Mind Your Own Business!

Who's running your business today?  Are sales up? Are sales down? Have you met your goals and objectives? How's your Mission Statement? What are your customers saying? In other words, are you at the helm of your business or have you entrusted that enormous responsibility to someone else? Who is minding your business? At the end of the day, with all of the controls and people put in place, it should be you!

Starting and maintaining a successful business is no easy accomplishment; clearly it is not for the faint at heart.  If you think it was difficult making your business successful, try maintaining that success and tell me which one is more difficult.....the initial climb to the mountain top or staying on the mountain once you get there? 

It is more difficult to maintain success than it is to initially achieve it.  Mark my words! Once your business is succeeding, your goal should be to take that business to the next level.  You don't reach success and then stay on cruise control.  What would be the point? Make no mistake about it, today's entrepreneurs are trend-setters who stay on the cutting-edge of their industry. Staying 'in the know' of your chosen industry requires a lot of hard work, research and perseverance.  Obviously, you cannot do everything by yourself and you shouldn't try to do so.  However, you as the owner are charged with making sure that your Vision and Mission for your business is being carried out the way you intended. 

Minding your own business means establishing a system of accountability for your management team to ensure that your team is accomplishing the goals and objectives of your business. You need a comparable system of checks and balances in place.  And before we go any further, be advised that 'checks and balances' does not mean MICRO MANAGE YOUR TEAM!!!!  On the contrary, it means that your team has clearly defined goals and tools in place to measure the success of the business.  You must allow your team to execute your plan while having procedures in place to evaluate performances and results.  This is easier said than done but this task must be accomplished. 

Start your system of accountability by creating your governing documents such as your By-laws, Conflict of Interest Policy, Confidentiality Policy. Do this right from the start.  Also, when you establish your initial committees, make sure one of your committees is a Governance Committee.  Recruit people for the Governance Committee who have experience in compliance, best practices and the like.  The goal is to make sure your internal controls are strong. 

Finally, make sure your management team is required to produce reports on at least a monthly basis so that you are fully aware of how operations are going so that you can tweak the system if necessary.  No operation is perfect and you should have the mentality that 'there is always room for improvement'.  But having controls in place allows you to determine what works and what does not.

Overall, you should be minding your own business. You want to do this by building a solid foundation and a hierarchy within the management team so that controls are in place to capture the strengths and weaknesses of your business.  Establishing such a system takes time, indeed.  But it is a necessary process that will allow your business to achieve the next levels of success.  Start doing this today and Mind Your Own Business!

Your Little Mustard Seed

What is your little mustard seed of an idea that you would like to bring to fruition? Or perhaps you have two, three or ten tiny mustard seeds you've been carrying around in your head for years. Why are you carrying these seeds around for so long? What if you actually carried around one mustard seed for each bright idea you wanted to bring into the marketplace.....but all you did was carry around the seeds?  Chances are the seeds would get lost.  Or even worse, someone else would find your lost seeds and cultivate them into something the world will notice. Either way you lose! So why leave your idea to chance by carrying it around without cultivation?

We can all agree that bringing a business venture to life is not an easy process.  The fact is, you will probably go through several changes, including tweaking the idea a few times, before it takes flight.  That shouldn't scare you one bit.  Any budding or experienced entrepreneur knows that perseverance is a key factor in success.  However, what should scare you is the thought of allowing the idea to collect dust in your mind for years without any significant progress in growing the idea to its fullest potential.  It's time for you to take the bull by the horns and grow your little mustard seed into the viable business venture that you know it can be.  If you're having trouble crossing the bridge from thought to action, here's a few helpful tips on how to get started:

1.  Buy yourself a Journal.  I like to call it a 'Dream Journal'.  Use this Journal exclusively for your business idea(s) and always carry it with you. When those bright ideas come to you when you're on the train or on your lunch break, put the pen to paper and write them down!

2.  Make a commitment to write in your Dream Journal at least once a week for 30 minutes to map out and develop your idea. As you begin to get more organized (we all have room to grow in the area of organization, trust me on this one), increase the amount of time you write in your Journal, i.e., 1 hour a week or 15 minutes a day.  Make sure you assess your life and other commitments before you commit to writing in your Journal. You must be realistic. 

3.  Do not attempt to edit the initial ideas you place in the Dream Journal.  What you want is an unabridged, no-holds-barred Journal where you can write down all of your little mustard seeds (or business ideas).  You will edit and cultivate these seeds later, not at this stage. Writing down these ideas will empower you to make them come to life.

The point is that we all have to start somewhere.  A good first step is to actually write something down so that you are moving forward. The act of placing the ideas inside your head onto paper is liberating and it allows for other ideas to flow as well. 

Don't let your little mustard seed blow away in the wind.  Take that mustard seed and make it flourish! Start writing today!

Why Your Home-Based Business Can Only Take You But So Far......

Yes, we live in an age where cutting overhead costs are a 'strategic must' when you consider starting your own business.  In this day of virtual offices, shared office space, voice answering services and mail-drop boxes, there are so many viable alternatives to spending thousands of dollars in monthly rent, utilities and business phone lines/internet charges.  But the truth is, many of us hang out our shingle rather quickly without fully analyzing whether a home-based business is the BEST alternative for the type of business we seek to start. 

 

Let's be realistic. Having a home-based business cannot be totally about costs.  Any successful Entrepreneur will think long term and also keep up with the trends of their industry in order to make proper assessments about what is feasible and practical. Get started by asking yourself five (5) questions about starting a home-based business:

 

1.  How often will I need to meet with clients and potential clients?

2.  What improvements, if any, will I need to make in my home in order to set up a home office?

3.  Will I eventually need an office space as the business grows?

4.  Will I need to hire employees initially or perhaps a few years down the road?

5.  What are my goals and objectives for my business?

 

Keep in mind, these are only the initial questions you need to ask yourself.  You must also consider the mental aspect of having a home-based business.  While rolling out of bed at 10:00am and staying in your pajamas all day as you work sounds great, you may not be able to reach your maximum entrepreneurial potential in your pajamas and bunny slippers. Working takes a toll on us mentally and physically in many ways.  Understand that there is something therapeutic about leaving your home for work and also leaving the work place to come home to your personal space....or what I like to call 'My Slice of Peace'.  If you have not completely thought out your business plan for your home-based business, you may not be able to effectively separate your workspace and your home/personal space.  Even more troubling, when you have those tough days at work (and trust me there will be tough days), it's very difficult to shake off the stink of the work day when your home life is literally 2 or 3 steps away. Some of us find it hard to leave work at work when we have a separate office away from home to go to...let alone an office that is in our home.  If we are not mentally prepared for the challenge of a home-based office, we may find ourselves in a mental slump and possibly avoiding that home-based office from time to time when work needs to get done.

 

Oh, and what about the home distractions????? You know what I'm talking about. The laundry, the dishes, the dog, the cat, the dry cleaning and other errands you need to run and...wait a minute, let me paint the living room real quick...I've hated the color of the living room since I bought this house! The list of distractions goes on and on and gets longer and longer with each passing day.  How do you handle all of these considerations?

 

Discipline is key. The first step is to determine if a home-based business will work for you.  Start with your Business Plan.  Your Business Plan will force you to answer key questions that will help you determine if the home-based business will work for you.  If so, your long term goals will help you understand how long you will keep the business home-based so that you can plan and save for office space.  You will also have to set strict parameters with respect to the home distractions.  If your work hours are from 9 to 5, then work 9 to 5 and don't wash the dishes or put in that load of laundry until you are off the clock.  Treat your business like a business and not a part-time gig.  And also keep in mind that you will need to assess the effectiveness of the home-based business as you grow.  Once you clearly define your goals and cultivate the passion of your business venture, graduating from a home-based business to an outside office space will be inevitable. 

 

There is nothing wrong with starting a home-based business.  However, a home-based business is a starting point, not an end point.  Continue to assess and evaluate your business so that you can take your business to the next level. Keeping your business at home can only take you but so far.....Think Bigger!