If you watch Netflix, you may have watched one (or more!) of the series on the drug lords south of our American border. Narcos follows the life and capture of Pablo Escobar, and the series El Chapo looks at the life of one of the biggest drug kingpins in history, the one who is currently standing trial in federal court in New York.

A recent article (1/12/2019) in the Wall Street Journal entitled “The El Chapo School of Management” recounts testimonial from associates and junior employees during the time El Chapo was the kingpin of the Sinaloa drug cartel. One interesting principle that has come to the surface during the trial is that apparently when your employees have observed enough of your illegal activities to testify against you, terminating them by laying them off or firing them is not an option. This is quite unlike the typical business in which you might be let go if you make serious errors.

Beyond the obvious termination options available to El Chapo, he had to run his business like any other CEO would run theirs. He had a vision of the future for the Sinaloa cartel and a plan to achieve it. He communicated that plan to his associates. He also attended endless meetings and had to address issues familiar to most CEOs, such as marketing and sales, inventory management, distribution, and transportation. He had to worry about pricing, finance, quality control, and risk management. He also needed engineers (to design tunnels), bookkeepers and accountants, and security guards. El Chapo could not run his business alone; he needed good people to help him do it. Of course, because of the type of business, he was in, El Chapo’s leadership style was less concerned about talent and skill set and more concerned about the loyalty of his employees.

The article illuminated an important point for me: It doesn’t matter what business you are in, the business principles are basically the same. You need a vision, a plan, and good people to help you accomplish it. As a business owner, you also need to be a leader, and you need to address marketing and sales, inventory management, distribution, transportation, finance and accounting, quality control, and risk management. All of these principles are like links in a chain; to succeed, each link needs to be strong. One weak link can make the entire business weak, which is not much different than what El Chapo faced.

When I was the GM and COO of a $40 million company with seven locations, all of these aspects of business came into play. With seven locations it would have been easy for a weak link to affect the entire chain. It was my job to make sure everyone had what they needed to keep the links strong.

If you would like to strengthen the links of your organizational chain, give us a call. We are experts in business and can help you to make dramatic improvements in your business.

garyfurr@garyfurrconsulting.com/ 503-312-3145

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The First Quarter of 2019

We are almost through the first quarter of 2019. Are you planning to have your best year ever? If so, it will only happen if you are more intentional about it than you were in 2018. Best years do not just happen. You make them happen by backing up your goal setting with action.

If you remember, we were going to do a review of 2018 and perform the following analysis:

1. List the things you accomplished in 2018.
2. Compare the list to the goals you set in 2017.

That analysis should have been followed with these questions:

1. How did you do?
2. What could you have done better?
3. What can you do to improve moving forward?
4. What is your vision for 2019?
5. What are your 90-day goals for January-March to help you achieve your vision?

How are you doing in your very first quarter of 2019? Are you on track to meet your 90-day goals? There are only a few weeks left in Q1 to get 2019 started on the right trajectory.

If you are on track, congratulations! Keep up the great work.

If you are not on track, there is still time. Assess why you are not where you planned to be. What you can do in March to get back on track to accomplishing your 90-day goals and having the best year ever in 2019? Goals are one thing, but they mean nothing without execution.

Ideas are easy. Execution is everything

I have a mentor who I work with on a regular basis. He holds me accountable because I cannot consult myself. As he likes to say, we can’t read the label on the water bottle from inside the bottle. I am inside my own bottle looking out, no different than you. We all need someone to hold us accountable to a higher level of performance and success.

If you have not created a vision for 2019 to ensure it is your best year ever and have not set your 90-day goals to put you on the path to success, then we should talk. You do not want to arrive on December 31, 2019, and realize that your business has not done any better than it did in 2018.

Give me a call. I can help you achieve extraordinary results in 2019, but the longer you wait, the harder it will get. Take massive action now to make 2019 your very best year. 503-312-3145

garyfurr@garyfurrconsulting.com

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In Malcolm Gladwell’s 2008 book Outliers,he coined the term “the 10,000-Hour Rule” in which he explained that to become an expert in almost any field requires 10,000 hours of practice. Gladwell provided examples such as the Beetles, Bill Gates, Michael Jordan, and others whom after practicing for 10,000 hours became experts in their fields. The rule was appealing due to its simple cause-and-effect relationship

The original idea is the work of psychologist Anders Ericsson, who published a paper in 1993 in which he and his colleagues reported on their studies of 40 violinists in Germany who had put in 10,000 hours of deliberate practice by the age of 20.

Unfortunately, Mr. Ericsson says that Malcolm Gladwell got it wrong and oversimplified the concept. He says that there is nothing special about 10,000 hours, which was just a nice round number. According to Ericsson, the actual number of hours required to become an expert varies depending on which field you are in.

However, Gladwell did point out an important point: Becoming accomplished or an expert in any field requires a lot of effort and hours of what Mr. Ericsson calls deliberate practice. It may not be 10,000 hours, but it does take a lot.

This brings me to the point: We become good at what we practice, whether it’s positive or negative. Lately I’ve been doing a lot of research and writing about distraction, so let me give you the bad news. If you practice distraction on a daily basis (and you know there are many opportunities available to do so), you will become very good at it. The law of practice is that we become good at whatever we practice. (For more on this, read Gladwell’s book or the research in Dr. Ericsson’s book Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise.)

It’s time to be honest with yourself, because dishonesty only hurts you. Are you becoming an expert in distraction? If so, it is getting in the way of your productivity, which is having a direct effect on your level of success. To be highly productive, you must eliminate distractions.

Want to be more productive and grow your business? Give us a call. We are experts in business and will help you get highly focused to generate great results: 503-312-3145

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Back in April of this year I posted a blog post on the results of the 2019 CEO confidence index and projections. I then researched information on the longest economic expansions in U.S. History. With the news these days concerning the economy and the slow down in manufacturing, I felt it was worth repeating again.

As part of my Vistage worldwide membership I receive their updates on the economy, and the CEO Projections for 2019 caught my attention. https://www.vistage.com/demand/2019-growth-projections-pdf-form/  It seems that CEO confidence in the economy has continued to decline into this year. Although CEOs expect revenues to rise and even profitability to improve for now, they see economic headwinds building and feel the pressure of rising wages and unfilled positions. “The challenge for CEOs in 2019,” according to the report, “is figuring out how to maintain growth in the face of a potential slowdown. In the March 23^rdWall Street Journal it was reported that investor anxiety over the world economy has increased and there are concerns that this may be the start of a consistent downturn.

Recent headlines from the Wall Street Journal indicate that the economy is slowing down. For example:

• August 12^th“The Turn in the Yield Curve”
• August 15^th; “Stocks, Bonds Flash Warning Signs”
• August 16^th“Consumer Spending Helps Offset Decline in Manufacturing Output”.

If you couple these reports with a look at some of the longest economic expansions in the United States since 1900, you can see that there probably is some reason for concern:

• The U.S housing bubble lasted 74 months (November 2001–December 2007)
• World War II lasted 81 months (September 1938–September 1945)
• Reaganomics lasted 93 months (November 1982–July 1990)
• Vietnam lasted 108 months (February 1961–December 1969)
• The Tech bubble lasted 122 months (March 1991–March 2001)
• Our current economic expansion, which started in June of 2009, is currently 134 months long, the longest in U.S. history.

Based on the current length of this expansion and the CEO Confidence Index and current headlines in the Wall Street Journal one might think we are looking at a slowdown in the economy sooner rather than later. We do not know exactly when, but a correction in the economy is coming. As I interact with owners of small to mid-market businesses I have noticed that they are feeling anxious over the uncertainty.

The good times can often make us complacent. I would like to suggest business owners embrace this uncertainty and choose to prepare now. Waiting to figure out what to do until the slowdown arrives is not the best approach. The Vistage report recommends preparing for what is ahead by focusing on these five areas, Leadership, Talent Management, Customer Impact, Improving Operations and Managing Your numbers.

1. Leadership:Leadership is hard even in the best of times. In order to build a strong culture of the right people working effectively and efficiently, you need to be a strong leader. This requires clear communication on your part. Your employees will want to feel your confidence that the organization has a plan and can weather a downturn. It is important to open up the channels of communication to forestall speculation because what your employees do not know can hurt the organization. Knowledge prevents misinformation and disinformation.Communication and follow through increase trust; work on building trust throughout your organization.
2. Talent Management:Hiring and retaining talent is one of the major issues that business owners are facing today. As a business, you have to retain the good people you have and hire additional great people from a reduced talent pool. How do you do that? By developing a strong culture and providing a great work environment Employee development is key, and so is vision and direction. Employees want to be a part of something bigger than themselves. Clarifying where the company is headed and having a plan to get the business there, will not only help to retain your good employees but will also attract other good employees.
3. Customer Engagement:Business owners often wait for their customers to contact them, which is a mistake. Proactively develop the relationships with your customers—and do not wait for a slowdown to do so. The time to communicate with your customers is now, not when your business is struggling. Revenue growth is a proactive activity, meaning that if you want sales to improve, you have to be communicating more with your current customers, past customers and potential customers.
4. Focus on Improving Operations:How can you make your current operations more effective and efficient? During good times businesses tend to build more complexity into their systems and processes (if they even have systems and processes). Start thinking about how to streamline operations, reduce waste, and get all of your employees contributing to the bottom line. How can you add more value to the value stream in your business? How can you make all your processes and procedures more linear?
5. Manage the numbers:The numbers drive everything in your business; you need to know and understand them. Business owners need to manage their cash flow and understand the key drivers of cash in the business. I run into far too many business owners who are not paying attention to their financials. Some review their P&L and balance sheet on a somewhat regular basis, but few use them as a comparison tool and even fewer actually produce a cash flow statement to understand how cash is moving in and out of the business. Start to build cash reserves in your business now. Get to know your banker and start building the relationship now if you have not already done so.

An economic slowdown is coming. The question is when it will happen and how long it will last. The various aspects of your business are like links in a chain, and one weak link can make the entire chain weak. Now is the time to strengthen the links in your business chain to ensure you can manage your way through a downturn. Focus on these five areas to make significant improvements and be ready for when the economy slows down.

We are organizational development experts and we focus on helping small to mid-market companies strengthen all the links in their chains, reducing waste and adding more value to the value stream. This increases efficiency and effectiveness, improving bottom line results. Do not wait. Start preparing your business now. We can help. Give us a call: 503-312-3145

mailto:garyfurr@garyfurrconsulting.com

Books by Gary Furr Available on Amazon:

It’s Not Hard, It’s Business: 10 Keys to Revenue Growth

Make Your Banker Happy: 10 Keys to Unlocking a Good Relationship with Your Banker

References:

• Vistage Research, CEO Projections for 2019: https://www.vistage.com/demand/2019-growth-projections-pdf-form/
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
• Internationalbanker.com
• Investopedia
• Patrick Bet-David: The Next Market Crash, YouTube November 2018

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If you are like most business owners I meet, you want to grow your business but you believe it will take capital to do so. The reason business owners say they want to grow is that they are not making enough money now. Here’s the issue: Revenue growth can come with added costs if you are not careful.

Most business owners say they want to grow their business, but few actually do anything about it. Most will continue to do the same things they have always done—while expecting different results each year. I am sure you know how that plays out. They think things will somehow get better, but they rarely do.

Change usually requires getting out of your comfort zone. That’s why so few of us do it. Like most people, business owners will rarely change until the pain to remain the same is greater than the pain to change. That often involves a crisis.

For the health of your business, I urge you not to wait for a crisis before you take action to change your business for the better. Why continue to lose money or earn less than you want to? Why delay the necessary changes to make significant improvements to your business and your financial future?

It takes courage to ask for help. The very best business owners seek help to guide their businesses to a more profitable future. Shouldn’t you? Why not do it today?

If you want to make dramatic improvement in your business and grow 30, 40, or 50 percent without capital expense, we can help you do so. We are experts in business growth. Have the courage to call: 503-312-3145.

garyfurr@garyfurrconsulting.com

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In just two months, the year 2019 will come to a close. How are you planning on finishing the year? Do you have a plan?

Will you increase sales in these last two months? Will you increase efficiency? Will you improve customer service? As Stephen Covey said in his book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, we must begin with the end in mind. We must decide what we want the year-end to look like and then create a plan of action to get us there. Merely hoping for a good year-end will not do it.

Scrambling and busyness can be our undoing. Do not allow yourself to get so caught up in getting everything done that you fail to tend to your plan to reach your goals.

If you want to finish the year strong and you believe you can, then you will do what is necessary to make it happen. But I guarantee you it will not happen without intentional focus and follow through.

What four or five specific actions are you going to take to ensure a successful finish to the year?  Write them down and read them everyday. Put the power of your subconscious mind to work to help you—and then, get to work.

Good intentions do not achieve results; action does.

If you are looking to make a significant difference in 2019 and get a jump-start on 2020, give us a call. We are experts in business growth.

503-312-3145

garyfurr@garyfurrconsultng.com

 

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This last week I was asked to give a presentation to a group of twenty business owners in the Portland metropolitan area on value stream mapping.

In an economy where it is hard to find enough qualified employees to get the volume of work out in a timely manner, business owners are trying to figure out how to produce more with less and increase production without increasing cost. Value stream and process mapping are tools that can help you accomplish this.

Value stream mapping is fundamental to your business success because it helps you to see what is really going on in your business from a 30,000-foot view, allowing you to see how work flows. It is a highly effective way to identify and resolve inefficiencies within your current way of doing business.

All businesses tend to grow increasingly complex over time. Until you step back and see it from a different view, the business will continue to be inefficient, affecting your profitability. Value stream and process mapping are effective tools toward achieving outstanding performance, allowing you to increase bottom-line profits.

When we value stream map how work is currently performed within the organization, we are describing your current state. This allows everyone in the organization to see the truth about how the value stream is performing and helps to create a sense of urgency for improving how work currently gets done. We then can redesign the value stream to eliminate unnecessary work, delays, waiting time, over-production, excess processing, excess motion, and defects—and adding more value to the customer. The goal is to make work flow more smoothly and in a linear fashion.

In a time when we need to increase productivity without increasing cost, value stream mapping is an effective tool. If you would like to know more about how value stream mapping and process mapping can improve your productivity and increase bottom-line revenue, give me a call.

503-312-3145

www.garyfurr@garyfurrconsulting.com

garyfurr@garyfurrconsulting.com

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The Seattle Shrimp Tank Covid-19 Expert Panel

This global pandemic is already having a profound impact on small- and medium-sized businesses, but now is the time to prepare strategies for recovery. Listen to this podcast produced by Dan Weedin in Seattle where he interviews business experts from Seattle, Portland, Miami, Canada, and Australia on what business owners should be thinking about during the Covid-19 crisis. Recorded March 18, 2020.

https://shrimptankpodcast.com/seattle-episode-86-covid-19-expert-panel/

The panel of experts includes:

Phil Symchych, SME Business Wealth Builder, Canada

phil@smewealthbuilder.com

Dan Weedin, Toro Consulting & Weedin Unleashed, Seattle WA

dan@danweedin.com

Art Koch, Arthur Koch Management Consulting, LLC,  Miami, FL

art@arthurkochmgt.com

Dean Robinson, Family Business Advisor, Sydney, Australia

dean@deanrobinson.com.au

Gary Furr, Gary Furr Consulting, Portland, OR

garyfurr@garyfurrconsulting.com

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The ability to attract and retain talent is a critical component of success. You cannot do it alone. All successful businesses need good people, and once you have those good people in place you need to be able to retain them. As a business owner, the ability to leverage other people’s time, energy, and talent to grow your company is critical to your success and your growth plans. You can only accomplish this when you have good people. Having highly talented and committed people will help you leverage your business to greater success.  With the demand for highly capable talent being high, it is even more critical than ever that your organization become the employer of choice to attract talent.

Many owners and executives I interact with have never been trained on how to interview and hire talent. Many of these same organizations have no documented onboarding and training programs to retain this talent once hired. They essentially hire warm bodies and throw them into the pool, hoping that they can swim. When they do not swim well, they blame the employee rather than examining their own actions and what part they played in the process.

When I was the COO of a $40 million company with seven locations, we needed to hire top talent in order to perform at the level we had set for ourselves. Whenever we hired someone who did not work out, we always went back to the drawing board and asked some difficult questions to examine what part we played in the candidate not working out. Did we not do a good job interviewing? Did we provide a good onboarding experience and give them the tools to be successful? Did we provide training and support to ensure their success? We always looked in the mirror first to look for our own mistakes and failures in order to improve the process and increase our odds of success.

The process of interviewing, hiring, onboarding, and training is expensive; it is important to get it right. Beyond this, there should a performance improvement and management system in place to assist staff and employees to achieve their goals and encourage greater success within the organization.

1. Attracting Talent: Is your company the employer of choice in your industry? Do individuals who are working with your competitors seek you out for employment? The business cannot attract talent if your employees are unhappy or feel that they are being treated poorly. The best tool for hiring talent is your employees’ word of mouth telling others how great your company is.
2. Interviewing, Hiring, Onboarding, and Retaining Talent: Part of the interviewing and hiring process is to have good job descriptions that clearly define the roles and responsibilities for each position. This will benefit both you and your employees. To help ensure success of your new hires, you must have a documented onboarding process with a checklist to make sure it is being completed thoroughly. Doing an effective job interviewing, hiring, and onboarding ensures you will not have to repeat the process again in the near future. If you do a good job interviewing, hiring, and onboarding, you will increase the odds of retaining top talent.
3. Performance Improvement and Management: We get what we tolerate with employees. The reason employers get average work is because they tolerate average work. Performance improvement and management systems are an ongoing process of meeting with your employees to make sure they understand their roles and responsibilities and they are performing at expected levels. It is an opportunity to show them the opportunities within the organization and help them to be successful, which benefits your organization as well as your employees. The goal of performance management is not to find employees doing things wrong but to assist them in creating even greater success and job satisfaction within your organization.

Interested in learning how to improve your ability to attract, interview, hire and retain top talent? Give us a call. We are experts in business management. 503-312-3145

garyfurr@garyfurrconsulting.com

http://www.garyfurrconsulting.com

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