Does Your Mission Statement Have Vision?

Just because the media and politicians tell us the economy is getting better? Just because we’re looking at a healthcare reform that has absolutely nothing to do with healthcare and everything to do with costing business more money? Just because enemy combatant terrorist situations surface from those we’re told are not really terrorists, and from circumstances that we’re assured do not exist? Just because global-warming hoaxers have us running to refrigeration investments?

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We’re probably feeling like confusion is nothing new, right? So why not live with a little more?

Well, here’s why: The business you own or manage doesn’t need to be as misguided and convoluted as politicians and the media. Remember they get paid for creating confusion. Your success depends on keeping things simple.

Keeping things simple starts with a foundation of mutual trust, an integrity attitude, tenacious awareness, and consistent hard work.

First off, don’t let anyone tell you to work smarter and not harder. That’s baloney! Every business success comes from hard work. Next, don’t let people confuse you about the characteristics and values of Mission and Vision Statements. [No, they are NOT the same!]

A Mission statement is essentially a declaration of intent, challenge and pursuit. It is your goal statement that clearly and succinctly explains what you plan to accomplish over what specific period of time and by what means. It is action-focused. Its ultimate success will be determined by the extent to which you cultivate mutual Trust among those you work with and oversee.

And, like every meaningful goal, your Mission Statement needs t0 be specific, flexible, realistic, have a due date, and be in writing. [Without all five criteria, you’ve nothing more than a fantasyland wishlist!]

A Vision statement is a heart-and-soul summation of where you see your business in 5-10 years. It is a picture you paint in your mind and share with others. It answers the question: If you succeed in your mission, where will you be? Its success is determined by your practice of —and ultimately your reputation for— high Integrity on a consistent day-to-day basis.

Your Vision Statement is a set of words that best describes what you imagine your future state of existence to be, and how you expect (hope) to be viewed by others: your employees, associates, vendors, customers, markets, industry or profession, and community. It is dream-focused. Its primary value is to inspire pursuit of your Mission.

What’s your Mission for next year? What’s your Vision for  five years out? For beyond 2020?

Oh, and in the same fashion that it helps to start ANY mission with 20/20 vision, it is often most useful to put your 2020 Vision on the table (to keep focused on it) while you develop your present Mission (or while you think up the ways to get where you want to end up).

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Hal@BusinessWorks.US

National Award-Winning Author & Brand Marketer – Record Client Sales

Your competition is in

summer slowdown mode

. . . so speed up!

Former New York Mets manager Willie Randolph professed that winning teams needed the attitude that when they were able to get ahead of an opponent in a game or series, was the time to “put your boot on their neck.” Merciless? Maybe. A winning formula? Maybe. (Though Willie was hardly a big-winning manager.) A philosophy with merit? Sure.

It’s always worth considering options for dealing effectively with your competitors. But –unless you’re a boxer– knockouts are rarely if ever the most effective method for your reputation and long-term growth. Many successful small businesses actually use a competitor’s summer slowdown period as a chance to collaborate and exchange supportive services.

As unlikely as it may seem on the surface, down-shifting summer and holiday gears from 3rd to 2nd can be done with less negative financial impact when good working relationships with competitors can be called into play. I’ve even heard of competitive retail firms alternating seasonal slow-down periods by arranging to cover for one another.

TURN DOWNTURNS UP!

And don’t many successful professionals do that routinely? Doctors, lawyers, accountants, and many creative and tech services will provide short-term coverage for one another in a spirit of teamwork, and to make the most of opportunities to spread out overhead costs, and keep clients/patients/customers who might otherwise stray.

“WIN-WIN” isn’t just a leadership/teamwork slogan. Any situation where bi-partisanship can enhance overall performance of competitive businesses is a win for customers as well. Bartering work hours for administrative or sales personnel, for instance, can be very effective when the business owners and managers are equally committed.

Barter can be especially beneficial

for business startups and overhauls!

The retail world is filled with great examples. Physically-clustered competitors can usually attract many more customers than those in isolated locations. Consider the drawing power of New York City’s Diamond and Garment Districts, San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf, Houston’s Riverwalk, Delaware’s Outlet Centers . . . add your own here!

The point is that while you may be looking to throw a knockout punch at your competitor, consider the opposite. A cooperative arrangement can benefit you both, and even be there to support you if your business ever goes through a slowdown period. Examine the ways you do business before turning up the heat on your competition.

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HAL ALPIAR Writer/Consultant 302.933.0911 TheWriterWorks.com, LLC

National Award-Winning Author & Brand Marketer – Record Client Sales

THINKING BIG WINS!

I see small businesses every day that think small and stay small:

Vehicles and signs and ads and websites that show phone numbers without area codes; radio and TV commercials that fail to say what town a business is in, or what the address is; owners who resist free global promotion opportunities (like Twitter and LinkedIn and Facebook and BizBrag) because they think of themselves as catering to small town communities and local markets.

There’s no surer way to guarantee staying small and never earning the big-time sales you’re capable of.

If you want to get big, STOP THINKING SMALL!

For many, small, local business is a great way of life and a totally satisfying experience, but for those who seek to grow and generate revenues worth writing home about, it may be time to open some doors in your brain and realize that your body, your life, and your business are what you think they are. (READ THAT AGAIN!) Whatever you think something is, it is.

If you think of yourself as fat, you are and will be fat. If you think of your life as happy, it is and will be happy. If you think of your business as growing and successful, guess what? So the question is not what’s wrong with the business or the economy or with  you? It is instead what are you imagining it (or yourself) to be? And, how can you change that?

Start with accepting the three realizations that:

1.  Thoughts are things and what you perceive is what you believe.

2.  You are what you think about.

3.  Your behavior (in this case, your ability to think differently about things) is a choice. 

Be a detective about yourself and your motives. Why would you choose to think and act small? If your answer sounds like an excuse, it probably is. Why would you choose to offer an excuse? What can you do –starting right now– to confront the reality of what you think you’re capable of, and go for it? What mental roadblocks are in the way? How can you remove them?

Why do you think top advertisers say things like “DO IT!” and “IT’S INSIDE YOU”? The old Eagles song, “Take it to the limit” is yet another reminder. You have the choice and can choose this very minute to change, to make a difference, to start thinking BIG and HAPPY and THIN or whatever it is that you want. Thinking hard and consistently yields results!

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Hal@Businessworks.US              931.854.0474

Guidance to 500+ Successful Business Startups

Creating Record-Sales for Clients Since 1981!

Writin’ Ain’t No Easy Job!

In case you thunk that writin’ business stuff be a snap, thunk agin! (And especially if you’re expecting an office assistant or website designer to be a writer!)

Oh, and just to kick it in gear, you might do the thunk agin part with a blank screen and a blank piece of paper in your face. Thirty years of business writing taught me that very few day-to-day business tasks are more challenging than performing a creative process that most people seem to think is simply a mechanical function. It’s not. Try it. Then be embarrassed.

Write a business plan for us, will you? I need it for an investor meeting next week. (Most effective business plans take months!) And, before you get started, knock out a couple of TV commercial scripts for the sale that’s coming up. (At least a few weeks, if there are expectations of having any impact.)

Oh, and we’ll probably need three or four blog posts (another week) and an online banner ad about that sale too (a couple of days). Will you also fit in a speech for me to give to the Roundtable Club? Say 25-30 minutes? (Another week!)

Sour grapes examples? No: Reality. If you own or operate a business and expect someone to write AND GET IT RIGHT, realize that the creative process doesn’t turn on and off like a water faucet. Effective writing is not about writing; it’s about RE-writing! RE-writing takes time and effort and knowledge and skill and experience. The simpler it is, the harder the task.

Also Reality: “Creative” people in business (or anywhere, for that matter) are more sensitive as a rule than say lawyers or accountants or investors or engineers. So –like flies– you’ll catch more with honey! Try always to give them extra time, to provide them with extra input, and then to stay out of their collective hair!

Nothing wrong with asking for rough drafts or updates, but avoid harsh criticism– as you would with a customer–if you’re interested in getting outstanding work back. Explain points you disagree with the same way you would want others to explain points that they might disagree with you about. It’s not that hard, and you will gain both respect and greater effort.

It’s one thing when someone takes twice as long as you think she or he should to perform a routine mechanical task, but quite another when you assume that the creative process is routine and mechanical and proceed to set unrealistic deadlines . . . unless you really don’t care about a quality image or delivering a meaningful message?

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HAL ALPIAR Writer/Consultant 302.933.0911 TheWriterWorks.com, LLC

National Award-Winning Author & Brand Marketer – Record Client Sales

You’re an entrepreneur, right? 

You own or operate a small business or professional practice. You’re in the hot seat 24/7. You’re worried about sales, overhead expenses, taxes, insurance, legal issues, and making the most of social media opportunities. You are constantly trying to be two places at once. You need a break. Just thinking about priorities gives you a headache. You’re talking to yourself?

So maybe it’s time to stop worrying and stop thinking. Keep your goals, but get rid of the “overkill” and simply get on with it. Let it go. Do it. Follow your instincts. Go with the flow. You think perhaps those are crazy unprofessional notions?

I have some news to share:

You got where you are not because you followed some carefully-crafted strategic plan.

Nor did you get to be captain of your ship by dutifully following orders, or a master plan outline, or some naive business school professor’s idea of business development rules, or some archaic family inheritance guidelines.

You are a maverick. But maybe you forgot? Did you forget that you have achieved what you have achieved by taking action and making adjustments and taking action again, and making more adjustments and taking more action?

Trial and error? Sure. So what? Something wrong with that? It worked for Henry Ford and Thomas Edison and Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey and Mary Kay Ashe and Walt Disney any other success you can name.

But, you might say, you’ve been chasing your tail to survive the economic quagmire (the one that started as a mud puddle in 2007, and has since become the recipient of relentless dumping of mismanaged government quicksand).

Or has your entrepreneurial spirit been dashed by industry or professional incompetence, corporate or union greed, misunderstanding friends or family, or by government interference, and you’ve settled into an acceptance mode.

You need to re-discover yourself! Realize –first and foremost– you are you and you are unique and no one else is exactly like you and you already have the ability and the power to reverse or redirect your engines to get where you want to go without dragging along the burdens that outside influences try to impose.

How? How does one do that? By making the choice. All behavior is a choice. If it’s not an active choice, it’s an inactive choice or the result of something you may have chosen long ago. But you don’t need to choose to keep living with it. You can stop choosing to settle for inferior quality, unproductive activities, incompetent outside influences.

Okay, so you have to pay taxes. But you don’t have to choose to worry about them.

Choose instead to move on.

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Hal@Businessworks.US    931.854.0474

Seeing through it all

…maybe, maybe not.

There’s an awful lot of talk in top management circles trending to the favor-ability of transparent leadership, but reality often dictates the need to exercise the exact opposite, at least for certain situations. Two-facedness? Manipulative? Irresponsible? Lacking integrity? Ruling by exception? Well, even open windows do not always afford a clear view.

When every word you say and move you make is public to all around you, it can be inhibiting to decision making that might be for the good of all involved. Adhering to a policy of transparency can instead take on a neurotic life of its own which can prevent meaningful forward motion.

Consider, for example, the advisability of sharing content of investor or prospective investor discussions as they occur, with all employees. . . or, publicly airing the private meeting critique of an under-achieving employee. Actually, many if not most sensitive-type bits of information might best be kept private and only be shared on a need-to-know basis.

We badger government officials to maintain transparency because they are elected and paid by us to represent our interests, and we are entitled to know what they think and say, and how they behave. But business (thankfully, for the cause of cultivating entrepreneurial spirit and the capitalism that fuels our economy) doesn’t conduct itself that way.

Private enterprise shareholders are entitled to know how business management represents the interests of a given company, but not have a say in every issue. Shareholders are instead invested in the integrity of the management that represents the company they are invested in.

Effective transparent leadership may translate to open-door management for many, but even those who take their doors off the hinges have been known to beef up their effectiveness with periodic whispers and private notes. Because sharing everything with everyone can easily create more problems than it solves.

Another way to think of it is simply that not every organization member is capable of understanding areas of specialization beyond what she or he is directly involved with, and to expect that that’s the case is to invite confusion and delay that will block progress. It’s healthy to look at the total leadership picture before throwing all the doors and windows open.

To paraphrase Lincoln’s famous quote: “You can be transparent to all of the people some of the time, and you can be transparent to some of the people all 0f the time, but you can’t be transparent to all of the people all of the time.”

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Hal@Businessworks.US    302.933.0116

 Once more with feeling!

Whatever it is that you have just finished doing —from writing a plan or report to doing a trade or professional show, from introducing a new product or service to handling a difficult customer or investor or partner, or from juggling a tight schedule to finishing up a long-annoying project– can you take your next step with more feeling?

PASSION is inevitably the single most important ingredient in owning and operating a successful business –as it is, of course, in every square inch of marketing (sales, advertising, public and community relations, packaging, promotion, pricing, customer service, and building your Internet presence). And isn’t passion what separates success from failure in all of life?

In business, sports, the arts, and science the differences appear most dramatic because they are more easily measurable than, for example, relationships. Sales, bookings, test results, and win-loss records are pretty clear-cut compared to trying to size up the meaning of someone’s smirk or raised eyebrow or abrupt message. Hmmm, where is the foot pointed?

What took place during your most passionate life and career accomplishments? What snatched you victory from the hands of defeat? How, exactly, did you feel before, during, and after? What was the passion –spirit of performance– that you evidenced at those times? Was that ingredient somehow missing in whatever it is that you just finished doing?

If you answered yes, how did you choose to back off from what you know you’re capable of? Did you decide up front or during the process that it wasn’t worth feeling excited about? How did you choose to pursue it in the first place? So you engaged yourself in a task that wasn’t challenging or wasn’t making the best use of your time or skills?

If the answer is no, congratulations! What specific things did you do that brought you to the results you sought? How can you rally those resources to deliver repeat performances on other upcoming challenges? 

When you can step back after each “performance” to assess your level of passionate input, you are in a far better position to deliver a better performance than when you disregard what happened.

Second, and perhaps most important, is to repeatedly rattle your brain to realize that everything you bring to your performance table is a form of behavior, and (you guessed it!):

BEHAVIOR IS ALWAYS A CHOICE 

It may not always be conscious or evident or intended, but it is always a choice or the result of a choice. If you think about this a couple of times a day, you will almost certainly improve your life and business situations within a week or so. What have you got to lose . . . bad choices and poor performances? PASSION WINS!   

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Hal@Businessworks.US    302.933.0116

ENTREPRENEURIAL

TRIAL-AND-ERROR

BEATS CORPORATE

ANALYTICS!

Small business owners and operators invariably run their businesses –and practice human resource, industry/profession, and community leadership– by trial and error. The trade-off for not following all the latest corporate mumbo-jumbo leadership trends and fads, and time-consuming “time-proven” techniques is instantaneous adjustment.

That translates into what Grandpa always used to say was the most desirable of all business traits: “being able to turn on a dime.” Of course Grandpa ran a five and ten-cent store and could hardly have known that in 2012, no one would much care about a meager dime. It won’t even make a phone call or (Thanks to Starbucks) pay for a cup of coffee anymore.

Only by being able to ‘turn on a dime,’ or ‘shift gears quickly,’ can a business adapt to rapid market changes without skipping a beat. This, of course, may not be so critical an asset for an insurance broker, as for a retailer… or for a repair shop, as it might be for web design or writing services, as just a couple of examples.”

Nonetheless, all the big-time, extravagant methods that corporate muckity-mucks use to justify their existences with overkill assessment processes –from weeks worth of focus groups to statistical analysis paralysis— don’t add up to anything close to what can be achieved with the entrepreneurial respond-adjust/trial-and-error method.

This is not to suggest that all leadership decisions should be seat-of-0the-pants, knee-jerk, shoot-from-the-hip reactions. It is rather to say that the amount of time it takes to plan and analyze every step tends to be proportionally related to failed decision making.

Leaders lead by leading.

No one was ever a successful business leader who spent inordinate amounts of time and energy studying past actions and events, and then planning and worrying about the future.

What separates entrepreneurial success from corporate lethargy is acting out possibilities on the spot, making adjustments on the fly, taking reasonable risks, and living most of the time in the present, here-and-now moment.

Entrepreneurs are invested in making their ideas work, instead of covering their butts and justifying decisions.

Trial and error may produce some black and blue bruises along the way, and probably a great many more than your big-business counterpart will encounter while slogging along through the white shirt and tie quagmire. When the focus is here and now, there’s no time to dwell on errors or worry about where you’re going.

Flexible goals? Yes! Stifling long-term plans? No! . . . Think it. Try it. Do it. Adjust it. Do it again. Make it happen.

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Hal@Businessworks.US Thanks for visiting and God Bless You! 

Powerwash Your

Business Deck!

Now’s as good a time as any to clear out the cobwebs, mold, and dead bugs. Get your powerwasher out, hook up the hose and start waving that magic wand! But, aaah, you’re a free-swinging entrepreneur and all of a sudden the reality hits that to make a powerwasher work requires methodical and determined action–not exactly your modus operandi, eh?

But taking a methodical approach to cleaning is really the only way to make things clean, whether it’s a room, a carpet, the shower, or your business enterprise. Start by taking a hard look at the messages your business is communicating. Are you saying what you truly want the rest of the world to associate with you and your products/ services/ name/ reputation?

I’ll address human resources, operations, finances and other entrepreneurial concerns in subsequent posts, but first and foremost, small business owners must always be reassessing their brand and theme line. These are the most important tools a business has, and neither can remain stagnant. Change is what today’s business world is all about.

The horizon is constantly moving.

Targets, objectives, and goals used to be stationary, but no more. You need to be checking up on yourself at least once a month because what you were aiming for twenty or thirty days ago could be long gone by now. Don’t think you’re immune. It’s not just computers and smart phones running rampant . . . it’s people’s attitudes. TEST where you’re going.

Your customers and prospects THINK differently today (and faster!) than they did a year ago, a month ago, a week ago. The pace of life is more frantic. The business of building a business is more hectic. The messages your business is sending out can be obsolete before you even get them printed or onto Twitter. How will you know? Diligence and your powerwasher!

Force yourself to add quick-fix reviews of your branding efforts to your monthly lineup of checklist tasks. Put it right next to assessing your cash flow. If it’s time for a change, consider professional marketing writer input. Sometimes the fix is as quick and simple as changing just a word or two. Other times, a whole new strategy is needed. Professionals do both daily.

Struggle with revisions and updates yourself if you like, but you may want to ask yourself if you might be more productive focused on sales or operations or investor funding? Oh, and outsiders bring fresh perspectives to your table.

What’s important is your vigilance.

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Hal@Businessworks.US    302.933.0116

E N T R E P R E N E U R S H I P . . .

Need A Crowbar

to Separate

Business

From Personal???

If your answer is YES, you are probably an entrepreneur. You probably make yourself so busy that the line between personal and business interests is as inexorably blurred as cataract vision, right? Well, there is hope, and no, it doesn’t have to be laser surgery!

In good times, it’s called “vacation,” and since that probably hasn’t been the case in five years, you may want to call it “taking breaks.” Don’t look so scornful. Taking frequent breaks has been proven to actually increase productivity.

The most successful of two small business owners, for example, doing the same kind of work in the same number of hours, will be the one who takes regular breaks . . . start with not eating lunch at your desk, and getting up and walking around more. Stretching your arms, legs, back and neck is always rewarding. (Try it with your speaker phone on!)

Taking breaks is not an activity that should be limited to leaders or followers, to teams or individuals, to owners or partners or operators or coffeeholics. If you’re a human being, you need breaks in the action! If you’re not a human being, and you’re reading this, contact me immediately (phone and email below) — we can make a lot of money together!

When you’re vaguely aware of getting too fat, too skinny, too lightheaded, too clumsy, too disoriented, too mean-spirited, too ANYthing — before you race off to the doctor, make sure it’s not simply a case of failing to give your body and mind more attention than the tasks at hand. Tasks won’t get done right without being mentally and physically alert.

Looking for “how-to’s”? Put small reminder notes to yourself in your face . . . on mirrors, your wristwatch, your cellphone, your briefcase, your dashboard, your wallet: “BREATHE” or “STRETCH” or “EXERCISE” or “EAT BETTER” or “TAKE A WALK” or “PLAY MORE” — whatever works for you! Ask someone close to you to prompt you, or give you wake-up calls!

Entrepreneurs have a way of muddying up their internal fluids because they believe that they ARE their businesses and if they stop, the businesses stop. This of course is true at many levels, but not overall, and not all the time, and not nearly as much as small business owners and operators lead themselves to believe.

When in doubt, try it. What have you got to lose by taking a couple more breaks every day? Stress? Well . . . 

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Hal@Businessworks.US    302.933.0116