Blog five essential things that small businesses in particular tend to ignore:

1 Alignment

The personal goals of the owner are often not in sync with the goals of the business, the goals of the business partners, the employees and the views of the customers. Imagine a tire with 4 ropes and 4 people pulling in 4 different directions. The tire will be stretched and stretched, but not move much. The same is true for non aligned businesses.

The personal goals of the owners can be unclear, if there are business partners they might not feel the same drive and motivation, they might even have different goals. Employees sometimes are unaware of the company goals, and so on.

The result is a lot of effort pulling the business in all type of different directions.

Is your business in Alignment?

When a Business Coach starts coaching a business, the first thing to do is to do a business alignment. Get all the energy, from your life’s goals to the entire company and its stakeholders flowing in one direction!

2 A practical ACTION plan

Some businesses have business plans into place, although often they were made once, then put into a drawer and forgotten. But based on a business plan, there ought to be an ‘action plan’: that is a practical plan that step by stepsdrives the business to improve itself, every week…

It is great that a business has goals, but only a real action plan will tell HOW the business is going to achieve these goals on a week by week basis.

Does your business have an Action Plan?

MASS clients have to make an action plan, every 90 days. This is done at an event called ’90 Day Business Challenge’ – and it is done as a 6 hour workshop where Business owners and their essential team members receive a business training on various topics.

Businesses that have a plan outperform businesses that do not have one. So where is your business?

3 Regular meetings and feedback

Does the team in your business meet weekly to check where they are compared to the Action Plan? Do team members get regular feedback? Does the business owner get regular objective feedback on how things are going? Are regular performance reviews in place?

How many business owners do you know have a process in place to improve themselves, their lives, and their business?

It is the reason why a business coach meets a client every week to push him or her beyond what they think is possible. After all, isn’t that what you expect from a coach?

4 To Measure Everything with simple KPI’s

What you do not measure, you cannot improve. It is that simple. It is one of the reasons why an estimated 75% of marketing dollars is wasted. It is one of the main reasons why businesses stagnate. Why team output does not improve.  Some business owners are afraid of numbers, think that their business is unique.  And then they are outperformed by their competitor and don’t know why.

The rule is simple. Measure everything!

Yes, within reason, and when you just start, you focus on the main things. But in millions of businesses, it is proven over and over again that just the act of measuring what you do, will give a significant improvement. The figure of an average of 10% improvement is often used. Imagine that, having a 10% higher sales rate, a 10% higher efficiency, a 10% of everything… The compound effects of all these higher rates will improve the profit level dramatically.

Does your business have Key Performance Indicators in place to measure everything?

A good Business Coach teaches what the most important KPI’s are that you need to track, and will provide the templates to help you out. Running a business by numbers is what it is all about.

5 Having the right balance between Time Investment and Time Spending

How many hours do you spend working IN the business, versus ON the business? And how is that true for your team? How often do you go home at the end of the working day, tired because you have been so extremely busy, but… you cannot remember what on earth did eat your time.

So many business owners spend their time, and forget that in order to make real money, and to gain time to spend outside of your business, you have to INVEST your time.

Imagine this, a person that can reach 80 years of age, has had 4000 weeks of life to live. So if you are 40 years young, you have 2000 weeks left. We all know time goes by faster than we think, so the question is: Is time in your company spend wisely? Is the business running you and dictating how you spend your time? Do you work IN, or ON your business?

That is why time management is one of the essential areas that a business mentor will work on.

Your business needs to work without you!

Rene: “My clients who took me on as their mentor will start implementing these 5 things – results then follow, with an ROI that is positive within 4 months. Within a year several clients started to have record breaking results.”

Not getting what you want… Do you Chase instead of Attract?

Do you want to find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but it keeps eluding you? Maybe so much that you start to doubt that there even is a pot of gold?

Have you heard of the ‘BE * DO = HAVE’ formula? Or of the more realistic version ‘(BE * DO)T  = HAVE’ ?

This formula states that for whatever you want to HAVE, you will need to persist in Doing, which you only can do because you Become the person that would consistently Do the right thing. In other words: ‘Be times DO, will over time, lead to HAVE.’ The power of this formula is that it puts attention to the fact that you will likely have to change first, in order to consistently do the things that will lead to what you want to have.

But either you haven’t heard of this, or you understand the concept, but struggle in applying the concept, because despite hard work, you still are not getting what you want.

That is maybe because you ‘Chase’ instead of ‘Attract’. What does that mean?

A simple example will explain the difference:

“I want to be Rich” is really a statement about what you want to have. Things like nice houses and lots of money. Now compare this to “I want to Know how to make loads of money” which is a ‘Be’ statement. You have to become someone who knows how to make (and keep) money first, before you will Do the making of the money, before you can have it.

Chasing riches will be an endless pursuit if you never changed yourself. Because consistently doing the things that make (and keep) the money will then forever be hard to do. That is the difference between chasing an outcome, versus attracting an outcome because you became a different person.

Another reason why you might Chase instead of Attract is because your core values clash with who you have to BE in order to do the right things that attract.

A simple example is someone who has a high value of being a family man, but sets a goal that will totally sacrifice all time available for the family. This person will either have to become someone who lowers the value of family time (at least for a while) or will constantly experience friction with the end goal, and if the family time wins, will not do enough consistently to reach the goal.

If you want the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, become a leprechaun. And have peace with being a leprechaun. Otherwise you will chase that end of the rainbow forever…

Let’s get practical:

1. Ask yourself what you want to have
2. What type of person would you have to become to reach that goal?
3. Is being that person in sync with your core values?

Attract the right things because you feel happy with who you have become. Never chase instead of attract….

-René

Political Stinking Thinking

I watched the Republican debate, the one they had just before the 2016 New Hampshire voting. It was sensational, especially when Chris Christie started to tear down Marco Rubio with his “you only repeat pre-scripted phrases” comments. I believed that Marco’s weak response was going to kill all Iowa momentum he had built. Of course I watched all candidates, and soon started a game to find out how they would lie by omission in their next answer, as that seems to be a very common tactic uses by all politicians from all political views. The world of politics seems to be one of one liners and sound bites, presenting an extreme simplistic and often twisted version of the truth.

Later I started wondering about what my Facebook friends would start to post. Those that are brave, or stupid enough to post their more and more extreme political views, in more and more demeaning one picture insults about the opposing party or politician, not caring about any consequences.

“Do you really believe that you are immune to that draining negative energy field of Anger, Fear and Anxiety?”

Consequences abound, and more than you think. Since this is a business coaching blog aimed at business owners, let’s just focus on the influence of getting involved with the dirt throwing, making other views ridiculous looking and fear, anger and anxiety provoking world of American politics of 2016.

First consequence: I know of people who told me they avoid doing business with certain local businesses, because of their, and I quote, ‘extremist political views’.  I don’t believe for one minute that the like minded people who might do extra business with you because of your similar views will make up for that loss.

Second consequence, something that hit me with a blinding flash when I thought about the debate I just watched: The energy was negative. Sensational, but negative. Just as the energy that I see in almost every political post on Facebook is negative. Do you really believe that you are immune to that draining negative energy field of Anger, Fear and Anxiety?

I have a client who always had the news running on the background. One of the more polarized news stations. Each time when I showed up for a coaching session she would ask what I was thinking about another scandalous development that was showing that America was going down the drain. At one point I sensed she was becoming so depressed that she even wondered if it made sense to grow the business, because ‘other people would all come and take it away’. That is when I asked her to for one month stop, and ban all political talk and television out of her life, and replace it with something positive. “You are getting wound up about things you cannot do anything about” I said. “Just do your civil duties and vote, but ignore them. Nothing you can do, politicians will be politicians. But this negative energy is killing your drive to become better.”
To my surprise she agreed, and instilled the ban. Some radio station with positive pop and rock songs would be the background wallpaper from then on.
I wonder if it is coincidence that she would become one of the top contenders for the ‘Most Improved Business Profits” award that I assign to one of our clients each year. The ban on destructive media exposure was never revoked…

“Stinking Thinking”

Zig Ziglar always kept repeating: “stop the stinking thinking” and “You are what you are and where you are because of what has gone into your mind. You can change what you are and where you are by changing what goes into your mind.”
Stop the energy drain. Stay away from the political circus, especially on Facebook. To be successful, surround yourself with positive people, and positive thoughts.

• René Hollebrandse

Business Coaches are more common than you think. 

What is now occurring in the world of business is what happened in the world of professional sports long ago. Amateurs and professionals alike realized the need for coaching to be competitive. More and more business owners are realizing that in order to stay competitive in their industry, they need a good business coach. This is why the business coaching industry is one of the fastest growing markets in the world.

The business coaching industry today (based on 2014 numbers) is a $9 billion sector made up of more than 37,000 firms in the United States, according to research institution IBIS World. These services do not come cheap, with fees for even junior, non-certified coaches starting at $100 per hour, and leading-name consultants charging thousands of dollars hourly.

That is creating a new dilemma for the potential client: there are suddenly names to choose from!

When investigating what business coach you should work with, ask yourself the following eight questions:

9 questions that help determine what business coach to select.

1) What are your expectations and can they be met by the person or company you choose?

Having a clearly defined set of objectives and being upfront allows both you and your potential coach to decide if your expectations are truly possible.

2) Am I looking for a Business Consultant or a Business Coach?

A consultant will bring you very specific expertise and will often do the work for you. Think about a more expensive, ‘white-collar’ sub contractor. If you are only interested in knowledge, and you think that your business will actually absorb the changes that the consultant prescribes, you might actually be looking for an (industry specific) consultant. If you believe that the business is somehow a kind of reflection of you, the owner, and you want lasting change? Well that means you want to improve your business starting with yourself. It means you need a coach. A coach will not do the work for you, but focus on you, or your team members to actually become better at what you or they are supposed to do. One piece of advice: do not look for lookalikes with a coach. Their task is to keep you sharp. They need to know how to run a business, not necessarily have in depth knowledge of your industry.

3) Am I looking for a Life or Executive Coach, or a Business Coach?

There are much more so called ‘Life Coaches’ out there than Business Coaches. And real Executive coaches have experience coaching C-level executives in big companies. However, since many life coaching techniques will also work in a business setting, many Life Coaches believe that they can also be good Executive Coaches. Some don’t even see the difference between an Executive coach and a Business coach. We suggest the following basic rules:

If you want to become a better person? Use a Life Coach.

If you want to become a better leader? Use an Executive Coach

If you want to become a more successful Business Owner, ask for a Business Coach.

4) Do I want to meet this coach weekly in a face to face fashion? (i.e. is he or she local)

Many coaches have remote sessions with their clients, using Skype or just over the phone. That can really work well, but some folks really want to meet their coach face to face, in the same room. It is a matter of personal preference, but relevant for your choice.

5) What is the Coaching philosophy of the coach?

This is harder to determine, you will actually have to interview the coach and several of his or her clients to get an answer to these questions: Are you looking for a motivational boost, or do you think you need more of almost brutal accountability from your coach? Will this coach ‘put you and your team to work’? Or provide more of a therapeutic or brainstorm session each week? How much actual business training and knowledge does the coach provide versus a focus on asking questions that lead you to discover this knowledge yourself? Is their psychological model ‘pop psychology’ (typical ‘Self Help’) or empirical science based? Are they ‘spiritual’ or ‘down to earth’?

6) Do I need one-on-one business coaching,or am I more in need of business education with accountability in a group setting?

Group coaching can be a good option for smaller companies that think they cannot afford full blown ‘one-on-one’ coaching. When well run, they will even add more and more ‘Mastermind’ elements to the participants. On the other hand, spending time one-on-one with an experienced business mentor typically provides a much more personalized in depth experience but you will have to spend more money.

7) What are the credentials of the coach you are investigating?

How ‘serious’ was their education to become a certified coach? Are they even certified? Do they have a coaching ‘system’? How extensive is it? How business oriented versus general ‘leadership and self development?

8) What ancillary benefits does working with this coach provide?

Does the coach give you access to a wider set of resources that are included in the coaching process? Is there a business community they would give you access to? For example a mastermind group with veterans in business?

9) What is their track record and reputation?

Of course you should interview clients that this coach is working with, but how about checking if past clients are still positive about the experience?How much did the businesses grow? Do the businesses report success in the area you are looking for the most help in? What reputation does the coach has with his or her peers? Can you find out what the ethical reputation is of the coach you are investigating?

Want a free copy of the Value Formula in order to increase your customer retention?  Just enter your email address for free access.

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First off, this is a little longer than intended, I tried to shorten in, but was unsuccessful.  It is still not terribly long though. (one of the photos I took above.)

Having completed my backpacking adventure, I wanted to follow up on the experience and of course tie it into business. 

The backpacking trip was scheduled far in advance, just as you would prior to starting a business.  We did not know what the weather (economy) would be when we started planning.  As we come into town the morning of; it is raining, not a hard rain but rain nonetheless.  Last minute trip to the store to pick up some rain gear, kind of like forgetting that key document to starting a business that won’t prevent an opening but will make it a little bit harder. 

When we arrive we begin to put the final touches on the packs we will be carrying and lift this 40+ pound pack on our backs and get started.  By the way, that’s a lot of weight and makes a huge difference in how fast you can go and how quickly you can wear out. 

Going up and down the trails, up one mountain to a beautiful overlook, then back down in the valley.  Up another for another overlook, then back down.  Sound  familiar?  We all are very familiar with those peaks and valleys of profits and cashflow.  By the way, the backpack becomes heavier and heavier throughout the adventure. 

At 7.5 miles we pass by the first camp as we make the decision we are going to push forward to the next one at 10 miles.  Yes, we are overachievers!  About 7.6 miles I wondered why in the world we did that, but there was no way I was going to give up, nor was I going to go backwards.  As it gets to early evening we arrive at the camp at 10 miles.  No one is there but us, not that many people eager to do the extra. ( I don’t blame them.)

There’s a problem though, I had committed to my wife that I would check in when we got to camp, and… we are in a valley.  I drop my pack and head forward a half a mile to find high ground to get a text out to no avail, I head backwards from camp a half a mile with no success either.  My decision is either to give up and for her to be worried or to grab my pack and forage forward on my own to reach high ground.  (is all this sounding familiar with your business or life?)

About a mile past camp I am exhausted and am looking straight up at yet another mountain.  By this point it is getting dark and becoming dangerous to push forward with both my legs that are worn out as well as not knowing what is lurking in the dark.  I decide to stop and set up camp and will have to continue on in the morning.  I am out in the woods, in the dark, on my own, and trying to set everything up on my own and unaware of what might be out there.  (I know this sounds familiar for all you business owners out there.)

Obviously it was a toss and turn kind of night, hard time sleeping with the wonder of what was this or that sound and not knowing how much further I had until I was going to come across anyone.  In waking early the next morning, I packed up and headed out and was only about half a mile from another camp and high ground to get a call to go through, but as we know in business you never know where that light is to the end of the tunnel and sometimes it feels like it will go on forever in the dark with no help. 

The rest of the couple of miles from there was a breeze!  I had seen success and was capitalizing on that success one step after another. 

What if you just took your last breath? 

How would you feel?  Would you feel accomplished?  Would you have regrets?  What would you be known for?

A morbid thought?  Maybe, but the reality is that no one knows when we will take our last breath.  As one of my most favorite statements “Life is not about the breaths we take, but the moments that take our breath away.”  The reality is that it’s not about the dates on the obituary, but rather the DASH in between. 

How did you spend your DASH? 

This is a question I ponder from time to time and wonder if I am one of the few or the majority.  We try to do good for others, do the right thing, plan our next step or steps, look at the future and what we can do with it.  We just ultimately don’t know how long the dash can be and when it will all end. 

In the conversation of plans, have you thought about what happens if your dash comes to a sudden halt?  Are you prepared personally?  What about your business; is it prepared?  Will life move forward for your family or all come crashing down around them? 

At this point, you are probably trying to figure out if this is some sort of a plug for life planning or life insurance.  It could be, but my main reason for bringing this up as a topic is because I come across far too many people that are not participating in their life.  I, myself have to take time to focus on this as well.  I think it is something we all struggle with, because the “everyday” things get in the way and take over.  None of us know how long our dash will be, it could be decades long or just another instant. 

So, what will you do with your DASH?!

A Bird in the Hand is Better Than 2 in the Bush???  

Most are familiar with this age old adage; however is it true when it comes to business? 

Yes, I understand that the original premise was to be happy with what you had and not let something go to try to get more, but what if we took a different spin?  What if we had a plan and we put the bird in the hand in a cage and devised a plan to catch the other three? 

A lot like business when you can’t afford to just hold on to one customer or group of customers and not go after others.  Will that one customer or group of customers keep your business afloat?  We all know that answer, but are you sure of how to catch those others in the bush? 

Create a plan and go for it.  You don’t have to throw a lot of money at the plan, but at least have a plan and track the results.  What worked?  What didn’t?  What can you do different?  What did you learn?  Keep these questions in mind when you are creating your plan and then document the goal of what you want to achieve and the answers to the questions. 

You are closer now than you were before, now go do something!

Business owner! A severely underestimated threat to your Business….

Sadly, one of the most common, and easily preventable, causes for businesses to get into deep trouble, up and to closing the business forever, is ‘bad bookkeeping’. And with this I do not mean the business that put a totally incompetent employee behind their QuickBooks, because ‘the software looks so simple’… No, this is about bad bookkeeping because the person that entered the data was given too much power.

It happens a lot. I went over the list of the last 50 businesses I dealt with in the last 6 years, and 5 of them had to suddenly replace their bookkeeper. One of these businesses closed down, and another came very close to closing… That is 10% of businesses I was exposed to within 6 years! 

Remember, the most common culprit in company theft (after the owner), is the CFO, and then the Bookkeeper. Some people steal because they can do that easily. Sometimes there is not even malicious intent, but a bookkeeper that was promoted above the level competency. For example, I have seen cases where the business had gone through a period of significant growth and the owner was finally making some well deserved higher income and reduced working hours. During all those years, the same bookkeeper was present, who maybe had had a small raise, but who was now managing the books of a company with ten times the size and at least four times the complexity. 

And then someone else than the bookkeeper opens that envelope from the IRS that states that the company is behind on payroll taxes. The owner is informed and has almost a heart attack once he or she sees the amount owed, grown by penalties and steep interest rates. Or maybe the CPA is the one who smells something funny when looking at the balance sheet. Whatever the reason the what is basically malpractice in bookkeeping is discovered, the shock is usually immense:

There are feelings of betrayal, funds missing, invoices that were never paid (or send out) and the overall realization that the numbers have been wrong. Anger: ‘why did I not know this?’.

Yes, that is a good question: Why did you not know this? How often do you as the owner read both the P&L AND the Balance sheet? Do you truly understand what these numbers mean? 

And almost as important, why did you not put a very simple strategy in place that would have prevented this mess? 

The rule is simple: The person that enters the data CAN NOT be the same person as the one who does the reconciliation. It is that simple. Yes, you might be a small company, and yes, the person who does your books is more than capable of doing the reconciliation. But allowing the same person to do the data entry to do the reconciliation is like putting your wallet on the chair next to you in the bar you visit. Nobody is supposed to take it for themselves, but in some way, you are asking for it. 

If your business is too small, hire an outside bookkeeper part time, it might be less than $50 a month to have this person to just do the reconciliation. But if something is wrong, this person will discover it.

What do you think is more rational: paying $50 a month, or taking a 10% risk that you lose thousands, maybe tens of thousands of dollars within the next 6 years?

Do Something Different!

Sometimes it takes you doing something different to create the results you are striving for.

As an old boss always told me “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

While it drove me crazy to hear this, as he would say the same thing over and over and expected it to generate a different response from us, it certainly rings true in most circumstances.

In doing something different, just as with life, there is no magic 8 ball with all the answers.  Just making an educated decision and going for it.  Now, make sure to test and measure to get the results, these are key for going forward after this.  Having collected the data from what it was that you did different, now find out what worked and what didn’t and change again.  

You certainly won’t get stale by changing it up, you may actually like it a little, and will like it much more when it generates results that you like.  

So go out there and give it a try, feel free to let me know how it goes and if you have any questions- ask them.

Ever thought about your goals?  What you aspire to do or become?  Ever

dreamed of becoming someone completely different?  Had that dream of

winning a big lottery and what all you would do with your winnings?

If you noticed in the previous questions, I quickly transitioned from goals to

dreams.  Why?  Well, I would ask you “why not?”  Why can’t your dreams

become your goals?

“If you dream it, you can do it.” ~ Walt Disney

The Challenge:  Most love to dream, yet never take the time to document

those dreams and see what it would take to make those dreams a reality.

Most would challenge a dream as if it is some fairytale and not a possibility.

Why would you want to limit yourself and create a mediocre reality when your

dreams are so much more?  Why not take those dreams and break them

down into steps to making them real?

FYI- in doing this you actually are creating goals.  That’s right, with just a

couple steps and a little more thought, you have created goals and the

stepping stones to your dreams.

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer.  Always remember, you have

within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the

stars to change the world.” ~ Harriet Tubman

Make sure they are documented in some way to make them real and ask

yourself when you start doing tasks: “Does this get me closer to my goals?”  If

the answer is yes- you are on your way, if the answer is no- why are you

doing the task?  I’m not here to say that every task not directly related to your

dreams is not important and not to do them, I’m simply saying to ask yourself

the questions.  Tie your tasks to your goals, maybe it means altering the way

you are doing something or the amount of effort you put into it, just make sure

it ties into what your goals are.

Hindsight is 20/20 right?  If you looked back on all the things you have done

over the past week, were there things you didn’t need or have to do and that

didn’t add any value to you or those around you?  Nobody said it was easy to

make your dreams come true, however if you put in the correct work and

focus you can accomplish your dreams, you can live your own fairytale so to

speak.

I ask you one final question: What are you doing still reading this?  Go create

your stepping stones to your dreams and live life to the fullest.

Don’t dream your life, live your dreams.