It's About Approach, Service, Results

As a business owner, you already know that these days, it’s not enough to simply show up and offer a service or sell a product.
A focused approach is needed in order to win the attention of the discriminating consumer, that’s if you sell a product or the discerning client if your company provides a service.

How do you get focused?
• Determine what exactly are you offering?
• Does your company offer a unique spin on a common way of doing things?
• Is your product/packaging/distribution channel so unique that it distinguishes your from the competition?
• Is there some technological advancement that you can introduce to help streamline the process of either getting your product to market or introducing a service to new and existing clients?

Why is what you do needed?  What specific business problem or opportunity will your services/product address?
• Does your product or service solve a problem?
• Does it make the customer feel good physically or mentally?
• Will your service improve operational efficiencies?
• Does your company provide needs assessments for any future projects, insuring that the customer remains knowledgeable regarding your ability to manage upcoming opportunities?

How will the client/customer be better off after having worked with you?
What’s really different about your firm, its services, results or approach?
• Do you have a unique distribution channel that takes into account a diminished impact on the environment?
• Do you offer free shipping?
• Is your packaging unique, something that sets you apart from the competition?
• Are you ninja on customer service?  In an upcoming newsletter, I will talk more about ninja approach to customer service.
• Are you relentless when it comes to customer feedback, sending out surveys, calling the customer to follow-up once a project is completed or a product delivered, determining their likes/dislikes about your company?
What quantifiable benefits and results can your client/customer expect?
• Do you offer guarantees?
• Can you provide evidence of prior customer’s support for your products/services and satisfaction with what you do?
• Do you have specialized certification?
• Have you won any awards for governing your firm in a certain manner?
How will these questions help you get more customers and improve the bottomline?  If you’re not clear about your value proposition, that’s what asking these questions can help you clarify, so that you have a more precise
understanding of what you do and why a firm or consumer should buy your product/service instead of the competitors. Getting clear will help you develop a strategic approach to going after new business as well as how to retain the
customers that you have.
Use the attached worksheet to help you develop a different approach to understanding your business. 
It’s a new year, a good time to get clear about what you do and how you can achieve greater success over the next eleven months.

Caterpillar's Genius

One of the most compelling articles I have read on strategy was featured in the May 2011 issue of Fortune magazine.  The story was about Caterpillar, the equipment giant.  Several years before this country’s economic meltdown, Caterpillar’s approach was to create absolute worse case scenario’s, and figure out how they would survive the worse.  Weekly meetings were held between division managers and the CEO where disaster models were developed.  When the recession hit, Caterpillar wasn’t scattering for a line of attack. Instead, they were executing catastrophe tactics.  While other firms were running at a loss and going under, Caterpillar’s shares were up by 88%.  It’s one thing to plan when times are tough.  It’s another thing to have a well designed strategy in place when business is relatively good.  That’s what Caterpillar did; they planned for the worse when business was good.  That’s what makes for genius and forward thinking.  That’s what sets this company apart from most.  To read the article in its entirety go to http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2011/05/12/caterpillar-is-absolutely-crushing-it/

When I Teach I Learn

It only takes a minute to sign up for a free webinar, or register to take part in a networking event. In so doing, the result can be similar to opening pandora's box, a vast wealth of learning might await you revealing endless possibilities.  I, too am learning as I conduct this bonding education program through the DOT, that's the Department of Transportation partnered with the Small Business Transportation Resource Center here in NYC.  Over the course of several weekends what I have come to understand is that having access to new information and resources can indeed be powerful. The participants in the bonding program have, without candor expressed to me that the information which I am conveying is life changing. One student wrote to me in an email saying "your presentation was very thought provoking; it made me think all weekend about my company."  It's been a couple of months since I facilitated a workshop and it was a different crowd, new start-ups.  This present group of participants, they are a bit more seasoned, with more skin in the game. Perhaps they are more hungry, and perhaps that's the big difference between this group and the start-ups who I presented to previously.  No matter,  since what I've learned, what I've gained from teaching is this, exposing one's self to knew information and new ways of doing things and thinking about things is vital to an entrepreneur's success.

What To Do About Customers Who Don't Pay

In the July 2011 issue of Crain’s New York Business, there’s an article entitled, “A Braintrust for Female Business Owners”. The story profiles an event hosted by a women’s group in NYC, where the invited guest was a customer relations expert. At the gathering, a business owner wanted to know how to handle a longstanding customer who had stopped paying her. The expert advised to continue doing business with the deadbeat; she suggested an arrangement with longstanding so that every time a new order was placed, they’d have to pay on an older order.  I don’t agree with this premise. The cost associated with carrying a debt for more than 90 days doesn’t reflect well from a cash flow perspective, nor does it bode well in the accounting of one’s books.  I think it’s just plain rude to ignore a debt.  Its one thing if longstanding was to provide an explanation for the problem and offer a solution.  It’s another thing when calls, notices, and request for payment are ignored.  What do you think? 

http://mycrains.crainsnewyork.com/blogs/executive-inbox/2011/07/a-brain-trust-for-female-business-owners/

Is A Feasibility Study Important?

At times, entrepreneurs are so excited about getting their business off the ground, that they fail to take the time to determine if the enterprise is viable and sustainable. Before you launch your new company, it's important that you determine how much it will cost to keep the business operational for at least the first six months. That's why cash flow projections, break-even analysis and income projections are so important. That's where a feasibility study comes to play, which helps you monitor the overall health of the enterprise. If your business is the sole source of income covering both personal and business expenses, you’ll need to generate enough business to cover both of these

expenses. For example, if business expenses total $5,000.00 and your personal expenses total $3,500.00, your total monthly sales should be at least $8,500.00. This is break-even, and if company isn't breaking even you’re operating at a deficit, a loss. Feel free to share your thoughts and opinions on this post regarding the importance of feasibility studies. Stay tuned. There’s more to come on this very important subject.