Could a good spring cleaning boost your business?

It doesn’t matter whether it is springtime or autumn where you live – the best thing that you can do to improve your business right now is a bit of spring cleaning.

By this of course, I mean reinvigorate some of the housekeeping issues that you may have  overlooked in recent times. Over the last few years you may have found it  possible to get away with a few loose ends and haphazard processes, but not any  more.  The tough economic times have changed all of that.  It’s time to get serious about tightening up your systems and securing your future.  Here are my Top 10 Tips to improve your results:

1. Have a plan
Position your business for the year ahead. Decide on your  strategy, set your goals and work on your tactics. Put these together in a one  or two page business plan. Uncertain times call for certain actions.

2. Forecast your cash flows
Maintain a cash flow forecast so you can use  it as an early warning system. The sooner you get an indication that your cash  is tightening the more time you will have up your sleeve to take action.

3. Collect your debtors more quickly
On average how long do your debtors  take to pay you? Aim to reduce this by at least 10 days – if your annual revenue  is $1 million you could save yourself $3,000

4. Reintroduce credit checks
Have you got a bit lazy about running credit  checks? Reintroduce them.

5. Monitor your customers debtor history
Are any of your customers  starting to take more credit than usual? Keep a close eye on them. They could be  feeling the squeeze so be careful about extending too much credit.

6. Evaluate your customers
Do you know who your best and worse customers  are? How much profit are you making from each customer? If you don’t know, now  is the right time to set up systems to track this and….

7. Cull your bottom customers
Harsh as it may sound, concentrate on your  best customers. Lavish them with attention. If you have unprofitable customers,  cull them. You have no room for passengers.

8. Trim your product range
If you are carrying a wide range of stock trim  it. Do this by calculating which of you stock lines are your worst performers;  sell those lines quickly to release some cash. Reduce your overall investment in  stock.

9. Look at your processes
Mistakes are costly so take a look at your  processes. What can you tighten up or do differently to lower the chance of  errors?

10. Have a budget
Having a budget isn’t about cutting costs, it is about  managing costs. So budget your expenditure for the year and track your actual  costs closely. If you see costs starting to climb take steps to reduce your non  essential expenditure.

So in the face of rising interest rates and a global economic downturn the  best thing that you can do to improve your business is to tighten up your belt and the system in your operation.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5442279

Do you know the true COST of bottled water?

Bottled water is THE most profitable drink product in the world,  selling for 3000 to 9000 times what you pay for the perfectly safe,  inexpensive liquid that comes out of your tap at home.

To put this in context, paying $2.40-3.90 for a 750ml bottle of water is  equivalent to:

• $10,000 for a tuna sandwich at your local cafe or
• A bill from your  water company this month for $3000/tonne of water (as opposed to the going rate  of $1.2/tonne)

According to the Australasian Bottled Water Institute, Australians consume  over 250 million litres a year at a price of $385 million. We have been  systematically brainwashed by the beverage industry to believe that our tap  water is somehow unsafe or insufficient – look around and you will see that  there are now hundreds of brands competing for your attention with clever  marketing campaigns designed to scare, seduce and mislead you to part with your  hard earned money.

Despite its association with prestige, purity and pristine conditions,  bottled water is often no better than tap water (in terms of taste and  cleanliness) and the production process it is extremely harmful to our  environment.

Did you know that:

• For every 250 million litres of bottled water, it takes 125million litres  of oil to produce the plastic bottles, refrigerate and ship them from one part  of the world to another
• For every litre of bottled water sold, another 2  litres are used up in the production process
• More than ½ of the brands on  the market are derived from municipal water supplies, despite the fact that the  packaging would lead us to believe they come from unspoiled mountain streams or  underground springs
• Over 80% of the bottles end up in landfills and are  never recycled

It is estimated that bottled water has become a more than $45 billion dollar  industry worldwide. Surprisingly, 97% of it is consumed in countries which have  plentiful sources of clean, safe drinking water. We can afford to turn our noses  up, avoid the tap and fork out millions for bottled water: our choice however is  purely a lifestyle one. A lifestyle choice for us with life and death  consequences for others and our planet.

For 2.6 billion people in the developing world, lack of clean water and basic  sanitation is a life or death situation. It is estimated that half of the people  in the developing world are suffering from diseases associated with inadequate  water or sanitation and that 5 million people die each year. According to the  International Water Management Institute, clean water and improved sanitation  could be provided to everyone on earth for an outlay of $11 billion a year (less  than a quarter of our global $45 million spending on bottled water), yet to  date, there has been no impetus to re-channel the money and change our thinking  on this important issue.

So you may be sitting there and thinking, what does this mean for YOU and  your business?

Well, nothing… and yet perhaps, everything.

How often have you (or someone else in your team) said:

• “if we had more money, we could invest in X and improve our business?”
• “if we put our prices up by 10%, we will lose customers.” or
• “we  can’t afford to buy X because it’s too expensive.”

You already have enough money to do and buy all of the things that you need – it’s simply a matter of common sense and priorities. We are all affluent in this  country: It is your mindset and your language which is lacking, not your bank  account.

In fact, each and every day you and I waste money by overpaying for bottled water  and other convenience/impulse items. We  rarely stop to think about the true value of what we got vs. what we paid.  Bottled water is just one obvious example and it is not difficult to see how  this might be playing out in other areas of our lives.

You and I have happily overpaid for products. Yet we struggle to charge what we  are worth or put our prices up because we fear that no one will buy. Isn’t that  interesting?

Perhaps you and I need to take a lesson from the bottled beverage industry and  focus on how we are marketing and selling our products/services? Is fear more  powerful than selling benefits? Is perception more influential than reality? Are  you seducing your customers with sizzle or merely putting them to sleep with  your low prices?

Think about it. Beverage companies have managed to package and sell to us  something that is practically free and plentifully abundant, for thousands of  times what it is worth. And up until now, we have all paid willingly. Bottled  water has in fact made us all look a bit foolish.

Maybe it’s not the price you are charging that is the problem? It’s the way  you are choosing to promote your product/service. The best time to change your  mindset and your approach is now. Anything is possible.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4936397

Hey Caveman! Not everything is about YOU!

It has been over 50,000 since human beings lived in caves. All those years  ago, life was pretty much about survival – each morning our ancestors would  emerge from their caves and scan the horizon for imminent danger. Although  things have changed a lot in our external environment in the last few thousand  years, in many ways, the wiring in our brains has not. In fact, 90% of what you  and I do on a day to day basis is still based on that ancient wiring and  survival mentality and it is precisely this legacy that needs to be re-directed  to prevent self sabotage from holding you back, personally and  professionally.

You see our brains are wired to spot and avoid danger.  It is because of these primitive instincts that we all have a tendency toward self sabotage.

Even though the danger may not be “life or death”, we see this dynamic play  out in our work environments almost every day. For every daring and outlandish  new idea that is proposed by one hopeful soul, there will be a long list of  skeptical colleagues who are willing to offer 20 reasons why the idea might fail  or cause harm.  This sabotages innovation and progress.

So, how does this play out exactly?

We seem to have a biological urge to save people from themselves – this may  take the form of overtly belittling the person with the idea, tearing the  proposal to shreds, refusing to examine or consider the suggestion seriously or  creating an environment where it is unsafe to brainstorm or take risks. Instead  of fostering initiative and exploring options, the focus is immediately shifted  to put up protective roadblocks and creative stop signs (i.e. sabotage).

Does any of this sound familiar?

Either the voice in your own head that says “you cannot do it” or the guy who  sits two cubicles away and has a knack for tearing everyone else’s ideas to  shreds… yet he can never seem to come up with an innovative or original  solution of his own. In our vigour to ensure that new ideas are properly vetted  and scrutinized, our ancient and hard-wired brain response to scan for danger  and protect ourselves, is effectively killing innovation. This automatic reaction needs to be identified and consciously overridden in order to ensure  that we (as individuals and organizations) start generating novel and  constructive solutions to problems.

3 Tips to Avoid Sabotage and Foster Innovation

1.Eliminate “But” – Instead of searching for looking for defects or pointing  out why something won’t work, focus on how you can add to the discussion or  process. When you (or someone else) conceives of a concept or strategy, resist  the urge to say “yes, but that will never work because”. By substituting the  word “and”, it will allow you to constructively add to or expand upon the idea  rather that stopping the creative process dead in its tracks. This slight change  in words and focus will exponentially impact creativity and reduce sabotage.

2.Don’t mix right and left – Creativity and innovation are often associated  with predominately “right” brain thinking. While critiquing and evaluation are  often considered the domain of the “left” brain. It is difficult (particularly  in a group dynamic) to generate momentum around creativity and imagination while  simultaneously attempting to evaluate and examine each idea. Even the most adept  and flexible brain will struggle to shift gears back and forth. In order to  create the best environment for each and get the best results, it is preferable  to schedule a separate time for brainstorming and appraisal.

3.Put away your club, caveman – It takes approximately one second, from the  time you physically react to something in your environment that generates a  strong emotion, to when your conscious mind kicks in and you start to think  things through. When generating new ideas and searching for innovative  solutions, resist the urge to club suggestions to death. Take a deep breath and  think things through before commenting verbally. Consider using a trained  facilitator for group sessions – this will keep everyone accountable and provide  an objective perspective if the atmosphere becomes in conducive to  advancement.

I once heard a senior manager chastise someone in front of 14 colleagues for  suggesting an idea that seemed [to him] preposterous and impractical. You could  have heard a pin drop in that room and it pretty much shut down the  communication for the rest of the meeting. Nothing got solved and everyone left  deflated. In one foul blow that manager essentially killed any hope of  brainstorming a viable solution. At the end of the day, every problem has a  solution. The key is to harness and re-direct the infinite potential within your  own mind (and the collective mind of the team) to find the inspiration that will  produce the desired result.

Are you wearing a kick me sign?

As a business owner, I’ll bet you’re incredibly busy and find that there never seems to be enough hours in the day to complete all your work.

Have you ever noticed that some of your everyday activities are just deeply ingrained habits – driving your car, putting on your watch, brushing your teeth or taking a shower? You wouldn’t dream of not doing them, they are part of your routine and they just seem to happen automatically. In your business you also have habits such as checking your website, opening the mail, reading emails, grabbing a coffee and glancing at your diary. You do them without conscious “thought” and they seem to fill up hours in your day…

But what about all the actions you need to take in order to build a more profitable and efficient business? Like following up with your best customers, asking for referrals, strategic planning and goal setting to grow your business? When do you do these activities? Do they often get relegated to “tomorrow” or “sometime soon”?

If you’ve ever spent your day stuck in back to back meetings, answering routine questions from your team, responding to emails, helping other people, doing paperwork or tidying your office – you already know that these are “make busy” activities, and they will keep you trapped where you already are – just simply maintaining, not growing your business. By filling your days with these tasks, you sabotage yourself by avoiding the very activities that you know will really move your business forward and produce tangible results.

Your “make busy” work or habits create the magnificent illusion that you are hard at work, simply because you feel “flat out” and your day is full of tasks. Let’s be honest, you would actually rather do anything than face the activities you know would radically accelerate your business success NOW! In fact, you often get to the end of the day and say to yourself “It’s OK, I was really busy, I’ll just get to that marketing plan tomorrow.” Or “I just couldn’t find the time today to make that seminar on leadership or customer loyalty.”

If you are waiting for the right or best time to do these critical activities in your business, it will simply never come! There will always be other “busy work” to fill all of your available time. You need to find a way to make your business building activities an ingrained habit too, if you want to grow your bottom line and live the lifestyle of your dreams.

Do you relate to or identify with any of these common habits that you use to sabotage yourself?

1. Perfectionism – this tactic is insidious. It often immobilizes us from making a decision, starting a project or activity and signing off on a piece of important work. Most tasks don’t have to be 100% perfect, they just need to be good enough. The other way that this can show up is when you deceive yourself into believing that no-one else can do the job (even simple routine tasks) to your exacting standard, so you must do it ALL yourself. Follow the 80/20 rule, delegate what you do not have to do yourself and give yourself permission to be human!

2. Refusing to Let Go of The Past – Have you ever heard yourself say “last time I tried that, it didn’t work”? Or have you ever simply avoided doing something that you know you should or need to do but were afraid to do because “last time it didn’t work out the way you wanted it to”? Even though it’s a good idea to stop doing what clearly doesn’t work, it’s important to remember that the past does not necessarily equal the future. If you catch yourself finding reasons from the past to justify why you are not moving ahead toward your compelling future, stop NOW and take a good hard look at whether these are just cleverly disguised ways that you sabotage yourself.

3. Lack of Accountability – who is holding you accountable to the decisions you make and the actions you take in your own company? Isn’t that why you went into business for yourself in the first place – so that you could be the boss and do things your way? Find someone outside your business – a coach, mentor or trusted advisor that can act as a sounding board and hold you accountable to staying on track.  It will help you avoid all the ways you sabotage yourself.

4. Lack of vision, planning and specificity – if you don’t know where you are going, how will you know when you get there? Enough said. If you don’t have a 90 day, 1 year and 3 year business plan, you need to make this your number one priority in your business. Set a weekend aside and find a place where you will not be disturbed by anyone or anything. Set down your goals clearly and succinctly – get clear about the specifics (who, what, where, when and why) and set realistic deadlines for completion. Goals need to be written down in detail to allow your mind – which is a goal seeking mechanism – to do its magic.

5. Lack of focus – stay focused on the important task you are currently working on and only allow yourself to be diverted by real emergencies.  Getting hijacked by everyone else’s emergencies is one of the worst ways that you sabotage yourself.

6. Fear of Financials – you cannot have a truly successful business if you don’t know your numbers. Not knowing your numbers has already cost you time and money. Find someone who can explain your financials to you in plain English – learn the key drivers and indexes in your business (such as break even, productivity ratios, inventory turns, gross profit margins etc.) and track them daily.

7. No USP – the greatest product or service in the world will not sell if you have not clearly defined why someone should buy from you instead of your competitors. “Build it and they will come is a fallacy.” If you have not yet figured out what is unique about your product or service and found a compelling and cost effective way to communicate it in everything you do, you are literally flushing your marketing budget down the toilette.

8. No Testing and Measuring – this is the most-often overlooked way that you sabotage yourself. The simple act of testing and measuring everything in your business…and I mean everything…will save you thousands of dollars this year. No matter what “it” is, if you haven’t tested and measured “it”, you don’t really know if “it” works. And until you know if it works, you don’t have a reliable, predictable business that will run without out.

Unfortunately, there are no quick fixes. As you already know or suspect, some of the most common forms of self-sabotage are habits because they are deeply ingrained behaviours that take time to establish or eliminate. In the 1960’s a highly regarded plastic surgeon, Dr. Maxwell Maltz discovered that it took 21 days for amputees to cease feeling phantom sensations in their amputated limb. From further observations and significant research he established that it takes 21 days to create a new habit.

Brain circuits take engrams (which are essentially “memory traces”) and produce neuroconnections and neuropathways only if they are bombarded for 21 days in a row. This means that our brain does not accept new data or information for a change of habit unless  it is repeated each day (without fail) for at least 21 days. Changing habits (whether positive or negative) can be done but it takes time and consistent effort.  This is the only reliable way that exists for you to remove all bad habits which allow you to sabotage yourself.

Do yourself a favour and identify today which form of self-sabotage is the primary one that is holding you back from having the business and lifestyle of your dreams. Make a plan on paper – specific decisions and actions that you can take to move forward in this aspect every single day for the next month. It is imperative to track your progress each day and I highly recommend finding an objective person outside of your business to hold you accountable to your plan, actions and results.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1784556

What if I told you that YOU are you’re own worst enemy? Would you be offended  or would you smile and agree, because you know it’s true. It’s true for ALL of  us.

You can tell a lot about a business person by the way they spend their time.  We all spend our time in various ways. Many business owners and senior  executives tell me that there is not enough time in the day to get everything  done. Personally, I have a belief that there is always enough time in the day to  do all of the things that are WORTH doing. The key is to identify what is worth  your while.

Sometimes activity can be a kind of anesthesia for the pain of not achieving  the results you want and deserve. Action is always better than procrastination.  However, more activity is not always better than less.

What about ‘make busy’ activities? If you’ve ever spent your day stuck in  back-to-back meetings, answering routine questions from your team, responding to  emails, troubleshooting, emptying the in-tray or tidying the office, you know  exactly what I mean by ‘make busy’.

It is easy to spend large amounts of time on ‘make busy’ activities. In fact  it is possible to spend ALL your time on these activities, creating the  magnificent illusion that you are hard at work, simply because you feel flat  out. You are working hard but you have very little (in financial results) to  show for it. Your day is full of tasks and you get home exhausted – so you must  have put in a hard day’s work, right?

Unfortunately, these habitual and ‘make busy’ activities can keep you trapped  where you already are – just simply maintaining, not growing. By filling your  days with these tasks, you are in effect avoiding the very activities that you  know will really move your business or career forward and produce tangible  results – what we might call ‘productive activities’. These activities rarely  happen automatically. They require focused attention. And, all too often, they  get relegated to ‘tomorrow’ or ‘sometime soon’.

A great many business owners and senior executives, while they like to think  of themselves as entrepreneurial, would rather do anything other than face the  thought of ”productive activities”. They probably have these things on their  ‘to do’ lists, but after another day of busyness, they just say to themselves –  again “It’s OK, I was really busy. The business planning review will have to  wait for tomorrow.”

The problem is this – and believe me, I have seen it played out many, many  times: if you are waiting for the right or best time to do these critical  ‘productive activities’, that time will simply never come. Tomorrow there will  be more ‘busy work’ to do, and your unproductive habits will fill the rest of  the day, and the cycle will start all over again.

Today is a new day – the past is over and has no relevance to today or your  future. Successful people are not without problems or challenges. Successful  people simply refuse to carry the SAME dilemmas or hurdles for months (or years)  on end. They seek solutions, face impediments, overcome obstacles and move on.  They make time to focus on ‘productive activities’. They rise above the ‘noise’  of busyness, create ways to focus their mind on the things that really matter  right now, and get on with the job. They set specific goals and they monitor and  take action based on the financial trends in their business. They don’t try to  do ‘everything’, they focus only on the very things that will give them the most  leveraged and positive result. They rarely blame external circumstances when  things go wrong and they take responsibility every day for what they choose to  spend their time on.

Success is achieved with less not more – and it’s actually easier than you  think. Working like a dog to avoid dealing with problems and keeping yourself  immersed in ‘busy work’ – now THAT IS HARD WORK! Why would you choose to do THAT  when you could simply take a step back and choose to do the 1-2 things that you  know would move your business forward right now?

Isn’t it time to start taking it easy? It worked for The Eagles in the ’70s  and it can work for you in your business (or career) right now!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4936506