding job! We can help you figure out what changes you need to make to free you from your business, including implementing stronger business systems.

6) Learn to Say No: To become a more effective entrepreneur or business owner, you must learn to say “no” to people and tasks. You shouldn’t be a chief everything officer or someone who wears every hat in the business. We should learn to work on our business not always in it.

If you need assistance in creating and articulating your vision for 2015, and developing goals to reach that vision, we can help you. Make the decision that 2015 will be your Best Year Ever, and make an investment in coaching and consulting to ensure your success.

We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

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Do you have enough Grit?

December 16, 2014 | Business Strategy

Do You Have Enough Grit To Make It As An Entrepreneur?

Forbes; Entrepreneurs December 1, 2014; David K. Williams

Certain words invoke powerful images in the mind—and “grit” is one of those words. When we associate grit with someone, it goes far beyond just being tough. It’s that something extra in the face of adversity.

Through the years we have seen many stories of grit, and it touches us deeply when the human spirit triumphs over situations that seem insurmountable. The Grit dynamic comes from several character traits: Intensity, toughness and a never-give-up, scrappy perseverance.

Grit Trumps Other Factors

Dr. Angela Duckworth, Ph.D. and Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, has developed a way to measure a person’s grit. Her findings show that people who score high on the Grit Scale are usually more successful than their brilliant but less motivated counterparts. Her research also shows that students with high Grit Scale scores get better grades and have more job success after graduation than those with lower scores.

To succeed as an entrepreneur, you need a special quality called Grit.

Our “Gritometer” Quotient

Ask yourself these questions to determine your current level entrepreneurial grit:

Passion Quotient: Are you intensely passionate about what you do? Do you give it all you’ve got or clock out dutifully every day at 5pm?

Challenge Quotient: When challenges show up in your life, do you cower or do you face them head-on without flinching?

Result Quotient: Do you have a results-oriented mindset? Do you consistently create results or make excuses?

Production Quotient: Can you handle being defined by what you produce? Have you ever created anything of substance that you will be remembered for?

Whining Quotient: Do you create fear, excuses, or roadblocks in the game of work?

Phoenix Quotient: Can you fail with dignity and grace and rise again stronger, more humble, and ready for the next play?

Entrepreneurs are defined by performance. Employees get paid a salary whether their company shows a profit or loss—entrepreneurs only make money if they show a profit. Because of this, intensity and toughness are vital tools in the entrepreneur’s toolshed.

Our New York friends, Gary O’Neil and MJ Gottlieb from Hustle Branding, taught us a great deal about grit this year. The best entrepreneurs have tough skin and soft hearts.

“Successful entrepreneurs do things they don’t want to do. A true entrepreneur builds his or her company from the ground up. So he knows how to sweep floors, clean toilets, pack boxes, and do all the things you eventually pay other people to do when you have the money to do it… and even then you have to still be willing to roll up your sleeves and get gritty,” says MJ.

Entrepreneurs also seek out the good in others and go the distance when others clock out at 5pm. MJ recalls an interesting story about Gary that epitomizes grit: “I remember one day Gary took off from Los Angeles to San Francisco to get a celebrity to wear one of our shirts. When he got to San Francisco it turned out the celebrity had flown back to Los Angeles… so he jumped in the car in the middle of the night and drove back.”

Given the challenges that entrepreneurs tackle on a daily basis, grit is vital for success. Let’s face it, entrepreneurs enter a world where there are vastly more failures than successes. In order to succeed, we need to have an unrelenting belief that our business and ideas will defy the statistics and become the success story that we have always strived to achieve.

So, given the odds, what does it take to break through? Grit: the battle of will, and unflinching intensity and toughness to achieve the results that you desire.

In their first business, MJ and Gary drove from Colorado to San Francisco for a 10-minute radio interview. It was their first interview. They didn’t have the money to fly so they drove across the country and got caught in a brutal ice storm in Cheyenne, Wyoming and were stranded between two trucks that had jackknifed in front and in back of them, so they were blocked in. Somehow they made it to the interview. Now that was gritty!

Success is often measured by a person’s grit. Intelligence is helpful when embarking on the entrepreneurial journey, but grit is the defining trait that will allow you to push past failure, disappointment, fatigue, and all the other challenges you confront.

MJ pointed out that you need to have intensity and toughness, but they cannot replace the need to prioritize and work smart. Quality works at a thousand times the pace of quantity, which is something he focuses on his book, How To Ruin A Business Without Really Trying. This is a great guidebook for those interested in “upping their grit game.”

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Greater Freedom and Fortune in Your Business

December 9, 2014 | News

Greater Freedom and Fortune in Your Business

After interacting with business owners over the years, I have learned with absolute clarity that our goal as business owners should be to design a company that is distinct from us and quite candidly, works in our absence. We should create a separate cash flow entity, not merely a job for ourselves. It should pay us a healthy salary plus a return on our investment of money, time and effort. We should build equity! We should build wealth! Bottom line, our role should be to shape, manage and grow this independent and enduring asset – our business.

Our enterprise should function without you, not because of you. I know this sounds bizarre, but hear me out. While you can be the brains behind the enterprise, you should not be like Hercules trying to hold up the entire weight of the company! You will be crushed!

How to Gain Greater Fortune and Freedom in Your Business

Your business should work harder so you don’t have to. You should be able to make money everyday without having to work everyday. You should invest more brain equity and leadership equity and much less sweat equity into your company. Your business should be a product of your brain, not your brawn.

You should strive to build a business that does not enslave you and does not rely on your being present every minute of every day doing all the thinking, deciding, worrying, and working. You must adopt a new way of thinking and acting.

Become a Strategic Business Owner

You must become a strategic business owner. Specifically, you must learn to adopt a CEO mindset; systematize and document your business processes; lead more and work less; create a simple business plan; utilize the leverage of marketing; effectively manage your greatest asset, your people; and learn to let go. In short, you must transform the way you see yourself and your business.

Develop and Systems and Processes

As a strategic business owner, your primary aim should be to develop a self-managing and systems-oriented business that still runs consistently, predictably, smoothly, and profitably while you are not there. You should shape and own the business processes and systems and employ competent and caring employees to operate the system. You should document the work of your business so that you can effectively train others to execute the work. You must make yourself replaceable in the technical trenches of your business. To repeat, define and document the specific work to be done and then train and delegate. This is how you begin successfully to beat the blues, escape death by details, and gain greater freedom.

With a documented operating system, your employees should be able to carry on the work of the business while you focus on big picture priorities or God forbid, decide to take a break. You should be able to escape the daily drudgery. In fact, your company should run on autopilot status even while you’re on an extended, work-free, guilt-free vacation. If it does, you will have designed and built a business that truly works and is worth a fortune. More importantly, in the process, you will have gained back a personal life that is fulfilling.

To maintain freedom, independence and fulfillment, as your business grows, so must your leadership effectiveness and operating systems. You must stop micromanaging and start leading (macro managing). You must become more purposeful and proactive.

Seven Steps to Improvement

Step One: learn to work on yourself by transitioning to a new way of thinking and behaving. Re-program yourself and your habits. Stop acting like an employee and start thinking like a CEO. Learn to work on your business, not in your business. Adopt the theory of optimization. Be strategic, not tactical; work less, lead more!

Step Two: systematize your company by creating, documenting and continually improving all your key processes, procedures and policies. Trust the business system and personnel you put in place and remove yourself from the company’s daily details. Be more hands-off and more brains-on. Replace yourself with other people. Define and document the work to be done. Train others and delegate the work. This operating system is your foundation for freedom.

Step Three: increase your leadership capabilities. Excel at leadership, not doer-ship. Your business needs a clear vision and strong leader to hold others accountable, not another employee doing technical work. Help build and direct your team.

Step Four: develop clarity of direction for your business and employees by creating a simple business plan and an effective implementation process.

Step Five: learn to effectively manage your people, your greatest asset.

Step Six: instead of incremental growth, engage the leverage of marketing to achieve substantial, profitable growth.

Step Seven: learn to let go, delegate, and truly enjoy business ownership, your relationships, and your life.

By working less in your business, you gain more time to work on your business and make those essential changes necessary to optimize your company and your life. You may well be skeptical. That’s normal. However, let me ask you “Are your current paths and strategies working”? If not, I invite you to acknowledge the problems in your business, take responsibility for them, and dare to try new approaches.

If you would like to achieve greater freedom, fulfillment and financial returns from your business, please contact me to make dramatic improvements in your individual and organization effectiveness.

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A Comprehensive Approach to Innovation

December 4, 2014 | Business Strategy

A Comprehensive Approach to Innovation

Conceiving of, developing, and launching new offerings is an inherently risky undertaking. By combining the risk-reduction ideas that innovation thinkers and practitioners have developed over the years, we can map out an end-to-end process that can greatly increase the odds of successfully launching innovative offerings in uncertain markets.

This process has four steps:

GENERATE INSIGHTS

Use questioning, observational, and networking skills to search far and wide for broad insights into problems that may be worth solving.

IDENTIFY AN IMPORTANT PROBLEM

Through direct observation look for an unsolved problem or an unfilled emotional or social need that enough people have for the opportunity to be worth pursuing.

DEVELOP THE SOLUTION

Instead of building a complete product, quickly construct a set of simple prototypes of many different solutions. For each, start with theoretical prototype (that is, a verbal description). If that looks promising internally, move to a virtual prototype you can test with customers. This must be a visual representation but could be just a drawing. Move next to testing a minimum viable prototype with customers (the simplest, quickest physical version of the offering you can devise). Finally, pilot test the full-blown solution-the minimum “awesome” product (a refined version that seeks to be awesome on the few features that inspire customers).

DEVISE THE BUSINESS MODEL

Once you have worked out the offering, apply the same experimental approach to developing and testing the components of the business model, including approaches to pricing and customer acquisition.

For most innovations you need to successfully complete all four steps before devoting resources to scaling. The exceptions are businesses that have network effects, such as PayPal, where the value of the innovation increases with each additional member. Even in those cases, you need to work through these steps judiciously as you scale, or you will most likely end up with a flameout worthy of the dot-com era.

By Nathan Furr and Jeffrey H. Dyer: Leading Your Team into the Unknown

Harvard Business Review December 2014

Dr. Nathan Furr is my oldest son and Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University, author of The Innovators Method, Bringing the lean Startup into your organization and Nail It, Then Scale It, The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Creating and Managing Breakthrough Innovation.

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Happy Thanksgiving

November 25, 2014 | News

Happy Thanksgiving

Every year when Thanksgiving rolls around, we’re inspired to look within and consider the things we should be thankful for in life and in business. But it’s also important to take the time this season as a way to consider all your hard work this year and celebrate the strides you’ve made, both large and small – to look back and recognize the achievements you’ve made, especially over the last year. This year, as you celebrate Thanksgiving with your family and friends, remember to celebrate yourself as well and take a few days off!

Learn to work on your Business rather then always in it

If you can’t leave your business unattended or you don’t have someone who can fill in and you don’t want to close up shop, then it’s time to look at your systems and processes. Lets dedicate 2015 to putting strategies and plans in place to become the business owner you’re meant to be, one that works on their business rather then always in it.

In the meantime, if you can’t take a full-fledged break from the business, at least give yourself some small reprieves. Take 15 minutes each day for a strategic time out. Use this time to reflect and re-energize. Commit to planning time to spend with family and friends. Understand what you need to be happy and take breaks when you need them!

Don’t forget to celebrate your business, your family, and all the blessings in your life this holiday season. Happy Thanksgiving!

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Starting Your Day off Right:5 Tips

November 19, 2014 | Business Strategy

Starting Your Day Off Right: 5 Tips

Whether or not you’re a morning person, waking up on the right side of the bed and getting off to a great start definitely shapes your day. And, with the exception of things like getting a flat tire on the way to work, having a great day often starts with us. There are a slew of articles out there about what successful people do, especially in the morning. I thought I would share a few of my favorite things successful People do.

Wake Up Early

Waking up early is an important thing for successful people. Time is just too precious to spend our mornings in bed hitting the snooze button. If you’re not a morning person, the next item on the list might help…

Get Moving

Before your day starts, get your exercise in. This is really two-fold because it not only gets our blood moving and helps us get moving, but it also frees up that time later in our day. I have found this to be a real get me started and going routine that works. And I don’t have to think about working out after I am done for the day.

If you find yourself unmotivated, try laying out your workout clothes the night before so they’re ready to go. Or look for someone you enjoy more than going to the gym – with all of the variety of exercise videos and games out there, there’s bound to be something you can bring yourself to try. I particularly like P90X as a home workout routine when I miss the gym.

Tackle an Important Task

After you’ve gone to the gym or for that morning run and enjoyed a healthy breakfast, tackle an important task. Whether it’s professional or personal, there’s bound to a pending job that’s been weighing on your mind. Now that you’re awake and ready to take on the world, that task might look a bit less daunting and, if you’re able to finish it, will take some of the stress out of your day.

Connect with Family

Mornings can be hectic, but if you’re able to spend a little time reconnecting with your spouse or eating breakfast with your family, you should. With after-school activities, work meetings, grocery shopping, chores and errands, finding those few moments can be tough some days. Spending that morning time to spend with the people you love can help you start the day with a smile.

Create a Plan

Whether it’s for the day or for the week, creating a strategy, plan or to-do list for how to spend your time can make a real difference in your day. Set goals for the day, the week, or the month. While those goals are important to work toward, it all starts with small, daily or weekly steps. Before you start work tomorrow, sit down and think about what you want to accomplish, what you absolutely need to get done for the day, and what tasks you might be able to delegate or complete on a less busy week. Having a plan will help you stay on task and be more productive.

If you’re having trouble taking on any of these morning tasks, maybe it’s time to have a conversation with me. I can help you to develop the vision and goals needed to be successful. We can help you to win back your days, weeks and months.

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Author name: Gary Furr