Statistics paint a grim picture of the chances of business success: 50 percent of all small businesses fail by the end of their first year and 80 percent fail by their fifth year. It does not have to be this way!

Business owners usually have outstanding technical skills—that’s why they go into business. But talent alone is not enough. Business owners need to go beyond their technical skills and learn the business skills necessary to be successful.

Unfortunately, many owners believe hard work equals success. I’ve seen so many owners pour themselves into their businesses, sacrificing time and money, but all for nothing. They work harder and harder, doing the same things over and over, and it fails to yield the results they are looking for. There is a reason for that: They don’t have the business skills that will help to carry all of their technical expertise across the finish line.

EXPERT TIP | Gary Furr, Organizational Development Consultant:
If you want your business to be a success, learn and master the steps to sustainable growth and acceleration. The secret is to master the little things that can make a significant difference in your business.

The good news is that business growth and profit isn’t magic, and it’s not a secret. There are simple steps to business growth that I want to teach you. Helping others grow their businesses is my passion.

With over 40 years of C-level business experience and an MBA in organizational development, I am uniquely qualified to help you achieve success in your business. Give me a call and set up a free consultation: 503-312-3145.

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Many business owners fall prey to the idea that working harder brings success. In fact, it’s having a toolbox of critical business skills and employing them to grow your business that gets the job done.

EXPERT TIP | Gary Furr, Organizational Development Consultant:
Think of business growth acceleration like driving a car with a stick shift. You have to start your car in first gear and then shift through the other gears to achieve the desired acceleration. It is the same in business: There are no shortcuts. There are certain gears you need to shift through to accelerate.

Here are the fundamental gears that have power to accelerate your business growth:

1. Mindset
2. Strategy
3. Clear direction
4. A map and plan of action
5. Focus
6. Discipline
7. Knowing your numbers
8. Understanding your cash flow
9. Knowing your banker
10. Paying your taxes

These steps are groundbreaking; the trouble is that people either don’t know them or don’t employ them. Knowledge isn’t enough. Putting them into practice is what makes the difference. You may know the difference between first and third gears, but if you don’t shift, you won’t be getting anywhere.

With over 40 years of C-level business experience and an MBA in organizational development, I am uniquely qualified to help you achieve success in your business. Give me a call and set up a free consultation: 503-312-3145.

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It is tempting to believe that the right skills are all that matter in business, but mindset is a critical factor that differentiates businesses. What you feed your mind has a major impact on outcomes.

What stories do you tell yourself about your ability to succeed? What beliefs do you hold about yourself that may be getting in the way of achieving all that you desire? A surprising number of business owners I work with struggle with self-limiting beliefs.

Sometimes we fail to realize how profoundly these issues are impacting us. Try to listen to what is going on in your mind. You might even write down persistent thoughts. It’s worth the effort.

EXPERT TIP | Gary Furr, Organizational Development Consultant:

Mindset is the foundation of success. We must pay attention to how we think and how our thinking is affecting the results we are getting in business. Success comes to those who adopt a positive mindset with a definite purpose.

Fortunately, there are practical steps you can take to counteract negative beliefs and set yourself on a course for greater success. One of those steps is to consider your mind’s inputs, and to choose to put your mind on a healthy diet. This is just one practical step that will empower you toward success. Think of it almost like reprogramming. I promise it will pay off!

With over 40 years of C-level business experience and an MBA in organizational development, I am uniquely qualified to help you achieve success in your business. Give me a call to set up a free consultation: 503-312-3145.

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Why do we complicate strategy? When we think it’s complicated, we avoid working on it and miss opportunities to grow our business and improve the bottom line. Discover how to make strategy count.

EXPERT TIP | Gary Furr, Organizational Development Consultant:

Strategy is about finding the need that your customer has and then organizing your company in a manner to meet that need in the most efficient and effective manner possible. The first step is to make sure you understand the customers’ need.

When did you last check in to see whether you fully understand your customers’ needs? Where is their point of pain? Are you addressing it? Being sure to stay in tune with those issues and aligning resources to make sure you are addressing customers’ problems and pains is great strategy.

With over 40 years of C-level business experience and an MBA in organizational development, I am uniquely qualified to help you achieve success in your business. Give me a call to set up a free consultation: 503-312-3145.

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Have you ever decided to take a trip but not planned any destination? I have yet to meet someone who has. Yet business owners frequently lack a clear sense of their business’s destination, and fewer still have put it in writing.

EXPERT TIP | Gary Furr, Organizational Development Consultant:

As a business owner, you must know where you are going and where you want to end up. Without clear direction, you are likely to meander around, never fully achieving the success you are looking. Creating a vision of the future gives you and your organization purpose. How will you recognize success unless you define what that looks like for you?

When is the last time you stepped back from your business to take a hard look at where you are right now? Set aside some time in your calendar to evaluate where you are. When you do it, be honest. There is no value in lying to yourself. Why is this assessment so crucial? Because you need to know your starting point to be able to make a plan to reach your goal.

To accompany this assessment, you will need a vision. That is your destination. Once you have a current location and a destination, you can plan how to get from A to B. Read more about this in my book It’s Not Hard, It’s Business.

With over 40 years of C-level business experience and an MBA in organizational development, I am uniquely qualified to help you achieve success in your business. Give me a call to set up a free consultation: 503-312-3145.

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As a CEO or business owner, you may be so busy running day-to-day operations that you forget to evaluate where you are and where you are going. This is what makes a map (or a plan!), so helpful. It is worth taking time to check your coordinates and make sure you are on track to get where you want to go.

It is easy to get lost when you are navigating your way. The daily concerns can get in the way of your vision and goals. This is a reminder not to get lost.

EXPERT TIP | Gary Furr, Organizational Development Consultant:

Once you have a vision for the future of your business, you need to develop a map or a plan on how to bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to be. The map will help guide you and keep you on track. It’s no different than going hiking in the woods: the best time to have a map is before you even start the journey.

Set aside some time to evaluate where your business is right now. Then brainstorm and write down some 90-day goals to help move your business from its present state to your vision of the future one year from now. This is the most straightforward method for forging a path forward.

With over 40 years of C-level business experience and an MBA in organizational development, I am uniquely qualified to help you achieve success in your business. Give me a call to set up a free consultation: 503-312-3145.

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Although I have never looked at your business’s numbers, I would be willing to bet that every day your business is burning through cash, and you don’t know where it is going. This may sound like a bold prediction, but it isn’t—because I know that distraction is costing businesses a lot these days.

In fact, a recent study found that the time wasted as a result of constant distractions is costing the U.S. economy $997 billion every year, and 89 percent of employees do not complete their top three tasks each day due to distractions.

It does not have to be this way, and it cannot be this way if you want to get your business where you want it to go. The antidote is to take charge or your time—and yourself. Most people fail to grasp the need to develop an unapologetic focus on their plan of action.

EXPERT TIP | Gary Furr, Organizational Development Consultant:

We underestimate the power of intense focus. Water at 60,000 psi will cut through two inches of steel. That same amount of water unfocused will just splash around and create rust. We must learn to eliminate the distractions and get intensely focused on creating success in our businesses.

One step forward in creating intense focus is determining what your high-value activities are. What is the highest and best use of your time, energy, and money? These resources are limited. How can you use them best? Brainstorm and write down your thoughts. Practical tips for sorting through your high-value and low-value activities and making the most of your time, energy, and money are available in Chapter 7 of my book.

With over 40 years of C-level business experience and an MBA in organizational development, I am uniquely qualified to help you achieve success in your business. Give me a call to set up a free consultation: 503-312-3145.

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The idea of discipline may sound dull, but the results it delivers are anything but. Everyone from football players to elite gymnasts to world-class musicians will tell you that the discipline of consistent effort and practice has made all the difference in their achievements. Why would business be different?

Yet many business owners I meet don’t recognize the impact that discipline could have on their business outcomes. This is one of the biggest impediments that I see to achieving dreams and goals.

EXPERT TIP | Gary Furr, Organizational Development Consultant:

Discipline is required to stay focused and produce the outcomes we are looking for in business. As a business owner, if you are going to dabble in your business, you are probably not going to achieve the level of success you desire. Dabblers rarely succeed at what they are doing. Full commitment and discipline are required.

Discipline is about goals and progress. It is about taking consistent action toward your goals. I recommend blocking off time on your calendar—daily—to work on three of your top priorities. Results are achieved with focus one step at a time. More practical tips for using discipline to make gains in your business can be found in Chapter 8 of my book.

With over 40 years of C-level business experience and an MBA in organizational development, I am uniquely qualified to help you achieve success in your business. Give me a call to set up a free consultation: 503-312-3145.

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Do professionals ever play a game without keeping score? Right now baseball fans are keeping track of strikes, balls, outs, and runs, waiting to see who will win the World Series. What do your numbers say? Do you keep close tabs on them?

It used to surprise me how many business owners didn’t keep track of their own scoreboards. It doesn’t surprise me anymore, simply because it’s so common. But it shouldn’t be!

EXPERT TIP | Gary Furr, Organizational Development Consultant:

The numbers drive everything in your business and as a business owner you need to fully understand the numbers and what they mean. The only way to know if you are winning the game of business is to understand your financial numbers.

Ignoring the numbers is like playing a guessing game with your future (and your employees’ futures). Understanding how the P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow projection work and keeping up with what those numbers say is the way to continue to steer your business toward greater success. If you want to grow your business by better understanding the language of numbers, you can find help in Chapter 9 of my book.

With over 40 years of C-level business experience and an MBA in organizational development, I am uniquely qualified to help you achieve success in your business. Give me a call to set up a free consultation: 503-312-3145.

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Business success will be hard to come by without keeping track of your numbers. Your P&L and balance sheet are important, but cash flow projection is the way to look ahead and forecast your cash needs.

EXPERT TIP | Gary Furr, Organizational Development Consultant:

Many companies (small, medium, and even large companies) have gone out of business due to the lack of adequate cash flow. Revenue minus expense is profit, but it is not necessarily cash. Cash is the lifeblood of every business. Without cash, you do not have a business.

Too often, business owners look at net income or profit and think they are making money. Your profit is simply the amount that your revenue exceeds your expenses; it is not cash but the theory of cash since your P&L does not take into account debt service.

An important note about cash flow is that accounts receivable is not cash. Many businesses have gone bankrupt with plenty of accounts receivables on their books, but no cash to operate on. As you know, without cash, you cannot pay your bills. If you want to better understand your metrics and grow your business, you will find guidance in Chapter 10 of my book.

With over 40 years of C-level business experience and an MBA in organizational development, I am uniquely qualified to help you achieve success in your business. Give me a call to set up a free consultation: 503-312-3145.

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